Maybe events seem more historically significant when you live them, but there have been some big events in our lives. The first African American president is quickly approaching his one-year anniversary, after a year of economic crisis, raging health care debate and two wars.
Meanwhile, ACU has become the first university in the country to provide iPhones and iPod Touches to incoming freshmen; our beloved president, Dr. Royce Money, chose to retire and become chancellor of the university; and the completion of the Hunter Welcome Center changed the face of campus.
It is important to preserve these tumultuous events for future generations, so we propose a time capsule be created to archive this time in the history of our campus and our nation. The capsule class of 2050 will open the capsule 40 years from now.
The question that arises, naturally, is what to put in an ACU time capsule. Objects would have to be carefully selected to fully convey the state of the world near the end of the first decade of the 21st century.
What better choice than an iPod? This particular iPod would be loaded with pictures of special events such as Sing Song, Homecoming and football games.
Not all of those precious 32 gigabytes would hold pictures, though. Music can define an era, and 2009 is no different. If you were to buy the top five songs on iTunes right now, you would be the proud owner of Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus – and some other songs by Jason DeRulo, Owl City, Jay Sean and The Black Eyed Peas. Of course, time capsule organizers would need to include songs by Michael Jackson to commemorate the death of the pop legend this summer.
The iPod could show off its thousand and one uses if we also added a collection of the top movies of 2009. It would be difficult to create such a list, but it could easily be argued Heath Ledger’s final performance in The Dark Knight merits selection, along with the Oscar-winning film, Slumdog Millionaire, named 2008 Best Picture. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is the highest-grossing film of 2009, which might earn it a spot on the iPod – but only if there is enough free space.
It may sound self-aggrandizing, but the Optimist stories documenting Obama’s election, Dr. Money’s retirement and the changes on campus might be a valuable contribution for a student perspective on these events.
It would be interesting to see what our country and university look like when the time capsule is opened. Maybe a woman will be president. Maybe ACU will be a Division I powerhouse. Maybe freshmen won’t have curfew. Only time will tell.
