[IP] OT: The 2007 Beloit College Mindset List
Begin forwarded message:
From: Richard Forno <rforno@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: August 24, 2005 4:38:06 PM EDT
To: Infowarrior List <infowarrior@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Dave Farber <dave@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: OT: The 2007 Beloit College Mindset List
http://www.beloit.edu/~pubaff/mindset/
In the coming weeks, millions of students will be entering college
for the
first time. On average, these members of the Class of 2009 will be 18
years
old, which means they were born in 1987. Starbucks, souped-up car
stereos,
telephone voicemail systems, and Bill Gates have always been a part
of their
lives.
Each August, as students start to arrive, Beloit College releases the
Beloit
College Mindset List, which offers a world view of today's entering
college
students. It is the creation of Beloit’s Keefer Professor of the
Humanities
Tom McBride and Director of Public Affairs Ron Nief.
McBride, who directs Beloit’s First Year Initiatives (FYI) program for
entering students, notes that "This year’s entering students have
grown up
in a country where the main business has become business, and where
terrorism, from obscure beginnings, has built up slowly but surely to
become
the threat it is today. Cable channels have become as mainstream as
the 'Big
3' used to be, formality in dress has become more quaint than ever, and
Aretha Franklin, Kermit the Frog and Jimmy Carter have become old-
timers."
“Each year,” according to Nief, “When Beloit releases the Mindset
List, it
is the birth year of the entering students that is the most
disturbing fact
for most readers. This year will come as no exception and, once
again, the
faculty will remain the same age as the students get younger.”
The list is distributed to faculty on campus during the New Students
Days
orientation. According to McBride, “It is an important reminder, as
faculty
start to show signs of ‘hardening of the references,’ that we think
about
the touchstones and benchmarks of a generation that has grown up with
CNN,
home computers, AIDS awareness, digital cameras and the Bush political
dynasty. We should also keep in mind that these students missed out
on the
pleasures of being tossed in the back of a station wagon with a bunch of
friends and told to keep the noise down, walking in the woods without
fearing Lyme Disease, or setting out to try all of the 28 ice cream
flavors
at Howard Johnson’s.”
According to Nief, “This is not serious in-depth research. It is
meant to be
thought-provoking and fun, yet accurate. It is as relevant as possible,
given the broad social and geographic diversity of our students, who are
drawn from every state and 50 countries. It is always open to challenge,
which has an additional benefit in that it reminds us of students’
varied
backgrounds. It is still a good reflection of the attitudes and
experiences
of the young people that we must be aware of from the first day of their
college experience.”
BELOIT COLLEGE'S MINDSET LIST®
FOR THE CLASS OF 2009
Most students entering college this fall were born in 1987.
1. Andy Warhol, Liberace, Jackie Gleason, and Lee Marvin have always
been dead.
2. They don't remember when "cut and paste" involved scissors.
3. Heart-lung transplants have always been possible.
4. Wayne Gretzky never played for Edmonton.
5. Boston has been working on the "The Big Dig" all their lives.
6. With little need to practice, most of them do not know how to
tie a
tie.
7. Pay-Per-View television has always been an option.
8. They never had the fun of being thrown into the back of a station
wagon with six others.
9. Iran and Iraq have never been at war with each other.
10. They are more familiar with Greg Gumbel than with Bryant Gumbel.
11. Philip Morris has always owned Kraft Foods.
12. Al-Qaida has always existed with Osama bin Laden at its head.
13. They learned to count with Lotus 1-2-3.
14. Car stereos have always rivaled home component systems.
15. Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Bakker have never preached on television.
16. Voice mail has always been available.
17. "Whatever" is not part of a question but an expression of sullen
rebuke.
18. The federal budget has always been more than a trillion dollars.
19. Condoms have always been advertised on television.
20. They may have fallen asleep playing with their Gameboys in the
crib.
21. They have always had the right to burn the flag.
22. For daily caffeine emergencies, Starbucks has always been
around the
corner.
23. Ferdinand Marcos has never been in charge of the Philippines.
24. Money put in their savings account the year they were born
earned
almost 7% interest.
25. Bill Gates has always been worth at least a billion dollars.
26. Dirty dancing has always been acceptable.
27. Southern fried chicken, prepared with a blend of 11 herbs and
spices, has always been available in China.
28. Michael Jackson has always been bad, and greed has always
been good.
29. The Starship Enterprise has always looked dated.
30. Pixar has always existed.
31. There has never been a "fairness doctrine" at the FCC.
32. Judicial appointments routinely have been "Borked."
33. Aretha Franklin has always been in the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame.
34. There have always been zebra mussels in the Great Lakes.
35. Police have always been able to search garbage without a search
warrant.
36. It has always been possible to walk from England to mainland
Europe
on dry land.
37. They have grown up in a single superpower world.
38. They missed the oat bran diet craze.
39. American Motors has never existed.
40. Scientists have always been able to see supernovas.
41. Les Miserables has always been on stage.
42. Halogen lights have always been available at home, with a
warning.
43. "Baby M" may be a classmate, and contracts with surrogate
mothers
have always been legal.
44. RU486, the "morning after pill," has always been on the market.
45. There has always been a pyramid in front of the Louvre in Paris.
46. British Airways has always been privately owned.
47. Irradiated food has always been available but controversial.
48. Snowboarding has always been a popular winter pastime.
49. Libraries have always been the best centers for computer
technology
and access to good software.
50. Biosphere 2 has always been trying to create a revolution in the
life sciences.
51. The Hubble Telescope has always been focused on new frontiers.
52. Researchers have always been looking for stem cells.
53. They do not remember "a kinder and gentler nation."
54. They never saw the shuttle Challenger fly.
55. The TV networks have always had cable partners.
56. Airports have always had upscale shops and restaurants.
57. Black Americans have always been known as African-Americans.
58. They never saw Pat Sajak or Arsenio Hall host a late night
television show.
59. Matt Groening has always had a Life in Hell.
60. Salman Rushdie has always been watching over his shoulder.
61. Digital cameras have always existed.
62. Tom Landry never coached the Cowboys.
63. Time Life and Warner Communications have always been joined.
64. CNBC has always been on the air.
65. The Field of Dreams has always been drawing people to Iowa.
66. They never saw a Howard Johnson's with 28 ice cream flavors.
67. Reindeer at Christmas have always distinguished between
secular and
religious decorations.
68. Entertainment Weekly has always been on the newsstand.
69. Lyme Disease has always been a ticking concern in the woods.
70. Jimmy Carter has always been an elder statesman.
71. Miss Piggy and Kermit have always dwelt in Disneyland.
72. America's Funniest Home Videos has always been on television.
73. Their nervous new parents heard C. Everett Koop proclaim
nicotine as
addictive as heroin.
74. Lever has always been looking for 2000 parts to clean.
75. They have always been challenged to distinguish between news and
entertainment on cable TV.
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