AUTOMATED ISOCHRONES AND THE LOCATIONS OF EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES IN CITIES

A method is described for the automatic calculation and graphical reproduction of isochrones around emergency medical centers in large cities. The isochrones are set for different time standards and for varying traffic conditions. The technique is based on the concept of a velocity field. It permits a rapid evaluation of coverage standards under different operating conditions.     

AN ANALYSIS OF THE RANGE AND SPATIAL GRADIENT OF URBAN RECREATIONAL HINTERLANDS

Because medical geography is a dynamic and developing area of thought, a number of conceptual and empirical problems are, as yet, relatively unexplored. This essay constitutes an attempt to delimit these problems, which include the application of geographical analysis to ascertaining disease causation, the prediction of future disease patterns and disease diffusion, and evaluation of the importance of maximizing geographical access to health care facilities.     

THE STATUS OF GEOGRAPHY IN GRADUATE URBAN AFFAIRS PROGRAMS

Literature on the theoretical foundations of urban affairs emphasizes that the field is interdisciplinary in nature. The urban perspectives of the traditional social sciences, which include geography, should each constitute a significant component within an urban affairs program. However, the results of a recent survey indicate that geography is not represented in graduate urban affairs programs nearly to the extent of the other social sciences. The discrepancies between the interdisciplinary claims of the theoretical literature and the survey results are demonstrated in this article, followed by several hypotheses regarding possible causes of this situation.     

Geographic Education and Careers in Geography

Abstract

Disciplinary concern with career options and opportunities has fluctuated over the years. Not surprisingly, geography continues to be incorrectly stereotyped as a field of study offering limited employment prospects. While geographic education has long focused on content, it must also embrace the importance of educating instructors, students, and career counselors concerning how the field opens doors to viable careers. This article presents a program that can be implemented by college and university departments to raise awareness and disseminate information about career opportunities in geography. The program emphasizes an integrated approach that includes partnerships with alumni, campus placement offices, and employers.     

THE IMPACT OF FEDERAL LOCAL PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION ASSISTANCE UPON TRAVEL BEHAVIOR

Despite substantial amounts of federal assistance to local public transportation, ridership has declined considerably in the country as a whole since 1964, suggesting an ineffective government program. A city-by-city comparison of assistance received with changes in transit ridership shows that declines in transit usage were least in cities receiving the most federal aid, and greatest in cities receiving the least aid. This demonstrates that federal aid has had an impact upon travel behavior. Indeed, it is the single most important factor explaining differences between cities in travel behavior changes in the 1970's.     

THE GEOGRAPHY OF MASTODON EXTINCTION

Geographic Software Reviewed in this article:

LIFE TABLES and the LESLIE MATRIX. CONDUIT

MENTMAP2. Lawrence W. Carstensen Jr.

PC-MATLAB, Version 1.0. The Math Works, Inc.

QUICKMAP, version 1.0. Sammamish Data Systems, Inc.

SYSTAT: THE SYSTEM FOR STATISTICS, Version 2.1, Systat Inc.

USA DISPLAY. Instant Tecall     

THE ARCHIVES OF THE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN GEOGRAPHERS

Although numerous courses in geographic information systems (GIS) have been introduced into the geography curriculum over the past few years, there has been remarkably little debate over the issues involved. This paper first discusses the arguments for geography as an appropriate disciplinary setting for GIS teaching at the undergraduate level. This is followed by a discussion of the nature of GIS courses and their appropriate place in the undergraduate geography curriculum. The final section of the paper describes the NCGIA Core Curriculum project and examines its significance in this broader context.     

VIEWS OF THE AAG: RESULTS OF THE LONG RANGE PLANNING MEMBERSHIP SURVEY

In this issue THE PROFESSIONAL GEOGRAPHER presents the first two reports in a series on the Association's long-range planning process, which was described by Past President Marcus in May. David Morgan outlines here the results of a survey of members' attitudes on a number of important questions.     

ON THE LETTERING OF MAPS

This is one of a series of guest articles written on invitation by senior members of the geographic profession.     

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF POTENTIAL-DENSITY REGRESSIONS

Strong correlations have been observed between potential indices and the densities of spatial variables. The conventional null hypothesis of bivariate regression is inappropriate for testing their significance. A randomization test is proposed and is applied to 1975 US population data by state. The resulting relationship has a significant correlation, but its slope could occur frequently under the null hypothesis. The correlation is shown to be related to the spatial autocorrelation of densities by constructing arrangements with prescribed values of the modified Moran index.     

ON THE SENSITIVITY OF CONCLUSIONS ABOUT THE BASES OF COGNITIVE DISTANCE

The “ecological fallacy’ inherent in two studies of the correlation of cognitive distance with objective distance and travel time is considered. The studies reach opposite conclusions using similar types of data, but both involve different types of aggregation of cognitive-distance judgments. It is shown that, under certain circumstances, correlations based on aggregate data can lead to reverse conclusions to those based on more behaviorally valid disaggregate data. Hence such aggregation is unjustifiable and, as a result, neither study's conclusions can be relied upon.     

REPORT OF THE EDITOR OF THE PROFESSIONAL GEOGRAPHER

Attas of Finland. Geographical Society of Finland and the Department of Geography of Helsinki University. Leo Aario, ed.

The Highlands and Islands of Scotland. A. C. Odell, Kenneth Walton.

Soviet Power. Jordan A. Hodgkins.

Problèmes de Gdologie Sous-Marzha. Le Précontinent, Le Littoral et sa Protection, La Stratigraphie Sow-Marine. Jacques Bourcart.

Life World Librury.

The Geography of California in Essays and Readings. R. W. Durrenbenger.

Sources of Ivzfomzrrtion about Californid. R. W. Durrenberger.

Festschrift: Clarence F. Jones. Merlb C. Prunty, Jr., ed.

India's Urban Future.

Schuieizerischer Mittelschulatlas. Eduard Imhof, ed.

Pacific Island Bastions of the United States. Herold J. Wiens.

New Forces in Africa. William H. Lewis, ed.

The World of Ice. Jamb L. Dyson.

Dictionery of Geological Terms

Physical Oceanography. Albert Depant.

A Concise Natural History of East and West Florida. Bernard Romans.

Coal Traffic on the Ohio River System. Fred A. Carlson and Frank Seawall.

The Morfihology of the Earth: A Study and Synthesis of World Scenery. Lester C. King.

Guide to Photocopied Historical Materials in the United States and Canada. Richard W. Hale, Jr., (ed.)

Research Opportunities in American Cultural History. John Francis Mc-Dermott, (editor)     

PROGRAM EVALUATION AS A STRATEGY FOR PROGRAM ENHANCEMENT

Formal program evaluation is one of the most widely used tools for program termination decisions in universities. By understanding and anticipating program evaluation, a farsighted geography department can convert it from a threat into a strategy for survival in the 1980s. In the process, many departments will be renewed and improved.     

THE IMPORTANCE OF SCALE IN MEASURING THE SECONDARY EFFECTS IN REGRESSION ANALYSIS

This study proposes a method of using ecological¹ variables in regression analysis to identify the weak or secondary effects of independent variables without introducing spurious correlation due to aggregation.     

A NOTE ON THE GEOGRAPHY OF SPORT

The recent phenomenon of relative metropolitan decline and non-metropolitan growth is set into two broader frameworks: first, decentralization is an expected consequence of earlier industrialization and metropolitanization; and, second, the change follows a parallel shift in power, industrialization, and urbanization from the core to the periphery of the country. Evidence is found for both. The older industrial states thus exhibit non-metropolitan growth, whereas many newly industrializing states continue to show vigorous metropolitanization.     

THE CONTENT OF RATZEL'S POLITISCHE GEOGRAPHIE

The concentration of poor, service-dependent groups in aging central cities results both from suburbanization of the affluent and from the reliance of the service-dependent population upon place-specific human services provided by the public sector. Such concentration of services and their users in deteriorating inner-city sites may be functional for the larger society, but it has adverse impacts upon those who are service dependent. This paper argues that the implications of locational interdependence between such groups and their support services demand a paradigm for urban geography that centers upon the fundamental structure and impacts of population/service-provision linkages.     

LETTERS TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE ASSOCIATION

Topographic shading curtails the period and complicates the geographic patterns of insolation in mountainous areas. Maps derived from oblique aerial photographs of shadow lines cast by the irregular, mountainous east horizon in Provo, Utah are used as a case study to illustrate an alternative to existing techniques of solar radiation data collection. For study areas of several hundred square kilometers, this method may be superior in resolution and at the same time more error free and economically feasible than other methods. Measurement of solar inputs received at sample stations scattered through the mapped area show that the phenomenon of topographically delayed sunrise has a distinct effect on daily totals of radiation in the manner suggested by the maps.     

SIMPLE MARKOV CHAIN MODEL OF SMOG PROBABILITY IN THE SOUTH COAST AIR BASIN OF CALIFORNIA

The simple Markov chain model approximates sequences of episode days for those air-monitoring stations with sufficient data for analysis. The conditional probability for episode days shows a distinct regional pattern, with highest values over the inland valleys and decreasing values toward the coast.     

CONSTITUTION OF THE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN GEOGRAPHERS

The Geography of Economic Activity: An Introductory World Survey. Richard S. Thoman.

Urban Responses to Agricultural Change. Clyde F. Kohn, ed.

Learn Geography the Easy Way, revised edition. Raymond P. Dollinger, ed.

The Tropical World: Its Social and Economic Conditions and Its Future Status, 3rd edition. Pierre Gourou.

Outdoor Recreation for America: A Report to the President and to the Congress by the Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission.

Francois Matthes and the Marks of Time: Yosemite and the High Sierra. Fritiof Fryxell, ed.

Hammod's Ambassador World Atlas, 2nd edition. C.S. Hammond and Co.

The Wew Rand McNally Pocket World Atlas, Cardinal Edition.

The Golden Khersonese: Studies in the Historical Geography of the Malay Peninsula before A.D. 1500. Paul Wheatley.

Plant Life of Palestine, Israel and Jordon. Michael Zohary.

Europe's Needs and Resources. J. Frederic Dewhurst, John O. Coppock, P. Lamartine Yates AND Associates.

Problems of Applied Geography. Kazimierz Dziewonski, ET AL., eds.

Problems of Dynamic Meteorology and Climatic Theory.

Questions of Physics of the Atmosphere.

Mapuche Social Structure: Institutional Reintegration in a Patrilineal Society of Central Chile. L.C. Faron.

The Statesman's Yearbook, 1961–1962. S. H. Steinberg, ed.

A Regional Geography of South Australia. D.D. Harris AND D.A.M. Lea.

Volcanoes: In History, In Theory, In Eruption. Fred M. Bullard.     

Introduction: Rethinking Practices for Enhancing Diversity in the Discipline

This study explores the variations in household participation rates in recycling projects implemented in urban and suburban communities. A causal model is developed to compare the demographic attributes of residents, their awareness of the recycling programs, their environmental attitudes, and their overall willingness to recycle. The model is assessed by Linear Structural Equations Methodology (LISREL). The results suggest that household recycling behavior is not consistent across communities due primarily to variations in demographic characteristics of residents and their evaluation of program policies.