| Beloit Mindset List
Posted: 8/19/2008 5:45:43 PM | From http://www.beloit.edu/mindset
Each August for the past 11 years, Beloit College in Beloit, Wis., has released the Beloit College Mindset List. It provides a look at the cultural touchstones that shape the lives of students entering college. It is the creation of Beloit’s Keefer Professor of the Humanities Tom McBride and Public Affairs Director Ron Nief. The List is shared with faculty and with thousands who request it each year as the school year begins, as a reminder of the rapidly changing frame of reference for this new generation.
I picked a few to place here, comments?
Class of 2012
GPS satellite navigation systems have always been available.
Gas stations have never fixed flats, but most serve cappuccino.
Universal Studios has always offered an alternative to Mickey in Orlando.
WWW has never stood for World Wide Wrestling.
IBM has never made typewriters.
The Tonight Show has always been hosted by Jay Leno and started at 11:35 EST.
Lenin’s name has never been on a major city in Russia.
Soft drink refills have always been free.
Class of 2011
They never “rolled down” a car window.
Pete Rose has never played baseball.
Rap music has always been mainstream.
Wal-Mart has always been a larger retailer than Sears and has always employed more workers than GM.
Stadiums, rock tours and sporting events have always had corporate names.
Fox has always been a major network.
MTV has never featured music videos.
Class of 2010
The Soviet Union has never existed and therefore is about as scary as the student union.
There has always been only one Germany.
Carbon copies are oddities found in their grandparents' attics.
They never played the game of state license plates in the car.
They grew up with virtual pets to feed, water, and play games with, lest they die.
Class of 2009
They don't remember when "cut and paste" involved scissors.
American Motors has never existed.
Class of 2008
"Here's Johnny!" is a scary greeting from Jack Nicholson, not a warm welcome from Ed McMahon.
Photographs have always been processed in an hour or less.
There have always been night games at Wrigley Field.
Network television has always struggled to keep up with cable.
Class 0f 2007
Paul Newman has always made salad dressing.
An automatic is a weapon, not a transmission.
Computers have always fit in their backpacks.
Class of 2006
Cars have always had eye-level rear stop lights, CD players, and air bags.
We have always been able to choose our long distance carriers.
The "Fab Four" are not a male rock group, but four women enjoying Sex and the City.
A "hotline" is a consumer service rather than a phone used to avoid accidental nuclear war.
Class of 2005
One earring on a man indicates that he is probably pretty conservative.
Volkswagen beetles have always had engines in the front.
Beta is a preview version of software, not a VCR format.
Class of 2004
A "45" is a gun, not a record with a large hole in the center.
They have no clue what the Beach Boys were talking about when they sang about a 409, and the Little Deuce Coupe.
Watergate is as relevant to their lives as the Teapot Dome scandal.
Women sailors have always been stationed on U.S. Navy ships.
Hurricanes have always had men's and women's names.
They feel more danger from having sex and being in school, than from possible nuclear war.
"Coming out" parties celebrate more than debutantes.
Class of 2003
Travel to space has always been accomplished in reusable spacecraft.
They have no idea how big a breadbox is.
President Kennedy's assassination is as significant to them as that of Lincoln or Garfield.
Class of 2002
Black Monday 1987 is as significant to them as the Great Depression.
Star Wars looks very fake to them, and the special effects are pathetic.
Roller-skating has always meant in-line for them.
Popcorn has always been cooked in the microwave.
The Vietnam War is as ancient history to them as WWI and WWII or even the Civil War.
They can't imagine what hard contact lenses are. | |
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