FOCUS ON: Rock Auction

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Each year, the Sacramento State Geology Club sponsors a rock auction to raise funds for field activities and events.

(Narrator:) This is “Focus” from the campus of Sacramento State.

(David Evans, Sacramento State geology professor:) “It’s 75, and we’re looking for 80. We have 80!”

(Jim Finnerty reporting:) There are auctions for jewelry, coins and antiques, but this fast and furious bidding at Sacramento State is all about rocks.

(Evans:) “Rocks are just intrinsically interesting.” (Finnerty:) Not the rocks you have in your garden. These rocks, minerals and fossils are collectibles auctioned off to benefit the University’s Geology Club.

(Evans:) “And so our students have large field courses that are subsidized by the funds they raise at the rock auction.”

(Finnerty:) Items like this orthoceras slab, along with azurite and malachite, tell a detailed story of the earth’s natural history.

( Evans:) “This year, we have a really spectacular geode. It’s actually a geode inside a bigger geode.”

(Finnerty:) Work on the auction began weeks in advance.

(Erica Murphy, Geology Club, Sacramento State:) “We get an array of samples from different organizations in the community, and we try to put together a collection that will really provide the best experience for our guests.”

(Christine O’Neill, Sacramento State Geology Club:) “Just getting people intrigued and seeing our passion and why we like geology so much is probably the best thing about the rock auction for me personally.”

(Finnerty:) The auction raises thousands of dollars for student programs and draws not only amateur rock hounds but professionals seeking out rock reference materials.

(O’Neill:) “The U.S. Geological Survey and the California Geological Survey will have people here.”

(Finnerty:) But the auction also draws community members to University events, lending their support to a unique academic endeavor.

(O’Neill:) “Most people are going to be bidding because they know it supports the students and the department, and that I find very encouraging and exciting.”

(Finnerty:) This is Jim Finnerty reporting.

(Narrator:) For more information on this and other news from Sacramento State, visit our website.