Diveristy Facts: February 2005

...and they never dialed a telephone

Each year, the staff at Beloit College in Wisconsin puts together a list to give the faculty a sense of the mindset of that year's incoming freshman. This list was compiled over two years:

• John Lennon and John Belushi have always been dead.
• The Tonight Show has always starred Jay Leno.
• There has always been a woman on the Supreme Court, and women have always been traveling in space.
• Black Monday 1987 is as significant to them as the Great Depression.
• There has been only one pope.
• They have never feared a nuclear war. The Day After is a pill to them, not a movie.
• They are too young to remember the space shuttle blowing up, and Tiananmen Square means nothing to them.
• They have no idea what a pull-top can looks like.
• The only thing a churchkey has ever opened is a church.
• Atari pre-dates them, as do vinyl albums.
• The expression "you sound like a broken record" means nothing to them, and they have never owned a record player.
• They have likely never played Pac-Man and have never heard of Pong.
• A CD is a compact disc, not a certificate of deposit. The compact disc was introduced before they were born.
• Most have never seen a TV set that only goes up to channel 13, nor have they seen a black-and-white TV.
• They have always had cable.
• There have always been VCRs, but they have no idea what Beta is.
• Popcorn has always been cooked in a microwave.
• The Vietnam War is as ancient history to them as World War I or even the Civil War.
• They never heard the terms "Where's the beef?" or "I'd walk a mile for a Camel."
• They never heard Walter Cronkite intone "That's the way it is."
• Cats has been on Broadway all their lives.
• They never heard anyone say "Book 'em Dano,", "Good night, John-boy", or "Kiss my grits," in prime time.
• They have never had to worry about the packaging of Tylenol.
• Strikes by highly paid athletes have been a routine part of professional sports.
• The Moonwalk is a Michael Jackson dance step, not a small step by Neil Armstrong.
• The term "adult" has come to mean "dirty."
• They have always been able to get their news from USA Today and CNN.

Did you know?

SCC awarded 1,377 A.A. and A.S. degrees in 2005-06 - an all-time high!