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Introduction
This is my 27th year with Harding
University; guess I'll stay. I marvel at where the
time has gone. I was the age of my students
once (then twice and now three times). In our
Economics classes, I'm now instructing the
children of my former students. On a good day
I vow to try to teach 3 generations. Most days
I say,
"No!"
As the earth rotates, Father Time
stands still for none of us. Education lasts all
our lives:
"Womb to Tomb."
I'm 55 now. I should be 56, but I was sick
a year. My peers and I have watched our kids
grow up together. And should it cause us to
reflect on many things--both personal and
professional? Yes, especially the need for that
good, sound, two-way, intergenerational
communication.
As I travel, people often ask me this
question,
"How are today's students different?"
They are different. They
"nuke"
their food in
microwave ovens and
"channel surf''
with
remote controlled TVs (We were so poor--we
had to walk across the room .to change
channels). Less patient with anything
considered boring, their attention spans place
value in not
"how important"
something is, but
"how entertaining"
it is. This is the legacy of
the Nintendo Generation.
When we instructors hand back the term
papers they write, our students look at the
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