Paternalism in 19th c. company-controlled industrial towns is a well-documented theme in historical geography. The coexistence of functionally autonomous immigrant neighborhoods is a less well known phenomenon. Within these neighborhoods, ethnic competition for space shaped both the physical and economic environment. This paper will examine distinct ethnic strategies for spatial control of property in Cambria City, PA, as a response to tight company control. The acquisition and use of property or housing was the primary modus operandi for the earlier German and Irish immigrants. Analysis of community demographics, deeds, and tax assessments for Cambria City between 1870-1910 reveal stages of evolution in the use of property. From a common entry status of a company-employed renter, many immigrants progressed to diverse types of owner-entrepreneur: merchant, saloon-keeper, boarding-house owner, brewer, etc. The periodic disruptions in earning power associated with upheavals in the volatile iron and steel industry, necessitated secondary occupations in addition to company employment. As shown in the case study, the secondary occupational diversification was an important component in spatial patterning, and provided a significant base for the community's autonomous development and economic stability.
Daily and Sunday newspapers in the United States have seen a decline in their reach over the past thirty years. While many papers have increased their circulation numbers over that time, their growth has not kept pace with population growth. Metropolitan newspapers in particular have lost large areas of their former hinterlands, as distribution costs have risen. The Minneapolis Star Tribune and the Louisville Courier-Journal have seen particularly large retreats in their service areas. Circulation growth has occurred mainly in the suburbs.
In some areas, the loss of metropolitan newspaper circulation has been offset by a rise in local or regional newspaper circulation. Newspapers based in cities as disparate as Bismarck, North Dakota, and Springfield, Missouri, have seen increases in both circulation and in household penetration (the percentage of households that receive a newspaper). Most of the rural Midwest, however, is suffering from dwindling choices of newspapers. At a time when fewer people are watching television news, declines in newspaper readership heighten the "knowledge gap" between the information-producing cities and their hinterlands.
The 1991 Gulf War and the recent upheaval in Iraq brought the importance of the Middle East to the fore again. Learning of the culture and the peoples of this region carries an immense importance for all who intend to deal with peoples and countries of the Middle East. Although the ethnic makeup of the region is not well known by the media and the lay person, for many centuries in the international political circles some of the people of this ethnically complex region have been intensively studied and manipulated for major benefits. One of these groups of people are the Kurds who now again are in the middle of it all.
The debate on women and transport in the early 1980's raised a number of issues related to changes in women's labor force participation rates (Rosenbloom, 1984). For example, how decisions related to transport mode choice have changed in a two-worker household and how residential and locational decisions regarding employment may also be affected and in turn affect both men's and women's travel behavior. Research in the U.K. (Grieco, Pickup and Whipp, 1989) suggests that gender differences in travel patterns with respect to trip purpose and mileage, as well as in the use of different modes of transport, continue to increase. Women appear to be at a transport disadvantage due to lower car availability and limited networks of bus services, thus constraining their choice of place of employment. In developing countries, improvements in the existing transport technology, such as increased availability of motorcycles and trucks, are more likely to reduce the economic and social dependence of men rather than women (Kramarae, 1988). In the U.S. until the late 1940's, only 17 million out of the 59 million labor force participants were women (Smith, 1979). By 1990, more than half of all married women were in the labor force and 46% of all work trips were by women (Census of Population, 1990). This paper examines whether differences in travel patterns have continued with increasing female labor force participation in the U.S. Data are from the 1990 Census of Transportation Planning Package (CTPP), at the MSA/CMSA level for approximately 330 areas.
Farm programs have impacted land use in rural America for over 60 years. This paper addresses the spatial characteristics of lands enrolled in the federally funded Conservation Reserve and Annual Set-Aside Programs, on 15 study areas selected by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. The locational factors, objectives of each program and their proven or possible impacts on wildlife, particularly grassland nesting birds are discussed. Current and future research efforts are also presented.
Field work during the spring of 1996 focused on domestic dwellings in the Mayan village of Yaxhachen (population approximately 1000), located in the southern Mexican state of Yucatan, and the Garifuna village of Hopkins (population approximately 500), located along the southern Yucatan coast of Belize. This presentation outlines how the traditional construction of dwellings relate to the local cultural heritage, physical geography, and availability of resources. Residents of Yaxhachen are predominantly subsistence farmers employing slash and burn agricultural methods. Residents of Hopkins rely on the fishing resources of the Caribbean for food and operate a communal farm. Traditional residential dwellings in both villages are one room structures used by a single family unit. The structures of Yaxhachen are oval shaped thatched roof huts with cement floors and plaster-filled stick walls. The rectangular shaped residences in Hopkins are built of wood with tin roofs and elevated off the ground by support poles. In both cases, local traditions, local materials, local labor and local expertise played an important role in the construction and the design of the dwellings.
The purpose of the Indiana Gap Analysis Project is to develop a geographic information system with layers for the state's vegetation, vertebrate species, and land management information to aid in resource management strategies. The vegetation map for Indiana is being developed at the Center for Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems/Department of Geography, Geology, and Anthropology at Indiana State University using dual date Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) data and triple date coverage for over sixty percent of the state.
Digital National Wetland Inventory data is being used to assign known wetlands within each scene of satellite data to a wetlands data set. Urban areas, as defined by U.S.G.S. Land Cover/Land Use data files, are then extracted from the remaining non-wetland data sets (referred to as uplands) to identify high density, low density, and non-urban land classes. The non-urban pixels are reassigned to the upland data sets for image processing. Spectral classes for wetland, urban, and upland data sets are generated using an unsupervised classification approach and the ISODATA classifier. Vegetation will be mapped to the formation subclass level (e.g., mainly evergreen terrestrial forest, row crop, pasture) statewide, and to the species level where possible.
Once the vegetation data layer is completed at the 1 hectare minimum mapping unit, the digital information will be available to the public in digital format. Included in this presentation are several ideas for how K-12 educators might utilize this data in their classrooms and/or conduct field verification exercises.
The United States Civil Rights movement not only secured rights of accommodation and political participation, but transformed politics and cultural forms in places. The study examines a cultural event, The Black Festival of the Arts, in March, 1970, at which African Americans from both Iowa and Mississippi performed.
The event was to be a high point in the efforts of European Americans with different orientations to civil rights to work with African Americans with different backgrounds. Their conflicts, reflecting those occurring nationwide, contributed to the shaping of cultural values in a particular place. Examination of this event reveals the contours of the civil rights movement in two widely separated (700 miles) places, Linn County, Iowa and Holmes County, Mississippi.
This research required a methodology incorporating interviews, news reports, church and college newspapers, organization records and the work of other scholars. The theoretical basis brings together "identity" social movement theory (Touraine and Melucci) with considerations of the importance of place in politics (Agnew and Paasi). The cultural event is an example of people struggling over cultural stakes in a specific place.
Knowledge of how cartographic and related research and education has evolved in recent years is helpful to understanding and anticipating future needs within an important aspect of geography. This research examines the changes in published articles and in the location of cartography, GIS and remote sensing faculty. Published articles are taken as an indication of the content of cartographic education, and I examined the research topics in several journals. The location of cartographic and related research and education is reflected in the distribution of faculty in cartography, GIS and remote sensing. I have used the AAG Guide to Programs to maps these patterns. There have been distinct shifts in both the content of research articles and the location of faculty who are training students in cartographic education.
The Detroit area is the undisputed leader of the automobile industry in the United States. Comparisons of Ford's research complexes in Dearborn with General Motors' Technical Center in Warren are instructive. Ford operations at Dearborn, were mainly constructed from the 1920s through the 1950s projecting an aura of pre-World War II "big industry in small town community". Ford landscapes are quaint and inviting with Georgian being the prominent architectural style. General Motors landscapes in Warren reflect the post World War II era of economic boom mixed with cold war paranoia. Architecture is of a quasi-Frank Lloyd Wright flat blocky style with occasional domes between massive expanses of grass. Residential, political, and security landscapes are contrasted.
This paper will address the most important issue facing the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), related to territorial competition between the Macedonian Slavs and the Albanians. A brief historical survey will explain how a small minority of the Albanians concentrated in the far northwestern two counties of Macedonia became a major minority, estimated to consist of between 25 and 40 percent of the total population of FYROM. Following the census data, one can notice rapid spatial advancement of the Albanian ethnic community, and retreat of the ethnic Macedonians. There are a number of implications of this process, including violent outcomes. It is suggested that the best solution for both communities—the Albanian and the Macedonian—is orderly to separate and partition Macedonia, so that northwest Macedonia became a part of new northeast Albania. Time and demographics are not on the side of the Macedonian Slavs.
In order to evaluate the success of Akron's housing rehabilitation program, a case study utilizing two carefully selected neighborhoods is undertaken. A neighborhood which has received funding and undergone the process of rehabilitation is compared with an adjacent neighborhood which has also been targeted, but has not yet received program support. Characteristics used in the analysis are: neighborhood housing values at the time of property transfer between the years 1984 and 1992; population turnover rates between 1985 and 1990; and an evaluation of the infrastructure of both neighborhoods. Furthermore, changes in the funded neighborhood are compared with city-wide averages of housing values and owner-occupancy rates between 1980 and 1990. Results of the study reveal that although being targeted for funding will not drastically revitalize a neighborhood, it will stem neighborhood deterioration and improve the appearance of the houses and infrastructure.
The Russian soul, the spiritual part of a dynamic Slavic group, was molded in the past by a harsh climate and a vast physiogeographic arena with no ready-made barriers, and by a history of suffering, oppression, and military defeats. It was tempered by glorious military victories, great scientific accomplishments, and grandiose artistic triumphs. Stalin stated that the character-forming force in Russian society was military, economic, social, and agricultural backwardness. This backwardness is associated in part with the Tatar invasion and domination of two and a half centuries during which Russia was isolated from Europe and Russians adopted customs and institutions from their despotic, inflammable, and barbaric oppressors. Isolation magnified and hardened every attribute that could distinguish the Russians from the rest of the world. A brand of hopeless moral inferiority and emotional extremes were tempered by magnificent Russian achievements in the 1800s and 1900s. The Russian soul, benumbed by the tyranny and oppression of Bolshevik Communist rule, has found itself awakened in the 1990s. Internal conflicts between the extremes of life enhancement and life denial are reflected in current business dealings, new architecture, religion, industrial complexes, agricultural units, and work discipline. Obvious landscape changes in the emerging capitalist society are creating a new geography of Russia.
The HIV epidemic continues to expand at a rapid pace throughout many parts of the underdeveloped world. Nowhere is this true more than in India. The WHO estimates about 1.5 million people living with HIV in India currently. As of August 1994, 15399 HIV infections had been officially reported from India. The predominant mode of infection is considered to be heterosexual intercourse. Research on sexual intercourse between men has largely been neglected. Sexual networks of men-who-have-sex-with-men are extended and invisible. Those involved are at high risk for STD/HIV but cannot access STD or health clinics owing to criminalisation and stigmatization of homosexual behavior in India. A majority of these men are married, therefore their sexual behavior has an impact on women's reproductive health. A study of the sexual networks of men-who-have-sex-with-men in Calcutta was conducted. It was found that men involved in these networks are at high risk from HIV/STD's. Hence prevention projects would have to consider appropriate activities.
The history of Lake Hope State Park in southeastern Ohio revolves around a few individual owners but Douglas Putnam emerges as the primary owner of original Lake Hope lands. He bought and assembled large tracts of land. The state and federal government acquired the land essentially intact.
Hueston Woods State Park in southwestern Ohio had its beginnings in the Matthew Hueston family. Hueston owned a 377-acre tract that remained in the family for over 100 years. Morris Taylor bought the plot, in its entirety, to preserve the 200-acre virgin beech-maple stand that Hueston protected from human disturbance. He held the land in trust until the state government could purchase it, with no profit to himself.
Together, these two state parks support the idea that large, contiguous, singly owned parcels of land were instrumental to the spatial evolution of Ohio state parks.
Hierarchical ecological classification based on geology, soils, and climate has been utilized as a framework for management decisions in Michigan's national forests since the late 1970s, and by other managing agencies since the mid 1980s. The U.S. Forest Service has developed a national classification hierarchy which includes Landtype Associations (LTAs) at a scale of tens to thousands of acres in size. The LTAs of Michigan's northern lower peninsula were delineated and described by ecologists at the Michigan Natural Features Inventory using topography, geology, soils, and presettlement vegetation maps utilizing a "light-box" GIS technique. A less labor-intensive and consistent approach to LTA mapping was desired. In this study, an artificial intelligence rule-induction and classification tree analysis was run to predict the distribution of LTAs and identify and quantify complex hierarchical relationships between the variables. The analysis was carried out using co-registered raster GIS data layers, which included the LTAs and slope, aspect, elevation, soil drainage, depth to high water table, soil texture, quaternary geology, and pre-European settlement vegetation as the predictor variables.
Eastern Amazon landscapes are subjected to constant transformation due to anthropogenic influences. Slash-and-burn agriculture and cattle ranching are the major factors promoting landscape change. Pattern analyses of the landscape elements provide insights into the spatial and temporal distribution of these phenomena at a regional scale.
Raster GIS algorithms are carried out to analyze characteristics of the landscape elements, such as diversity, dominance, and contagion. Supervised classification of Landsat TM data is used as an input for GIS analysis. Imagery data were acquired at two different dates, July 1984 and July 1991. Ground truth data were collected in July 1994 and 1995 and used to implement supervised classification.
Results show that replacement of cropland by pasture and forest regrowth is the predominant land use sequence in the region. Proximity analysis performed along roads and rivers demonstrates the influence of these landscape elements in the process of change. Assessing landscape change at a regional scale is essential to analyzing impacts on biodiversity and to link environmental change at different scales in the Amazon.
The conventional methods for management of archaeological spatial data do not meet the current needs for durability, a hierarchical structure, scientific visualization and flexible graphics capabilities. The objective of this project was to meet each of these needs through the use of advanced cartographic technology and the development of a visual database for archaeological site maps. Spatial data from the Athienou Archaeological Project provided the foundation for this prototype. The resultant interactive maps demonstrate that user-friendly interfaces can be combined with high resolution graphics and complex computer technology to produce a successful system for storing and displaying archaeological spatial data.
Utility-scale wind power installations are expanding throughout the Upper Midwest. The purpose of this poster presentation is to use GIS to identify potential wind power sites in Olmsted County, Minnesota. The EPPL7 GIS model employs four major variables: surface roughness, elevation, slope, and proximity to existing power lines.
Digital data files of highest elevations (over 392 meters) and flat (0 percent) slopes were combined. This map was then merged with a surface roughness coverage which consisted of buffered land uses considered to be wind flow barriers. The final map product identified four "best" potential areas for wind power sites in Olmsted County.
Violence against women and family violence are increasingly being recognized as public health issues. However, our knowledge about the spatial patterns of these acts of domestic violence and their causes is very limited. While some studies compare data from larger regions, studies showing the distribution of cases of domestic violence at the urban level are especially rare. In this paper, we present results from our exploratory analysis of crime data from the city of Indianapolis. While an analysis using crime data such as this, has necessarily to take into account a certain level of under reporting, nevertheless it enables us to take a first view at the spatial patterns and their associations with social, demographic and economic patterns. This will contribute to the effort of understanding the nature and magnitude of the problem, as well as help in planning local responses such as the establishment of special programs in certain neighborhoods.
In the last five years there has been an enormous increase in both the interest and resources available on the Internet, many of which given their spatial nature are inherently geographic. Many classes have home pages/web sites, which provide syllabi, assignments and readings, or have lists of interesting sites to view. Our objective is to more actively integrate the on-line, real-time data and current information into our Introductory Physical and Human Geography courses through structured access to data and imagery, animations and simulations, and development of assignments, review questions and quizzes which are based on these materials. This concept is not new, see for example, the geoscience resources at Pennsylvania State and the environmental science resources at University of Illinois. However, few such resources exist for Introductory Geography courses. The materials we have developed are intended for use in multiple sections, taught both in traditional lecture format as well as distance learning/ correspondence courses. They provide support both to the instructor and students, i.e. there is ready and structured access to resources.
Warning systems for human response to the tornado hazards in Ohio present a unique problem of spatial distribution. Radio sending stations must be located strategically in relation to terrain features and local obstructions for most efficient transmission of signals. They also have to be placed near population centers and clusters including in rural areas. To identify the spatial distribution and placements of existing severe weather alert systems, a geographic information system (GIS) has been applied. An addition, population density was correlated with historical distribution of tornado events. Other parameters, such as terrain features were also identified and mapped. Results from this study indicate that there are areas were persons are very unlikely to be warned in case of severe weather.
Research involving the driving forces that affect global-scale changes has captured increasing attention among geographers and others during the last ten years. The linkages between cultural and biophysical systems that are implicated in these large-scale processes, referred to as the human dimensions of global change, represent the subjects of focus by the Second Commission on College Geography (CCG2). A major project being undertaken by CCG2 in cooperation with the National Science Foundation is creating active learning modules that focus on ten topics within human dimensions of global change. Each stresses the use of innovative hands-on activities to promote student involvement in the process of learning, and each provides rich curricular resources for teachers. Five modules were pre-tested in classrooms nationwide during 1995-96, while five others are undergoing pre-testing during the current academic year. This presentation will give an overview and status of the CCG2 efforts, emphasizing the project's methodology and providing synopses of the ten modules. The ultimate aim is to encourage dissemination of the active learning modules and provide feedback to the geography community regarding this AAG-sponsored activity.
The 1794 Battle of Fallen Timbers between aborigines and whites near present-day Toledo, Ohio was a pivotal event. In 1929 the Fallen Timbers Memorial was erected in commemoration overlooking the Maumee River floodplain where the battle supposedly occurred. Scholars doubting the riverbank battle location suggested examining higher ground northward. Impending mall construction precipitated an archeological survey which affirmed this upland battle site one mile from the Memorial. Although owned by Toledo, Maumee controls this land's zoning. Disparate interest groups include those wanting the area: developed, left alone, or preserved. The National Park Service in 1995 chose not to purchase the battleground.
Maumee sought federal funds to buy the battleground for a national park by applying to the Ohio Department of Transportation under the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act. This park would be justified and enhance ISTEA's Transportation Enhancement Program because of its scenic & Environmental and Pedestrian & Bicycle Facility components, and because of nearby examples of major transportation modes. In 1996 ODOT rejected Maumee's application as an insufficiently strong transportation-related project.
The NPS suggested achieving federal recognition for the battleground through "affiliated status." Such sites, listed with the NPS, gain desirable national park prestige and publicity, but are owned and operated locally. As an affiliate national park, Fallen Timbers would be permitted to create park entrances and market itself in park publications, travel magazines, and the Internet. Two Ohio state representatives pledged in September 1996 to make this a reality.
This paper examines and contextualizes the use of street barriers by the city of Chicago, to restructure space in the Near West Side. This is a community undergoing rapid change fueled by a mix of dramatic disinvestment and intensified gentrification. The street barriers serve as physical and mental boundaries within/without/by which notions of class, race and place are constructed and represented.
A preliminary study investigating the influence of environmental stress on treeline dynamics in high mountain environments of South Central Colorado was conducted. The focus was on treeline vegetation above the Huerfeno Valley and along the west ridge of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The study site, known locally as "the saddle", is a depression along the ridge that currently supports a scattered stand of Rocky Mountain Bristlecone Pine (Pinus aristata) despite its position above treeline. Trees contained in the study site have acquired Krummholz characteristics due to environmental stress; multiple stems have grown mostly leeward out of single bases, branches are warped and scarred. Dead limbs characterized the extreme windward side and on those leeward sections of trunk closest to the ground. The site is also characterized by numerous dead trees and debris, indicating that an earlier stand of trees once populated the site. To quantify elements of environmental stress the tree length and diameter were recorded and the basal area of each tree was calculated; dead limbs of the same trees were also measured. Wind speed measurements were taken at several points throughout the study site. Average wind speeds and maximum wind gusts appear to play an important role in determining where the present bristlecone pine trees became established and survived. Large scale climatic changes could account for the mortality of the previous stand.
An interactive cartographic animation of the change in population density, by county, of the United States from 1790 to 1960 provides a method for visualizing the growing population of the United States. Using data gleaned from the U.S. Census back to 1790, the project presents a two-dimensional map of the counties of the contiguous United States that changes color as the population densities within the counties change. Westward movement, the disappearance of the American frontier, the growth of cities, and other population patterns appear over time. The project developed in four distinct steps, each presenting its own set of challenges: (1) acquisition of data; (2) manipulation of data into a usable form; (3) map generation; and (4) interactive animation development.
Bioregions may be defined and delineated a number of ways, each approach stressing natural boundaries in addition to resident perceptions of the place in which they live. Bioregions and ecoregions have been delineated by regional physiography and geomorphology (Fenneman 1931; 1938; Thornsbury 1965; Hunt 1967); biotic province (Dasmann 1959); biogeographical province (Udvardy 1975); and ecoregions (Bailey 1976; Omernik 1986; 1995); and cultural regions (Gastil 1975; Garreau 1981). Bioregionalism has been described as a "kind of moral philosophy...a framework for action that celebrates geographic and cultural diversity, the sacredness of the earth, and the responsibilities of local communities to it" (Parsons 1985, 4). What are the differences between academic bioregional and ecoregional thought, and the grassroots movement that advocates a bioregional approach to "living in place?" This paper will consider the possible relationships and distinctions between these closely related approaches to the notion of a "natural region." Finally, the paper will advance the notion that bioregions and bioregionalism are important factors in achieving "sustainable" society, going well beyond our current notions of "sustainable development."
Assessment of landscape dynamics over a large area is vital to regional environmental planning and resource management. This paper discusses a conceptual framework for integrating multiple data bases and process models to evaluate the structure and function of a landscape system at the watershed scale. Satellite imagery and multiple databases of soils, digital elevation, transportation, and land cover /use are used to characterize the structure of the landscape system. Process models such as AGNPS (Agricultural Nonpoint Source Pollution Model) an d Bowen Ratio method are used to analyze the spatial distribution of sedimentation, nutrient runoff, net radiation and evapotranspiration within the landscape. Linking these values to the pattern of the study area will reveal how fluxes of energy and vapor, sedimentation and nutrient loss change across the landscape as a function of habitat types and their physiological stage of development. Use of this approach in temporal comparisons of the same region can help management agencies assess not only the change direction of, but also the effect of habitat management effort, to the landscape.
Geography is a visually dynamic discipline with students accustomed to the usage of multiple media to present the graphical and cartographic illustrations which depict and enliven the field. The teaching of geographic thought differs significantly in content, technique, and emphasis from the majority of other courses in the departmental curriculum. Emphasis is on who and what with outside readings to illustrate and substantiate the materials. Too few supplemental visual aids are frequently utilized. Through a summer institute at the Newberry Library in Chicago, resource materials for some of the key people discussed in this course were identified. Illustration of personages and representations of their work demonstrate how such resources can be used to enhance the teaching of the history and philosophy of geography.
Geographic information systems remain a rapidly growing technology that will be increasingly important in the curriculum of academic departments during the twenty-first century. An NSF-funded grant, "GIS for the 21st Century," is a two-year effort to enhance and expand GIS programs and courses at community colleges in the United States. Phase one of the project involved a summer program that offered community college instructors basic GIS training and development of GIS courses and programs responsive to institutional commitments to GIS and job market needs. Morning lecture, discussion, field trips, and afternoon hands-on lab activities provided instructors with the fundamentals of GIS and GIS applications. GIS program development for community colleges was also included in the curriculum, including a plan for continued interactive network program building through the 1996-1997 academic year. Internet and other long-distance education approaches will network the work of all participating institutions throughout the project. Nearly 50 community college instructors are currently participating, representing 27 institutions from across the country. These community colleges are in various stages of GIS program development, from established two-year certificate programs, new programs just being implemented, and programs in the early stage of development. Community college partners will work with program and course development through the 1996-1997 academic year and will return for a follow-up institute and collaboration in summer 1997.
Ohio's Edison Program consists of seven technology centers along with affiliated and subsidiary units, including functional centers for technology transfer, training, and research. The Center Director's Council addressed the problem of defining key performance measures for technology centers servicing diverse industrial sectors operating under mission statements separately defined by independent boards of governance. The Manufacturing Center headquartered in Cleveland has revenues that exceed $20,000,000 per year, and the Biotechnology Center in Cleveland now has revenues that exceed $5,000,000 per year. This paper outlines the results of a two-year effort to define key performance measures.
A leverage analysis was also completed by the Center Director's Council and the results are reported. The most important elements in building capacity for the Edison Centers include the following: (1) Conceptualizing each center as a perpetual system with a continuing expanding role; (2) Maintaining a broad vision that embraces all of Ohio; (3) Establishing permanent liaisons with elected representatives; (4) Providing on-going publicity to all media, reporting goals accomplished; (5) Pursuing a policy of planned expansion through funding proposals.
This paper examines the development of an Hispanic landscape in the Rust Belt. Lorain, Ohio, is an industrial town of 70,000 on the shores of Lake Erie where Hispanics of Puerto Rican and Mexican descent now comprise almost 20 percent of the population. Hispanic settlement is concentrated in the southern section of the city where a variety of ethnic identity markers are used to create an incipient Hispanic landscape. Fixed and semi-fixed ethnic identity markers occur in association with community institutions, commercial activities, and residences. These include a Spanish colonial-style church, wall murals invoking Puerto Rican themes, and Spanish-language signs associated with Hispanic businesses. The paper reports on a detailed inventory of single-family residences in south Lorain which identifies clear, although subtle, differences in residential identify markers between the homes of Hispanics and non-Hispanics. The repeated presence of a group of several markers associated with Hispanic residences suggests the existence of a "Hispanic yard complex" in Lorain. The characteristics of this "yard complex" and other landscape markers suggest that Hispanics in Lorain have moved toward a kind of cultural pluralism in the development of a distinct cultural landscape, blending elements of both Hispanic culture and Anglo culture, choosing this path over either cultural isolation or assimiliation.
The Great Lakes Environmental Education Initiative is an educational outreach effort in the Great Lakes states and Ontario. Pre-collegiate teachers throughout the region have been trained to conduct workshops on environmental issues of the Great Lakes states and Ontario. Prototype maps of the Great Lakes states, and Ontario within the Great Lakes drainage basin, have been produced to assist them in their efforts. The maps were designed to assist in presenting the topics, and to complement the maps, in The Great Lakes: An Environmental Atlas and Resource Book, 1995. Teachers are developing classroom lessons focused on the maps. The themes of the four color maps are: Population-Total, Urban, Rural Non-farm, and Rural Farm; Percent of Land in Cropland; Percent of Land in Corn; Percent of Land in Wheat; Number of Cattle; Persons Employed in Manufacturing; Persons Employed in Mining; Food and Kindred Products Manufacturing; Percent of Land in Forests; Seasonal Housing; Drilled Wells; Septic Tanks; Acres Irrigated; Acres in Orchards; Acres Fertilized; Acres Treated for Insects and Weeds; Predominant Economic Influences; State of the Lakes; and Land Use, Fisheries, and Erosion. The finished map set will be produced after the field testing by the classroom teachers during the 1996-97 academic year.
The Superstorm of 1993 was one of the largest and most powerful meteorological storms to affect the eastern third of the United States. Intense thunderstorms and tornadoes spawned ahead of the storm's cold front in the southern reaches of the U.S. Snowfall records were set from Alabama to Maine. The storm's intensity brought record low barometric pressures and affected the expanse of the path of the storm. This isolated storm took 200 lives and caused billions of dollars in damage, and is therefore one of the deadliest storms in the recent history of the United States. Maps, charts and graphs will illustrate the storm's path of destruction.
The use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is being utilized as a powerful tool by land planners in the process of site selection. This paper addresses the feasibility of using GIS for the site selection of the land application of biosolids. Due to the inherent hazards associated with biosolids, state and federal mandated restrictions are imposed on the location of biosolid disposal. Well location, topography, and land use criteria are included in the GIS model and integrated with soil factors to determine areas of greatest suitability for both surface and subsurface application techniques. The results of this case study analysis include: (1) evaluation of using GIS for the biosolid site selection process, (2) evaluation of the spatial extent of suitable areas in Texas Township, Michigan, and (3) graphical display of sites that are suitable for land application of biosolids.
An understanding of the life cycle of the extratropical cyclone is one of the most cherished advances in modern meteorology. To students, however, the extratropical cyclone is merely one of a veritable blizzard of phenomena which they encounter in an introductory physical geography or meteorology course. How can students be encouraged to care about this particular topic?
The November 10, 1975 wreck of the ore freighter Edmund Fitzgerald on Lake Superior during a rapidly intensifying extratropical cyclone has become an enduring piece of American folklore. Gordon Lightfoot's hit song commemorating the wreck and the lives of the 29 sailors lost in the disaster is still familiar to many of today's undergraduates. As such, the Fitzgerald storm represents an ideal resource for enhancing students' appreciation of the science and the societal impacts of the extratropical cyclone.
In this presentation, multimedia depictions of the Fitzgerald storm are used to give an especially vivid picture of the development and impact of an intense "Panhandle Hook" low. The effect of geographical features (e.g., the Rocky Mountains and the Great Lakes) on the development of the storm is highlighted. Scientific questions, both elementary and at the cutting edge of current meteorological research, arise naturally from an examination of the storm's role in the shipwreck. Introductory-level meteorology student evaluations are discussed which attest to the efficacy of this teaching approach. A summary of the information in this presentation can be accessed through the World Wide Web at http://oldthunder.ssec.wisc.edu/wxwise/fitz.html.
Coastal wetland protection and monitoring in the United States is becoming an increasingly important issue. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Coastal Change Analysis Program (C-CAP) has been developed to provide a protocol for satellite monitoring of the coastal regions of the United States. This research evaluated the effectiveness of the C-CAP program when being applied to a freshwater Great Lake ecosystem in the Saginaw Bay region of Michigan by investigating four components of the protocol: (1) suitable classification methodology, (2) suitable change detection logic, (3) accuracy assessment, and (4) source of digital data. Using two dates of satellite imagery, it was determined that the C-CAP protocol could be used to effectively detect and monitor coastal wetland and upland changes in this region with minor modifications. This research determined that single scene unsupervised classification logic alone could not produce a classification product to the required C-CAP standard of 85% accuracy in this study region. Also, it was determined that the Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) data provided better results in discriminating between C-CAP informational classes than Landsat Multispectral Scanner (MSS) data.
Artificial Neural Networks have demonstrated their utility as classification tools in the categorization of land use/land cover patterns captured on remotely sensed imagery. Because a neural network represents knowledge explicitly as a function of its topology and connective weights, this knowledge system should not only be applicable to new data sets, but it should be capable of placing new observations into their appropriate informational class across an extended time horizon. This paper, focusing on the question of drought detection and mapping, evaluates the ability of a neural network to generalize across a data set and tests the feasibility of employing neural networks as intelligent image processors linked to Early Warning systems that utilized coarse resolution sensors such as the AVHRR.
The majority of island biogeography studies deal with oceanic islands. An interesting variety of islands that have been given less attention, however, are those in large inland lakes. Observations during my field research as well as previous studies show some excellent examples of the unique traits of large lake island biogeography. Particularly intriguing are the islands of large lakes of temperate areas, such as the Great Lakes of North America or Russia's Lake Baikal, where interactions of atmosphere over land and water are most influential on localized climate and, therefore, biology. Here changing air temperatures are moderated by the thermal lag and physical properties of water to produce a limnoclimate which is neither completely continental nor oceanic. The resulting climatic parameters on such islands frequently mimic those of other regions, and it is limnoclimatic conditions that are among the most deterministic elements of lake island biogeography. Other principles involved in large lake island biogeography are also discrete from those of oceanic islands, such as the biogeographical significance of having a mainland much closer, often connected by ice during winter, than those of oceans. In addition, lake islands share some "typical" characteristics with those of oceanic islands, such as fewer taxa per area, higher rates of endimism, and unique balances of ecology related to isolation and limited genetic diversity.
The study of children's understanding of maps has crucial educational implications. Piaget's theory of developmental psychology contends that children are not able to comprehend maps until the elementary school years. However, an emerging body of research suggests that children are in fact capable of understanding the concept of maps at a much earlier age. This research suggests that children will benefit from learning about maps in earlier school grades than previously believed.
Based on this emerging research, we investigated four and a half to five year old children's perceptions of an aerial photograph. The children were asked to identify several features on the map both spontaneously and in response to questioning. A toy bird and a toy car were then used by the children in a series of tests to determine whether or not they understood that the photograph was a representation of an actual landscape. The children were asked how the bird and the car would get from one point on the map to another which they demonstrated by either moving the object along the roads or across the landscape. Overall, the children demonstrated their understanding of the photograph by driving the car along the roads and flying the bird over the landscape. The findings indicate that children aged four and a half to five are capable of understanding the concept of an aerial photograph. The results are consistent with the theory that children can comprehend the concept of a map at an earlier age than previously believed.
GIS industries have been catering the increasing needs for GIS by providing easy-to-use software, bundled data, customized routines, and connection to back-end data. GIS componentware represents the latest industry effort in GIS technology diffusion and democratization. It provides application developers with tools rich in GIS and mapping features. Three major reasons are behind this effort: Expanding GIS market through spatial data oriented applications, reaching out to the potential users who do not yet need full fledged GIS software, and creating brand recognition and market control.
This trend, however, does not stop the debates about whether GIS has degraded spatial analysis and how to improve the geographic literacy of application developers. So far GIS componentware lacks safeguard measures.
The future of GIS componentware, however, is bright. The market demands will continue to drive the technology, and the continuing development of GIS technology itself will alleviate some concerns regarding its gap with the expectations of spatial analysis. The continuing academic critiques will push the vendors to improve their safeguard measures.
A sample application developed with two major GIS componentwares will be presented in the poster session to discuss the pros and cons of this new technology.
Within the research area, the sites of thirty-seven 19th century traditional stoneware potteries were identified by historical and archaeological techniques. The widespread local occurrence of nearly identical underclays suitable for stoneware production, as well as extensive wood and water resources, made possible the dispersal of the sites across the field area. In addition, proximity to contemporary local and intertown roads as well as town markets was characteristic of their locations. If a 15-mile market radius is assumed, essentially all of the research area would be within that distance of area potteries. Apparently, a local marketing pattern characterized their operations. The sizable concentration of potteries in the Brazil locality was an exception related to their location along the National Road and the resulting extension to their market area. Introduction of the railroads into the Lower Wabash Valley brought competition from distant industrial potteries and by the 1860s initiated a period of decline of the local traditional potteries. Area stoneware production was limited to industrial operations at four area sites by the 1890s. In 1920 only one area establishment remained in operation.
This paper focuses on one of the foremost problems facing the rapidly urbanizing nations of Latin America. This is the distribution of food in urban areas where much of the population lives in poverty. Food concerns such as availability, cost, transportation, changing preferences, nutrition, and competition have caused many nations to experiment with distribution systems which include both private and public financing and control. The government of Mexico, during the 1970's, attempted to create more competition and a more even flow of food between rich and poor areas by intervening in the wholesale system in Mexico City. In Monterrey, Mexico, a home delivery system has been operated for almost a century. Several Latin American countries have embraced consumer purchasing associations, consumer cooperatives, retailer purchasing associations, and voluntary chains. A major trend since the 1950's is the rapid expansion of supermarkets and supermarket chains in the more economically viable areas of the cities. This has resulted in structural changes in the traditional marketing systems and in the types of foods made available to the populations. A study of Caracas, Venezuela, has been made and illustrates the changes resulting from conversion to the supermarket system.
In this project, a spatiotemporal vector-based GIS model was designed to visualize and represent historic land cover and land use changes in the metropolitan Chicago area over the last 200 years. Chicago has a long history of being a center of commerce, transportation and industry, and an end station for immigrants worldwide. These factors have greatly contributed to the transformation of land cover and land use patterns in the region. It was one of our goals to use GIS technologies to capture and represent this phenomenon.
Temporal data layers at 20-30 year intervals, beginning by early 1800's, were developed, incorporating data on land use and land cover patterns, transportation and hydrography, and population information in the area. Data sources included historical maps, census files and remote sensing images. Special attention was given to compiling historical maps, reducing storage space, providing efficient historical data querying, and a clear visual presentation. Thematic and spatial data was stored in a modified tuple-based structure with time stamping variables. GIS modeling procedures were applied for visualizing the changes and for defining modeling parameters. Detailed techniques and methodological considerations were discussed in the paper.
Long-term avian records have been collected for sites in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) in southern Ontario to monitor the human disturbance of bird species from landscape change. The sites are located within riverine landscapes characterized by a matrix of small lakes, wetlands, forested uplands, agricultural fields and settlements. The data indicate diversity and population are greater where disturbance is reduced. Indicator groups, including waterfowl, raptors and threatened species are better represented where there is little urbanization and forest cover is intact. It is also evident that some species rely on the pattern and complexity of the landscapes of this region; the heterogeneity of wildland complexes, including wetland corridors and upland woodlots, is critical for the maintenance of viable populations, by providing alternative opportunities for nesting and feeding. This occurs over a range of spatial levels from the juxtaposition of habitats within a wildland complex to the regional pattern of land use. Therefore, the scale at which species are examined within the landscape becomes important, as many species use different levels of habitats and landscapes of varying functions. The issue of scale and how it is interpreted in wildlife management decisions and policy in southern Ontario will be addressed.
In 1952, Jack Villmow proposed a new and more northerly border for the Dfa/Dfb climate boundary in eastern North America. This paper follows from Villmow's work with not only an improved data set over a longer period, but considers the issue of anthropogenically induced global warming as a possible cause.
Data were obtained from the Global Historical Climatology Network's Long-Term Monthly Temperature, Precipitation, Sea Level Pressure, and Station Pressure Data. Analysis included extracting the annual maximum mean monthly temperature values for 228 weather observing stations in the United States and Canada and mapping the 22ºC isotherm (Dfa/Dfb boundary) for three 30-year sequential climatological periods beginning with 1901-1930. Although the Dfa/Dfb boundary did vary latitudinally in each 30 year period, no evidence of warming was found in the north central and northeastern US, or the southern peninsula of Ontario over the 90-year period, particularly in the most recent 30-year comparison (1961-1990).
Romania is not much different today than it was a century ago. The country's economy remains largely based on agriculture, supported by a mostly rural population, and the standard of living is among the lowest in Eastern Europe. This economic stagnation is a result of Romania's turbulent experience with communism throughout its recent history. Political instability during this era prevented steady industrial growth as various communist leaders experimented with industrialization and collective farming. The Romanian economy continues to struggle today as government corruption abounds and communists still dominate the political scene.
Animal damage problems, especially deer, have been reported to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) wildlife management offices for many years. In June 1992, a system known as the Wildlife Complaint Inquiry Log (WCIL) was implemented to standardize the collection of damage complaints. This was followed by the implementation of the Cooperative Damage Management Agreement (CDMA) process which occurred in July 1993. The CDMA is based on the WCIL and is required in all cases where the DNR loans or provides damage abatement materials to farmers or growers. The WCIL and CDMA process was designed to provide the Section of Wildlife with consistent documentation of all damage complaints and a description of the actions taken by area wildlife managers in response to each complaint. Our objectives for this project were to review and analyze the WCIL and CDMA data and to offer recommendations for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the program.
On Friday, 19 April 1996, a major outbreak of severe weather occurred across central Illinois. Severe supercell thunderstorms produced 30 tornadoes, the largest number ever to strike Illinois in one day. Each single parent supercell thunderstorm spawned multiple tornadoes. Locations affected by some of the more significant tornadoes included Jacksonville, Decatur, Urbana, and Ogden; in each case, tornadoes formed from the same parent supercell storm.
The purpose of this study is to analyze the synoptic weather pattern which triggered severe weather and to examine the two tornadoes which hit Mason County in detail. Explosive thunderstorm development occurred after 2100Z (4 pm CDT) west-central Illinois along a warm front ahead of an advancing dry line in an area characterized by an influx of warm, moist air (temperatures above 70°F, dew points in the 60's), south-southeast (S-SE) winds, and strong moisture convergence. Southwest (SW) winds at mid-levels ushered in cooler, drier air, creating unstable atmospheric conditions with favorable wind shear for severe weather. Instability is clearly shown by upper air soundings and stability indices in the region. The vertical temperature and moisture profile allowed rising motion through a deep layer of the atmosphere, critical to the formation of the powerful updrafts found in supercell thunderstorms.
The Mason County tornadic supercell thunderstorm produced at least six (6) tornadoes. The first one touched down near Bath and tracked northeast around 10 miles. The second tornado struck Easton, reached over ¼ mile in width, and had a combined path length of nearly 9 miles in two segments.
A community's sense of place, or attachment to place, can be instrumental in influencing the direction of a town's economic development. This proved to be true in Jefferson County, Indiana, in May of 1994. Bordering the Ohio River, county residents voted on whether or not to accept riverboat gambling on their shores, following the 1993 legalization of riverboat gambling in Indiana. Of the 12 Ohio River counties which held similar referendums, Jefferson County's gambling interests suffered the largest defeat. Aside from the economic and moral arguments common to all 12 county referendums, a strong sense of place for Madison -- Jefferson County's largest community -- was influential in the county's decision to reject gambling. The origin and nature of that sense of place is revealed here, through an analysis of newspaper articles, letters to the editor, interviews, and referendum statistics.
Of the ninety-two counties in the State of Indiana, three have functional county seat Lancaster Squares. The Lancaster Square may be described as the Philadelphia Square with a functional courthouse in the center. Four streets converge towards the courthouse. The square is aligned with commercial buildings. A somewhat unique feature observed is the perpendicular positioning of the fronts of buildings in the corners of the Lancaster Square towards the courthouse in the center. The three examples of the Lancaster Square found in Indiana include: the town of Paoli; the county seat of Orange County, the city of Salem; the county seat of Washington County, and the city of Jasper; the county seat of Dubois County. Shelbyville in Shelby County has a square but, the courthouse is no longer located there. Historic preservation has taken place in Paoli's Lancaster Square; however, as of yet, neither Salem nor Jasper have been granted the historic status. Some of the commercial buildings located in the Lancaster Square have been renovated and a few have been replaced with architectural style and character maintained.
Researchers from various disciplines have investigated the relationships between urbanization and economic growth. Model building has been a commonly used tool in explaining or understanding these relationships. A survey of development literature identifies a number of urban / economic growth models, ranging from those which are general and descriptive to others which are complex and mathematical. Models which have had a more substantial influence on development theory are described more elaborately. Initial analysis between these notable models also reveals a number of research approaches, various geographic settings, and differences in historical context. A preliminary comparative evaluation is made of these models in terms of the perspectives on which these models are constructed, the techniques through which they are made operational, and domains which they are made to address. Of particular interest is how well these models account for the urbanization and development which has occurred in the Asian milieu. Finally, a tentative model is proposed.
The Beulah Bog State Natural Area contains a series of four kettle hole bogs with surrounding slopes and uplands. The environmental history and present environmental conditions are described and analyzed in relation to the official purposes of a state natural area and the purposes perceived by the local community. Since 1975, the bogs have been protected through joint efforts of The Natural Conservancy and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Thus they became recognized as an important resource for the public.
In the recent past, many citizens became actively involved in preventing high-density residential development on the land surrounding the State Natural Area. Another bog adjoining the State Natural Area has been heavily impacted through dredging of its lagg zone and dense subdivision development along its border. The two areas will be contrasted in relation to land use changes, environmental impacts and effectiveness of ecological restoration efforts. This study's contribution to a larger study of the impacts of various types of subdivision development around lakes and wetlands in southeastern Wisconsin will also be explained.
This is a comparative study of how the U.S. print media frame problems of urban violence involving black youth in both South Africa and in African-American communities. The over-simplification and generalization found in news reporting serves to obscure the public's understanding of the root causes of the violence. This perpetuates stereotypes about people of African descent and impedes understanding and equality between the races and further marginalizes black youth.
This study is based on a textual analysis of 26 stories dealing with Blacks and violence, published in the New York Times and in the Washington Post. Key words and descriptions found in data base searches and indexes of newspaper articles that were labeled or described as focusing on "Black-on-Black" violence, youth violence and black youth gang violence determined the sample of primary sources.
Mass media's claim of objectivity is called into question. Unremittingly negative depictions serve to de-legitimate youth of African descent and are mutually reinforced between the two continents. That is, South African media depictions of Black-on-Black violence that stigmatizes and isolates its Black population were picked up in the American press as latent or overt images of Blacks. This is evident in the lack of Black representation as "gatekeepers." This lack of minority representation in the news selection process is part of a self-fulfilling prophecy.
The sensationalized style of press reports tell Americans that Black communities are wracked with crime, violence, and death. The message is clear: for their own health and safety, suburbanites best stay away; and this is what they believe. The prophecies of violence and separation are thereby self-fulfilled.
In order to assess the relationship between surface soils and sediment deposits in the karst of west-central Florida, excavations were completed within a cave and on the surface above the cave. Historical climatic and land use data were also compiled for the area. A one meter deep excavation in the cave revealed seven distinguishable strata, with the uppermost 0.52 m (five strata) formed over the last 18 years. Below 0.52 m, the sediments contain thin laminae that formed when sandy sediments washed into the cave during the summer rainy season. The surface soil consists of sandy A, E, and B horizons underlain by a Bt horizon which formed as a weathering product of the limestone bedrock located 0.76 m below the surface. Grain size, roundness, and sphericity data from the cave sediment strata and soil horizons indicate that the cave sediment is allogenic, with the source being the sandy surficial soil horizons (A, E, and B). The rate of sedimentation in the cave has been accelerated by the construction and maintenance of area forest roads, and general forestry practices.
Especially after 1890, rural New England became known as a place in economic, social, and moral decline. The roots of this perception came from the region's inability to compete economically with, as well as its cultural differences as compared to, the rest of the United States. Between 1900 and 1935, both in defense of the region and to promote "progress," members of the affluent and educated classes of Boston celebrated and accentuated New England's "maturity," particularly is relative age and European qualities. Using articles published in popular journals, written descriptions of the New England landscape, and specific landscape examples from Peterborough, New Hampshire, the author documents real and imagined links between landscapes in Europe and New England, and demonstrates that regional pride and a generalized idea of "progress" lay behind such links.
Historical cartographers have honored John Mitchell's "Map of the British and French Dominions in America" as the most influential map in the history of the United States. Published in 1755, Mitchell's map had a profound effect on American legal disputes over interstate and international boundaries for almost two hundred years. However, few scholars have studied the strong political biases within this map. The author will demonstrate how this map represented an intentional promotional tool. Mitchell's map represents a conscious cartographic rebuttal to boundary claims made on French maps during the previous half century. Through the images and detailed inscriptions on the map proper and the decorative elements, Mitchell attempted to justify British pretensions to American territories at the expense of competing European powers.
Latvian private farm families, like their counterparts elsewhere in the world, must continually adapt to changing economic situations in order to survive and flourish. Economic turmoil in the rapidly developing economy of this tiny Baltic nation has fostered many adaptations among farms and farmers which may be rather unique in a system which was recently a state controlled economy, but the rationale behind each decision and action would be familiar to farmers from many other nations.
Travel and research in Latvia during the summer of 1995 provided a wealth of detail about private agriculture, and more specifically the private family farm. Three such farms were studied close detail. The resultant case studies helped to determine typical farm characteristics, and methods of economic and operational adaptation used by private farmers. Much of the activities and planning on these farms would seem very similar in some ways to European and American farms. However, Latvia's farms are different in that they may be attempting to restore a pattern of development which was disrupted by communism.
Tornado safety recommendations state that persons in vehicles should abandon them and lie down outside if sturdy shelter is not available, yet there is no data on the wind required to move or tip a vehicle. Three days after the Louisville, Kentucky, tornado of 28 May 1996, we surveyed 84 vehicles that were parked outdoors when the tornado struck at homes that sustained F1 or greater damage (winds over 73 mph). Nearly half (45%) of the vehicles were at homes with F1 (73-112 mph) damage, 36% at homes with F2 damage (113-157 mph), and 19% at homes with F3 damage (158-206 mph). Thirty-eight percent of vehicles were moved more than 1 m by the wind for a median distance of 9 m, but there was no statistical difference (chi-square test) in vehicle movement between F1 And F3 wind speeds. Only 6% of the vehicles were tipped by the wind, again with no statistical significance among F1, F2, and F3 wind speeds. Potential occupants were judged to have been seriously injured in 19% of the vehicles with no statistical difference among the wind speeds. Wind flow in tornadoes and around buildings is complicated, but this study showed that vehicles were commonly moved a few meters by the wind, but few were tipped, even at wind speeds estimated at over 158 mph.
The Fernberg Trail is a paved road corridor extending 23 miles into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. This corridor is historically significant in that it has endured decades of differing perceptions and land use laws. It was first recognized legally in the Wilderness Preservation System Act of 1964, and later in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Act of 1978. It comprises a landscape that is replete with conflicts over land use, both in the past and present. This corridor can be seen as both an access to income and way of life, or an unwanted protrusion into an extraordinary wilderness area. These differing perceptions have been the heart of conflict, yet the Fernberg endures such battles for one prevailing purpose, recreation.
Health and health care delivery are major concerns for most Americans. However, an increasing number of Americans are finding themselves without adequate health insurance coverage. As a result, many Americans are searching for viable alternatives to traditional health care, and are crossing international borders to obtain health care services in foreign lands. Although the health care industry accounts for a substantial portion of our nation's economy, a secondary industry centered on servicing these health care refugees is growing. U.S. companies are turning up both winners and losers in this new economic activity.
The issue of global climate change has produced a need for accurate historical weather records from around the world. Accurate weather records exist for Nassau, The Bahamas beginning with 1852. Nassau newspapers (Royal Gazette; Bahama Gazette) routinely published monthly weather summaries prior to 1852 but these data have not been previously incorporated into analyses of the historical climate of the Bahamas. Newspaper records for the period 1812-1837 were evaluated against contemporary weather records (1961-1990) to determine the relative accuracy and value of these summaries as an historical weather record and to determine if they might serve as a gauge for climate change since 1812.
Analyses focused on three elements common to both the contemporary and historical data: mean maximum temperature; days with rain; and prevailing winds. Mean monthly maximum temperatures for 1812-1837 consistently registered 1.94 degrees Celsius higher than contemporary means. Historical newspaper records indicate an annual mean of 82.7 days with rain in contrast to contemporary annual means of 135 days with rain. Differences between historical and contemporary prevailing wind patterns were negligible.
Differences in historical and contemporary temperature means are likely the result of differences in the calibration and placement (coastal versus inland locations) of weather instruments. Differences between historical and contemporary records of days with rain are not so readily explained and suggest the need for further study to determine if these differences are a result of changes in observational techniques or if they infer a change in precipitation patterns across the Bahamas Archipelago since 1812.
Occasionally, people are killed or injured by lightning because they underestimate its potential and take unnecessary risks. At least partly, this problem is due to the underreporting of lightning statistics by public safety and media sources, whose data eventually become official when published in Storm Data. The public's awareness to the lightning hazard must be increased. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to determine the magnitude of underreporting in Michigan by developing a more comprehensive database on lightning casualties. Deaths directly caused by lightning have been traced through death certificates, and injuries severe enough to cause hospitalization have been compiled from hospital discharge records. By comparing these data to the official statistics in Storm Data, the extent of underreporting of lightning catastrophes in Michigan has been determined.
Urban travellers arrange their destinations in a fixed order called a daily trip. However, their methods of selecting the actual locations for their destinations is a matter of some debate. This paper investigates several heuristic rules that urban travellers could use in selecting their destinations, to see how closely various heuristic techniques match actual human behavior. The source of the data is a 1995 travel diary survey in Franklin County, Ohio. Three types of heuristics are examined: nearest-next, round trip completion, and a look-ahead measure. New destinations within the individual's daily trip are found through the use of heuristics.
Using the data from the heuristics, and comparing the location of the newly selected destination with the respondent-chosen one, insight can be gained on how these destinations were chosen. Different destinations were suggested through the heuristic techniques, and few respondents actually chose their nearest possible destination. Although this paper utilizes distance as the prime factor in selecting alternative destinations, several other decision making criteria are examined. Suggestions are offered for changes in future travel diary surveys to more closely reflect the intent behind individual destination choice, as well as other applications of heuristic-based destination choice.
Energy and water budget above a vegetated surface primarily depends on the soil moisture and soil temperature as well as leaf-area index (LAI). The biophysical characters of vegetated surface, like canopy albedo and stomatal resistance, change not only with season, but also with soil water availability. This paper intends to improve the current vegetation scheme to make the processes more realistic in light of theory and available data. First, the function of healthy green-leaf-area index (LAIgreen) is improved to be a function of accumulated soil moisture availability as well as the soil temperature. Second, the existence of brown leaf and its biophysical characters are incorporated into the vegetation scheme. Third, albedo and stomatal resistance are improved to react to the composition of the leaf caused by water stress or seasonality. Sensitivity test reveals that the appearance of brown leaf can alter the net radiation, and the partitioning of latent and sensible heat. It is expected that under drought condition, with the appearance of brown leaf, there would be higher surface albedo, thus, less net radiation, less available energy will be transferred into the atmosphere. Moreover, increased stomatal resistance and decreased evapotranspiration will lead to less precipitation. The scheme still needs further test against in situ data.
Counties necessarily evolved as individuals migrated into Minnesota Territory and began to own land. In the first stages the boundaries of these governments were unsystematic, encompassing a large area, and the powers possessed by their officers fairly limited. By statehood many counties in southern Minnesota had acquired their modern boundaries and the officers their modern powers.
A debate on the "infrastructure crisis" in the United States has emerged in the last decade, spurred by perceived underinvestment in infrastructure facilities and its possible adverse consequences. Much of the debate has been generated by econometric studies that have provided evidence of the importance of infrastructure. These empirical assessments, however, have encountered much criticism from various perspectives. This presentation addresses the importance of criticisms stemming from the treatment of space. Spatial effects are relevant in two ways, both from the "spatiality" of the impact of much infrastructure (especially transportation) on the economy, and also more generally from the nature of spatial data. Such concerns have often been neglected, in violation of the assumptions of the statistical techniques commonly used by researchers. The existence of spatial effects may lead to incomplete or erroneous interpretations of the role of infrastructure in local, regional, and national economies, and may result in flawed policy prescriptions. This paper extends a previous statistical study, conducted at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, through an explicit analysis of spatial effects. The results indicate that spatial effects indeed belong in statistical estimates, but that their inclusion does not, in general, alter basic interpretations of the importance of infrastructure in the economy.
Developing strategies for management of rapid urban growth constitutes a major challenge for development planners and policymakers. Delhi, a growing metropolis has had three plans since independence: Master Plan for Delhi-I (1962), Master Plan for Delhi-II (1990) and Regional Plan-National Capital Region (1990). The strategies of these plans are balanced urban development, decentralization of employment, mitigating conflicting land-use, environmental protection, conservation of urban heritage, city-center to be decentralized, multi-polar development, hierarchical urban development ranging from low rise to high density. The city of Delhi, over the past seven/eight decades has grown from a single city center through dual city center to an emerging multiple city center development. The paper intends to evaluate the urban management, plan implementation, and policy directions to meet 1) the social dimension of urban development in terms of attaining equity, integration and stability; 2) the environmental dimension and ecological balance; 3) and the fiscal dimension of urban economic development in terms of making the urban economy self-sustaining and fiscally viable.
The purpose of this presentation is to examine the initial federal land sales to determine patterns and preferences during the 1847-1879 period. The Ellington 7.5 minute quadrangle consists of three distinct glacial landforms: lacustrine plain, moraine, and outwash plain. The data indicates that the earliest dates of purchase occurred on the outwash plain, while the latest dates were found on the lacustrine plain. Further investigation indicates that the moraine area had the greatest overall appeal. The earliest land preferences strongly correlate with well drained upland sites. The poorly drained lowland locations were least preferred.
Previously, analyses of both agriculture and industry have tended to compartmentalize extraction and production, ignoring obvious linkages between and among commodities. This compartmentalization has resulted in both a misunderstanding of the role that primary and intermediate production play in final products, and an understatement of the economic importance of certain sectors of the economy. Commodity chain analysis provides for an alternative treatment of the economy because it focuses on internalizing within one chain all products and services belonging to that particular commodity. This type of analysis is particularly useful when examining agriculture because of the current incomplete understanding of agricultural linkages and the resulting underestimation of "individuals involved in agriculture." An example using the production of corn in the U.S. is provided.
Since the collapse of communism in eastern Europe, Germany has absorbed nearly two million ethnic Germans or "Aussiedler", primarily from Russia and Kazakhstan. Ethnic Germans are descendants of Germans who were invited to live in Russia centuries ago. Although an estimated three- to four million Russian-Germans can claim German ethnicity, most speak only an archaic form of German and have assimilated into Russian society. According to Article 116 of Germany's constitution, written in 1949, any ethnic German can migrate to Germany and receive all the benefits of any German citizen. The law was intended to reunite German citizens and their descendants in the Federal Republic of Germany who were left in German territory lost as a result of World War II, and for ethnic Germans who had escaped the Soviet Union but were redeported by the Soviets following the War. Between 1989 and 1994, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, 1,668,167 Russian-Germans migrated to Germany. In 1995 another 225,591 came to Germany with at least 700,000 more applicants waiting to be processed.
This paper analyzes the migration of Russian-Germans and assesses how the collapse of the Soviet Union has affected this obscure ethnic minority, and looks at the political and economic impact on Germany this migration has caused. Analysis shows Russian-Germans have not assimilated well into German society.
Gender based discrimination pervades almost all aspects of life, one of which is the workplace. The first part of this paper deals with the theoretical aspects of the intersection between planning and feminist geography. The latter part, and the major body of the study is an empirical study which attempts to bring out the temporal patterns of gender-bias in a field closely related to geography, Urban and Regional Planning. Time trend data from 1950 to 1995 was used at a bidecadal frequency to arrive at a temporal pattern of wage disparities between the two sexes, keeping experience and type of employment agency constant. Although the gap between the wage levels for males and females has narrowed, the goal of equality has not been achieved. In general, it is found that women earn less than their male counterparts, despite similar experience and qualifications, and across various other parameters such as employer and race, which confirms the existence of gender-bias in the workplace. The objective of the study is to highlight these differences in order to point out that the work done by women planners needs to be valued equally, in both monetary and ethical terms. This study is also important in that it will form the basis for a larger study which details the spatial pattern of gender-based differentials in employment variables among planners.
The role of religious organizations in fostering investments of human and financial capital to rejuvenate inner city neighborhoods is a significant and frequently overlooked factor in geographic analysis of urban locales. This paper examines three distinct Indianapolis neighborhoods, from 1960 to the present, to compare the role of institutions connected to religious organizations as they are impacted by and in turn effect population migration and capital re-investment in the built environment and social services at the sub-metropolitan scale.
This paper is based on research undertaken by The Polis Center as part of a large grant to examine the role of religion on community development in ten Indianapolis neighborhoods. High school and college students from these neighborhoods and across the city were trained as observer-participants to attend local events and interview residents, church, and community leaders, adding to research on the history and development of these locales.
Major funding sources increasingly utilize Community Development Corporations often started and staffed by neighborhood religious organizations, to funnel capital investments into the area. This strategy is designed to build self-sustaining communities in the face of decreasing government funding. the role of religious structures in stabilizing real estate, and the impact of location decisions on leadership within the neighborhood (as distinct from spatially dispersed community) is also discussed. Several theories on the effect of ethnicity and types of religious organizations on neighborhood development are challenged. New hypotheses are proposed to advance the discussion of religious organizations as explanatory variables in the re-construction of inner-city neighborhoods.
During the last 2000 years, the state of Indiana was home to at least four distinct cultures; The Adena, Wabash Hopewellian, Allison/LaMotte and Mississippian cultures. Earthworks in Indiana have reflected the nature of these cultures as they have evolved over time. Archeological surveys have shown that earthworks, which include mounds, circular enclosures, rectangular enclosures and enclosure complexes built by these cultures, served numerous purposes which were dictated by changing religious practices, funeral rites, and cosmology (Winters, 1967).
Previously, archaeological sites had to be identified by a) visual inspection of the site, b) subsequent surveying of the site features, and c) on-site archaeological excavation of the site features in order to verify the extent of site features. The entire process is not only time consuming and expensive, but also requires permission from the local land owner, which is not always forthcoming. While many archaeological sites such as mound features have been studied in the past, a great many more have not, either through lack of funds, time, or of a specific knowledge concerning the existence of sites. Given the probability that more sites remain to be discovered, especially in forested regions or on inaccessible land, other methods need to be developed which will address these problems.
In the past few years, videographic remote sensing has proved to be a viable alternative to large scale aerial photography for certain remote sensing applications. One of the more unique applications of this technology has been in the field of archaeology, both for mapping purposes as well as multispectral analysis of various site features. For example, remote sensing was done in the Netherlands using satellite imagery to predict archaeological site location (Brandt, et al., 1992). This approach was more concerned with the GIS aspect as was a study done in Texas on archaeological landscape analysis (Nelson and Ferring, 1989). Another unique application of remote sensing has been done on Roman occupation sites in France, which have been studied using B&W aerial photographs obtained during World War II and more recent color aerial photographs obtained in 1982 (Madry, 1983).
The purpose of this study will be to use principle component analysis of multi-band, high resolution, digital, video camera images of a densely forested parcel containing a known set of Native American burial mounds designated Vi11 and Vi12 Modisett Mound Group; an Allison/LaMotte culture site in northern Vigo County, Indiana in order to identify and verify these mound structures located within the forested region and to develop a methodology for identification and verification of previously unknown mound structures within forested regions using videographic remote sensing techniques.
Pre-railroad townsites differed significantly from those which followed. By examining original town plats from Berrien, Cass, and St. Joseph Counties in Michigan it is possible to determine number, location, and projected form of early towns in Southwestern Michigan. The period from 1830 to 1839 was one of intense town founding activity. Forty-five towns were laid out in these counties during this period. It is evident that some of these townsites were never intended are more than paper speculations, but most represented a serious effort by their proprietors to establish an urban place. While only about forty percent of these places are still extant, survivors of this period of rapid town foundation constitute an important part of the modern urban fabric of the three counties. Over half of the 1830s towns were designed around a town square, but there is great variation in town square designs. Other common forms include linear plats along early roads, formalization of existing settlements around water-driven mills, and simple grids. Ultimate urban form did not always reflect the initial plat. Locational factors patterns suggest that local considerations were more important than regional patterns. The post-railroad towns which were laid out in the period from 1840 to 1890 exhibit different locational and design characteristics.
Geographers have long had an interest in the earthquake hazard. The reason for this is that the earthquake hazard affects man and society. Natural hazards and earthquakes have impacted almost everyone on planet Earth. Interest in this particular natural hazard has been given less attention recently because of the many disciplines within geography. A better understanding of the seismic hazard is needed by the geographer as well as society in general. Research in the particular subject of earthquakes and the physical area studied would have to be precise.
This research is focused upon the Plate Interior Theory and why earthquakes occur in the middle of the North American continent which is far from the major plate boundaries. The area that is concentrated upon is located in the Mid-Mississippi Valley of the United States and is called the New Madrid Seismic Zone. The area's main focus point is located near New Madrid, Missouri. The New Madrid Seismic Zone is infamous because of the seismic events that occurred here in 1811-1812. These events had a devastating impact upon the young American republic. This research is important because any seismic event that occurs in the New Madrid Seismic Zone would gain national attention. This is due to its close proximity to several major cities. The threat of the earthquake hazard is real and would shake the core of the United States.
The National Weather Service has implemented Doppler radar to obtain the needed information in flood forecasting. With the recent installations of the WSR-88D radars at many locations, analysts are now using the Storm Total Accumulation Product (STAP) to estimate the amount of precipitation that has fallen within the detection range from any echo observed. To obtain the STAP value the radar observes the hydrometer diameter summed over all hydrometers in a unit volume and this is combined with rainfall rates to estimate the liquid water content in a given echo region. Unfortunately, these estimates are highly suspect, because factors such as the size of the hydrometers greatly effect the values. This presentation examines the relationship between the Indianapolis Doppler radar estimated precipitation totals to actual rain gage totals from weather stations around Indiana. It is intended to determine the overall accuracy of the generated Storm Total Accumulation Product as it may apply to flooding potential. Results indicate precipitation accuracy from the Doppler radar varies considerably with each data level.
An important part of geographic analysis is finding appropriate spatial units. One class of problem is the aggregation of smaller heterogeneous spatial units to larger homogenous units. Homogenous spatial units are current issues for government, business, and academic research, for example, creating voting districts, allocating clients to health care facilities, and developing sampling frameworks. Although the definition of the problem is simple, the actual solution is complex due to the possibility of more than one solution. In addition, aggregation problems are dependent on the order of unit creation and this fact makes this class of problem a good candidate for genetic programming. This poster illustrates how a simple genetic technique known as crossover is combined with a common GIS aggregation function to converge on an acceptable solution.
This paper traces the major changes in the economic geography of the telecommunication industry leading to the passage of Telecommunications Act of 1996. The economic geography of telecommunications is particularly relevant to understanding current changes in the distribution of economic activity since it is a major economic activity in its own right but also changes in the telecommunications industry affect the spatial relationships of virtually all other economic activity. Recently, Congress passed the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which is designed to accelerate the changes in market structure in telecommunications. The major market structure changes and their geographic implications will be described in this paper.
The Midwest severe weather outbreak of April 19, 1996 rates as one of the region's more widespread and significant severe convective events observed in recent years. The synoptic setting for this outbreak is discussed, particularly with respect to the northern portions of the affected area, northern Illinois and Indiana. It is in these areas that a remarkable evolution of kinematic and thermodynamic fields were observed, rapidly priming the atmosphere for severe convective development.
Interestingly, the characteristics of the severe convection in these areas evolved with time from mainly supercellular to linear squall line. In addition, while pronounced storm-scale rotation was indicated in several cases by WSR-88D Doppler radar, relatively few, quite short-lived, tornadoes were reported with the northern convection vis a vis the storms farther south. A detailed synoptic discussion of this outbreak is presented and key meteorological evidence of and possible explanations for the observed storm characteristics and behavior are discussed.
Recent literatures report that the uprising trip chaining behaviors (defined here as linking non-work trips to journey-to-work trips) are most relevant to the increased rush-hour traffic of regular large-scale network congestion in metropolitan areas.
In order to understand the trip chaining behavior in the three daily peak-hour periods, a conceptualized framework is established through the identification of six endogeneous and exogeneous determinant sets for trip chaining propensity: three endogeneous determinant sets (Trip Mode Choice, Trip-scheduling, and Trip Frequency) and three exogeneous determinant sets (Traveller's Household Structure, Traveller's Personal Characteristics, and Location Factor).
Based on the above established conception framework and the empirical 1990 household trip survey data released by the Chicago Area Transportation Study, this paper utilizes Chi-square Test, F-Test, and logit regression to analyze and model the influence of the six determinant sets on the propensity for a trip chaining behavior in the morning, noon and afternoon peak periods. The relevant travel demand management implication of this research is also interpreted in the paper.
It is well documented in medical and social science literature that uninsured and Medicaid patients in this country are, in genera, medically underserved. However, this inauspicious situation in certain areas is alleviated by the presence of teaching hospitals and clinics. Although resident physicians provide the bulk of medical services in these settings, their decision making (mostly diagnosis) is supported by clinical faculty. Indeed, there have been discussions that the quality of medical services provided by teaching hospitals may be superior to non-teaching hospitals in general.
Using data from the U.S. Census and the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP), this paper generates a composite index representing the availability of teaching hospitals and clinics to patients for all counties in Ohio. For the most part, this index is calculated using the ratios of resident physicians to 100,000 persons for all primary care specialties, i.e., Family Practice, Internal Medicine, Obstetrics/Gynecology, and Pediatrics, and essential non-primary care specialties, i.e., Emergency Medicine, General Surgery, and Psychiatry.
Based on the generated composite index, this paper provides a ranking of availability of teaching hospitals and clinics to low-income patients for all counties in Ohio. Discussions of this ranking are focused on (1) the urban areas with low availability and the causes, (2) the regional differences of this index and their implications, and (3) validating the significance of the ranking for future policy suggestions.
This paper presents a conceptual model of settlement dynamics, and describes its implementation and model experiments. In the model, spatial evolution of metropolitan areas is related to regular changes in social structure, in particular, to the proportional share of lower, middle, and upper income strata of population. The transition from mono- to poly-hierarchical settlement systems is a result of increased proportion of middle class population, oriented towards maximum variety of goods and services and not constrained by their spatial accessibility. Uneven accessibility conditions in different settlements become a factor of increased differences in land value, which, in turn, lead to dissolution of a part of the middle class (those residing in relatively successful, and disadvantaged, settlements). The increased proportion of lower income population, which value standard access to standard consumer goods and services, requires the re-establishment of a mono-hierarchical system, and the cycle repeats.
This mechanism was implemented as a STELLA II simulation model. The model has several modules: (1) social strata, and social/spatial mobility; (2) spatial settlement pattern/accessibility (referenced by the degree of conformance of a system to Christaller's central place model); (3) introduction and standardization of consumer goods; and (4) taxation and wealth re-distribution. Working with the model, one can experiment with mostly spatial (standard accessibility), or mostly monetary compensation to the lower income group. The model produced the desired cyclic behavior pattern (in both social dynamics, and accessibility). This allowed us to suggest that the described mechanism of metropolitan evolution may indeed take place.
Maintaining and updating road information in a Geographic Information System (GIS) can be costly. It would be, therefore, very beneficial to map new road networks from high-resolution satellite imagery. In this presentation, 5-meter panchromatic data from IRS-1C (Indian Remote Sensing) satellite is used to extract road networks of Lindsey, a northwest Ohio rural/town area. The generated roads are then compared with U.S. Census Bureau's TIGER road data.
Using data from the National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP) and a method developed by Corbett, rain water types of three stations in Illinois were identified and classified. The rain water type was identified by converting chemical data from NADP to milliequivalents per liter, and naming rain water type based upon predominant (50 percent or higher) cation grouping and predominant anion grouping. The cations were arranged in 3 groups, namely: hydrogen ion, monovalent cations, and divalent cations. Anions were also arranged into 3 groups (of one member each): sulfate ion, nitrate ion, and chloride ion. By using appropriate combinations of these groupings, a rain water type might be "hydrogen ion chloride," indicating that hydrogen ions exceed 50 percent of all anions. If one group does not exceed 50 percent of the total, the term "mixed cation" or "mixed anion" is used. The findings of this study show more occurrences of mixed sulfate and divalent sulfate rain water types around Chicago and more occurrences of hydrogen sulfate rain water type in southern and central Illinois.