Universities such as NIU are known everywhere as the breeding grounds of the minds of the future. Someday graduates will be set loose in to the “real” world full of knowledge and potential. But in today’s pop culture dependent society, what type of knowledge are students retaining’ Is it more common for NIU students to be aware of worldly surroundings, or the latest gossip in “People” magazine’ To investigate this matter, the Northern Star distributed 150 global/political and pop culture quizzes to students of various majors and ages to find out exactly how “in-the-know” they are. Here is what was found.

The Worldly Knowledge Quiz

1. What is the name of the current pope’

2. Who is the Speaker of the House of Representatives’

3. Who is the Prime Minister of England’

4. Who is the President of Northern Illinois University’

5. Who is the national congressional representative for DeKalb’s district’

6. What county is the city of DeKalb located in’

7. What three nations make up what President Bush identified as the “axis of evil”’

8. Name two rights protected under the First Amendment.

9. What hemisphere do we live in’

10. Who is the governor of Illinois’

The Answers

1. Pope Benedict XVI, born Joseph Alois Ratzinger, took over the papacy April 19, 2005 shortly after the death of Pope John Paul II.

2. J. Dennis Hastert has been Speaker of the House of Representatives since 1999. He has been in Congress since 1986 and is an NIU alumnus.

3. Prime Minister Tony Charles Lynton Blair took office in 1997 and was President Bush’s biggest ally in the war against Iraq.

4. NIU President John G. Peters assumed presidency on June 1, 2000 and was responsible for securing a $20 million private gift to build a new building for the College of Business.

5. Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert represents Illinois’ 14th district, which includes DeKalb. Almost 60 percent of students knew who the Speaker of the House was, but less than 30 percent knew he represented our district.

6. The City of DeKalb is located in DeKalb County.

7. Iran, Iraq and North Korea have been labeled as the “Axis of Evil.”

8. The First Amendment reads: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

9. We are located in the Western Hemisphere.

10. Governor Rod Blagojevich was sworn in Jan. 13, 2003 and is an alumnus of Northwestern University.

Questions and Answers to Pop Culture Quiz

1. Who was the latest winner of American Idol’ Carrie Underwood

2. What is the name of the Bear’s quarterback’ Rex Grossman, or back-up quarterbacks Kyle Orton and Jeff Blake.

3. Who is the host of the MTV show “Jackass’” Johnny Knoxville

4. What is the name of Homer Simpson’s neighbor’ Ned Flanders

5. Who is the author of the Harry Potter novels’ J. K. Rowling

6. Who is the governor of California’ Arnold Schwarzenegger

7. What comedian coined the phrase “Git-R- Done’” Larry the Cable Guy

8. What Comedy Central host supposedly had a mental break down in 2005’ Dave Chapelle

9. Name two people from the band U2: Bono, aka Paul David Hewson, The Edge, aka David Howell Evans, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr.

10. Name the two sisters who dominate the tennis world: Venus and Serena Williams

The Results

Members of the freshman class knew the most about pop culture and the second most about global/political matters. Freshmen seem to be the most tuned in to current events, which may be a result of more free time.

Seniors knew the most about global/political facts while the juniors knew the least. Juniors also knew the least about pop culture. Junior year often can be a time of heavy course work and new memberships in upper-classmen organizations, which can leave less time to pay attention to non-school related things.

The highest score anyone received on the global/political quiz was an eight. However, 14 percent of all people got nine or 10 correct on the pop culture quiz.

About 83 percent of history majors got more than half of the first quiz correct. While 50 percent may still be a failing grade, compare that to the mere 43 percent of people in all other majors who received more than a 50 on the global/political quiz. If there was a curve, history majors got an A.

The numbers also indicate, for some reason, speech pathology majors know the most about pop culture and the least about general knowledge.