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Jacksonville, Alabama
 

Beloit College Releases 'Mind-Set List' for Class of 2007


By KELLIE BARTLETT

September 5, 2003 -- Most students entering college this fall were born in 1985. To help faculty members understand and overcome the cultural-reference gap between those students and themselves, Beloit College has released its sixth annual "Mind-Set List."

The list helps counteract "hardening of the references," says Tom McBride, a humanities professor at the college and co-editor of the list.

Following is this year's list:
  • Ricky Nelson, Richard Burton, Samantha Smith, Laura Ashley, Orson Welles, Karen Ann Quinlan, Benigno Aquino, and the U.S. Football League have always been dead.
  • They are not familiar with the source of that "giant sucking sound."
  • Iraq has always been a problem.
  • "Ctrl + Alt + Del" is as basic as "ABC."
  • Paul Newman has always made salad dressing.
  • Pete Rose has always been a gambler.
  • Bert and Ernie are old enough to be their parents.
  • An automatic is a weapon, not a transmission.
  • Russian leaders have always looked like leaders everyplace else.
  • The snail darter has never been endangered.
  • There has always been a screening test for AIDS.
  • Gas has always been unleaded.
  • They never heard Howard Cosell call a game on ABC.
  • The United States has always had a poet laureate.
  • Garrison Keillor has always been live on public radio, and Lawrence Welk has always been dead on public television.
  • Their families drove SUV's without "being fuelish."
  • There has always been some association between fried eggs and your brain.
  • They would never leave their calling card on someone's desk.
  • They have never been able to find the "return" key.
  • Computers have always fit in their backpacks.
  • Datsuns have never been made.
  • They have never gotten excited over a telegram, a long-distance call, or a fax.
  • The Osmonds are just talk-show hosts.
  • Underclassmen who would be leaving college early have always been a part of the NBA and NFL drafts.
  • They have always "grazed" for food.
  • Three-point shots from "downtown" have always been a part of basketball.
  • Test-tube babies are now having their own babies.
  • Stores have always had scanners at the checkout.
  • The Army has always driven Humvees.
  • Adam and PC Junior computers had vanished from the market before this generation went online.
  • The Statue of Liberty has always had a gleaming torch.
  • They have always had a personal-identification number.
  • Banana Republic has always been a store, not a puppet government in Latin America.
  • Car detailing has always been available.
  • Directory assistance has never been free.
  • The Jaycees have always welcomed women as members.
  • There has always been Lean Cuisine.
  • They have always been able to fly Virgin Atlantic.
  • There have never been dress codes in restaurants.
  • Doctors have always had to deal with "reasonable and customary fees," and patients have always had controls placed on the number of days they could stay in a hospital.
  • They have always been able to make photocopies at home.
  • Michael Eisner has always been in charge of Disney.
  • They have always been able to make telephone calls from airplanes.
  • Yuppies are almost as old as hippies.
  • Rupert Murdoch has always been an American citizen.
  • Strawberry Fields has always been in New York.
  • Rock 'n' roll has always been a force for social good.
  • Killer bees have always been swarming in the United States.
  • They have never seen a first lady in a fur coat.
  • Don Imus has always been offending someone in his national audience.
Beloit also issued a short list that describes, from the entering students' perspective, what sets them apart from most of their instructors:
  • For many of them today, it's all about the "bling bling."
  • They know who the "heroes in a half-shell" are.
  • Peeps are not a candy; they are your friends.
  • They have been "dissing" and "burning" things all their lives.
  • They can expect to get a ticket for "ricing out their wheels."
  • They knew how to pop a Popple and trade a Pog.
  • They can still sing the rap chorus to the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and the theme song from Duck Tales.



 


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