Inside Iowa State

Sept. 8, 2006

Understanding today's students

An excerpt from Beloit College's Mindset List for the Class of 2010:

Members of the class of 2010, entering colleges and universities this fall, were mostly born in 1988. For them:

• Billy Carter, Lucille Ball, Gilda Radner, Billy Martin and Secretariat have always been dead.
• The Soviet Union has never existed and therefore is about as scary as the student union.
• For most of their lives, major U.S. airlines have been bankrupt.
• They have never heard anyone actually "ring it up" on a cash register.
• A coffee has always taken longer to make than a milkshake.
• They have never had to distinguish between the St. Louis Cardinals baseball and football teams.
• Text messaging is their e-mail.
• There has always been only one Germany.
• Mr. Rogers, not Walter Cronkite, has always been the most trusted man in America.
• They grew up in minivans.
• Bar codes have always been on everything, from library cards and snail mail to retail items.
• Sara Lee has always made underwear.
• Being techno-savvy has always been inversely proportional to age.
• They have always been able to watch wars and revolutions live on television.
• Green tea has always been marketed for health purposes.
• They have always preferred going out in groups as opposed to dating.
• They have always had access to their own credit cards (but they have never put their money in a "Savings & Loan").
• Professional athletes have always competed in the Olympics.

The full list of 75 items is online at Beloit College's Web site, www.beloit.edu. The Mindset List has been compiled annually since 1998 by English professor Tom McBride and director of public affairs Ron Nief to help prepare Beloit College faculty for orientation and first-year seminars.

Excerpt used with permission.