September 3, 1999

Age is just a number, right?

Each year, the staff at Beloit College in Wisconsin puts together a list to try to give the faculty a sense of the mindset of incoming freshmen. Here is this year's abbreviated list:

• They were prepubescent when the Persian Gulf War was waged.
• There has been only one Pope during their lifetime.
• They can only really remember one president.
• They were 11 when the Soviet Union broke apart and do not remember the Cold War.
• Their lifetime has always included AIDS.
• They never had a polio shot and likely do not know what it is.
• They have never owned a record player.
• The compact disc was introduced when they were one year old.
• They cannot fathom not having a remote control.
• They were born the year that Walkman was introduced by Sony.
• They have no idea when or why Jordache jeans were cool.
• Popcorn has always been cooked in a microwave.
• They never took a swim and thought about Jaws.
• The Vietnam War is as ancient history to them as WWI, WWII, or even the Civil War.
• They have no idea that Americans were ever held hostage in Iran.
• They can't imagine what hard contact lenses are.
• They don't know who Mork was or where he was from.
• They never heard the terms: "Where's the beef?" "I'd walk a mile for a Camel," or "De plane, de plane!"
• Kansas, Chicago, Boston, America, and Alabama are places, not groups.
• There has always been MTV.