The Class of 2009

Every year Beloit College, in southern Wisconsin, publishes a list for their professors of interesting facts about the incoming freshmen class. According to the list creator, Tom McBride, “It is an important reminder, as faculty start to show signs of ‘hardening of the references,’ that we think about the touchstones and benchmarks of a generation that has grown up with CNN, home computers, AIDS awareness, digital cameras and the Bush political dynasty. We should also keep in mind that these students missed out on the pleasures of being tossed in the back of a station wagon with a bunch of friends and told to keep the noise down, walking in the woods without fearing Lyme Disease, or setting out to try all of the 28 ice cream flavors at Howard Johnson’s.”

This year's freshmen class was born in 1987 and here are some more highlights of the students I'll see in class next week:
1) Andy Warhol, Liberace, Jackie Gleason, and Lee Marvin have always been dead;
2) They don't remember when "cut and paste" involved scissors;
3) Snowboarding has always been a popular winter pastime; and
4) They never saw Pat Sajak or Arsenio Hall host a late night television show. (Lucky them!)

To see the list, as well as previous lists, click here.