The worldview of the class of 2005
The "Mindset List for First-Year Students in the Class of 2005" was written by professors at Beloit College in Wisconsin to help faculty and staff at the 155-year-old liberal arts college adjust to their new crop of students. Here are some excerpts:
* Most students starting college this fall were born in 1983.
* The New Kids on the Block are over the hill.
* They want to be PHAT but not fat.
* Thongs no longer come in pairs and slide between the toes.
* God has never been a "he" in most churches.
* Hard copy has nothing to do with a TV show; a browser is not someone relaxing in a bookstore; and a mouse is not a rodent.
* Recording TV programs on VCRs became legal the year they were born.
* There has always been Diet Coke.
* Artificial hearts have always been ticking.
* The Social Security system has always been on the brink.
* The Colts have always been in Indianapolis.
* There have always been warnings about second-hand smoke.
* They have never experienced a real recession.
* A hacker is not just a kid who won't stop fooling around.
* They were born the same year as the PC and the Mac.
* The US Senate has always had a daycare program.
* One earring on a man indicates that he is probably pretty conservative.
* CDs have always been labeled for explicit content.
* Lethal Weapon in one form or another has always been "at the movies."
* Sarajevo was a war zone, not an Olympic host.
* They don't remember Janet Jackson when she was cute and chubby.
* Drug testing of athletes has always been routine.
* There has always been a hole in the ozone layer.
* They have always used e-mail.
* The precise location of the Titanic has always been known.
* Jimmy Hoffa has always been officially dead.
* Cal Ripken has always been playing baseball.
* Volkswagen beetles have always had engines in the front.
* They have probably never used carbon paper and do not know what "cc" and "bcc" mean.
* Lasers have always been marketed as toys.
* Major newspapers have always been printed in color.
* Beta is a preview version of software, not a VCR format.
* They have never known exactly what to call the rock star formerly and presently known as Prince.
* They are the first generation to prefer tanning indoors.
* "Survivor" is a TV show, not a rock group.
* They have heard "just say no" since they were toddlers.
* Most of them know someone born with the help of a test tube.
* It has paid to "Discover" since they were four.
* Oprah has always been a national institution.
