Warwick ’08-’09: born in the ’90’s?

As one Boar veteran mused this time last year about the ‘children of ’89’, the dates of birth of some of Warwick’s incoming freshers are incroaching ever closer on the millenium. Many of those entering our university this week will have been born in the second half of 1990, an astonishing thought that chills the minds of older undergraduates, some of whom no doubt can remember the dawn of the decade. This, afterall is a generation of students who never knew the Berlin Wall, the Tiananmen Square massacre or the much maligned ’80’s hair metal music scene.

Yet as this new generation of ’90 arrives, -and as we shake off the thought that the Bubble’s bursting approaches for each of us at an uncomfortable rate- so too ought we consider the transition taking place within our University. The new freshers enter student life in an exciting time. Our campus is once again the residence of a large number of cranes; the site of ubiquitous construction. True, the phased destruction of our beloved Union South is not something likely to bring joy, given the reduced capacity, and need for temporary onsite venues, yet beyond the building site looms the shadow of a far superior SU, yet to be built. Even the new venue on Tocil Field promises a reinvention of on-campus life. The experience on offer will hopefully not disappoint.

The Boar looks towards the new year with great anticipation. Already societies are able to boast a ream of socials, speakers and academic events in the coming weeks. This paper itself acts as a microcosm of the university’s generational change, and will also be welcoming new writers and staff this term. No doubt within a year the prospect of freshers born in 1991 will seem as outrageous as the ‘children of ’89’ did in 2007. Yet as university life resumes, the feeling will pass quickly.