Women,Politics, Elections,and Citizenship

Abstract

Significantly more women than men are registered voters in the United States, and a higher proportion of women voters actually cast ballots on election day. Yet the 106th Congress (1999-2001) includes only 56 women members, 12% of the total membership of the House and Senate. Likewise, women hold only 22% of the total seats in state legislatures. The purpose of this article is to examine this paradox. It first examines the history of the women's movement in the United States. It then turns to an evaluation of women's progress in gaining elected office. Finally it considers three primary obstacles to women gaining equitable representation: solidarity among women, political culture, and the single-member district system now employed in the United States.     

FANTASY,GEOGRAPHY, WAGNER,AND OPERA*

ABSTRACT. Wilhelm Richard Wagner fused fantasy based on epic and lore with seamless scores, using landscapes and urban images to forge spatial order on stage. As a footloose composer-conductor, Wagner was considered a globetrotter for his time, and from trans-European tours he drew inspiration for numerous stagings. Nine of his operas have rustic pastoral settings, with actors silhouetted against geological formations, forests, vistas of undulating terrain for pilgrimages, or raging seas, all visually believable scenery. Rienzi and Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg are urban in setting, whereas Die Feen and Das Liebesverbot are set in a castle-like format.     

Race,Gender, and Constrained Work Trips in Buffalo,NY, 1990

This study investigates whether women's short commutes should be interpreted as constrained or convenient work trips by examining how race, gender, travel mode, occupation, residential location, workplace location, and Inc.ome affect commuting time. The analysis is restricted to a sample of European American and African American male and female workers residing in Buffalo, New York, and the surrounding county using data drawn from the Public Use Microdata Samples of the 1990 U.S. census. Given the pervasive gender wage gap, women unsurprisingly have more compromised (short commutes to low-Inc.ome jobs) work trips than do men. Multivariate analysis reveals that among those who reverse commute to suburban locations, African American women have the longest work trips.     

Race,Gender, and Constrained Work Trips in Buffalo,NY, 1990

This study investigates whether women's short commutes should be interpreted as constrained or convenient work trips by examining how race, gender, travel mode, occupation, residential location, workplace location, and Inc.ome affect commuting time. The analysis is restricted to a sample of European American and African American male and female workers residing in Buffalo, New York, and the surrounding county using data drawn from the Public Use Microdata Samples of the 1990 U.S. census. Given the pervasive gender wage gap, women unsurprisingly have more compromised (short commutes to low-Inc.ome jobs) work trips than do men. Multivariate analysis reveals that among those who reverse commute to suburban locations, African American women have the longest work trips.     

Time,Action, Space

Postmetropolis deepens Edward Soja's engagement with the sociospatial dialectic, one of his major contributions to urban theory. It also represents an uncharacteristic foray into history. The objectives of my contribution are to probe his treatment of time and to extend his sociospatial dialectic into the realm of actor-network theory, thereby further situating the materiality of the city at the theoretical center of social thought.     

Elevation, Age, Soil Development, and Chemical Weathering at Storbreen, Jotunheimen, Norway

Chemical weathering and associated soil development trends on glacial forelands are commonly assumed to exhibit increases with time elapsed since glaciation. However, this gross trend is complicated by several other factors including elevation, aspect, and microtopography. This paper demonstrates that on the glacial foreland at Storbreen, Jotunheimen, Norway, chemical weathering and associated soil development trends show significant elevational influences. We sampled soils at shallow depths (0–1, 1–5, and 15–20 cm) at two sites on a moraine dated to 1750 at its elevational extremes of 1155 m (site L) and 1385 m (site H). The two moraine sites also differed developmentally from an adjacent 9000-year-old surface (site T) at an intermediate elevation, 1205 m. Analyses were conducted on the fine-earth fractions. Extractable elemental composition exhibited detectable differences between the same-age soils at different elevations with the lower site L tending to have measured parameters intermediate between the high site H and the older site T. Weathering, as indicated by mineralogy, was more pronounced at the 9000-year-old site T and least evident at the high elevation site H. In addition, elevation under the conditions of the field research may inhibit pedogenesis as indicated by the chemical data. Site H, for example, showed little variation with depth and had in general, less organic matter accumulation, smaller C:N ratio, greater pH, and lesser amounts of the measured extractable elements than the soil at site L. Site T generally had smaller pH and larger levels of the measured elements than the other sites. It was concluded that elevation has a significant control on weathering and pedogenesis that may mask the effects of age in this cold and wet environment.     

Statewide Estimates of Undiscovered Deposits of Gold,Silver, Copper,Lead, and Zinc

Estimates of the number of undiscovered deposits on a statewide basis offer a different perspective on the nation's undiscovered resources of gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc. Mean estimates of the number of undiscovered deposits statewide were extracted from the estimates of undiscovered deposits nationwide. More than 50 undiscovered deposits are estimated to occur in Alaska, Arizona, Nevada, and Wisconsin. Estimating the number of undiscovered deposits statewide serves as a measure of a state's total remaining mineral resources in known conventional deposit types.     

ISLANDS,LOVERS, AND OTHERS

ABSTRACT. Geography, experience, and imagination are all crucial to how we take measure of islands. Prime foci of legend and invention, islands have haunted humanity since the dawn of history. Why are they so intensely loved and loathed, desired and rejected, minutely scrutinized yet often perilously misjudged? On islands we feel alternately landed and adrift, magnified and reduced, fulfilled and voided, at home and in exile. These and other polarities are reviewed here with examples from Caribbean, Atlantic, Mediterranean, antipodean, and imaginary islands fancied by the creator.     

Transportation subsidies, economic efficiency, equity, and public policy

According to many environmentalists, the U.S. transportation sector is being subsidized by federal, state, and local governments. Whether or not road users are, in fact, paying the cost of using roads is a critical issue in supporting sustainable transportation. Subsidies increase road consumption above levels that would otherwise be dictated by the market. This paper compares different estimates of transportation subsidies, noting their strengths and weaknesses. Following this discussion, the issue of transportation as a public good is covered. How economic efficiency and equity are considered depends in large part on the role of transportation in society. If transportation is deemed a public good, then alternative evaluation criteria must be applied. If not, then economic efficiency would need to be considered. Both efficiency and equity could be enhanced by a pollution tax. Such a measure would improve equity by charging users for the pollution they generate. In addition, economic efficiency could be enhanced by internalizing the environmental externalities associated with transportation. This study, compares different estimates of transportation subsidies as a prelude to discussing economic efficiency and equity issues. The study does not develop a definitive answer to the problem of transportation subsidies, but rather highlights the important public policy issues that exist within this arena.