The college town I live east of(57K) has a student population of 13k, most of whom will be planning on heading home for the holidays. I've contemplated several "what if's" from 1-10, and decided I needed some TB2K forum _objectivity_ after hitting a brick wall in my thinking. (Yes, it hurt. And no mud wrestling for a week.) Will they beat feet? Will they be able to? Etc. My only conclusion is the fewer the better... TIA. JL.

-- JH Lyons (shotgun12@att.net), August 27, 1999

Answers

There's nothing more dangerous than a crowd of frightened young men, eager to show they aren't frightened. College students (from out of town) have no allegiance to the town itself, but have a sense of identity coming from the college and the social groups they make there. That's why kids on spring break riot.

If we have an infrastructure meltdown, expect them to group up in "tribes", set up a home base that is probably on the campus or in a cluster of off-campus housing. Young men will go foraging, partly out of cultural expectation, partly as a means of impressing the young women. This is how chimps behave, it's instinctive, get used to it.

Young males make up gangs and armies for a reason - this role fits their instincts. Get away from campuses. Avoid crowds of young males. Avoid crowds of young people. Avoid crowds.

-- bw (home@puget.sound), August 27, 1999.

I live in a very small college town.

I would say that your risk depends on the quality of the general student population. The kids in my area are exceptionally conscious. They are all studying sustainable organic farming and environmental sciences. Most of them spend a lot of time in our local woods and rivers camping, hiking, fishing and kayaking.

The men and women tend to study hard and party hard. In general I have found them to be the same mix of good and bad apples one finds in any population group - although most of these folks do tend to be more politically aware than the norm and their excess energy tends to go into environmental activism.

I have been asking them point blank about Y2k. Most are GIs with hopes of a miraculous remediation recovery. All of them take computers for granted and have trouble imagining a world without them. Most told me about their camping gear and outdoors skills. Most were buying extra rice and beans everytime they went to the store. Many already have places with friends staked out in the hills. Many are planning to be with their families even if it costs them their lives.

I have many many friends amongst the young folk 'round here. I would be honored and relieved to have any number of them at my side in the excitement to come.

-- R (riversoma@aol.com), August 27, 1999.