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Written by Felix Wong - View Profile
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Sunday, 25 March 2007 |
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Now, I have a lot of respect for CSU students. Most of the ones I have met seem a lot more knowledgeable and worldly than, say, a certain segment in society that sing Alan Jackson songs about not knowing the "difference in Iraq and Iran" and whose sole notion of culture is driving down to the local Taco Bell to pick up a bean burrito. I was a little surprised, then, to see that 49% of CSU students polled last week could not point out Iraq on a map of the Middle East.
Well, I guess that is not that bad. That means that slightly more than half did know where Iraq is, which is better than most young people in the nation (~40%) and is a higher percentage than, say, the high school graduation rate of South Carolina. On the other hand, that also suggests that a lot of people have already forgotten ninth grade geography! No wonder we Americans are often the laughing stock of the world.
A refresher is in order, then. Thankfully, there is the Internet with numerous websites to help us out. Here's a good one: http://www.lizardpoint.com/fun/geoquiz/ . While it is technically a "quiz," it's a good learning tool, and also quite fun.
I figure, by doing one of these quizzes a day for a week or two, one's geographic prowess will be almost good enough to qualify for Jeopardy. My suggestion is to start out with the most basic (e.g., where are each of the U.S. states) and then working his way around the world.
Today I finished learning all of the territories in the Carribean. Those were kind of hard, considering that I hadn't even heard of Anguilla, Martinique, Barbuda (not to be confused with Barbados, which is also in the Carribean) and several others before. I'm sure Africa and some of the whereabouts northeast of that continent will present another challenge to me. But hey, at least I can already identify Iran and Iraq! | Only registered users can write comments.
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A Breath of Fresh Air (60)
writen by: felix
Felix Wong is an outdoor enthusiast living in Fort Collins. A mechanical engineer by day, he is especially passionate about bicycling, running, and backpacking. |
|  | "Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one, and only truth." | |
|  | We're not that bright, even though in our own little world, we're geniuses. We like 80s hair bands and one-hit wonders, but among us we have respectable tastes, too. Metallica, Iron Maiden, U2. Pursuit of all things trivial is a lifestyle, not just a game. We like some sports, love other sports, and can find something to say about anything. We watch TV and movies and we've read a book or two, even a few classics (Yes, Classic Comics count!)
We call it insight, you call it what you will. | |
| | Felix Wong is an outdoor enthusiast living in Fort Collins. A mechanical engineer by day, he is especially passionate about bicycling, running, and backpacking. | |
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I am a recent college graduate of Minnesota State University Moorhead. After recieving my B.A. in English and Mass Communications this past August I moved down to Colorado.
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| | My name is Michelle Turley and I'm 28 years old. I live in Severance with my hubbie, Brandon. We have 2 dogs and a cat. We enjoy camping, four-wheeling, and just being in the mountains. I like to cook, clean (go figure), flea market, and play poker. I have so much to say about poker... | |
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