Employer Recruitment and Hispanic Labor Migration: North Carolina Urban Areas at the End of the Millennium

The North Carolina Hispanic population has grown at a rapid pace in recent years. Before 1980, the majority of Hispanics in North Carolina were engaged primarily in migrant agricultural work. Hispanics who are part of the new influx are arriving in urban areas and are working at nonagricultural pursuits. Previous research and anecdotal evidence suggest that Hispanic newcomers come from other U.S. jurisdictions and from abroad. Labor migration occurs in response to demand for labor, and labor demand is meditated by employers’ preferences and hiring practices. However, focusing solely on employer demand for labor ignores the role of past U.S. immigration policy and the large growth in services employment in the Sunbelt that have fueled the Hispanic in–migration. This research project explored the attitudes and recruiting behavior of employers in the Triangle region of North Carolina. A newspaper content analysis was undertaken, and interviews were conducted with selected intermediaries and a group of employers. Qualitative analysis of the data collected revealed that these employers utilize the social networks of their immigrant Hispanic employees to recruit new workers. They also use a variety of other recruiting methods to recruit Hispanics both locally and from abroad. If this practice is widespread, it may be fueling the influx of Hispanic immigrants to North Carolina. Employers interviewed extolled the work ethic of Hispanic workers and often bypassed native–born workers, whom they felt were inferior employees. These findings have ramifications for future immigration policy and for the success of welfare–to–work programs. Employer demand for labor is one factor that must be considered when formulating new immigration policy.     

A Review of “Spatial and Environmental Injustice in an American Metropolis: A Study of Tampa Bay,Florida”

The North Carolina Hispanic population has grown at a rapid pace in recent years. Before 1980, the majority of Hispanics in North Carolina were engaged primarily in migrant agricultural work. Hispanics who are part of the new influx are arriving in urban areas and are working at nonagricultural pursuits. Previous research and anecdotal evidence suggest that Hispanic newcomers come from other U.S. jurisdictions and from abroad. Labor migration occurs in response to demand for labor, and labor demand is meditated by employers’ preferences and hiring practices. However, focusing solely on employer demand for labor ignores the role of past U.S. immigration policy and the large growth in services employment in the Sunbelt that have fueled the Hispanic in–migration. This research project explored the attitudes and recruiting behavior of employers in the Triangle region of North Carolina. A newspaper content analysis was undertaken, and interviews were conducted with selected intermediaries and a group of employers. Qualitative analysis of the data collected revealed that these employers utilize the social networks of their immigrant Hispanic employees to recruit new workers. They also use a variety of other recruiting methods to recruit Hispanics both locally and from abroad. If this practice is widespread, it may be fueling the influx of Hispanic immigrants to North Carolina. Employers interviewed extolled the work ethic of Hispanic workers and often bypassed native–born workers, whom they felt were inferior employees. These findings have ramifications for future immigration policy and for the success of welfare–to–work programs. Employer demand for labor is one factor that must be considered when formulating new immigration policy.     

Vulnerability to Hurricane Damage on the U.S. Gulf Coast Since 1950

We study hurricane risk on the U.S. Gulf Coast during 1950‐2005, estimating the wind damage and storm surge from every hurricane in this extended period. Wind damage is estimated from the known path and wind speeds of individual storms and calibrated to fit actual damage reports for a sample of Gulf Coast storms. Storm surge is estimated using the SLOSH model developed by NOAA. These models provide the first comprehensive overview of the hurricane storm hazard as it has been experienced over a fifty‐six‐year period. We link the estimated damage with information on the population and specific socio‐demographic components of the population (by age, race, and poverty status). Results show that white, young adult, and nonpoor populations have shifted over time away from zones with higher risk of wind damage, while more vulnerable population groups–the elderly, African Americans, and poor—have moved in the opposite direction. All groups have moved away from areas with high risk of storm surge since 1970. But in this case, perhaps because living near the water is still perceived as an amenity, those at highest risk are whites, elderly, and nonpoor households. Here exposure represents a trade‐off between the risk and the amenity.     

Urban encounters and sexual health among gay and bisexual immigrant men: perspectives from the settlement and aids service sectors

Gay men's health researchers in North America have recently attended to sexual and mental health issues affecting ethnic minority men, many of whom are also immigrants. Most of this work is grounded in epidemiological models that focus on relationships between individual HIV risk and sexual behaviors. Consequently, they the frame the sexual health of gay and bisexual immigrants as the product of cultural issues (for example, family and religious homophobia, lack of health education) or gay community issues (prevalence of drug use and casual sex) that lead to self‐devaluation, depression, and unprotected sex with multiple partners. Few studies, however, examine these phenomena through the lens of migration and resettlement. Using the narratives from twelve in‐depth interviews with settlement and AIDS Service Organization (ASO) workers in Toronto, Ottawa, and London, Ontario, Canada, this article examines four types of post‐migration urban encounters that influence sexual health: negotiations of resettlement‐related stress, encounters with the urban gay community, encounters with the online gay community, and encounters with sexual health promotion itself. The findings suggest that these encounters are important intervening events that mediate the relationship between the attributes of the immigrant and his sexual health behaviors and outcomes.     

EXPRESSING “LOCAL CULTURE” IN HAWAI'I*

ABSTRACT. Detached from the mainland and with a distinct historical ethnic geography, the conquered kingdom of Hawai'i, now the fiftieth state, is the only U.S. state with an Asian and Pacific Islander majority as well as the highest percentage of racial and ethnic intermarriage. Hawai'i's population reflects the tensions between the culturally pluralistic “spirit of aloha” and the ethnic‐cum‐social stratification that has evolved from its historical economic geographies. In this article I focus on one of these strata—what is referred to as “local” culture—discussing its ethnogenesis and contemporary manifestations, and I apply Jonathan Okamura's 1981 model of situational ethnicity to examine how locals and new immigrants negotiate the ethnic dynamics and social expectations of their daily lives. I also discuss various ways in which “localness” is represented on O'ahu's economic landscape, with an analysis of the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet, as a holistic expression of local culture.     

RACE,IMMIGRANTS, AND RESIDENCE: A NEW RACIAL GEOGRAPHY OF WASHINGTON,D.C.*

ABSTRACT. This study examines the residential patterns of immigrant newcomers within a relatively new immigrant destination, Washington, D.C. Particular attention is given to how these patterns are shaped by the newcomers' race and ethnicity. Our analysis is based primarily upon data on immigrant flows from the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service for the 1990–1998 period. Evidence from our study suggests a racial and ethnic hierarchy to the residential location of Africans, Asians, Europeans, and Latin Americans, providing some support for the pattern expected in the place‐stratification model. When their residential patterns are compared with those of non‐Hispanic blacks, we find that African newcomers are more likely to settle among blacks than are other regional‐origin groups. However, Africans are also found to reside in multiethnic zip codes where large numbers of newcomers are concentrated. The findings suggest that race is an important but not exclusive factor in explaining the residential choices of recent immigrants.     

Floodscapes? A Reading of Space‐Making and Place‐Making Processes in Regions Affected by Flood Hazard

The study of flood hazard has been a key theme within the spatial analysis of natural hazards. A number of authors have expanded on this tradition by adopting a society‐oriented approach to risk perception. Thus a new framework has become available for exploring social response to risk and describing the relationship between human communities and hazards in terms of contemporary interpretative categories such as social representation and “stigmatization,” the latter defined as the process by which media and social actors mark places affected by disastrous events as dangerous and unsafe sites. This literature has made a vital contribution to the geographical reading of flood hazard, showing how flood risk generates both space‐ and place‐making processes. In this paper I discuss the relationship between these two processes, suggesting that the political response to flood hazard may be viewed as a hetero‐directed strategy that influences place‐making at a local level. I illustrate this perspective using a field research conducted in 2006–2007 on the Po River Basin in Piemonte, an Italian region with high flood risk that has been affected by a series of events in recent decades.     

ASIANS,PACIFIC ISLANDERS,AND ETHNOBURBS IN AUCKLAND,NEW ZEALAND

ABSTRACT. Recent work on Asian ethnic minority immigrants to cities in the Anglophone Pacific Rim argues that their settlement patterns do not conform to those of earlier migrant streams. Instead of concentrating in high‐density, low‐quality, inner‐city housing, these new residents are moving directly to suburban areas where they form much less intensive concentrations—ethnoburbs—than has been typical of other culturally distinct migrant groups. We evaluate this thesis for Asian migrants in the Auckland metropolitan area, whose numbers more than quadrupled between 1991 and 2006. Their residential pattern is compared with that of Pacific Islanders also resident there, providing supporting evidence for the ethnoburb hypothesis.     

Cancer risks from exposure to vehicular air pollution: a household level analysis of intra-ethnic heterogeneity in Miami,Florida

Quantitative environmental justice (EJ) research has relied on aggregated data from census units to determine disproportionate hazard exposure. Additionally, variables typically used to analyze ethnic inequities in exposure (e.g., percent Hispanic) are too broad and assume a degree of homogeneity that may not exist, given the diversity of ethnic minority populations. We address these limitations through a study that utilizes primary household level survey data and cancer risk estimates from the National-Scale Air Toxics Assessment (NATA) to analyze intra-ethnic inequities in exposure to vehicular air pollutants in the Miami metropolitan area, Florida. Our analysis disaggregates the Hispanic category based on five characteristics (language proficiency, U.S. citizenship, nativity, unemployment status, and national origin) and finds that risk burdens are significantly higher for Hispanic respondents who are foreign-born, unemployed, and of Cuban origin. Findings highlight the advantages of downscaling EJ analyses to the household level and considering intra-ethnic heterogeneity in EJ research and policy.     

洪涝灾害风险监测预警评估综述

随着全球气候变暖,洪涝灾害愈加频繁,灾害风险监测预警评估作为防灾减灾的重要基础成为当前灾害学研究的核心内容之一。本文在总结国内外灾害研究和应用的基础上,阐述了洪涝灾害风险监测预警评估的概念、 内容、评估的基本思路和监测预警的技术方法。本文提出：①应结合中国实际,加强洪涝灾害的基础研究,深入机理层面探索洪涝灾害的孕育、发生机制,以及减少洪涝危险性和承灾体脆弱性分析的不确定性。②以研究技术手段的进步促进洪涝灾害风险监测预警评估的发展,改进传感器性能,提高监测精度;综合多源遥感和各种基础数据;进一步发展“3S”集成技术。     

Hispanic Community Types and Assimilation in Mex-America

I argue that discrepancies among Hispanic assimilation models can be interpreted through three distinct types of Hispanic communities—continuous, discontinuous, and new. Continuous communities were founded by Hispanics and Hispanics have always been the majority population. As a result, Hispanics have not assimilated as predicted by traditional models. Discontinuous communities were originally settled by Hispanics, but eventually were filled by a minority population. Since WWII, many of these communities have experienced a Hispanic demographic resurgence making assimilation more problematic. Hispanics in new communities are recent immigrants to Anglo dominant communities and are more apt to follow the traditional assimilation model.     

不均衡的跨国人口流动：对美墨移民历程与政策的思考

美国是全球最大的移民接收国,墨西哥是美国最大的移民来源国,特殊的地缘关系和巨大的发展差距使众多墨西哥人移民美国。墨裔移民为美国提供了充足的劳动力,在美墨边境地区,移民集聚带动了两国边境地区的发展。但族裔矛盾始终是美国主要社会问题之一,特别是“9·11”事件后,少数族裔和非法移民问题加剧美国社会分裂和对立,成为美国国内政治博弈的焦点。基于区域地缘关系的视角来看,美国与墨西哥之间长期不对等的国际关系决定了跨国移民的流入状态和生存境遇,也是美国族群矛盾的主要原因之一。移民问题政治化将持续强化墨裔移民政策的不确定性,使移民个人与家庭面临更大的融入困难。     

新亚欧大陆桥新疆段水害时空分维特征研究

基于区域自然灾害发生的复杂性和不确定性,运用分形、混沌理论,对新亚欧大陆桥新疆段近３８年的洪水灾害资料进行了时空分维特研究。结果表明：陆桥新疆段洪水灾害不仅在时间序列上具有自相似性,其容量维Ｄｆ在０．０４９７～０．０６８７间,而且在空间序列上也具有自似性,存在明显分维结构,其信息Ｄ１在０．０５３７～０．０７９７之间。洪水灾严重区段的信息分维值较低,并且信息分维与洪水灾害发生频率呈反相关。这一特征将     

Bangladeshi American Response to the 1998 Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA): An Assessment*

Following the devastating flood in 1998, the U.S. government proposed a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) to the Bangladesh government. Accepting the 1998 SOFA would have allowed entry of U.S. troops in Bangladesh without passports or visas and without requiring declaration of military hardware. This would have facilitated American forces support for relief operations and rehabilitation of disaster victims in the shortest possible time. Unfortunately, the Bangladesh government rejected the U.S. terms outlined in the 1998 proposal. A sample survey was conducted among Bangladeshi Americans to examine their opinions regarding the 1998 SOFA. Survey data reveals that slightly over 58 percent of the respondents supported signing the SOFA. Reasons for their support or opposition to the U.S. proposal are also presented. Statistical analyses suggest that whether respondents have studied or are currently studying in the United States emerged as the most significant factor associated with approval or disapproval of the 1998 SOFA. Implications of the study findings are also discussed.     

基于多智能体的洪涝风险动态评估理论模型

随着全球气候变化的加剧和城市化进程的快速发展,洪涝灾害的影响和复杂性日益加剧。洪涝灾害风险评估是一项复杂的系统工程,在防洪减灾工程理论与实践中具有重要意义;作为洪涝灾害风险管理和应急处置的基础和核心,风险评估模型直接影响洪涝灾害风险评估结果的可靠性。洪涝灾害风险是洪涝灾害复杂系统组成部分相互作用的结果,综合考虑洪涝灾害系统的特点以及智能体建模的优势,提出了一种基于多智能体的洪涝风险动态评估理论模型。首先从复杂系统建模的角度出发,对洪涝灾害复杂系统进行分析建模,构建基于多智能体的洪涝灾害风险动态评估框架模型;其次,对所构建的框架模型中单个智能体模型进行研究,分别建立基于反应型的孕灾环境智能体模型和基于慎思型的致灾因子、承灾体和风险分析智能体模型,并对以上单个智能体的流程进行研究;然后以风险分析智能体联盟为例对模型框架中所涉及到4类智能体联盟的内部结构和流程进行分析,对构建的框架模型中涉及到的智能体通信协调和作用规则进行探讨;最后,在Netlogo平台上,基于30 m DEM数据和构建的模型,对淮河流域的暴雨型洪涝孕育发生发展全过程的人口风险进行动态评估。结果表明,构建的模型能有效评估洪涝灾害全过程中人口风险的动态。研究结果对洪涝灾害人口灾情评估、应急救助和应急管理都具有较强的指导意义。     

A decadal historical satellite data analysis for flood hazard evaluation: A case study of Bihar (North India)

Flood is one of the major recurrent natural disasters faced by the state of Bihar in north India. In the present study the authors assess the severity of flood hazard in Bihar, using 128 decadal historical satellite datasets acquired during different flood magnitudes during 1998 to 2010. The satellite‐based observations have been analysed in conjunction with the hydrological data, for assessing the frequency of inundation, severity of flood hazard and cropped land under flood hazard. This study assesses the spatial distribution of flooding and creation of systematic flood hazard database, which can be analysed from a spatial dimension in GIS. It is observed that about 24.56 lakh ha of the state's area and about 15.85 lakh ha of the cropped area are vulnerable to flood hazard. North Bihar is more vulnerable to flooding; 8 of the 10 areas identified as worst flood‐affected districts lie in this region.     

东南沿海中小流域平原区洪水淹没模拟

我国东南沿海中小流域洪水过程短,调节能力差,洪水灾害严重。而该区洪水灾害主要发生在流域中下游冲洪积平原上,为此本文以我国东南沿海甬江流域奉化江下游为实验区,探讨了将遥感和地理信息系统应用于中小流域洪水淹没模拟研究的方法和途径。开展了基于遥感和GIS的流域降雨径流和洪水演进模型的研究,建立了基于数字高程模型的洪水淹没范围和灾情评估模型。最后利用遥感、遥测和GIS信息,对实验区洪水淹没和灾情评估进行了验证分析,并取得了较满意的成果,从而为中小流域防洪减灾决策研究提供了经验。     

基于GIS的洪水灾害风险区划研究

洪水灾害区划是洪灾评估与管理的重要内容,本文在分析洪灾形成的各主要因子的基础上,提出了基于地理信息系统的洪灾风险区划指标模型,并结合辽河流域具体情况,以降雨、地形和区域社会经济易损为主要指标,得出了辽河流域洪灾风险综合区别。     

县域尺度下的陕西省洪涝灾害风险评估及区划

洪涝灾害风险评估和区划研究对区域洪灾综合管理具有重要意义。以陕西省洪涝灾害气候背景和社会经济环境为基础,利用辖区内34个气象测站1954-2015年、月降水数据和2015年社会经济统计资料,运用自然灾害风险评估理论及方法,从致灾因子危险性、孕灾环境脆弱性、承灾体暴露性和防灾减灾能力4个子系统选取17个评价指标,建立洪涝灾害风险评价指标体系,借助GIS技术进行洪涝灾害风险评估和区划。结果表明：（1）陕西省洪涝灾害致灾因子危险性等级自北向南呈递增趋势,高和次高危险区分布在陕南地区和关中盆地西部。（2）孕灾环境脆弱性空间分布差异较大,高和次高脆弱区分布在榆林北部长城沿线各县、延安市区、关中盆地渭河沿岸主要区县、陕南汉中盆地和安康市区。（3）承灾体暴露性各区县分布不均,大部分市区和农业发达地区暴露程度较高。（4）城市和经济发达地区防灾减灾能力较高,其他地区相对较低。（5）陕西省洪涝灾害综合风险等级表征为陕南汉江谷地、丹江流域和关中盆地渭河沿岸区县偏高,其他区县相对偏低。总体来看,中等以上风险区县占陕西省所辖区县的61.54%,其中陕南汉江谷地、丹江流域、关中盆地西部和渭南市应为陕西省洪涝灾害防范的重点区域。     

The Council at Work

Abstract

Through analysis of census data, these lessons cover geographic concepts dealing with migration and population change in the United States. Students discuss the historical push and pull factors of immigration to the United States. By focusing on the recent influx of Hispanic immigrants, students look at the geographic concepts of assimilation, discrimination, and time-decay. Students also create graphs and maps to examine the recent increase in the United States Hispanic population and geographic patterns of Hispanic settlement.