"Cultural" profile of Class of 2009

Parents Forum
1

<p>Entertaining article concerning a report that helps faculty understand incoming students.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2005/EDUCATION/08/24/mindset.list.ap/index.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.cnn.com/2005/EDUCATION/08/24/mindset.list.ap/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

2

<p>I recall someone mentioning once that if you asked this generation what the greatest invention of the 20th century was, many would answer "Napster."</p>

3

<p>For the complete list look here:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.beloit.edu/%7Epubaff/mindset/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.beloit.edu/~pubaff/mindset/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

4

<p>This concept hit me a couple of years ago when my D (Class of 2009) heard a TV announcer say, "Stay tuned." I had to explain to her what that meant since she never actually tuned a TV or radio, just punched in numbers.</p>

5

<p>This is kind of the flip side, but I was doing a project for school a few years ago, and I was interviewing my grandmother about the Depresssion. I was flabbergasted when she said she remembered the first time her mother came back from the store with sliced bread--SLICED BREAD! I can't imagine that at all. It's mind boggling to think of how much everyday life has changed in even the last 18 years.</p>

6

<p>In my grandmother's lifetime, she saw the first cars, the first flight, the first radio, the first movie, the first TV, the first controlled nuclear reaction (and the bomb), the first antibiotics, vaccines, x-ray machines, etc., the first computers (commercial and personal), the first satellite, space travel and moon landing, and the first cell phone (though big), to name a few. I have been around for many firsts, but I wonder if any of them will have the impact of my grandmother's age? I often mention this to my kids when we discuss how rapidly the world is changing.</p>

7

<p>Andy Rooney (of 60 Minutes fame) wrote a wonderful essay a few years back regarding his mother who made similar observations to idad's above. Only she stated that she did not appreciate the impact of each individual accomplishment when it happened, only the summary impact over of all these advances over a lifetime. I think the point Rooney was trying to make was to appreciate each step forward for the significant step in human development that it is.</p>