It's a dilemma that rolls around once a century, less frequently than a visit by Halley's comet or a Boston Red Sox victory in the World Series.
And at one of the nation's most prestigious institutions of higher learning, the question has left administrators, faculty and students scratching their respective heads.
For years, it has been easy. Maybe too easy. The " '73s," the " '88s," the " '99s." The names just roll off the tongue.
But what to do about the Class of 2000? Does Dartmouth call them the "zeroes?" How about the "aughts?" What about the altogether unfortunate moniker -- the "nothings?"
Will these unlucky people really have to run around the bonfire 100 times at next year's Homecoming? Or will they have to run around it all of ... zero times? Will they really have to wear class t-shirts bearing two large zeroes? What could this do to a fragile freshman's self-esteem?
Without the help of an "Ad Hoc Committee to Evaluate the Proper and Sympathetic Name for the Incoming Freshman Class," the College has been trying to settle an issue it has confronted only twice in its 226-year history.
Dean of Freshmen Peter Goldsmith said consideration of an appropriate name for the Class of 2000 has already demanded much thought from College administrators.
But still the issue has not been resolved.
The College currently plans to call next year's incoming freshman class the "Class of 2000" and students' names will be followed by two zeroes, College spokesman Roland Adams said.
But Adams added, "No one has officially named the class."
In fact, administrators may let members of the Class of 2000 name themselves, after a 32-member committee that oversees the College's official style could not decide on a name at a meeting this summer.
Sheree McCleary, the editor of Vox magazine, said the subject was "batted around quite a bit last summer when we were doing the style issue, but no conclusion was reached."
McCleary heads the Dartmouth Style Manual Committee, which was formed in 1990 to "create a set of guidelines on style, spelling and usage" for College publications, according to the Dartmouth Style Manual.
"We decided to let the class decide," McCleary said. "We were not sure who should make the decision."
According to the manual, at the time of publication, the committee had discussed a variety of references to the next decade but was unable to reach a consensus on the matter.
The manual offers several possibilities including the "double aughts," the "aughties," the "naughts" and the "first decade."
The Dartmouth Style Manual Committee is not empowered to make mandates but can only make recommendations, McCleary said.
An informal survey conducted by the committee last summer placed the aughts at the top of the list, according to McCleary.
The 'zeroes' have it?
A random survey of 20 students by The Dartmouth yesterday placed the "zeroes," with eight votes, as students' first choice.
It was closely followed by the "2000s," which had seven votes.
The "aughts" and the "nothings" had two votes each, and the "double zeroes" received only a single vote.
Goldsmith said he thinks the Class of 1900 was nicknamed the "aughty aughts."
According to past issues of The Dartmouth and College correspondence to the Class of 1900, the class was referred to simply as the "1900s."
Their class song states: "three cheers for nineteen hundred -- Hooray, Hooray! We'll turn this town upside down before we go away."
An apostrophe and two zeros followed students' names to designate the year 1900.
