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So this semester I’m enrolled in 2 geography courses – one is a senior seminar in Geography which sounded pretty cool to me.

I read through the course syllabus and my first “lab” assignment and my first reaction was “oh man, i’m screwed – I have no idea!” Then I let it stew in my head for a couple hours and decided that it sounded pretty damn fun.

For all you gamer-geek types I think you’ll appreciate my first assignment — read on for your own personal enjoyment!

Laboratory Exercise: Survivor

You are on a Search and Rescue team. You will choose a rescue mission in different parts of the world, determining how to best rescue a group of U.S. Government employees whom have been stranded there.

#1 The plane, carrying 4 government employees, was last seen on radar in the southwestern part of Saudi Arabia near the Yemen border. Radar contact was lost 14 hours ago and it is believed to have gone down in an area with no communication facilities and very limited ground transportation facilities. You do not know the condition of the employees.

#2 A train carrying 2 government employees, enroute to Machu Pichu in the Andes Mountains, has been derailed due to an earthquake in the region. Rail service has been discontinued and your mission is to rescue the employees who are still almost 100 miles from their destination. There appears to have been no serious injuries but there were virtually no supplies on the train.

#3 A small boat carrying 3 government employees has been lost off the coast of Bermuda. They have been tracked to a very small, relatively uncharted island about 40 miles north of Bermuda. People have been hurt but you are unsure how badly. To make matters worse, tropical storms have been plaguing the area and 40-60 mile an hour winds are predicted in the vicinity for the next 10 days.

#4 An outrigger canoe carrying employees to a site in the interior of Borneo left 4 days ago going inland by river from Ketapang. They got word out that the outrigger tipped about 25 miles into the journey and they lost all supplies, plus one person has a badly broken leg. Tropical forest fires as well as many other dangers confront the survivors.

#5 A group of employees were flown in to attend the Saami conference in Kiruna, Sweden. They were offered a tour of the area by reindeer to the nearby Mt. Kebnekaise. Unseasonably cold weather and a great deal of snow, for September, has hit. This combined with several of the reindeer running off has caused quite a problem for the visitors and their Saami hosts. They were to have returned to Kiruna four days ago but have not. You know they are somewhere on their way to or back from the mountain.

Supplies that may be brought in to keep the survivors alive and get them out is very limited and your team may only bring 10 rescue items on your mission. You must also create a map of your journey to the site from Washington D.C. and include the method(s) of transportation you will use in the rescue mission.