The Decade in Review
The following article was featured in the December 2019 edition of The Campus.
We did it. 2010 – 2019, another decade down. The Earth has revolved around the Sun ten times since The Campus’ last Decade in Review. We are thrilled that you are here to close the decade with us. The following is a reflection of this decade in everything from the top news stories, biggest movements, best music/movies/television, innovative tech, fashion trends. Here, we have the good and the bad, but all is important to look back on and remember.
YOUR DECADE IN REVIEW
Your heart beat an average of 420 million times. You inhaled and exhaled over 62,084,000 times. You farted over 47,476 times this decade. You walked. You talked. You smiled. You laughed. You cried. You faced stress. You faced sadness. You rode the subway - a lot. If you are an undergraduate student, you graduated high school. ConGRADuations! According to City Facts and U.S. News, the CCNY undergraduate student population increased from 9,290 to 16,227 this decade. We all started our undergraduate, graduate, or faculty life at CCNY. You are reading this now because of the decisions you made this decade. Thank you for being here.
Biggest News Stories of The Decade
By Clark Adomaitis and Brahmjot Kaur
2010
January 12: Earthquake in Haiti
January 21: Supreme Court rules in favor of CitizensUnited in Citizens United vs. FEC (means that corporations have theright to spend money to influence political campaigns by ruling that it fallsunder the First Amendment right as freedom in political speech.
March 23: signed Obamacare (The Affordable Care Act)into law
April 20: BP Oil Spill
August 5: 33 miners in Chile were trapped in a goldmine (all were rescued by the Chilean government on October 13)
2011
March 11: Tsunami in Japan (nearly 22,000 dead and2,500 missing)
May 2: Osama bin Laden was assassinated
July 5: Casey Anthony was found not guilty in themurder of her daughter, Caylee Anthony (this whole case was wild and Timemagazine considered it “the social media trial of the century”)
September 17: Occupy Wall Street forms againsteconomic inequality
October 5: The death of Steve Jobs
November 4: Jerry Sandusky was indicted on sex-abusecharges
December 17: North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il, KimJong-un’s father, and predecessor, dies
2012
February 26: The murder of Trayvon Martin
June 28: The Supreme Court upheld the Affordable CareAct
July 20: The mass shooting in Aurora, CO at a movietheater
October 29: Hurricane Sandy
November 6: 2012 elections (Obama beat Mitt Romney)
December 14: The mass shooting at Sandy HookElementary School in Newtown, CT (27 deaths plus the death of the perpetrator)
2013
April 15: Boston Marathon Bombing
June 6: The Guardian and the Washington Post brokestories about the extreme surveillance by the United States National SecurityAgency (NSA) in arguably the most intense leak of classified information
June 26: Legalization of same-sex marriage
July 13: George Zimmerman, the murderer of TrayvonMartin, was acquitted
2014
March 23: Ebola Outbreak
July 14: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (From Amsterdamto Kuala Lumpur) was shot down around Eastern Ukraine
July 17: Death of Eric Garner
August 9: Death of Mike Brown sparking the FergusonRiots and the Black Lives Matter movement
August 11: The death of Robin Williams
November 10: Fresh rape allegations against Bill Cosby
2015
January 7: Charlie Hebdo Paris Attack
February 26: The infamous blue and black or white andgold dress picture went viral and people disagreed which it was
April 12: Baltimore riots after the death of FreddieGray, a 25-year-old black man from Baltimore, MD
April 25: 7.8-magnitude earthquake and 6.6-magnitudeaftershock in Nepal leaving $10 billion USD in damages
August 26: The on-air shooting/murder of Alison Parkerand Adam Ward
September 22: Pope Francis visits the US for the firsttime
November 13: Terror attacks in Paris that left 130people dead
2016
January 16: President Obama declares a state of emergencyfor Flint, MI because of their water crisis
January 29: Zika virus has been spreading through late2015 in Brazil and made news since the Olympics were to be held in Rio deJaneiro
February 13: Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia diesat 79
March 14: Rape case of Brock Turner, rapist fromStanford University
May 27: Obama is the first president to visitHiroshima, Japan
June 23: The UK holds a referendum on whether theyshould leave the European Union. They do and #Brexit is born
July 6: Pokémon Go is launched
July 25: FBI investigates a hack involving the DNCemails
July 28: Hillary Clinton is the first woman to be apresidential nominee
August 5: 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janerio,Brazil
September 1: Colin Kaepernick takes a knee during thenational anthem
September 4: Mother Teresa becomes a saint
November 8: Donald J. Trump is elected president ofthe United States
2017
January 21: Women’s March 2017 happens worldwide andbecame the largest single-protest in US history
January 27: Trump orders Executive Order 13769, alsoknown as the travel ban, also known as the Muslim ban
May 17: Special Counsel investigation into Russianinterference in the 2016 elections conducted by Robert Mueller
August 11-12: Charlottesville Riots (Unite the Right-a white supremacist rally) where counterprotester, Heather Heyer was killed bya deliberate hit from a car
Early October: The New York Times and the New Yorkerreported several women accused Harvey Weinstein of rape, sexual assault, andsexual abuse over at least 30 years. This brought the #MeToo movement to anational and international platform
October 31: Man in downtown Manhattan drove his vaninto a crowd of people killing 8 people and injuring at least 11 others
Hurricane season was brutal this year with HurricanesHarvey, Irma, and Maria
2018
January 1: California legalizes weed
March 24: March for Our Lives- a protest in support ofgun violence prevention legislation in Washington DC with over 880 similarprotests throughout the country and world
April 11: Mark Zuckerberg testifies in front ofCongress over Facebook’s data breaches
June 26: Trump administration was ordered to reunifyfamilies separated due to the administration’s family separation policy duringimmigration
September 27: The Kavanaugh hearings occur after Dr.Christine Blasey Ford accused Bret Kavanaugh of sexual assault
November 7: Democrats regain control of the House ofRepresentatives
November 21: California is on fire due to a number offorest fires
November 30: George Bush Sr. dies
2019
March 10: Ethiopian Airlines plane crashes and killsall 157 onboard
April 15: Fire at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris,France
April 21: Serial bomb blasts in Colombo, Sri Lankakilling more than 250 and injuring hundreds
May 17: Taiwan becomes the FIRST Asian country tolegalize same-sex marriage
June 9: Hong Kong protests begin after a proposelegislation would allow the extradition of people to mainland China to standtrial
June 26: The first 2020 Democratic Debate occurs,kicking off the race to the white house for Democratic hopefuls
July 7: The US Women’s National Soccer Team wins theWorld Cup for another consecutive title right before the team files a lawsuitagainst U.S. Soccer due to lack of equal pay
July 14: Power outage in New York City left 70,000homes without electricity and dozens stranded in subways and elevators
August 3: A gunman killed 20 people and injured 26 ina Walmart in El Paso, TX. Not even 13 hours later, another gunman opened firein a bar in Dayton, OH, killing 9 and injuring 27 more
August 10: Jeffrey Epstein is found dead by apparentsuicide in his prison cell
September 20: After a joke event started on Facebook,UFO and alien enthusiasts “storm” Area 51
September 25: A whistleblower in the Trumpadministration released call information between President Trump and PresidentVolodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine back in July beginning the inquiry for Trump’simpeachment
October 13: President Trump withdraws US troops fromthe Syrian border with Turkey, leaving longtime allies, the Kurds, vulnerableto an invasion by Turkey
October 26-27: Back to back shootings occur, one atTexas A&M and another in Long Beach, CA
November 13: The House of Representatives begins live, televised hearings into the impeachment inquiry of President Trump
List of the Deadliest Mass Shootings
By Brahmjot Kaur
The following is a list of the deadliest mass shootings in history, which all happen to be in this decade. This is only a small list of the worst (in chronological order) and does not include the countless other tragedies that occurred in the 2010s.
- July 20, 2012 - Aurora, CO (movie theater) death toll: 12 injured: 70
- August 5, 2012- Oak Creek, WI (Gurdwara- Sikh Temple) death toll: 7 injured: 4
- December 14, 2012- Newtown, CT (Sandy Hook Elementary School) death toll: 28 injured: 2
- September 16, 2013- Washington D.C. (Washington Navy Yard) death toll: 13 injured: 8
- June 17, 2015- Charleston, SC (The Charleston Church) death toll: 9
- December 2, 2015- San Bernardino, CA (Inland Regional Center) death toll: k
- July 12, 2016- Orlando, FL (Pulse Nightclub) becomes the deadliest shooting in American history just 4 years after Sandy Hook which previously held the title death toll: 49 injured: over 50
- October 1, 2017- Las Vegas, NV (Route 91 Harvest music festival) becomes the deadliest mass shooting in US history death toll: 58 injured 527
- February 14, 2018- Parkland, FL (Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School) death toll: 17 injured: 17
- November 7, 2018- Thousand Oaks, CA (Borderline Bar and Grill) death toll: 13 injured 10-12
- March 17, 2019- Christchurch, NZ (The Christchurch Mosque) death toll: 51 injured: 49
Technology in Review
By Clark Adomaitis
Technology weaved its way into our daily lives this decade. We have the world in our pockets with smartphones and their use of 4G LTE networks. Portable technology rose this decade with increased use of laptops, tablets, and more incredible smart phones. According to Reuters, streaming has become the music industry’s largest source of revenue with services like Spotify and Apple Music. Video streaming services soared this decade, first with Netflix and Hulu, and now with new streaming services like Disney+, AppleTV, and many more. These sites have created a culture of binge-watching our favorite shows. With Amazon, you can order almost anything you could ever want and it can be at your doorstep in a day. With Uber, anyone can get a ride anywhere without having cash and without having to speak to the driver. Social Media sites such as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, allow us to share any piece of media we want with anyone in the world. One of the most popular types of content that is shared on social media sites are memes. Memes spread ideas in a comedic way. Even though they were birthed this decade, they are already being used in advertisements.
Fashion in Review
By Jada Gordon
The 2010’s offered us some interesting fashion trendsthat have defined the decade. We’ve loved, loathed, and tolerated many fashionsthat have come and gone. History has repeated and reinvented itself in thecourse of the decade and it has been a wild ride watching these trends rise andfall.
Branded Footwear: Throughout the 2010’s, brandedfootwear has emerged and become synonymous with specific looks, styles, andaesthetics.
High Waisted Jeans: Unlike the previous decade thatreveled in everything low rise, the 2010’s took the style in a differentdirection. High waisted jeans have become a definite staple of the decade. Thegreat thing about high waisted jeans is that they complement different bodytypes and with a good crop top it makes for a perfect outfit.
Minimalism/Athleisure: This fashion trend has taken on many forms, one of the most popular being Normcore, which is a unisex fashion trend that is defined by normal-looking, unpretentious clothing.
POP CULTURE OF THE DECADE
Music in Review
By Clark Adomaitis
In the 2010s, Hip-hop became the most popular genre beating Rock ‘n’ Roll and Pop music. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye West and To Pimp A Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar are considered the top two greatest rap albums of the decade by Genius, Paste, and The Fresh Committee, and were named in the top five by Consequence of Sound, DJ Booth, and ATL Vibes. Mumble rap was pioneered by artists like Young Thug and Future. This new, fun, ignorant style of rap gave youngsters such as Juice WRLD and Lil Pump pathways to fame. Another reason musical oddballs were given opportunities was because of laptops’ ability to have music recorded and produced on them. One musician who took advantage of DIY music was Tyler, the Creator. Over the course of the five self-produced albums he released this decade, he showed his maturation from rowdy teenager maniac to mastermind producer. Drake maintained his status as the most popular Hip-Hop/R ‘n’ B crossover musician. In electronic dance music, Avicii, Skrillex, Steve Aoki, and the Chainsmokers created anthems that guided a generation of partiers to ecstasy. Pop stars such as Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, and Ed Sheeran were chart-toppers throughout the decade.
Sports in Review
By Clark Adomaitis
Professional New York teams saw one championship win this decade. The Giants won the Super Bowl in 2012. The Rangers made it to the Stanley Cup in 2014, and the Mets made it to the World Series in 2015. There was no New York team that made it to the NBA Championships this decade. Let us hope for a more eventful 2020s in New York sports.
Favorite TV Shows
ByBrahmjot Kaur
The Walking Dead (2010)
Game of Thrones (2011)
Veep (2012) - Julia Louis-Dreyfus won “six consecutive Primetime Emmy Awards forOutstanding LeadActress in a Comedy Series from 2012–2017.”
Rick and Morty (2013)
Broad City (2014)
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2015)
Atlanta (2016)
Little Big Lies (2017) - Based on a novel, it is a mini-series that became asuccessful HBO show starring big Hollywood names like Reese Witherspoon,Shailene Woodley, Zoe Kravitz, Nicole Kidman, and Laura Dern.
Queer Eye (2018)
Favorite Movies
byBrahmjot Kaur
The Social Network (2010) - important especially in today’s context. It was wayahead of its time, and definitely my favorite of the decade.
Django Unchained (2011)
21 Jump Street (2012) - a hilarious movie that to this day people makereferences to.
The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
Interstellar (2014)
Jurassic World (2015) - top-grossing film of 2015.
Moonlight (2016) - won an Oscar for best picture.
Get Out (2017)
Black Panther (2018) - finally a black superhero movie!
Joker (2019)
