Vol. 16, No. 8 - A Publication For Faculty, Staff and Friends of Wichita State University - December 2, 1999

[Inside]

By Amy Geiszler-Jones

Because she’s an ancient history expert, Ariel Loftus knows the end of the millennium is months, not days, away.

Still, the WSU faculty member will probably celebrate Dec. 31 as the end of the millennium. "I’m a creature of my time," she said.

Experts say that technically the end of the millennium isn’t until Dec. 31, 2000. But that’s not stopping thousands of people worldwide, including many experts, from celebrating this Dec. 31.

It’s all a rather complicated math problem, said Mike Kelly, curator of special collections, when asked about the true beginning of the millennium.

"It’s some mathematician’s conspiracy to get us confused," he joked. "My own point of view is because that we know so little about time, it really doesn’t make a difference. It’s an arbitrary date we’ve set to celebrate."

Indeed, not all cultures go by the modern-day calendar developed by the Syrian monk Dionysius Exiguus.

While a number of experts contacted by Inside WSU said the millennium doesn’t start until Dec. 31, 2000, they said they plan to celebrate later this month. So why go with the flow if you know it’s wrong?

"Everybody tends to do the popular thing if it makes the most sense to us," said psychologist Don Nance. For example, he said, a tomato is technically a fruit, but it’s commonly considered a vegetable.

"I honestly think a part of the technically correct people are those who enjoy the role of being technically correct. They’re the Frasier Cranes of the world," he said.

If you don’t agree about the start of the millennium, there is another reason to celebrate. This is the first time in 99 years that all four digits of the year change, mathematician Buma Fridman pointed out.

[Inside]