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The Mindset List was created at Beloit College in 1998 to reflect the world view of entering first year students. The list gets updated every year. This is the reality of first year students entering University in the fall of 2011. "What Berlin wall?" Humvees, minus the artillery, have always been available to the public. They never “rolled down” a car window. They have grown up with bottled water. General Motors has always been working on an electric car.Nelson Mandela has always been free and a force in South Africa. Rap music has always been mainstream. “Off the hook” has never had anything to do with a telephone. Russia has always had a multi-party political system. Women have always been police chiefs in major cities. They were born before Bart Simpson existed. No one has ever been able to sit down comfortably to a meal of “liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.” Being “lame” has to do with being dumb or inarticulate, not disabled. Multigrain chips have alway...

Last October, we found out that our cat's kidneys had failed. We were told by the vet that she wouldn't get better from this, but with medication, she would be more comfortable and live another 6 months to maybe two years. About three to four weeks ago, she stopped eating pretty much anything, which meant that she didn't get half of the medicine that we mixed into her food. We watched her lose about 30% of her body weight and get more and more listless. She was sleeping more, becoming dehydrated (no matter how much water she drank) and was losing hair. Last week, another trip to the vet confirmed what we thought - she had reached the end of her time and her body was shutting down. This morning, I noticed that she couldn't even make it downstairs to the litter box (stumbling when she tried to decend the 3 steps to a landing).   It was time. I took her into the vet this morning and she travelled quietly, even when we got into the exam room. She was ready to go. Wh...