News as of 6 January 2001

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Hope You All Have a

¡¡¡¡HAPPY NEW MILLENIUM!!I

Dr. Outwater Takes Administrative Leave

Dr. Richard Outwater has accepted appointment as the Associate Vice President, Academic Information Technology, effective immediately! He is responsible for technology planning and development for Academic Affairs. Academic Affairs includes all of the colleges and the campus-wide support services, such as Academic Computing Services and Audio Visual Services. He reports that his e-mail remains the same, outwater@csulb.edu, but his new office is in Brotman Hall (BH 308), and his new telephone number is (562) 985-4128. The department is very proud of Dr. Outwater's achievement and campus-wide recognition, and we wish him the best of luck in his new position. Very sadly for us, this is a full-time position, so he cannot continue to teach for us or serve as undergraduate advisor. Dr. Judith Tyner (who was undergraduate advisor last year) has graciously agreed to resume undergraduate advising for Spring 2001.

California Geographical Society Scholarships!

The California Geographical Society is offering TWO David Lantis scholarships for geography majors! One provides $500 to a graduate student, and the other offers $400 to an undergraduate student (who could be a community college student, as well as a four-year college student). To qualify for consideration, you have to have maintained a 3.7 GPA for the last 30 units attempted, and you have to be enrolled the fall after the scholarship is announced: They issue the check upon proof of enrollment. This is because the scholarship is supposed to help defray the costs of continuing in geography.

Other requirements include signing up to be a student member of the California Geographical Society by the time you apply (which'll set you back $10 and postage, and you can get the application by clicking here). To apply, you need to assemble a package consisting of a cover letter indicating which of the two Lantis scholarships you seek; an essay on your career goals, specific interests in geography, and recent geography-related activities; two sealed letters of recommendation from your instructors, one of whom must be a geographer; and a set of unofficial transcripts. They want you to submit a complete package at one time to:

Emily B. Lieb

P.O. Box 406

Madera CA 93639.

The deadline is 1 April!!! You can learn more about the CGS and its scholarships at their web site, http://www.calgeog.org/. It would be wonderful if Long Beach students got these, as Dr. Lantis was one of my retired colleagues up at Chico State, who died a few months ago. He was one of geography's colorful characters, and he did an awful lot to promote geography and to help geography students whenever he could.

Geography Welcomes New Physical Geography Lecturer!

The Department of Geography is very pleased to report the hire of a new full-time physical geography lecturer, Mr. Noel Ludwig. Professor Ludwig will be with us for three semesters to replace Dr. Azary, who's on parental leave. Mr. Ludwig has a joint BS/BA degree in Geology and English from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and an M.S. degree in Geophysics from the University of Hawaii. He is ABD (which means nearly done with his Ph.D., "all but dissertation") from the Department of Geography at the University of Hawaii. His area of specializaton is watershed science and management, and he also has a background in international environmental issues. He has published research articles on various topics in well-regarded academic journals. He served for five years as project manager of the Environmental Center at the University of Hawaii. He has taught courses in physical geography, statistics, water and society, and the geography of peace and war. He'll be teaching introductory physical geography and climatology next semester. Welcome aboard!!!

Noel Ludwig Asks for Information on Long Beach Area

Professor Ludwig is looking for an apartment in the Long Beach area and is not yet familiar with the region, so he would really appreciate hearing about a few neighborhoods he's interested in. You can contact him at: ludwig@hawaii.edu. Thanks!

Major News Flash -- Department Offers THREE New Lectureships!

The Department of Geography has been authorized to hire THREE new full-time lecturers, one (now filled) for a three semester contract (physical geography), one for a three year contract (technical geography), and now a one year (possibly renewable) one in urban geography. See below for more details.

Geography 140's GB.3 Status Renewed

The Department has just learned that the General Education Governance Committee (GEGC) for the campus has decided to renew Geography 140's status as a GB.3 course. This means the course confers Physical Universe credit. The approval is contingent on the course fostering quantitative reasoning as its central Foundation skill (each GE course has to help develop at least one of the Foundation program skills: quantitative reasoning, critical thinking, writing, or oral communication, and quantitative reasoning is the one that Geography 140 is responsible for). GEGC reviews courses every so often to make sure that they fill the rôles that they're supposed to and to apprise instructors of any new developments in the GE curriculum that may impact their courses (such as the requirement to develop a particular Foundation skill).

Geography 140 Offered Online Next Semester

The Department will offer Geography 140 in a completely online version next semester. It will be taught by Dr. Chrys Rodrigue again (not Dr. Chris Lee as listed in the schedule). The course, which satisfies GE science requirements (G.B3), is Geog 140-09 and the ticket number is 17712. See https://home.csulb.edu/~rodrigue/geography/geog140online.html for more information.

Geography 120's HD.2b Status Renewed

The Department has learned that the General Education Governance Committee (GEGC) for the campus has renewed Geography 120's status as a HD.2b course. The course, then, confers Social and Behavioral Sciences and Their Historical Backgrounds credit (specifically, the SBS area). The approval is contingent on the course fostering critical and analytical thinking as its central Foundation skill.

Computing Help Available to Students Now...

Faculty have enjoyed a telephone, e-mail, and web-based Technology Help Desk for years: Someone to contact when your computer goes non-linear on you. Well, that service has just been extended to students, too! The Help Desk can help you out on a wide range of computer issues, including operating systems, CSULB e-mail account problems, problems with remote connection to CSULB from home, Microsoft Desktop applications, anti-virus programs, Internet and Web related topics, and Blackboard (formerly CourseInfo), too. You can get hold of them by phoning (562) 985-4959, e-mailing them at helpdesk@csulb.edu, pointing your browser to http://helpdesk.csulb.edu, or simply visiting them in LA5-363. The only downside is it's going to make that trusty old "my computer chewed up my homework" excuse a wee bit less credible! Thanks to Dr. Richard Outwater for this news item (and he helped push the initiative to make this service open to students, too).

Internship Web Page

Dr. Suzanne Wechsler would like to remind students and faculty to visit the Geography Internship web page, which has been redesigned and is being updated very frequently. There is always a list of new jobs available to students and the current speaker coming up in the "Jobs in Geography" lecture series.

Graduate Students Now Have Snail-Mailboxes in Department Office

Attention: Calling All Active Grad Students! You now have a snail-mailbox in the Department office (LA4-106)! You can get to your mailbox by going left at the front door past the faculty mailboxes and the photocopier. You can receive mail from off-campus, too, which would be addressed to: You/Department of Geographhy/California State University/Long Beach, CA 90840-1101. You have Dr. Vincent Del Casino and Ms. Lisa Mikhail (and the approval of the Department Chair, Dr. Joel Splansky) to thank for this new convenience!

Heads up, Students (and Faculty): The CSU Annual Student Research Conference

The CSU's Social Science Research and Instructional Council (SSRIC) is pleased to announce the 25th Annual Student Research Conference, sponsored by . The conference will be held at CSU Sacramento on Friday, April 27, 2001. Papers are welcome from both undergraduate and graduate students, from people working in all social science disciplines, and from students using a variety of scholarly approaches. Awards will be provided for the best papers in various categories. This year's conference has been expanded to include excerpts from longer works, multi-media presentations, poster presentations, and papers coauthored with faculty members (provided the student or students make the actual conference presentation). Single authored student papers and papers authored by more than one student continue to be welcome. We especially encourage submission of papers making use of social science data sets. Limited funding for trips to Sacramento may be available from your campus. Questions should be directed to Professor Ted Lascher, Graduate Program in Public Policy and Administration, California State University, Sacramento, 95819-6081, (916) 278-4864, tedl@csus.edu. Completed papers should be sent to Professor Lascher in hard copy form and timed to arrive by Friday, April 20, 2001.

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Jobs

New One Year (Possibly Renewable) Lectureship in Urban Geography!!!

The Department of Geography has been authorized to offer a one year contract full-time lectureship in urban geography. This is an administrative leave replacement position. You can learn more about the position by clicking here or by visiting the department home page and by contacting Dr. Joel Splansky, Department Chair, at at splansky@csulb.edu. You can also reach him in LA4-106 or by calling (562) 985-4454 or -4977.

New Three Year Lecturership Position in Technical Geography!!!

The Department of Geography has also just been authorized to offer a three year contract full-time lectureship. This position is in cartography, GIS, remote sensing, and in lab management and supervision. You can learn more about the position by clicking here or by visiting the department home page and by contacting Dr. Joel Splansky, Department Chair, at at splansky@csulb.edu. You can also reach him in LA4-106 or by calling (562) 985-4454 or -4977.

Student Assistant Job!!!

Dr. Chrys Rodrigue is looking for someone to assist part time on one or two research projects next semester. Responsibilities and a starting time will not be defined until a meeting with a collaborator in January but may include correspondence, file management, preparation of graphs, and research related to instructional assessment programs. E-mail Dr. Rodrigue if you are interested. Salary range $7.70 to $9.80 based on experience. You can also find her in LA4-206D and at (562) 985-4895.

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Lectures and Field Trips

Dr. Stan Trimble

Dr. Stan Trimble of UCLA was our guest for National Geography Awareness Week. The theme this year was conservation, and Dr. Trimble gave a guest lecture on this theme, focussing on "Human-Induced Soil Erosion and Sedimentation in the Upper Midwest." Many thanks to Dr. Suzanne Wechsler for organizing this talk.

Dr. Bryan Baker

Dr. Bryan Baker of Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) out in Redlands, was our featured speaker for GIS Day 2000, a part of National Geography Awareness Week. His lecture addressed "Can GIS Survive the Internet?" This talk was organized by Dr. Suzanne Wechsler.

Dr. Peter Black

Dr. Peter Black of Syracuse University visited our campus on Thursday, 9 November, on his way to give presentations in New Zealand, Australia, Nepal, and Ethiopia. Dr. Black is a world-known expert in watershed hydrology and related land resources. He is the author of numerous books including Watershed Hydrology and Soil and Water Conservation Policy. He made a dynamic, accessible, and engaging presentation on how watersheds function in Dr. Suzanne Wechsler's class on Thursday, November 9th.

Dr. Chrys Rodrigue

Dr. Chrys Rodrigue took her biogeography students into the field for an all-day data-gathering expedition to Charmlee Park. Charmlee Park is in westernmost L.A. County, in the Santa Monica Mountains overlooking Malibu (about 12 miles west of downtown Malibu and 4 miles up Encinal Canyon). It contains four distinct vegetation communities (coastal sage, chaparral, California prairie, and oak park) and the ruins of an old cattle ranch. Students examined soil compaction and severe gullying on trails and the change in vegetation as a trail is approached (using a transect sampling method). They got plenty of practice in the use of a floristic key to identify woody plants and composites. They then assembled two one square meter quadrat sampling frames (thanks to Dr. Jean Wheeler, recently retired, for those!) and used the grids to map three species of lichen on rock faces. Field data were brought back to class and analyzed statistically, the results presented in class and in group reports. A dividend on this trip was the bus driver, who turned out to be unexpectedly (and sometimes disconcertingly) entertaining!

Ms. Cecilia Padres

Ms. Cecilia Padres, Environmental Project Manager for Geotek, Inc., of Vista, California, spoke about her career in environmental assessment to the Jobs in Geography lecture series, being organized this semester by Dr. Suzanne Wechsler.

Dr. Stephen Pyne

Dr. Stephen Pyne, an expert on wildfire in America and on the Grand Canyon and author of numerous books, gave the Phi Beta Kappa lecture on Monday, 2 October. Dr. Pyne is an historian and professor in the Biology and Society Program at Arizona State University. His riveting talk was entitled, "Where Have All the Fires Gone? A Look at Why and How the American West Burns." The talk was co-sponsored by the Phi Beta Kappa Fellows and The Odyssey Project, hosted by Dean Dee Abrahamse, and was organized by Dr. Suzanne Wechsler and Mr. James Woods.

Dr. Judith Tyner

Dr. Tyner gave an invited lecture to the Santa Clara Chapter of the Embroiderer's Guild of America, up in Saratoga, CA, on the 19th of July, 2000. Her talk was entitled, "The History of Embroidered Maps and Globes."

Dr. Tyner describes the Guild as an outgrowth of the British Guild, which was organized on this side of the "Pond" in 1958 and incorporated here in 1973. The different chapters have classes in skills and history (Dr. Tyner's thing). She is scheduled to co-teach a national workshop in October, 2001 (these workshops are so competitive they must be booked two years in advance).

Dr. Jim Curtis

Dr. Jim Curtis conducted a field trip of the Long Beach area for new faculty at CSULB. Dr. Curtis has been offering this popular field trip for a few years now to help orient new faculty in all disciplines to the cultural and environmental riches of the area the campus serves. This year's trip was held on Saturday, 30 September..

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Changes among the Faculty

Dr. Fred Scantling, Professor Emeritus of Geography, died of cancer on 31 July. He had joined the faculty in 1966, retiring in 1980. Dr. Splansky had this to say about him: "His most remarkable class was Geography of the Pacific area. Fred's knowledge of the region and his stylish delivery made the class an early favorite. We will all certainly miss his charm and ready smile, yet he has left us with many warm memories."

Leaves

Dr. Irisita Azary has just adopted a baby boy! She will be on parental leave for academic years 2000-2002. She is very excited, as she has been looking forward to this for a very long time! We all wish her and her son the very best, and we can hardly wait to see the little fella.

Dr. Ed Karabenick was recently diagnosed as having suffered a minor stroke a few months ago (he was having some irritation in one of his arms). He has decided to take medical leave this fall to recover and concentrate on physical therapy for the affected arm. We all miss him a lot and wish him a really speedy recovery.

Retirements

Dr. Jean Wheeler retired at the end of the spring semester. She has moved to the Morro Bay area, though she will be a frequent visitor to Long Beach with her cultural and environmental interests. She is an avid bicyclist and leads bike tours to exotic places on a regular basis, a basis likely to become even more regular now. Everyone who knows her is going to miss her beaucoup.

Dr. Judith Tyner has entered the Faculty Early Retirement Program this summer. She will retire half-time, teaching each spring. She is looking forward to more quality time at the desert home she and her husband, Dr. Gerald Tyner, maintain up in Yucca Valley, writing, biking, and psyching up to the spring semesters!

Three New Faculty

Dr. Christopher Lee has been appointed to the senior position in GIS and remote sensing. He comes to us from CSU Dominguez Hills with a formidable background in remote sensing and GIS applications to fire hazard, arid lands geomorphology, and NASA Earth Science research.

Dr. Suzanne Wechsler has been appointed to the assistant professorship in GIS and remote sensing. She has taught here for a year as a lecturer in introductory GIS and has just now completed the requirements for her Ph.D. (congratulations!!!). She does work on modelling terrain in 3-d and statistical correction of errors in digital elevation models in order to improve estimates of hydrological parameters in watersheds. She has just finished her Ph.D. at SUNY, Syracuse, and is getting used to living somewhere else than under the Sword of Damocles! Congratulations!

Dr. Vincent Del Casino has been appointed to the joint position in geographic education (so we'll have to share him with the Liberal Studies Program and School of Education). He, too, has just finished the requirements for his doctorate at the University of Kentucky, Lexington (kudos!!!), and does work on geographic education and in medical and cultural geography. He did his dissertation on AIDS/HIV in Thailand.

Departure

Dr. Ben Wisner resigned from the directorship of the International Studies Program and his professorship in the Department of Geography. He is completely absorbed in projects he is doing with FEMA and the UN on urban disaster management and wishes to pursue these projects full-time. He has a new academic affiliation as an adjunct research professor at Oberlin College in Ohio this fall.

Departure/New Arrival/Exchange

Dr. Gary Peters and Dr. Chrys Rodrigue arranged a very unusual permanent exchange at the beginning of the 1999/2000 academic year: Each took over the full professorship of the other! Dr. Peters is now in the Department of Geography and Planning at California State University, Chico, and Dr. Rodrigue is now here at CSULB. For contact information for Dr. Peters, go to: http://www.csuchico.edu/geop/staff.html.

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Social Events

And a Good Time Was Had by All

The Department held its holiday open house on Wednesday, the 6th of December in the Wildfire Hazards Center (LA4 205). It was supposed to go on from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., but there was SO much GREAT food and so many fun people around that things were hopping until the late afternoon. Dean Dee Abrahamse and Associate Dean Frank Fata dropped in (gosh, do you think we were making enough noise to reach across the quad <G>?).

Dr. Azary Becomes a Mom!!!

The Department has just learned that Dr. Irisita Azary is now a mom! We'll keep you posted as news arrives! She is really excited and very happy, as she has looking forward to this for a very long time. She will be taking two years of parental leave. She can be reached at azary@csulb.edu. ¡¡¡FELICITACIÓNES!!!

A Brand-New Baby Menguita!!!

Graduate student, Ron Menduita is proud and happy to announce that he and his wife, Azin Menguita, are in the family way! Their baby is due in January. Heavens -- is a Geography baby boom underway? You can congratulate them by e-mailing Ron and Azin. CONGRATULATIONS!

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Publications

Prof. Noel Ludwig has just learned that an article of his is coming out right now: Ludwig, Noel A. 2000. Swords into timeshares: A marine park alternative for the Spratly Islands. Ocean Yearbook 15 (University of Chicago Press). This article is based on a paper he presented at the 17th Pacific Science and Technology Conference, Honolulu, HI, June 6-10, 2000.

Dr. Chrys Rodrigue has just been notified that an article she wrote based on her Hazards Workshop presentation this July has been accepted for publication and is due out in early 2001. The reference is: Rodrigue, Christine M. 2001. Impact of Internet Media in Risk Debates: The Controversies over the Cassini-Huygens Mission and the Anaheim Hills, California, Landslide. The Australian Journal of Emergency Management 15.

Dr. Judith Tyner has an article about the history of map samplers coming out -- "Following the Thread: The Origins and Diffusion of Embroidered Map Samplers."Mercator's World (forthcoming).

Dr. Irisita Azary has just learned that an article she co-authored with Daniel Weir has been accepted for publication. The reference is: Weir, Daniel and Azary, Irisita. 2001. Development of a Sonoran oasis: Modernization as resistant adaptation. The Professional Geographer 53, 1. Congratulations!

Dr. Vincent Del Casino has an article out about his work on the geography of organizations, such as health care agencies. Our new faculty member is hitting the ground running! The reference is Del Casino Jr., V.; A. Grimes; S. Hanna; and J.P. Jones III. "Methodological frameworks for the geography of organizations." Geoforum 31, pp. 523-538.

Dr. James R. Curtis recently had a book review published on Urban Latino Culures: La vida latina en L.A., edited by Gustavo LeClerc, Raul Villa, and Michael Dear (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1999). Dr. Curtis' review can be round in Urban Geography 21, 3 (April-May, 2000): 278-279.

Jan Olsen's, Ed Huefe's, and Jim Covin's March 29th public presentation, Emergency Preparedness in Pedro, was the focus of a front page article in the Random Lengths biweekly newspaper. The article, with the byline of staff writer, Andy Harris, gave a very positive review of the three CSULB Geography graduate students' research and summarized the highlights of citizen discussion with local Fire Chief Lou Roupoli and L.A. Firefighter David Stamp. The full reference is Harris, Andy. 2000. "Disaster Preparedness: When the Big One Hits Pedro," Random Lengths Harbor Independent News (April 28-May 11): 1, 16.

Jim Woods, alumnus, Geography Computer Lab Manager, and lecturer, reports that his map, "Executions by State Since 1976," is published online by the Death Penalty Information Center, at http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/executionmap.html. Mr. Woods' map is updated each month. This necrogeography represents a socially, politically, and culturally revealing use of GIS and cartography and is well worth visiting on a regular basis.

Mr. Woods is also profiled on the Association of American Geographers website in its "Geographers at Work" page, under its "Careers in Geography" section. The profile is entitled, "An Interview with James A. Woods - Hazard Geographer," and the direct link is http://www.aag.org/Careers/Geogwork/Woods.html. The article describes a lot of Mr. Woods' GIS work in fire hazard analysis and mitigation and his work with the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services. It is nice to see our department's strong record in applied geography recognized by a profile of one of our alumni on the AAG web site!

Dr. Irisita Azary recently had an article out in a peer-reviewed proceedings. It's entitled, "Application of the Rosgen Stream Classification System to Southern California Wildland Streams," and it came out in the June/July 1999 issue of American Water Resource Association Conference Proceedings: Wildland Hydrology.

Dr. Judith Tyner had an article on her work on embroidered maps and globes appear as, "Stitching a New Country," in Needlearts 33, 1 (March 1999): 12-14.

Dr. Tyner had an article, "Millie the Mapper," in the February 1999 issue of Meridian, which is the journal of the Map and Geography Round Table of the American Library Association. The article is in volume 15, pp. 23-28. Dr. Tyner also served as the guest editor for this special theme issue on Women in Cartography.

Dr. Tyner also had another article, "A World of Their Own, James Wilson and the First American Globe," in the January/February 1999 issue of Mercator's World 4, 1: 28-33.

Our hyperactive Dr. Tyner was invited to submit a commentary in California 49, California Map Society Occasional Paper. Its title is "A New Map of Texas Oregon and California with the Regions Adjoining," and it appeared in the sixth issue (1999) on p. 30.

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Faculty and Graduate Students off to Conferences

Association of American Geographers, New York, 27 February-3 March 2001

Dr. Chris Lee will present a paper with a large group from UC Santa Barbara's Department of Geography and Institute for Computational Earth System Science (Dar A. Roberts, Phil Dennison, Charles Jones, and Marco Morais) and The Ærospace Corporation of El Segundo (Ray Talbot):

"Integrated Assessment of Fire Hazard in Southern California using Remote Sensing, GIS and Wind Models."

Dr. Vincent Del Casino is also New York-bound, to present:

"Organizational Ethnographies and the Politics of Fieldwork."

Dr. Del Casino will also serve on a panel. The title of the session is:

"Interrogating Tourism Maps: New 'Guides' to Space and Identity."

Dr. Jim Curtis will present a paper with Ms. Aimée R. Mindes (Physical Sciences Department, Rio Hondo College, Whittier, and a graduate alumna of Geography at CSULB):

"Urban Structure in Ensenada and La Paz, Mexico."

Dr. Suzanne P. Wechsler is going to present:

"Effect of Digital Elevation Model Uncertainty and Scale on Topographic Parameter Estimators."

Dr. Judith Tyner is off to New York to make the following presention:

"Millie the Mapper II: Experiences of Women Geographers and Cartographers in WWII."

Dr. Chrys Rodrigue, is also heading to New York to present:

"Construction of Hazard Perception and Activism on the Internet."

Dr. Frank Gossette, is frantically flying to New York to present:

"Geography of the Last Moment."

American Geophysical Union, San Francisco, 15-19 December, 2000

Dr. Chrys Rodrigue presented:

"The Use of the Internet and Web-Based Technology for Space and Geoscience (Mis)Education: New Media in Natural and Technological Hazard Debates."

In addition, Dr. Rodrigue chaired a session at the AGU:

"New Tools and Perspectives on Understanding Natural Hazards Worldwide."

GIScience 2000, Savannah, Georgia, 28-31 October, 2000

Dr. Suzanne P. Wechsler presented:

"Applications of a Methodology For Digital Elevation Model Uncertainty Simulation Within ArcView Spatial Analyst."

Western Conference of the Association of Asian Studies, CSULB, 6-7 October, 2000

Dr. Vincent Del Casino was the primary co-author (with Rachel Safman of Cornell University) of a presentation, entitled:

"Working the 'Middle Ground': NGOs, Health Care, and AIDS in Chiang Mai, Thailand."

Hazards Research and Applications Workshop, Boulder, CO, July 9-12, 2000

Dr. Christine M. Rodrigue made an invited hour-long research presentation:

"Public Perception and Hazard Policy Construction When Experts and Activists Clash in the Media."

Dr. Rodrigue also made a poster available at that conference:

"Internet Recruitment and Activism in the Cassini Controversy."

Dr. Ben Wisner served as an invited discussant in a plenary session. This is his last professional presentation while still a professor in this department (he has since moved to Oberlin College, in Ohio). His presentation was:

"The Political Economy of Hazards: More Limits to Growth?"

Dr. Frank Gossette also attended the Workshop, with his new bride, Dr. Ronnie Wade, of Stanford University.

California Geographical Society, San Diego, May 5-7, 2000

Dr. Irisita Azary presented:

"Outreach and 'Inreach': Development of a Geography Internship Program."

Mr. Tom Frazier, recent M.A. from CSULB, presented:

"Tracking the traces of division: A survey of the remnants of the Berlin Wall as a relict boundary on the urban landscape."

Association of American Geographers, Pittsburgh, April 4-8, 2000

Dr. Frank Gossette, together with graduate student, Mr. Michael Jenkins, presented:

"Visualizing Flood Hazard with GIS."

Dr. Judith Tyner presented:

"Folk Maps, Cartoons, and Map Kitsch: The Role of Cartographic Curiosities."

Dr. Ben Wisner presented:

"Urban Social Vulnerability in Six World Megacities: Lessons and Proposals."

American Association for the Advancement of Science, Washington, DC, February 17-22, 2000

Dr. Christine M. Rodrigue presented:

"Internet Recruitment and Activism in Constructing Technological Risk."

American Geophysical Union, San Francisco, December 13-17, 1999

Dr. Irisita Azary presented:

"Making Connections: Development of an Internship Program to Ensure Undergraduate and Graduate Student Success."

American Studies Association, Montréal, Canada, October 28-31, 1999

Dr. James Curtis presented:

"Ensenada: A Mexican Border Town?"

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Grants

Dr. Chris Lee

gave a recent report to the department on his NASA research projects. He directs a NASA Regional Earth Science Application Center (RESAC), which he brought over from CSU Dominguez Hills on moving to our department. This RESAC is the Southern California Wildfire Hazard Center. There are only eight RESACs in the country (the others, all doctoral institutions, are UC Berkeley and the universities of Arizona, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Kansas, Maryland, and Connecticut). Besides CSULB, the other partners in this center are UC Santa Barbara, Ærospace Corporation, Los Angeles County Fire Department, and Jet Propulsion Lab. Funding amounts to $1.5 million through February of 2002. The goal of this NASA RESAC is to provide fire hazard maps incorporating remote sensing and weather modelling data to the LACFD to assist them in managing fire hazards at the urban-wildlands interface.

Beside the Wildfire Hazard Center, Dr. Lee is conducting two pilot projects for the NASA Earth Science Applications Research Program (ESARP), in coöperation with the Soil and Water Science Department of the University of Alexandria in Egypt, the University of Guelph in Canada, and Boulder County in Colorado. The overall purpose of the ESARP is international, state, and local workforce development and capacity-building in support of NASA Earth Science Enterprise goals. This $300,000 pair of pilot projects includes one project in Egypt and one in Colorado. The first entails analysis of new high resolution satellite data for farm systems analysis and to build an historical data archive of 50 Landsat Thematic Mapper images for use by the students of Alexandria, Guelph, and CSULB in studies of long-term vegetation dynamics and agricultural development on the northwest coast of Egypt. The second project is to assist Boulder County in developing remote sensing capacity, including high resolution IKONOS imagery, software and training, and image processing support.

Dr. Lee arrived at CSULB after spending a year away from CSUDH as a NASA Visiting Senior Scientist in Washington, D.C., where he worked on developing the NASA State, Local, and Tribal Initiative design. He was (and remains) responsible for the Workforce Development and Capacity Building element, which he represents at conferences, workshops, and to NASA Headquarters.

Dr. Chrys Rodrigue

was pleased to learn that she has been awarded one class of reassigned time in the fall and student assistant money to work on a campus project on incorporating program assessment into the curriculum.

Dr. Frank Gossette

reports that the Department is currently working with the CSULB President's Office on an enrollment management mapping project. Its purpose "is to provide a visual representation of a proposed CSULB service area which maintains the university's ethnic, geographic, and academic program diversity while enrolling applicants who demonstrate the most potential for academic success."

Two versions of the map are planned. The maps will show CSULB and indicate high school districts, individual high schools, and their distances from CSULB with the use of 5-mile concentric rings. The locations of CSU Fullerton and CSU Dominguez Hills will also be shown for reference. In addition, the first version will include the number of first time freshman enrollees for Fall 1999, and the second will include Stanford 9 scores and the percentage of AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) population for each school.

Dr. Judith Tyner

reports that she received an AAG Research Grant to help with expenses for "Millie the Mapper: The Role of Women in Geography and Cartography in WWII." She commented that this means she'll actually have to do this project! ;-)

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Have Any News Items You Want to Share?

This news page is for everyone in the Department -- students, faculty, staff, and alumni. If you would like to tell folks about your accomplishments or notify us of something you think we'd like to know about, please contact Dr. Rodrigue (rodrigue@csulb.edu) or LA4 206D and she'll get your news up here.

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