Weber State College Comment, April 1986, page 5 Geographic illiteracy a real problem lack of geographic knowledge among secondary students nd the American public at large is hurting the entire country, an expert said. Dr. James B. Kracht, president-elect of the National Council for Geographic Education said, ‘The United States is fifth in terms of geographic education. It's not that students here are less geographic illiteracy, but Kracht said changes need to be more localized. “The way to get geographic education advanced is not by sending reports to the government, tion in the schools, districts, and area,” he said. and domestic decisions made by both Sofie Hamilton, a fifth grade teacher and one of 23 international recipients of the Distinguished. Teacher Award politicians and voters are riddled with mistakes. Geographic Kracht he said, was opening the the “Geography is that foreign keynote from the National Council Education, said, how satellite photos, televisions, con- tests, and computers could be used to increase interest and education in geography. Dr. Wayne L. Wahlquist, chairman for “I don’t of the geography department at WSC and conference organizer,said, “Geography is the bridge to understan- ding many things about our world, but unfortunately in the past there’s been a chasm in the schools and geography has fallen in the crack. We'd like to. rebuild the bridge.” Dr. Wahlquist said that despite a increased availability of geographically oriented information, high school and college students and the general public seem to be less aware of the world. “Tests show an alarming drop of geographic awareness,” Wahlquist said. speaker second Awareness Mrs. Hamilton presented an “I'm Thinking of a City” approach to 20 questions, while demonstrations at other conference workshops showed but to start right geographic courses in the curriculum.” result, knowledge of the world is essential, she said. where you are and increase the educa- bright, it’s simply that we don’t have The think it’s necessary for students to know where all 50 states are or what their capitals are. I do think it's necessary that students know how to find that information.” A_ general The four professional organizations for geographers have banded together in an attempt to stem the tide of annual Conference” held March 21-22 at WSC. He said that the conference is one of the few where higher education and public education are working together to find ways improve geographic education. to “If the public is not very well informed, that can impact a_ situation negatively,” Kracht said. An example is the current issue of aid to the Contra rebels in Nicaragua. Kracht said that a Washington, D.C. radio station recently did a number of man-on-the-street interviews, and over half of the respondents put Nicaragua in Eastern Europe, he said. “When we fail geography, we sometimes make decisions that we don’t want to live with,” he said. Kracht noted that America’s unsuc- cessful military involvement in Vietnam was a mistake in geography because of a lack of understanding of Vietnamese culture and politics. “People are learning that geographers pull together a lot of different facts to put together answers that address the total issue,” he said. Geographic instruction in public schools across the nation is suffering partly because of increased course offerings in social studies, he said. “The social studies curriculum is expanding: As you continue to pour things in, other things flow out. The result is that geographic education is getting diluted.” wsC doing well in the job market graduates Office - clude engineering, computer science, accounting and logistics. Additionally, rare, he Career Services admits that it’s but it’s annual placement report for 1985 lists one graduate who started at $36,000. the report states that there is an increased demand for elementary and secondary teachers. The average starting salary for WSC Stephen H. Eichmeier, director of grads was $18,684 and ranged from career services, said the student who got the $36,000 annual salary majored ° $9,000 to the high of $36,000. That compares with a national starting in manufacturing engineering salary range of $15,124 to$28,086 and technology. “That's a high starting salary,” he said, “but he had some ex- perience as well that got him that salary.” Eichmeier recently compiled placement information that gives an indication of where the 1,807 graduates of 1985 went after receiving their diplomas. He said, “We have found that Weber grads are well prepared to compete and meet the challenges of the world of work,” The four areas where graduates were in highest demand this past year in- an average of $20,470. He said, ‘Many Weber State organization that works with Hill AFB on engineering Titan and Minuteman missiles. They are part of a national defense company. “We have a goal of hiring so many college graduates each year so we can get people who know the latest in technology,” Schilling said. “We can’t afford to get behind.” His office reports that the average starting salary for someone with a four-year degree in engineering students have permanent positions while attending school, thus upon computer science is $27,000. graduation involved they continue with their present employer, often with an upgrade.” William H. Schilling, manager of the Ogden Engineering Operations of TRW, said that each year his company hires a number of college graduates in engineering and computer science in order to keep abreast of new technology. TRW in Ogden is a private or A number of companies are closely with the college in terms of hiring as well as donations of money, equipment and personnel for teaching. TRW, for example, donated the solar cells for the NUSAT satellite, makes cash and material donations and has four employees teaching at the college. Schilling said, “We are not necessari- ly trying to steer what goes on at the college, but there are significant developments made at the major col- leges.” The students in those projects are what they are interested in, he said. The WSC employment study surveyed 1,028 of the 1984-85 graduating seniors and found that though the scramble for jobs is competitive in the state, WSC grads fared well. Those who started early, however, did better. Eichmeier said, “Seniors who search the job market carefully, put together a realistic strategy and start their job search early find improved oppor- tunities in many fields.” Nationally, he said, the jobs most in demand are engineering, computer science, marketing, economics and ac- counting, respectively. There has also been a 21 percent increase in the demand for students majoring in the liberal arts, Eichmeier said.