Old ... getting old

For every new academic year, Beloit College in Wisconsin publishes its Mindset List for incoming freshmen (or should I be more politically correct and say first-year students?) to help educators connect with this new generation.

Read the 2006 list for the class of 2010. (BTW, you know you're getting old when the incoming class is the same year as the title of a futuristic sci-fi movie ... that's the sequel to a futuristic sci-fi movie.)

My favorites:

1. The Soviet Union has never existed and therefore is about as scary as the student union.


6. There has always been only one Germany.


9. A stained blue dress is as famous to their generation as a third-rate burglary was to their parents'.


21. Milli Vanilli has never had anything to say.


24. Madden has always been a game, not a Superbowl-winning coach.


34. They have always known that "In the criminal justice system the people have been represented by two separate yet equally important groups."


37. Brides have always worn white for a first, second, or third wedding.


39. "So" as in "Sooooo New York," has always been a drawn-out adjective modifying a proper noun, which in turn modifies something else.


40. Affluent troubled teens in Southern California have always been the subjects of television series. (See accompanying image from actual list.)


43. They are not aware that "flock of seagulls hair" has nothing to do with birds flying into it. (See image.)