They are the cultural touchstones of every college campus, whether you attend Harvard or Dunkin' Donuts U. They are the music, TV shows, and books that cling to dorm life like stale cigarettes and beer. Welcome to your real college curriculum. -Jeff Gordinier, Nisid Hajari, and Heather Keets music *Legend, Bob Marley & the Wailers The all-purpose soundtrack for partying, studying, or doing the nasty. *Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd Hitch a ride to the center of your mind. *The Violent Femmes, The Violent Femmes ''Add It Up,'' the sexually frustrated rave-up with the infamous line ''Why can't I get just one f -- -?'' cemented this as a party staple back in 1983. *Avalon, Roxy Music The chic aphrodisiac for frat boys. *Back in Black, AC/DC An ageless medley of riff-rock, and the air-guitar companion. Tends to vex women. *Kind of Blue, Miles Davis The hangover album. *Nevermind, Nirvana Think you've heard ''Smells Like Teen Spirit'' a lot already? Just wait until Friday night. *Greatest Hits, James Taylor Must be a giveaway at orientation. How else to explain why every single sorority girl on campus has a copy? *The Four Seasons, Vivaldi The automatic choice for wispy freshmen with visions of Dead Poets Society. Usually replaced with Led Zeppelin II by the end of first semester. Let It Be, The Replacements The Bhagavad Gita for indie-rock guys who work at the college radio station.
BOOKS /
*Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger Want alienation? The line forms here. *Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Hunter S. Thompson What you wish your spring break were like-though, unfortunately, it never will be.
*Beloved, Toni Morrison Sensitive, smart, classy and you'll have to buy it for class anyway. *The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald The real Official Preppy Handbook. *Neuromancer, William Gibson Even science majors have to read something. *The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath By the honorary mother of the Prozac Nation. *The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Malcolm X All the white kids have it. *Backlash, Susan Faludi Perfect for women riding the postfeminist wave and the men who (want to) love them. *The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand Rand's proto-fascist tract on selfishness is 12- step without the stigma. *On Photography, Susan Sontag Everyone owns it. No one knows why.
TELEVISION
*Star Trek Geeks' revenge. *Melrose Place What life would be like if Greek Council ran the world. *Late Show With David Letterman He carved a media empire out of a campus radio show. *The Simpsons The most intellectually engaging show on TV. *The Real World Voyeurism. Cool. *Cheers It's the anti-college bar: Everybody knows your name, there are no puddles of beer on the floor, and you get that Frasier Crane sarcasm to recycle: ''Cliff, tell me: What color is the sky in your world?'' *M*A*S*H Taught us three things about the Korean War: (1) North Korea fought South Korea, and the U.S. sided with the south; (2) M*A*S*H stands for Mobile Army Surgical Hospital; and (3) cross-dressing won't get you a Section 8 discharge. *The Joy of Painting Bob Ross, the white man with the Afro, conveys one of life's most valuable lessons: You can create the illusion of waves simply by using a little titanium white. *Nick at Nite A second chance to watch the shows we were too young to understand the first time around. *Good Times A preteen Janet Jackson and the most soulful theme song (''keeping your head above water '').
