The American Literature Association has announced today that the title of George Orwell's "1984" will be officially changed to "2034" in order to convince more young people of the threat of a totalitarian government. "Kids today don't really get the impact of Orwell's dystopian masterpiece because it was set more than twenty years ago," says Clint Wordsmith, the PR director for the ALA. "If it was set in the near future, kids may be more convinced of the dangers that Orwell warns of."

In order to preserve the impact of the change, the ALA will be recalling all existing copies of "1984" and replacing them with new "2034" versions. "We feel that if there are still versions of '1984' out there, it will undermine what we are trying to accomplish with this change," says Wordsmith, who is working with the National Historical society to officially change George Orwell's birth and death date to correspond with the new 1999 publishing date. "We want people to think that it has always been '2034', and the days of '1984' will be forgotten."

Wordsmith admits that this change wasn't his idea, but rather came from his older brother, Brad. "He's alway's been watching me, making sure I always do the right things. He's really a godsend, I think everybody could use a big brother like him."