“So tonight I’m gonna party like it’s 199-“. . . .2006? By now you are beginning to realize that the New Year doesn’t actually feel any different-except that bodily cleansing hangover you wake up with the next day. It’s an excuse to celebrate-what exactly? Every year seems to recycle the past. We are no longer striving towards 2000, the symbolic number of the future. We have arrived. We are here, but aren’t we supposed to be flying around in cars? Or at the very least, our cars should be running on alternative fuel sources. And what about our clothes? As fashion begins to recycle the 80s style, we should be wearing vinyl space suits. In 2006, women’s shirts will be longer and jeans will fit tight around the ankles. Stirrup pants are just around the runway corner. Will I be wearing the same thing I wore when I was five?

Already in my life’s brief span of 20 years, history is recycling. And fashion isn’t the only realm. Yes, that’s right, we are experiencing round two of Bush and another imperial war.

However, today’s feature will not be fashion or politics, but the recycled argument: Is society advancing? We have my brother, the science major, in one corner and me, the humanitarian, in the other. According to the wisdom of my brother, every year civilization advances (he never specifies towards what), because technology advances. I attack with the counterpunch that society is not actually advancing. Yes, “advancement” invented the glorified iPod, creating a soundtrack to my every movement, however, we still struggle with the same issues people did 100 years ago: death, sex and religion. As my brother and I circle each other, throwing verbal punches, he slips in the knockout punch: Technology advances. Humans are the ones who choose how to use the technology. Every invention is advancement but how we use it could be regression. Although I think my point works in conjunction with his, I concede the match, suffering incessant boasts about how humanitarian majors are useless hippies.

There we have it folks. Humans are the X factor. We are the ones who recycle civilization and also advance it. Think about your own life. This is the beginning of the semester. You will attend your classes and your professors may change, but where you sit in class will not. You study in the same spot. You date (or hook up with) the same type of person. You frequently visit the same bar, ordering the same drink (which may of course change due to drink specials, but you get the point). How much have you changed in your time at the University? Initially, college greatly influences our thoughts, beliefs and actions, but have you settled into a routine? Just like the alumni before you, you will find that summer internship which offers you that job you can’t refuse. Before you know it, you’re driving your child to soccer practice in a mini van, wishing for the college days when you were only responsible for yourself.

This year, you were counting down like it was 2000, and it is already 2006. Maybe those New Year resolutions are not so pointless after all. They prevent you from recycling your routine and allow you to “advance.” This semester challenge yourself, step outside your self-imposed boundaries and take advantage of the future days. If this semester happens to bring the dreaded graduation and entrance into the real world, remember it also brings spring and that is something to look forward to.

So here is my 2006 resolution. Make every year better than the last. Vague, I know, but think of how much fun I’ll be having in 2075.

Renee Thessing is a junior in LAS. Her column appears on a rotating schedule. She can be reached at opinions @dailyillini.com.