The Class Of 2005

In case you don’t already feel old, this will certainly fix that. Each year the staff at Beloit College in Wisconsin puts together a list to give its faculty a sense of this year's incoming freshman. Here is the list for 2001:

The people who are starting college this fall across the nation were born in 1983.

They have no meaningful recollection of the Reagan Era and probably did not know he had ever been shot.

They were prepubescent when the Persian Gulf War was waged.

There has been only one Pope in their lifetime.

They were 8 when the Soviet Union broke apart and do not remember the Cold War.

They are too young to remember the space shuttle blowing up.

Tianamen Square means nothing to them.

Bottle caps have always been screw off and plastic.

Atari predates them, as do vinyl record albums.

The expression “You sound like a broken record” means nothing to them. They have never owned a record player.

They have likely never played Pac Man and have never heard of Pong.

They have probably not heard of an 8-track. The Compact Disc was introduced before they could talk.

They have always had an answering machine.

Most have never seen a TV set with only 13 channels, nor a black and white TV. They have always had cable and VCRs, but they have no idea what Beta was. They cannot fathom not having a remote control.

They've never seen a cloth baby diaper.

They have no inkling of what “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up” refers to.

Roller skates haves always been inline.

They never saw The Tonight Show without Jay Leno.

They've always cooked popcorn in a microwave oven.

They never took a swim and thought about Jaws.

The Vietnam War is as much ancient history to them as WWI, WWII and the Civil War.

They can’t imagine hard contact lenses.

They never heard “Where’s the beef?”, “I’d walk a mile for a Camel,” or “De plane, de plane!” They have no idea who J. R. was.

To them, Michael Jackson has always been white.

Kansas, Chicago, Boston, America, and Alabama are places, not bands.

There has always been MTV.

They don’t have a clue how to use a typewriter.