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Show 2 Signpost -Tuesday, May 15, 1984 ,11 cont'd, from front page. "Geography' was the second most recognizable place for both Miamians as well as Weber State students. As disturbing as the study might be to some, a silver lining is evident from the study and that is the fact that a bit of training in geography can remedy the situation drastically. The students in Physical Geography classes at WSC missed an average of 53 percent of the 30 places on the map, but those students who had completed part of a lower division World Regional Geography class missed an average of only 23 percent. The quiz was also given to an upper division Economic Geography class. The students in that course missed an average of 10 percent. This would lead one to believe that simply taking an undergraduate course in geography (even one that does not concentrate on place names) would improve the student's understanding of the world, its cultures, economic patterns, and loca-tional characteristics. A poll of beginning geography students at WSC reveals the worrisome state of geographical knowledge in the U.S. Few students have had any geography courses in high school and many of those who were exposed to geography in junior high had it as part of a social studies class. In Europe and in the U.S.S.R., geography is considered much more important and is studied at all levels of education. The highest score in the study mentioned above, for example, was garnered by a student from the Netherlands. A Frenchman once wrote, for the author of this article, the entire 50 United States in alphabetical order. The University of Moscow, which is the Soviet equivalent of Harvard, Yale, and Stanford put together, devotes seven of its 28 floors to geography while the latter three institutions have no geography at all. In fact, geography in this country owes much to the U.S.S.R. for its existence. After sputnik, the U.S. sent experts to the Soviet Union to examine their educational system in order to determine how the Russians could have possibly beat us to into space. Among other things, they found that geography was an important part of the curriculum and decided we must have the same. It was not very long thereafter that geography received N.S.F. support and departments began to expand throughout the country in institutions of higher learning. Is geography really important in a well rounded or even rudimentary education? Many educators outside the field think so. Dr. Paul Woodring, Distinguished Professor of Psychology and former education editor of the Saturday Review, feels that geography is a basic subject, one needed by all as a resource for making decisions in our modern world of integrated political and economic systems. He also points out that the subject is a basic preparation for living in, understanding, and moving about in today's world. The news in recent months is replete with horror stories of American ignorance of geography. At a recent congressional hearing, one of Ronald Reagan S xe "Geography" on page 5. SUPPORT YOUR SIGNPOST ADVERTISERS The Ogden L.D.S. Institute presents: HORIZONS IN THOUGHT Devin Durrant 1984 Former BYU Basketball Star Friday, May 18, 12:00 Noon Institute Chapel 1302 Edvalson Horizons in Thought is a weekly Series Featuring outstanding speakers. Plan on attending each week. The results of the quiz are shown in the table below: Percentage of students UNABLE to place name correctly 6 WSC WSC World U. of Phys. Regional Miami Geog Geog Place Name Students Students Students 1- North Atlantic Ocean 8 2- South Pacitif Ocean 30 3- Arabian Sea 51 4- New Guinea 67 5- Falkland Islands 23 6- Iceland 55 7- Barbados 50 8- Chile 40 9- Algeria 72 10- France 36 11- U.S.S.R. 5 12- Japan 37 13- India 33 14- Kenya 80 15- Quebec 53 16- Baja California 49 17- Amozon Basin 57 18- Sahel 82 19- New York City 21 20- Los Angeles 41 21- Miami 8 22- Chicago 55 23- London 42 24- Cairo 62 25- Moscow 68 26- Rio De Janeiro 61 27- Cape Town 62 28- Sydney 70 29- Mexico City 40 30- Siberia 41 22 47 53 86 56 58 88 54 80 65 8 53 39 97 74 55 55 97 19 30 13 35 48 58 48 79 68 84 31 46 0 9 27 73 18 9 64 9 45 18 0 9 9 82 45 9 0 82 9 9 0 9 9 27 9 45 36 45 9 18 Number of students in sample 128 135 11 Lf$i ONLY wjgMtf 1 I ISpweber State Bookstore i Weber State College SICjlMpOST Editor-in-Chief Colleen Mewing Editorial Advisor Joan Wilcox Managing Editor Rae Dawn Olbert Sports Editor Dan Dickson Asst. Sports Editor Steve Spafford Entertainment Editor Dona Skaff Gov't Affairs Kathy Kendell Ad Sales Manager Kevin Carrillo Promotion Manager Don Williams Ad Salesperson Michael Christenson Reporters Steve Fifield David C. Wright Chris Larsen Stephanie DeGraw Shirley Parker Blain Child Advisor Larry Stahle Production Manager Ken Hill Production Jeff Allen Stephanie Christenson Kristie Jenson Peggy Maggio Pauline McReavy Linda Smith Signature Editor Stephanie Chamberlain Chief Photographer Grove Pashley Photographers Bob George Dennis Miller Jeff Nickerson Secretaries Becky Clark Elizabeth Eichler Circulation Layne Higgs The Weber State Signpost is published twice weekly throughout the academic year by the WSC Department of Communications. Editorial comment appearing in this publication is that cf1 the Signpost staff or an individual writer and not necessarily that of Weber Sta' College. Offices are located in the Union Building, rooms 267 and 281. Mail correspondence to WSC Signpost, Weber State College, Ogden, Utah 84408. The Signpost is distributed to students on Tuesday and Friday free of charge and is available by subscription at a price of $9 per quarter or $25 annually. |