Class of 2012 moves into the Triangle

The kiss-and-go lanes on Duke University's East Campus had a look of organized chaos for much of Tuesday.

Parents, exhausted from hauling the necessities of freshman living into new campus digs, lingered beside cars, vans and SUVs.

Their teens were eager to spread their wings across uncharted college territory.

As the 1,706 Duke freshmen begin their college experience, they have much in common with thousands of other Triangle freshmen.

Classes begin today at N.C. State University, Meredith College, Peace College and St. Augustine's College. N.C. Central and UNC-Chapel Hill started earlier this week, and Shaw University starts Thursday.

As these freshmen join the 2 million first-year students heading off to college across the country this month, Beloit College in Beloit, Wis., releases its annual Mindset List. Tom McBride, a Beloit humanities professor, and Ron Nief, Beloit director of public affairs, provide a glimpse of cultural and political touchstones that have helped shape the lives of today's 18-year-olds.

What were the headlines in 1990, the year most of the freshmen were born?

A president named Bush -- George Herbert Walker, in this case -- was increasing the number of troops in the Middle East "in the hopes of securing peace," the Beloit list creators said. High fuel prices forced airlines to cut staffs and flight schedules, and the Big Three car companies faced declining sales and profits.

Is that a phone socket and landline in the dorm room?

Freshmen today, according to the list creators, have grown up in an era when computers and instant communication are the norm. These students are used to texting each other on cell phones. They might describe landlines and wall phones as quaint and retro.

Who is their favorite Quidditch player?

Harry Potter was a plucky 11-year-old when J.K. Rowling's first book in the series of seven came out in 1997. Add 11 years to that, and the boy wizard could be an upperclassman at their school sporting his magic on a Quidditch field, the Beloit list-makers speculate.

Other touchstones in an 18-year-old's lifetime:

Sammy Davis Jr., Jim Henson, Ryan White, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Freddy Krueger have always been dead during the lifetime of these teens.

Karaoke machines have been annoying people since they were in diapers.

WWW typically means World Wide Web to them, not World Wide Wrestling.

Pee-Wee has never been in his playhouse, and McDonald's and Burger King have always used vegetable oil to fry french fries.