Looking back

Author: [no author name found]

1977. The time of punk rock, "Happy Days," "M*A*S*H," "Charlie's Angels," and Jimmy Carter. This year, Debbi Fields was opening her first store, which she called "Mrs. Fields Chocolate Chippery." The average household income was $13,572. "Dancing Queen" premiered on the sound waves.

That was where America was standing when January 1978 came and opened a new chapter of history, which spiraled all the way to 2009: the era of iPhones, Macs, Smartboards, fast food, fast communication and fast-paced lifestyles.

In January 1978, Middlebury students were getting excited for the freedom, snow and the general laziness of Winter Term while seniors stressed about the future and juniors returned from abroad (quite similarly to students today). In fact, many things have not changed too drastically ... in some cases.

"My plans for next year are set. I expect to teach English in Germany, at a Berlitz school or in the army. However, I'm engaged to an Iranian. He'll be in Germany next year but if he weren't, I wouldn't have the faintest idea of where I would be."
- Sarah Eddy in "Seniors Look Ahead with Mixed Emotions"

"It seems most of the opportunities I want are in the city and I'm scared of the city."
­­- Debbie Kittay in "Seniors Look Ahead with Mixed Emotions"

"I'm not emotionally stable in these types of things. I feel a mixture of nervous to apathetic. It matters how sober I am."
- Carlo Lucchesi in "Seniors Look Ahead with Mixed Emotions"

"Every Sunday, Bloody Marys are only 50 cents."
- "Get 'Up's' In Time for Brunch" by Diane Goldner

"A professor from the history department said that although his students sometimes 'jibe' at him for smoking in class, he would be hard-pressed to stop. 'I'd have to cut my wrists,' he said jokingly. The professor said he is 'vaguely' aware of the Handbook regulations."
- "Smoking in Class" by Carola Wilder

"Leaving Middlebury might be compared to leaving Momma's womb."
- Gregory Goth in in "Seniors Look Ahead with Mixed Emotions"

"This impressive conservation effort [achieved by the Middlebury College Energy Council] has gone relatively unnoticed by the college community because members of the college have not been asked to sacrifice their comfort for conservation."
-"Energy Council Promotes Conservation, Sacrifice" by David Magida

-Archived by Rachael Jennings