Beloit College is out with its annual Mindset List for incoming freshmen. It was developed as a cultural guide for the faculty about what these students, born in 1991, have in their common knowledge base. Some of the highlights:
- The Green Giant has always been Shrek, not the big guy picking vegetables.
- They have never used a card catalog to find a book.
- Tattoos have always been very chic and highly visible.
- Rap music has always been main stream.
- The KGB has never officially existed.
- Text has always been hyper.
- They have never had to “shake down” an oral thermometer.
- The European Union has always existed.
- Cable television systems have always offered telephone service and vice versa.
- The American health care system has always been in critical condition.
- Women have always outnumbered men in college.
- We have always watched wars, coups, and police arrests unfold on television in real time.
- Everyone has always known what the evening news was before the Evening News came on.