this year's incoming freshmen...

BELOIT COLLEGE'S MINDSET LIST®
FOR THE CLASS OF 2009

Most students entering college this fall were born in 1987.

(highlights selected by Lorrimer. Click here for the full list.)

1. Andy Warhol, Liberace, Jackie Gleason, and Lee Marvin have always been dead.
2. They don't remember when "cut and paste" involved scissors.
5. Boston has been working on the "The Big Dig" all their lives.
7. Pay-Per-View television has always been an option.
8. They never had the fun of being thrown into the back of a station wagon with six others.
12. Al-Qaida has always existed with Osama bin Laden at its head.
14. Car stereos have always rivaled home component systems.
15. Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Bakker have never preached on television.
16. Voice mail has always been available.
17. "Whatever" is not part of a question but an expression of sullen rebuke.
19. Condoms have always been advertised on television.
20. They may have fallen asleep playing with their Gameboys in the crib.
21. They have always had the right to burn the flag.
22. For daily caffeine emergencies, Starbucks has always been around the corner.
26. Dirty dancing has always been acceptable.
27. Southern fried chicken, prepared with a blend of 11 herbs and spices, has always been available in China.
29. The Starship Enterprise has always looked dated.
30. Pixar has always existed.
37. They have grown up in a single superpower world.
41. Les Miserables has always been on stage.
44. RU486, the "morning after pill," has always been on the market.
52. Researchers have always been looking for stem cells.
53. They do not remember "a kinder and gentler nation."
54. They never saw the shuttle Challenger fly.
55. The TV networks have always had cable partners.
58. They never saw Pat Sajak or Arsenio Hall host a late night television show.
59. Matt Groening has always had a Life in Hell.
61. Digital cameras have always existed.
70. Jimmy Carter has always been an elder statesman.
71. Miss Piggy and Kermit have always dwelt in Disneyland.
72. America's Funniest Home Videos has always been on television.
75. They have always been challenged to distinguish between news and entertainment on cable TV.