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the university daily kansan
monday
11.8.99
eight.a
What do you remember about the Challenger space shuttle explosion?
"I was probably seven, and I was standing on my front porch with some of my friends when my mom told me a space shuttle exploded." — Dayre Lashnits, Aurora, Colo. freshman
Which REM album do you relate to, Document or Monster?
"Document, because when I listen to it, I think back to when I first heard those songs. It is nostalgic and associated with good times."
— Sean Brumwell, Overland Park senior
Who is John Lennon? Do you relate to him or Kurt Cobain?
"John Lennon was a member of the Beatles. I like John Lennon better. He just seemed to be more positive." — Kade Weiser, Salina freshman
Who is John Belushi?
"No idea." — Ben Lissner, Chicago freshman
What is Pong?
"It is the simplest, and therefore the best, arcade game of all time." — Chad Schroeder, Newton freshman
Who are the Care Bears?
"They were stuffed bears with pictures on their stomachs. They had a cartoon show and a movie. I had the Care Bears Battle the Freeze Machine movie." — Holly Lofgreen, Norton senior
Who is Gary Hart?
"I don't know who that is." — Priya Sahni, Overland Park freshman
How do you use a library card catalog system?
"What is a card catalog? We used a computer." - Hilary Temkin, Chicago freshman
Did your family own a computer when you were growing up?
When did you first get
Generation gap?
Despite age range, students on same cultural page
B Buddy Holly, John Lennon, Buster Keaton and John Belushi have one thing in common They all died before most freshmen were born.
By Joel Francis
Beloit College in Wisconsin released in July a list designed to show how first-year students' frames of reference differ from those of students only a few years older. The Class of 2003 Mindset List contains 43 items querying students about sports figures, entertainment icons, technology revolutions and political notables.
The idea behind the list is that an 18-yearold freshman who doesn't recognize Belushi, an actor, or Gary Hart, a politician, would have a different frame of reference than older students who are familiar with the names.
KU students,however,confounded the test. Students who were asked 13 questions from the 2003 Mindset List seemed to have more in common than the list would indicate.
Students of all ages were more likely to remember John Belushi and John Lennon than they were Walter Cronkite and Gary Hart.
"John Lennon and John Belushi were entertainers, and their memory was preserved on film," said David Smith, associate professor of sociology said. "While Hart was influential for a while, his press conferences aren't rebroadcast. Cronkite also has fairly low visibility. It's hard to miss the Beatles or SNL."
Smith said celebrity status was not usually given to journalists or politicians, which made them fade from memory faster.
Because no formal study has been conducted, David Smith, associate professor of sociology, and Barry Shank, associate professor of American studies, said they could not speak with any authority but would comment on the findings.
"I bet freshmen today know as much as freshmen four years ago," Smith said. "It's just that the specifics have changed. Eighteen- and nineteen-year-olds know a lot, they just know different things."
While older students generally recognized the Cold War as a period of chronic tension between the United States and the former U.S.S.R., freshmen had a decidedly post-Cold War perspective.
Two freshmen answered simply, "It wasn't a war."
For instance, freshmen polled tended to have different takes on the Cold War.
"There are obvious generational shifts, but there are also subtler shifts," Smith said. "Every four to six years, there is a shift in what people remember and what is preserved."
The Cold War was one shift, but Smith said it wasn't as important how people learned about something as long as they learned about it.
"It is important to understand the Cold War, but direct personal memory isn't the only way to learn — if it was, history would be a vain exercise." Smith said.
Shank said learning about the past was part of a good education.
"The world changes all the time," he said. "Americans have never had a good sense of history. It is part of the humanities department to help students understand what happened before them."
Again, Smith said that this did not make a difference.
"Every generation has different resources for learning about the world," Smith said. "The fact that information
"Every four to six years, there is a shift in what people remember and what is preserved,"
associate professor of sociology
is more readily available is good. If people are interested about the world, they will find what they are looking for in whatever format."
Shank said differences couldn't be captured by a list of what some learned as history and others experienced firsthand.
"People have been saying for years that kids nowadays don't know anything," Shank said. "By the time there was a third generation of Puritans here in America, the old guys were saying the kids were going to hell. The freshmen are young, but they'll learn; that's why they're going to school."
online?
"My family had a computer before I was born. I think it was a Macintosh. I first used the Internet in eighth grade." — Angela Bennett, Kansas City, Mo., freshman
What was the Cold War and what do you remember about it?
"The Cold War was a nuclear standoff between the United States and Soviet Union. I remember hearing the Berlin Wall came down when I was in eighth grade,
but I don't remember what class I was in." — Sarah Hayden, Kansas City, Kan., senior
What does Desert Storm mean to you?
"Wearing plastic bracelets in support of our troops." — Crystal Hudson, Topeka freshman
Who is Walter Cronkite?
Cronkite
"I know he had something to do with journalism, but I can't remember what made him famous." — Jason Elliott, Salina freshman
Has the Kansas men's basketball team ever won the national championship? Do you remember it?
"1988. Yes, I was in Hawaii." — Matt Geitz, Anchorage, Alaska, freshman
Seniors interviewed were born in the late 1970s and freshman interviewed were born in the early 1980s.
Guided By Voices elevates garage rock to the main stage
By Emily Hughey Kansan staff writer
The music stopped at 1:01 a.m. And again at 1:14 a.m. Then at 1:25 p.m. Finally, at 1:37 a.m., the house lights came up, the raised devil-horned hands stopped pumping in the crowd, the hardwood floor transformed from fan trampoline to trash-ridden walkway and the last drips of beer mixed with sweat dribbled from Bob Pollard's mouth.
After nearly two hours of playing and three encores, Guided By Voices stumbled off the stage. With Budweiser bottles and a half-drained fifth of Jack Daniels in tow, Pollard, the rock star, and his band headed up the stairs of The Bottleneck, 737 New Hampshire St., early yesterday morning. The spent capacity crowd dispersed. Some migrated to the front doors and others backstage to meet the band.
Q: GBV has been through a lot for a long time and has evolved from a young garage rock band to producing popular records. In what stage would you say GBV is in now?
Three weeks earlier, from his apartment on the second floor of a house in Cleveland, Ohio, Doug Gillard, lead guitarist for GBV, spoke about the band amid a chorus of shrieking cockatiels.
A: We're a garage rock band that likes to make bigger sounding records with each record. But we're still just kind of a little rock band. Bob [Pollard] has tried to make bigger sounding records, and I think it's been a good thing, but it's not like we're this huge band. It has evolved. The next record will probably sound totally different. It'll probably sound a little drier, a little less slick.
Q: Our of our local radio stations, 105.9 The Lazer, has changed its format from modern rock to Top 40. Have you seen a trend in this elsewhere, and what do you think it will do to
local music in Lawrence?
A: I don't know about many other towns but in Cleveland, we have no alternative station, so the GBV records, and "Teenage F.B.I." wouldn't be played there. It seems like people in the community heard this buzz that boy bands were cool or something. But scenes are always there whether or not there's radio play for local bands. Within the bands and the town, there's always a network, and all the people who want to go to the show will go to all of them. Just because there's no radio station in Lawrence, that shouldn't hinder local music too much. They just need to keep mailing their tapes to all the labels.
A: I think GBV sort of pioneered the lo-fi sound back in '93-'94. At the time, it wasn't a widely-used format to put out your record on 4-track because they're used for putting demos on. But they have a bigger sound and it worked. It kind of caught on and spawned an indie rock sound.
Q: A lot of local bands cite you as an inspiration. Why do you think that is?
A: I don't think it's selling out. As soon as you put music out for sale, I think you've sold out. But I think that's what it's about. I always like music just for music's sake. I like good tunes, good songs. I may think something sounds too slick, but I'd never accuse someone of selling out. I think some bands go to the opposite extreme and say, 'no, we're not going to sell out,' and they miss out on an opportunity to get signed. We know that we're a rock band.
Q: You've recently made the transition from Matador Records to the larger TVT Records. Do you think anyone views it as selling out?
Q: What do you want to do with your new album,
Do the Collapse?
A: "Teenage FBI" is the lead-off track. The idea is to reach a wider audience and get people into the band that weren't into the band before. It's a good melody, a good song. Bob has this great sense of melody and a great song-writing ability. We're going to see what happens.
Top: from left to right: Nate Farley, guitar and backup vocals; Tim Tobias, bass; Bob Pollard, vocals; Doug Gillard, lead guitar and backup vocals. Not shown: Jim Macpherson, drummer Photo by Jamie Roper/KANSAN
Right: Guided By Voices played to a capacity crowd Saturday night at The Bottleneck. Photo by Jamie Roper/KANSAN
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