NOTEBOOK : Carrying On a Legacy : A Moorpark College student, who sees peace and harmony as an immediate need, has embarked on eco-friendly pursuits.

Jon Taylor, now a student at Moorpark College, was born as the Age of Aquarius came to a close in the early 1970s.

Psychologists say the first few years of development are the most influential.

That might explain why this child of Aquarius, like many his age, wears tie-dye shirts, torn jeans and a long ponytail.

He is also carrying on the legacy of love and peace.

But unlike his ‘60s counterparts, he doesn’t look at peace and harmony among the races as a long-term ideal. He sees it as an immediate necessity.

“If anything, now is the time that all people should be pulling together to work on saving the environment. It won’t do us any good to segregate and fight,” Taylor said, commenting on the recent racial strife in Los Angeles. “If that is how we use our remaining time, we’ll all end up dead.”

Taylor and his friends dedicate much of their time in eco-friendly pursuits.

For them, it is a way of life that includes recycling and bike riding to conserve natural resources.

Equally important, Taylor said, is getting out and appreciating nature.

Which is why he likes to go rock climbing, where he can “escape into nature, to get out of the concrete jungle and on to some real rocks,” he said.

Rock climbing is steadily gaining more and more adherents from the college crowd.

And now that the movie “K2,” rock climbing’s answer to surfing’s “Endless Summer,” hit the theaters last week, the trend is sure to explode.

Joshua Tree is the favorite spot for a climbing excursion.

Malibu State Park and Stony Point in Chatsworth are local retreats.

And some area students head up to Santa Barbara to exercise at the university’s new wall constructed specifically for rock-climbing practice.

Saving nature: Along with appreciating nature, many local college students are working to save it.

Due to student interest, Cal Lutheran University added an environmental sciences minor to its program this semester.

“As soon as we announced it, we were deluged with students” wanting to join, said Bill Bilodeau, a professor in the program.

At Moorpark College, 20-year-old Brian Cook is one of a growing number of students who have made lifestyle changes as a way of showing greater respect for all of Earth’s inhabitants.

“I don’t think animals should be killed just to make our lives easier,” he said.

Cook has not eaten any meat for six years, he has boycotted anything containing animal byproducts and he won’t wear leather.

As evidenced by his calloused, leather-like feet, he almost never wears any type of shoes.

A few years ago, people may have been surprised by Cook’s lifestyle, “but now more and more people I know are also becoming vegetarians,” he said.

One such convert includes his college buddy, 20-year-old Don Salerno, who, with a Camel cigarette in one hand and Doritos in the other, obviously didn’t kick meat for the health benefits.

Body pollution: While students are worried about polluting the planet, like generations before them, they seem to be less concerned about polluting their own bodies.

Drugs and alcohol are still a big part of campus life.

According to students polled for this article, alcohol is still the drug of choice.

“Drinking is still the most popular substance and probably the most easy to get,” said Jenna Danta, a student at Moorpark College.

“But you can get anything if you look for it.”

For a double whammy, some of the hottest drinks have drug-induced names, such as Russian Quaalude and Liquid Cocaine.

Bruce Hartman, a bartender at the Red Onion in Thousand Oaks, said the most popular drink with the college crowd is Jagermeister, a German liqueur that tastes like cough syrup.

Ultimate dance event: The Red Onion is the happening dance spot for nearby Moorpark and Cal Lutheran students.

But going to a Rave in Los Angeles is the ultimate dance event.

“It’s insane, completely intense, sensual, sexual, throbbing, heart-pounding energy,” was how 18-year-old Sebastian Keith of Ventura College described the experience.

A Rave is often held in a warehouse, some of which can hold up to 5,000 flamboyantly dressed dancers.

Part of the admission price, which runs about $20 to $25 per person, supports elaborate lighting effects and sound systems.

These children of Aquarius are living in the Computer Age so they bop to “techno,” described as “house” with an edge.

“House” is computer-synthesized music mixed with “industrial.”

And “industrial” is synthesized music, with a rock ‘n’ roll base, branded with factory-type sounds of pipes and machinery.

So, in a way, rock ‘n’ roll is here to stay.