Barbara K Iverson

Most students entering college for the first time this fall were born in 1991. For these students, Martha Graham, Pan American Airways, Michael Landon, Dr. Seuss, Miles Davis, The Dallas Times Herald, Gene Roddenberry, and Freddie Mercury have always been dead. Dan Rostenkowski, Jack Kevorkian, and Mike Tyson have always been felons. The Green Giant has always been Shrek, not the big guy picking vegetables. They have never used a card catalog to find a book. Margaret Thatcher has always been a former prime minister. Salsa has always outsold ketchup. Earvin “Magic” Johnson has always been HIV-positive. Tattoos have always been very chic and highly visible. They have been preparing for the arrival of HDTV all their lives. Rap music has always been main stream. Chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream has always been a flavor choice. Someone has always been building something taller than the Willis (née Sears) Tower in Chicago. The KGB has never officially existed. Text has always been hyper. They never saw the “Scud Stud” (but there have always been electromagnetic stud finders.) Babies have always had a Social Security Number. They have never had to “shake down” an oral thermometer. Bungee jumping has always been socially acceptable. They have never understood the meaning of R.S.V.P. American students have always lived anxiously with high-stakes educational testing. (via The Mindset List: 2013 List)