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New generation on campus; 'Millenials' replace Gen X
The Digital Collegian (Penn State) ^ | Thursday, Sept. 23, 2004 | Alex Muller

Posted on 09/23/2004 9:00:38 AM PDT by Willie Green

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.

Forget "Generation X."

Instead, this generation of college students has been labeled the "Millenial generation," according to a presentation by the Office of Student Affairs.

In the most recent "Informational Report on College Students Today," Philip Burlingame, assistant vice president for student affairs, presented information based on the book titled Millenials Rising: The Next Great Generation, by Neil Howe and William Strauss. Through their research, the authors have coined the new term to describe the newest generation to join the working industry and the characteristics that set it apart.

Through their nationwide studies, Howe and Strauss discovered the generation born after 1982 to be the most numerous, affluent and ethnically diverse generation in American history.

According to the presentation, Howe and Strauss feel this generation of college students shows more school spirit and women are reaching more leadership positions and achieving higher academic honors.

"The Millenial generation is not about college students but all people in that age bracket," Burlingame said.

Burlingame said the "Millenial generation" study does show some similarities with student surveys taken at Penn State campuses.

"We're seeing an increase in the amount of students that are registering to vote, but the amount of students who will actually vote is yet to be seen," Burlingame said.

Burlingame also presented information from the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement, showing that the "Millenials" have low levels of trust in other individuals, high levels of faith and support in the government but low levels of involvement in the election process.

"I can see how that would be true," Tom Graham (sophomore-division of undergraduate studies) said. "I have many friends that aren't even registered to vote yet."

Andrea Dowhower, director of student affairs research and assessment, included the results of the most recent Student Satisfaction Survey, given in 2004.

Some 3,700 students participated in the survey this year, Dowhower said. The Student Affairs Research and Assessment office gives the survey every two years over the Internet or phone.

The most recent student satisfaction survey presented new information about the average student's idea of college life, including the college atmosphere and the average time spent on homework.

According to the survey, the number of students doing 21 hours or more of homework per week has risen from 12.5 percent in 2002 to 29 percent in 2004.

"I'm taking a lot of science courses for my major so I do quite a few hours of homework a week," Michael Fazzolari (sophomore-biochemistry) said.

Sixty-nine percent of students at Penn State feel they are a member of a community but 12 percent feel they are the object of racial or ethic discrimination.

"I've never experienced any sort of racial discrimination," Fazzolari said. "I've never really encountered anything like that around campus."

The survey also revealed about 85 percent of students would choose Penn State again if they were given the choice, and about 58 percent of students at University Park do not skip a class in an average week at school.

Dowhower said the university does everything possible to increase the response rate and ensure accuracy.

"If more students take the time to participate then the survey will be more accurate," Dowhower said.


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: boomers; generationy; genx; geny; millenials
I guess nobody noticed when "Generation Y" fizzled out.
1 posted on 09/23/2004 9:00:39 AM PDT by Willie Green
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To: qam1

ping


2 posted on 09/23/2004 9:01:11 AM PDT by Willie Green (Go Alan Go!!!)
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To: Willie Green
"I've never experienced any sort of racial discrimination," Fazzolari said. "I've never really encountered anything like that around campus."

Just wait. Jesse Jackson will demand that you experience some, so that you know what it's like.

This does explain why he's so desperate for an issue, that minority underrepresentation at NASCAR events and the fictitious plan to reinstate the draft are his top "concerns".

3 posted on 09/23/2004 9:09:08 AM PDT by VisualizeSmallerGovernment (Question Liberal Authority)
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To: Willie Green
From the article; " ...Millenials Rising: The Next Great Generation, by Neil Howe and William Strauss..."

Great book, as was their "The Fourth Turning" which I thought was even better. Both have been out a few years, but the quest to find them will be well rewarded.

4 posted on 09/23/2004 9:49:44 AM PDT by bcoffey (Bush/Cheney: Real men taking charge, talking straight, telling the truth.)
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To: Willie Green; qam1; ItsOurTimeNow; PresbyRev; tortoise; Fraulein; StoneColdGOP; Clemenza; ...
Xer Ping

Ping list for the discussion of the politics and social aspects that directly effects Gen-Reagan/Generation-X (Those born from 1965-1981) including all the spending previous generations (i.e. The Baby Boomers) are doing that Gen-X and Y will end up paying for.

Freep mail me to be added or dropped. See my home page for details and previous articles.

5 posted on 09/23/2004 9:55:13 AM PDT by qam1 (McGreevy likes his butts his way, I like mine my way - so NO SMOKING BANS in New Jersey)
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To: Willie Green

I wonder how long it will be before they start bitching about how Gen X stole their SS benefits


6 posted on 09/23/2004 10:07:20 AM PDT by dljordan
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To: bcoffey

Agree with you on Fourth Turning - read it in 1997 when it came out. Really was very accurate in predicting the current state of events - we are just starting a long, cold 15-25 year winter.


7 posted on 09/23/2004 10:25:16 AM PDT by Ogie Oglethorpe (The people have spoken...the b*stards!)
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To: qam1
Also, students entering college for the first time this year were possibly born after the Challenger exploded. They were two years old when George H. W. Bush was sworn in as president, and do not remember Ronald Reagan as President. Mary Lou Retton had already won her Olympic Gold medals. They are too young to have ever seen Tom Landry on the sidelines of a Cowboys game. Cheers had been on for four years. They do not remember a world without cell phones or the internet. Few of them have ever seen a record. Over half of my current students who aren't living with their parents have no phone other than a cell phone.

If you remember the opening lines to Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, "It was twenty years ago today, that Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play,", they were born twenty years after the release of Sgt. Pepper.

They were born 23 years after JFK was assassinated. His assassination is as remote to them as Herbert Hoover's administration was to me. They were born 14 years after the last human walked on the moon.

Oh, and especially for Gen Xers, they were two years old when "The Facts of Life" went off the air.

8 posted on 09/23/2004 10:58:26 AM PDT by Richard Kimball (Kerry Campaign: An army of pompous phrases moving across the landscape in search of an idea)
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To: Richard Kimball

Thanks for making me feel old!--- Clemenza (born in 1976)


9 posted on 09/23/2004 11:42:27 AM PDT by Clemenza (I LOVE Halliburton, SUVs and Assault Weapons. Any Questions?)
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To: Clemenza

Here's another one to make you feel old. They were born after the movie "The Breakfast Club" was made.


10 posted on 09/23/2004 12:29:14 PM PDT by Richard Kimball (Kerry Campaign: An army of pompous phrases moving across the landscape in search of an idea)
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To: Richard Kimball
Jeeze, the Breakfast Club and Back to School were two of my favorite movies when I was a kid. In between those two came the '86 Mets (my favorite, non-Family childhood memory), or so it seems from mental recall.

The big divide I find between myself and younger people (even those just five years younger than me) is in music, as I was one of the last people to grow up with Rock and Roll. All the younger people seem to listen to is Hip Hop and R&B.

11 posted on 09/23/2004 12:47:18 PM PDT by Clemenza (I LOVE Halliburton, SUVs and Assault Weapons. Any Questions?)
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To: Richard Kimball
Jeeze, the Breakfast Club and Back to School were two of my favorite movies when I was a kid. In between those two came the '86 Mets (my favorite, non-Family childhood memory), or so it seems from mental recall.

The big divide I find between myself and younger people (even those just five years younger than me) is in music, as I was one of the last people to grow up with Rock and Roll. All the younger people seem to listen to is Hip Hop and R&B.

12 posted on 09/23/2004 12:47:34 PM PDT by Clemenza (I LOVE Halliburton, SUVs and Assault Weapons. Any Questions?)
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To: Clemenza; Richard Kimball
Thanks for making me feel old!--- Clemenza (born in 1976)

It's making me feel old too. Born in 79

13 posted on 09/23/2004 1:04:15 PM PDT by Dan from Michigan (A gun owner voting for John Kerry is like a chicken voting for Col. Saunders. (bye bye .30-30))
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To: Dan from Michigan

Born '77. Going to join the seniors' center now...


14 posted on 09/23/2004 2:30:47 PM PDT by StoneColdGOP (Democrat big government is unconstitutional; Republican big government is "compassion")
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To: Willie Green

Generation Y didn't fizzle out

We're in a new Generation now.

Thats why so many TV ads also say "the new generation of... whatever"

Generation Z started 2002 (post 9-11 babies)


15 posted on 10/23/2004 8:48:54 AM PDT by Chrysler813
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