According to a recent study shown by CNN of Americans aged 18 to 24, 88 percent could not find Afghanistan on a map. That is a major problem that the Geography Club would like to change.

“Our goal is to increase global awareness and give geography a higher profile here on campus,” Robin Datel, associate professor of geography and club advisor, said. “Geography has a strong field component. It crosses all sub-fields. There is physical, urban and suburban/rural.”

No one really knows for sure when the club first got its start, but Department Chair Tom Krabacher offered his estimation. “The geography club was started in the early ’90s, but six years ago a group of students really got it going,” he said.

Geography still seems to be on the bottom of people’s lists in regard to what’s important in the world or on campus.

“When I tell someone I’m a geography major, they say, ‘Oh, so you study rocks?’ said club President Mike Tuck. “We want to increase awareness and participation with our club.”

The Geography Club is looking for more members, and even non-majors are encouraged to join. “This year we were really gung-ho to begin with, but one officer moved away, and one dropped out,” said Timothy Jones, club treasurer and Associated Students Inc. Director of Natural Math and Sciences. “Our focus shifted from a grand plan to just maintaining. Our goal is to make things fun, and expose others to different types of geography.”

“The club sort of waxes and wanes,” Datel said. “Some years we’ve done more, some years less. The club builds cooperation and solidarity and creates many opportunities in the field.”

“This year we’ve been having smaller turnouts to meetings,” Tuck said. “We need more people to get involved. Our goal is to at least get it back to how it was about a year ago. To do so, we are going to plan some fun events.”

“Right now, most meetings have been logistical,” Jones said. “We want to have fun-based meetings and do something more active.”

Club officers hope that upcoming National Geography Awareness Week (Nov. 12 through 18) will help to increase knowledge on campus about the many uses of geography. There will be display cases in the library with an Africa theme.

Geography has many careers and internships to offer that are relatively unknown. GIS (Global Information System) is a big part of student’s work in the geography field today. It is a system used to analyze and retrieve data to create maps. Related uses can range from planning city community maps and forming new council district maps to finding the general plan on a building and how it affects different things. “It’s a hand-spatial database,” Jones said.

“GIS can be used as a tool for so many things,” Datel said. “It’s good for managing data and to help community groups plan successful neighborhoods. Anyone can use it.”

GIS Internships are abundant throughout the area. “It’s like you have a job before you even get one,” Tuck said. “There are more internships available than we have students in our department.” “We’re lucky to have so many strong geographers teaching in this region,” Datel said. “With all the government jobs, there is a lot of familiarity with GIS.”

Right now the club is focusing on setting up some geocacheing events. Geocacheing is like a treasure hunt. It involves a pair of coordinates and finding a certain place or landmark by navigating using GIS.

The club also plans various camping trips, and in the past has been to Death Valley, San Francisco, the Port of Stockton and Lake Tahoe.

“We really want to organize a trip to New York,” Jones said. “To see the sights and learn about some urban geography.”

The club does charity work as well. Students are involved with Friends of the American River Parkway. Every semester, geography students help clean up trash around the American River near campus.

Jones has created a joint council, the NSMJC (Natural Math and Science Joint Council) of all the Natural Math and Science clubs. There are 14 clubs involved, with each club’s president as representative. “The purpose is to give exposure to smaller clubs,” Jones said. “It’s a good way to get grants as a group. As director of the council, I can bring issues to ASI and students can voice their thoughts.”

“I try to encourage and facilitate to let students run things right,” Datel said. “It’s about them, not me.”

GIS day in Sacramento is on Nov. 15. There will be activities and events. For more information on Geography Awareness Week or joining the club, contact the department on the fifth floor of Amador Hall or advisor Robin Datel at (916) 278-5320.