Understanding the mindset of college freshmen

Each August since 1998, Beloit College has released the Beloit College Mindset List, providing a look at the cultural touchstones that shape the lives of students entering college this fall.

It's the brainchild of Beloit's former Public Affairs Director Ron Nief and Keefer Professor of the Humanities Tom McBride and was originally created as a reminder to faculty to be aware of dated references -- yet it quickly became a catalog of the rapidly changing worldview of each new generation.

It may make you feel older, but aren't you curious to find out what is the mindset of these tech-savvy young'ins today? Click on...

OJ, PC, LBJ: Windows on college freshmen mindset

1. There has always been an Internet ramp onto the information highway.

Mindset List websites at Beloit College and at mindsetmoment.com, the media site webcast and their Facebook page receive more than a million hits annually.

OJ, PC, LBJ: Windows on college freshmen mindset

2. Ferris Bueller and Sloane Peterson could be their parents.

OJ, PC, LBJ: Windows on college freshmen mindset

3. States and Velcro parents have always been requiring that they wear their bike helmets.

OJ, PC, LBJ: Windows on college freshmen mindset

4. The only significant labor disputes in their lifetimes have been in major league sports.

OJ, PC, LBJ: Windows on college freshmen mindset

5. There have always been at least two women on the Supreme Court, and women have always commanded U.S. Navy ships.

OJ, PC, LBJ: Windows on college freshmen mindset

6. They "swipe" cards, not merchandise.

OJ, PC, LBJ: Windows on college freshmen mindset

7. As they've grown up on websites and cell phones, adult experts have constantly fretted about their alleged deficits of empathy and concentration.

OJ, PC, LBJ: Windows on college freshmen mindset

8. Their school's "blackboards" have always been getting smarter.

OJ, PC, LBJ: Windows on college freshmen mindset

9. "Don't touch that dial!"

10. American tax forms have always been available in Spanish.

OJ, PC, LBJ: Windows on college freshmen mindset

11. More Americans have always traveled to Latin America than to Europe.

OJ, PC, LBJ: Windows on college freshmen mindset

12. Amazon has never been just a river in South America.

OJ, PC, LBJ: Windows on college freshmen mindset

13. Refer to LBJ, and they might assume you're talking about LeBron James.

OJ, PC, LBJ: Windows on college freshmen mindset

Whitney Houston performs during a concert on May 12, 2010, in Berlin. — Jakubaszek/Getty Images

14. All their lives, Whitney Houston has always been declaring "I Will Always Love You."

OJ, PC, LBJ: Windows on college freshmen mindset

15. O.J. Simpson has always been looking for the killers of Nicole Simpson and Ronald Goldman.

OJ, PC, LBJ: Windows on college freshmen mindset

16. Women have never been too old to have children.

OJ, PC, LBJ: Windows on college freshmen mindset

17. Japan has always been importing rice.

OJ, PC, LBJ: Windows on college freshmen mindset

18. Jim Carrey has always been bigger than a pet detective.

OJ, PC, LBJ: Windows on college freshmen mindset

19. We have never asked, and they have never had to tell.

OJ, PC, LBJ: Windows on college freshmen mindset

20. Life has always been like a box of chocolates.

OJ, PC, LBJ: Windows on college freshmen mindset

Check out the full list of The Mindset List: 2015.