Kelly in Kansas

Another take on the Beloit survey (from www.scrappleface.com)

List Shows Mindset of Incoming Freshmen
(2003-09-04) -- Beloit College has provided its professors with its annual Mindset List, to give them a sense of the worldview of incoming freshmen.

Here are some excerpts from the list illustrating the perspective of students born in 1983.

-- From their point of view, Ronald Reagan is an airport.
-- Bill Clinton, Al Gore and Martin Sheen are the only presidents they have ever known.
-- The childhood tackling game "smear the queer" is a hate crime.
-- Pornography and flag desecration are protected speech.

-- The Second World War was directed by Steven Spielberg and starred Tom Hanks.
-- Weapons of mass destruction (WMD) include second-hand smoke and sport utility vehicles, and there are none in Iraq.
-- The great political minds of this generation include Sean Penn, Johnny Depp, Barbra Streisand, George Clooney and Janeane Garafalo.
-- Dinner with the family happens only in the minivan.
-- Elections determine who gets kicked off the island.
-- Everyone remembers where they were when the Oslo accords were signed, bringing everlasting peace to the middle east.
-- America has always been the greatest threat to world peace.
-- Islam is a religion of peace.
-- Since Oprah has not yet recommended their books, today's freshmen don't know the names Alexis de Tocqueville or Adam Smith.
-- Although they've never heard of Ozzie and Harriet, they think Ozzy and Sharon are the ideal parents.
-- Everybody remembers where they were when they heard that John F. Kennedy's plane had crashed into the ocean.
-- For girls born in 1983, freedom means getting an abortion.
-- For boys born in 1983, freedom means not having to care for one's offspring.
-- They have never sprayed on deodorant.
-- Self-evident truth is an oxymoron.
-- Liberal means progressive.
-- Conservative means extremist.
-- They'll never read this list, since it's too long to IM.