Man. Myth. Morland.: What's the matter with kids today?

The new American Freshman report (the annual nationwide survey of college freshman) is out, and USA Today is there to tell us what to think.

• The percentage of students focused on "being very well off financially" has risen sharply, from 42% in 1966 to 74% in 2003, while the percentage saying it's important to develop "a meaningful philosophy of life" has dropped by more than half, from 86% in 1967 to 39% in 2003.

• 45% of students in 2003 say they've drunk beer in the past year, down from 69% in 1966; only 6% say they've smoked cigarettes, down from 15% in 1966.

"It's a more conservative generation," says Paul Houston of the American Association of School Administrators. "They just don't do things that are dangerous to themselves."

Yes, pecuniary tunnel-vision is not dangerous at all - this is what happens when the "me" decade matriculates. Check out some graphs from the study's conductors, the Higher Education Research Institute, to see some astounding grade inflation trends.