September 2010 Vol 2 Issue 9
|
The Next
Generation
Most students entering college for the first time this fall-the Class of
2014-were born in 1992. For these students, Benny Hill, Sam Kinison, Sam Walton,
Bert Parks, and Tony Perkins have always been dead. Each year, Beloit College
puts together a list of "cultural touchstones" that affect the lives of students
entering college in 2010. The faculty uses it as a reminder to be aware of dated
references. Here are some of our favorites:
1. Few in the class know how
to write in cursive.
2. Email is just too slow, and they seldom if ever
use snail mail.
3. Al Gore has always been animated.
4. "Caramel
macchiato" and "venti half-caf vanilla latte" have always been street corner
lingo.
5. With increasing numbers of ramps, Braille signs, and
handicapped parking spaces, the world has always been trying harder to
accommodate people with disabilities.
6. John McEnroe has never played
professional tennis.
7. Clint Eastwood is better known as a sensitive
director than as Dirty Harry.
8. Doctor Kevorkian has never been licensed
to practice medicine.
9. Fergie is a pop singer, not a
princess.
10. They never twisted the coiled handset wire aimlessly around
their wrists while chatting on the phone.
11. Leasing has always allowed
the folks to upgrade their tastes in cars.
12. Unless they found one in
their grandparents' closet, they have never seen a carousel of Kodachrome
slides.
13. Computers have never lacked a CD-ROM disk drive.
14.
Czechoslovakia has never existed.
15. Second-hand smoke has always been
an official carcinogen.
16. J.R. Ewing has always been dead and gone.
Hasn't he?
17. Rock bands have always played at presidential inaugural
parties.
18. Beethoven has always been a good name for a dog.
19.
Having hundreds of cable channels but nothing to watch has always been routine.
20. They've always been able to blast off with the Sci-Fi (SYFY)
Channel.
Are
you guilty of being "dated" in your dealings with the younger generation? These
folks will soon hit the workforce so be aware of language you may want to
change.
You can view the complete list at www.beloit.edu/mindset. |
What Leaders are Reading
Think Like a Winner
by Dr. Walter Doyle Staples - Dr.
Staples has explored the qualities that are characteristic of successful people
and has found that if you want to get the results that a winner gets, you must
first think like a winner thinks. |
