Daniel Scarpinato Columnist

One of the most notable events in American history happened 40 years ago this month. However, for those of us in our 20s, Nov. 22 will slip by without much thought.

The sudden assassination of the legendary president John F. Kennedy on a sunny day in Dallas rocked the country - or as some might argue, the world. It's forgettable for college students, as our only understanding of it is from high school textbooks, and our vision of the Kennedy legacy is limited to gossip in People and US magazines. Nevertheless, the assassination is embedded in the minds of the generations before us.

Unless you catch a special on one of the cable news networks, the four-decade anniversary will pass like any other day. And even then, how could we relate anyway?

For our generation, the Kennedy assassination doesn't mean much. Sure, we've heard our parents all tell us where they were when they first found out the president was shot, but aside from that, we don't understand the impact his murder had on the country.

Although it's hard to comprehend, the assassination of one single man stopped the country in its tracks much like the events of Sept. 11 paused all of our lives just two years ago.

Last week, I had the opportunity to visit the very spot in Dallas where Kennedy was shot in 1963. I drove on the street where his motorcade was struck. I walked on the grassy knoll where a suspected second shooter hid. I stood just feet from the sixth floor window where someone - maybe Lee Harvey Oswald - fired a rifle at Kennedy from inside the School Book Depository.

Now I'm not a big Kennedy family groupie. So my understanding of Kennedy and the assassination was rather limited.

But the eerie quality of Dealey Plaza, the site of the event that has been preserved exactly the way it looked 40 years ago, haunted me - partly because of the fantastic amount of history that exists in that one single spot, but mostly for the incredible mystery about what really happened that day that lingers on that street in Dallas.

Who really killed Kennedy, and why was the government so secretive in its investigation?

Until one is immersed in the events of the assassination, there is no way to conceptualize why the situation is billed as something that changed the world forever. In reality, it probably didn't change the world or the country forever, just as Sept. 11's true impact on our daily lives in 2003 is rather limited.

Despite the way history remembers him, Kennedy was not the most popular president. He was not the most effective. And he wasn't even as young and vital as the media portrayed him.

But Kennedy was a master communicator; he was an effective politician, he struck a cord with America and he satisfied an American desire for a sophisticated, masterful statesman.

Until one is immersed in the events of the assassination, there is no way to conceptualize why the situation is billed as something that changed the world forever.

The people who loved him - the youth of 1960 - are now the people writing the textbooks and telling the stories.

Not only is our understanding of Kennedy's death limited, the baby boomer generation's obsession with his life is also hard for us to understand. There has yet to be a captivating political figure able to seduce our generation.

Nov. 22 is an opportunity for younger people to discover Kennedy with all his good and bad traits. And it's also a chance to try and understand the impact his assassination had on a nation.

For our parents, professors and friends over 50, the 40th anniversary will be a therapeutic experience.

The day is one they will never forget, its impact paramount to their understanding of the world.

We'll try to understand, but can't - just like our children will never understand why we'll always cry when we see footage from Sept. 11.

Daniel Scarpinato is a journalism and political science senior. He can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu.