Beloit College Mindset List

Beloit College – in an effort to help its faculty members understand freshmen – releases an annual “mindset list” to help professors think about what their new students have experienced, and have never experienced.

Here you can find some of the features mentioned in this list during the recent years.

1. Kurt Cobain’s death was the “day the music died.”

2. Huckleberry Finn has always been a “banned book.”

3. We have always been able to reproduce DNA in the laboratory.

4. Wars begin and end quickly; peacekeeping missions go on forever.

5. There have always been automated teller machines.

6. We have always been able to receive television signals by direct-broadcast satellite.

7. They have always been able to afford Calvin Klein.

8. Woodstock is a bird or a reunion, not a cultural touchstone.

9. They have never heard a phone “ring.”

10. They never dressed up for a plane flight.

11. Hurricanes have always had men’s and women’s names.

12. If they vaguely remember the night the Berlin Wall fell, they are probably not sure why it was up in the first place.

13. “Spam” and “cookies” are not necessarily foods.

14. They don’t remember when “cut and paste” involved scissors.

15. Heart-lung transplants have always been possible.

16. With little need to practice, most of them do not know how to tie a tie.

17. Voice mail has always been available.

18. “Whatever” is not part of a question but an expression of sullen rebuke.

19. Bill Gates has always been worth at least a billion dollars.

20. It has always been possible to walk from England to mainland Europe on dry land.

21. Scientists have always been able to see supernovas.

22. There has always been a pyramid in front of the Louvre in Paris.

23. Snowboarding has always been a popular winter pastime.

24. Libraries have always been the best centers for computer technology and access to good software.

25. The Hubble Telescope has always been focused on new frontiers.

26. Researchers have always been looking for stem cells.

27. Black Americans have always been known as African-Americans.

28. Digital cameras have always existed.

29. The class of 2012 has grown up in an era where computers and rapid communication are the norm, and colleges no longer trumpet the fact that residence halls are “wired” and equipped with the latest hardware. These students will hardly recognize the availability of telephones in their rooms since they have seldom utilized landlines during their adolescence. They will continue to live on their cell phones and communicate via texting. Roommates, few of whom have ever shared a bedroom, have already checked out each other on Facebook where they have shared their most personal thoughts with the whole world.

30. It is a multicultural, politically correct and “green” generation that has hardly noticed the threats to their privacy and has never feared the Russians and the Warsaw Pact.

31. Since they were in diapers, karaoke machines have been annoying people at parties.

32. GPS satellite navigation systems have always been available.

33. Coke and Pepsi have always used recycled plastic bottles.

34. Shampoo and conditioner have always been available in the same bottle.

35. Gas stations have never fixed flats, but most serve cappuccino.

36. Girls in head scarves have always been part of the school fashion scene.

37. WWW has never stood for World Wide Wrestling.

38. Schools have always been concerned about multiculturalism.

39. IBM has never made typewriters.

40. Lenin’s name has never been on a major city in Russia.

41. Iced tea has always come in cans and bottles.

42. Muscovites have always been able to buy Big Macs.

43. Radio stations have never been required to present both sides of public issues.

44. “Ctrl + Alt + Del” is as basic as “ABC.”

45. Computers have always fit in their backpacks.

46. They have never gotten excited over a telegram, a long distance call, or a fax.

47. There have never been dress codes in restaurants.

48. Yuppies are almost as old as hippies.

49. Strawberry Fields has always been in New York.

50. Rock and Roll has always been a force for social good.