Beloit College Mindset List for 2019

[ClarkKent_DC]

I used to post these pretty regularly on a past incarnation of the board.

If you are unfamiliar, each August, starting in 1998, Beloit College in Beloit, WI presents The Mindset List, "providing a look at the cultural touchstones that shape the lives of students entering college this fall." It initially was meant to be a guide to the faculty to help them understand the incoming freshman class, by pointing out the things that "everybody" knows are different for the teachers as they are for those students, because times have changed. Accordingly, it's a warning to those teachers to "watch their references."

For example, one past Mindset List points out that the icon on computers for saving files is an image of a 3.5 floppy disk, which is something no teenager today has ever used and likely has never ever seen.

As an additional wrinkle, this year's list adds 10 entries of expressions the young people use that the older generation may not understand.

Without futher ado: The 2019 Beloit College Mindset List

Students heading into their first year of college this year are mostly 18 and were born in 1997. 

Among those who have never been alive in their lifetimes are Princess Diana, Notorious B.I.G., Jacques Cousteau, and Mother Teresa.

Joining them in the world the year they were born were Dolly the sheep, The McCaughey septuplets, and Michael “Prince” Jackson Jr.

Since they have been on the planet:

1. Hybrid automobiles have always been mass produced.

2. Google has always been there, in its founding words, “to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible.” 

3. They have never licked a postage stamp.

4. Email has become the new “formal” communication, while texts and tweets remain enclaves for the casual.

5. Four foul-mouthed kids have always been playing in South Park.

6. Hong Kong has always been under Chinese rule.

7. They have grown up treating Wi-Fi as an entitlement. 

8. The NCAA has always had a precise means to determine a national champion in college football.

9. The announcement of someone being the “first woman” to hold a position has only impressed their parents.

10. Charlton Heston is recognized for waving a rifle over his head as much as for waving his staff over the Red Sea.

11. Color photos have always adorned the front page of The New York Times.

12. Ellis Island has always been primarily in New Jersey.

13. “No means no” has always been morphing, slowly, into “only yes means yes.”

14. Cell phones have become so ubiquitous in class that teachers don’t know which students are using them to take notes and which ones are planning a party.

15. The Airport in Washington, D.C., has always been Reagan National Airport.

16. Their parents have gone from encouraging them to use the Internet to begging them to get off it.       

17. If you say “around the turn of the century,” they may well ask you, “which one?”

18. They have avidly joined Harry Potter, Ron, and Hermione as they built their reading skills through all seven volumes.

19. Attempts at human cloning have never been federally funded but do require FDA approval.

20. "Crosstown Classic” and the “Battle of the Bay” have always been among the most popular interleague rivalries in Major League Baseball.

21. Carry Me Back to Old Virginny has never been the official song of the Virginia Commonwealth.

22. Phish Food has always been available from Ben and Jerry.

23. Kyoto has always symbolized inactivity about global climate change.

24. When they were born, cell phone usage was so expensive that families only used their large phones, usually in cars, for emergencies. 

25. The therapeutic use of marijuana has always been legal in a growing number of American states.

26. The eyes of Texas have never looked upon The Houston Oilers.

27. Teachers have always had to insist that term papers employ sources in addition to those found online. 

28. In a world of DNA testing, the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington has never included a Vietnam War veteran “known only to God.”

29. Playhouse Disney was a place where they could play growing up.

30. Surgeons have always used “super glue” in the operating room.

31. Fifteen nations have always been constructing the International Space Station.

32. The Lion King has always been on Broadway.

33. Phoenix Lights is a series of UFO sightings, not a filtered cigarette.

34. Scotland and Wales have always had their own parliaments and assemblies.

35. At least Mom and Dad had their new Nintendo 64 to help them get through long nights sitting up with the baby.

36. First Responders have always been heroes.

37. Sir Paul and Sir Elton have always been knights of the same musical roundtable.

38. CNN has always been available en Español.

39. Heaven’s Gate has always been more a trip to Comet Hale-Bopp and less a film flop.

40. Splenda has always been a sweet option in the U.S.

41. The Atlanta Braves have always played at Turner Field.

42. Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic have always been members of NATO.

43. Humans have always had implanted radio frequency ID chips—slightly larger than a grain of rice.

44. TV has always been in such high definition that they could see the pores of actors and the grimaces of quarterbacks. 

45. Mr. Jones and Mr. Smith have always been Men in Black, not their next-door neighbors.

46. The proud parents recorded their first steps on camcorders, mounted on their shoulders like bazookas.

47. They had no idea how fortunate they were to enjoy the final four years of Federal budget surpluses.

48. Amoco gas stations have steadily vanished from the American highway.

49. Vote-by-mail has always been the official way to vote in Oregon.

50. ...and there has always been a Beloit College Mindset List.

                                              ***

In fairness to the class of 2019 the following are a few of the expressions from their culture that will baffle their parents, older friends, and teachers …with translations.

1. They need to plan ahead so they don't find themselves "dankrupt."

One of a variety of painful declarations that we are out of weed. 

2. A heavy dose of "Natty Light" has always caught up with them in the morning.

It may taste great and be less filling, but there are limits. 

3. As long as they can find a ballpoint pen they can use their "redneck teleprompter." 

The bigger the back of your hand, the more notes you can include, but don’t get caught looking. 

4. "Smartphone shuffles" have always slowed down traffic between classes. 

One can avoid all eye contact as one moves through the madding texting crowd.

5. "Vatican Roulette" has always been risky but acceptable. 

If you’ve got rhythm and like your planning natural, then Vatican Roulette is the game for you.

6. A significant other who is a bit "too Yoko Ono" has always created tension.   

A partner too hard to handle…hard for your friends to compete with perfection.

7. “Quiche” has everything to do with hot and nothing to do with food.

Turn down the heat. Some people are just so hot they enhance the appetite.

8. “Trolling” innocents on social media has always been uncharitable.  

Cynical and bullying attacks on happy campers, preserved on the internet, may come back to haunt you.

9. They'll know better than to text their professors "TL DR" about assignments. 

…and just hope their professor doesn’t scribble back to them, about their own papers: “TOO LONG: DIDN'T READ.” 

10. Slurring “textroverts” have always been a fact of social life.

If you're too drunk to say it face to face, you probably should wait until morning before you start texting. 

Copyright© 2015 Beloit College

[Emerkeith Davyjack]

 

 

...#44: So every student has always had (their family/ had

 

) a high-def TV , every

single

one ???

 

  Is Beloit some kind of " rich kids with bad grades/behavior problems who can't get in anywhere else " brat-atorium ?

  Okay , fine , what's " Natty Light " , too ? 

 

 

[ClarkKent_DC]

No, and that's not the way the item is worded. But the plasma and liquid crystal display TVs that came out in the 1980s do provide a significantly sharper picture than the old cathode ray tube models.

[Emerkeith Davyjack]

...I guess if you hash it out , no , #44 does not LITERALLY state " The Beloit Class Of '19 has never seen a non-high def TV (except maybe in a ' Retro Display ' , Grandpa ) ! They're SO KEWWELL ! " - But I'm not sure that I see a reference to older high-end TVs there , anyway , and I do think it sort o IMPLIES " They've always had he latest high-def TVs available to them at home ! "(We're talking about " when they were pre-school kids on " , remember ) .

  How about , as I said , this-yr.'s 17-18-yr old who may have grown up a bit less well-odd than to have every new development/be a " first adopter " (in their household , I mean) at all times ~ Or maybe had a living situation of being - Just a little , even . - isolated/away from the mainstream-in the backwoods ?

[ClarkKent_DC]

It states what it states. But your objection seems to be rooted in taking offense at something the list does not state. 

[Emerkeith Davyjack]

...I said that myself , that the way the wider media (seemed to me to have) used the Beloit list was a reason for my ranting .

  I meant " well-off " in my earlier post typed " well-odd " ? There , that evenses:-) ? (No late-end J. Geils Band references here !!:-)...)
 
ClarkKent_DC said:

It states what it states. But your objection seems to be rooted in taking offense at something the list does not state. 

[Emerkeith Davyjack]

...Fine , #7...(I'll assume here that " entitlement " is used neutrally here rather than in the sense that the speaker is railing against something bein seen , in his eyes anyway , as an " entitlement " .) So ,okay , assuming that all '19 Beloit students were using a computer at least by 6 , 11 years ago...........Every future Beloit-ee was well-off enough/lived in a well-off enough area that even in 2006 , WiFi was to be found , really , everywhere...........Maybe Beloit reallty IS " an upper-class bratitorium "/somewhere that Spoiled cions Of The Rich And Gotbucks/99% go , where their students so routinely have to deal with their probation offivers that...???hehehe (A far more " hip " Internet designator of " I'm just trying to be here ! " , knocking out that ol analog-style " LOL " , I just found out today...........)

[John Dunbar]

Emerkeith Davyjack said:

...Fine , #7...(I'll assume here that " entitlement " is used neutrally here rather than in the sense that the speaker is railing against something bein seen , in his eyes anyway , as an " entitlement " .) So ,okay , assuming that all '19 Beloit students were using a computer at least by 6 , 11 years ago

A typical 17 year old has had access to wifi just about everywhere they go for the past few years, whether it was provided to them for free by a coffee shop or other business, a library, a school, etc, or their parents paid for it.  It's an expectation.

Every future Beloit-ee was well-off enough/lived in a well-off enough area that even in 2006 , WiFi was to be found , really , everywhere

It's got nothing to do with being well-off or living in a well-off area, or what they would remember about 2006 (which wouldn't be very much, imo).  It's their expectation in 2015.

Maybe Beloit reallty IS " an upper-class bratitorium "/somewhere that Spoiled cions Of The Rich And Gotbucks/99% go , where their students so routinely have to deal with their probation offivers that...???hehehe (A far more " hip " Internet designator of " I'm just trying to be here ! " , knocking out that ol analog-style " LOL " , I just found out today...........)

I have no idea what point is trying to be made here.  Little help?

[Travis Herrick (Modular Mod)]

8. The NCAA has always had a precise means to determine a national champion in college football.

I guess that is technically true, but it was a broken means.

Clark said:

I've noticed that with Law & Order; those scenes where Detective Logan and Detective Briscoe were in the captain's office and Detective Profaci would come in with a folder and say, "Here's the LUDs from the vic's apartment" or "the M.E.'s report says there were no ligature marks on the body" happened less frequently once Detective Curtis got a cellphone.

That, and Profaci was a dirty cop!

Chris said:

However, it's pretty helpful if you have any reason to communicate with the younger generation, whether that's as an educator, an employer or something else. 

Exactly, I have to check myself at work sometime, because I work with people much younger than me. The intern at the desk right next to mine was born after I graduated from high school. Heck, she just turned 20 last month. Although, she is an 80s-phile so she likes talking to me about movies and other stuff from that decade.

[ClarkKent_DC]

Emerkeith Davyjack said:

...Fine , #7...(I'll assume here that " entitlement " is used neutrally here rather than in the sense that the speaker is railing against something bein seen , in his eyes anyway , as an " entitlement " .) So ,okay , assuming that all '19 Beloit students were using a computer at least by 6 , 11 years ago

and:

Every future Beloit-ee was well-off enough/lived in a well-off enough area that even in 2006 , WiFi was to be found , really , everywhere

John Dunbar (the mod of maple) said:

A typical 17 year old has had access to wifi just about everywhere they go for the past few years, whether it was provided to them for free by a coffee shop or other business, a library, a school, etc, or their parents paid for it.  It's an expectation.

and:

It's got nothing to do with being well-off or living in a well-off area, or what they would remember about 2006 (which wouldn't be very much, imo).  It's their expectation in 2015.

Exactly. In 2015, Wi-Fi access everywhere is an expectation for everyone, not just typical 17-year-olds. It's not about being well-off or living in a well-off area -- it's available at almost all public libraries, every college and university, just about every public school, every Starbucks restaurant, most McDonald's restaurants, any number of stores and businesses, all airports, and any hotel or motel worth its salt.

More than that, there is a growing expectation that Wi-Fi access should be free everywhere, too. For example, the District of Columbia provides free Wi-Fi anywhere within the city limits.

Speaking of hotels, this is another case where the world has changed. Used to be hotels made a lot of money charging fees for on local and long-distance calls. With the advent of the cellphone, every guest has a phone in his pocket or in her purse and doesn't need to use the hotel's phone. But when smartphones and laptops came along, each guest does need Wi-Fi access, and hotels began charging for that.

As noted above, however, free Wi-Fi is available in so many other places that hotels can't get away with charging for it much longer. Oddly, it's the cheap hotels that offer Wi-Fi free, and the expensive hotels that charge for it, but more and more travelers think of free Wi-Fi as an entitlement.

[ClarkKent_DC]

Emerkeith Davyjack said:

Maybe Beloit reallty IS " an upper-class bratitorium "/somewhere that Spoiled cions Of The Rich And Gotbucks/99% go , where their students so routinely have to deal with their probation offivers that...???hehehe (A far more " hip " Internet designator of " I'm just trying to be here ! " , knocking out that ol analog-style " LOL " , I just found out today...........)

John Dunbar (the mod of maple) said:

I have no idea what point is trying to be made here.  Little help?

Me, neither. Where is this notion of Beloit being "an upper-class bratitorium" coming from?

[Emerkeith Davyjack]

...The idea that Beloit was a " bratitorium  " was A JOKE on my part (However , I like to think that I've coined a phrase !!!!!!!!!!!) . I said " Is..." at the very beginning of the sentence where I first proposed the idea , in the second paragraph where I expanded upon the " joke " I even put " hehehe " at the very end...Not sufficiently Spelling It Out ???????????

  IT . WAS . A . JOKE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (basically)

  The point , was , for every 17-18-yr old in the Beloit Class Of '19 to have NEVER known any TVs that were not high-def , NEVER not had Wi-Fi so everywhere that it's routine...THEIR WHOLE ENTIRE " aware of things LIVES... even , leaving out ages 0-6...This would mean that there were , for an 18-yr olds' aware life (I'm even not counting 1997-2003 ~A present-day 18-yr old was born in 1997 , if I have to spell THAT one out .)   ,never anything but super-duper-magnificent high-def TVs at all places in their world , never anything but WiFi automatically everywhere as long ago as 2003 , which is a bit more than' the past few years " , I think .

  Yes . I submit that , if you follow that literally , it means that every one of those New Power Generation '19 Beloit graduates always had the newest technology around them , their whole entire lives , it leaves out that MAYBE , just mAYBE , every Deal Old Beloit future alumni may not have come from a home which had a groovy latest TV as the (Presumably , actually , they had multiple TVs but we'll stay away from that for now !) home TV , always had Wifi everywhere in their community , as their town(s) always had an " everywhere " availability of Wifi as far back as 2003...Yes , I believe there could actually be some exceptions to that , certainly if some Beloit admittees MAYBE , JUST MAYBE came from a less well-off personal situatuion/lived in a rural-backwoods situation/perhaps had a parental situation where their parental unit did always have the latest stuff around the home at all times !

[Emerkeith Davyjack]

Aside from routine mistypes , I meant to write " Dear Old Beloit " , not " Deal " , above . Also , it was meant to be:

" perhaps had a parental situation where their parental unit did NOT always have the latest stuff..." , the emphasis on on " not " mine . Again , the omission of one word changes/garbles the meaning entirely !!!!!!!!!!!

  I sowwy .

  Also in the paragraph where I introduced the " bratatorium " concept , I meant to type " Spoiled Scions Of The Rich And Gotbucks/99% " - and , of course , I just now realize that " 99% " should've either been " Not-99% " or " 1% " ! Eeps . Embarassment face .

  That cat's going to spend its' effin' LIFE not just sitting in the corner , but see its posterior growing ROOTS in the corner !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Nyaah-nyaah face .