Beer dethroned as No. 1

Here's some good news for parents of college undergraduates: For only the second time in 18 years, beer was not rated the most "in" thing on campus by students polled by the Student Monitor market research firm. The honor this year went to the iPod music player, deemed "in" by 73 percent of the 1,200 college students surveyed.
That's not to say beer's popularity has plummeted, however. Seventy-one percent of those polled said beer was "in. " Beer was tied for second with Facebook.com, a social networking Web site.
The only other year beer didn't finish first was 1997, when it was edged out by the Internet. If the survey had been taken in ancient Babylonia, beer probably would have been number 1 then, too. Recipes for it were written on clay tablets dating to 4,300 B.C. Noah brought beer on the ark with him. And the ancient Chinese, Egyptians and Assyrians all liked popping back long-necks.
iPod No. 1? Not for long, we suspect. Fads come and go. Beer, for better or worse, is here to stay.