By Brett Mejia ’13
THE ROUNDUP

The current generation is at the tail end of its time span and has been distinguished as an Internet and technology generation for sophisticated products and wondrous discoveries.

There is a discrepancy about what the current generation’s title should be, Generation Y or Generation Z.

They intermix as Generation Y began about 1980 and lasted until 1995 while Generation Z began about 1994 and will end around 2011.

Technology such as laptops, portable mp3s, smartphones, touchscreens, portable gaming and social networking like YouTube and Facebook has become the face of Generation Z.

“I think that social networking and YouTube are definitely the most important parts of our generation,” said Joe Kimbuende ’13.

Generation Z can also be remembered as two decades filled with disasters and economic problems.

For the United States it started in 2001.

“9/11 was the most important (occurrence) because it made the fact that terrorist plots were urgent for world governing and created a shift of authority away from the U.S. public and the federal government,” said Conner Martinez ’13.

This cataclysmic event ended with nearly 3,000 deaths and the launching of the War on Terror campaign by President George W. Bush.

“Sept. 11, 2001 was the most significant event that happened in the lives of an America because of all the tragedy and hate that came after it,” said Nathan Rubin ’13. “Then on a more recent note Japan’s earthquake and tsunami has also been really big.”

On Feb. 1, 2003, Space Shuttle Columbia exploded upon reentry, killing all seven crew members aboard.

Also in 2003, the United States invaded Iraq and thus began the start of the Iraq War which has lasted more than eight years.

At the end of in 2004, Sri Lanka experienced a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami that killed tens of thousands of people and left 2.5 million people displaced creating the worst human disaster to occur in Sri Lanka, according to Lankalibrary.com.

Heading into 2005, New Orleans was hit with a detrimental hurricane that killed nearly 2,000 people and caused $81.2 billion in damages, according to the Hurricane Katrina Fact Sheet.

In 2010 a 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit Haiti and caused more than 100,000 deaths and thousands more injured, according to CNN.com

Recently on March 11, 2011 a 8.9 magnitude earthquake and a tsunami that contained 30 foot waves erupted in Japan causing more than 10,000 deaths, according to The New York Times.

Now that Generation Z has come to an end, it will make room for the next generation and new defining moments.