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February 28, 2013

News for geographers

Geography in Action

How Obama garnered so much of the Asian vote
President Barack Obama captured a large percentage of the Asian vote in 2012, which helped him to win re-election. The Asian community is quite diverse, and its voting decisions are generally based on specific candidates rather than ideological leanings, said Wei Li, an Asian Pacific American Studies professor at Arizona State University. In this interview, Li also discussed the growth of various Asian demographic groups in Arizona. KAET-TV (Phoenix) (2/19)

Country-by-country approach can control malaria, study suggests
Research shows that a country-by-country approach to fighting malaria can be remarkably successful at keeping the disease at bay. Urbanization and improved living conditions, among other factors, have helped countries eliminate the disease, according to University of Southampton geography professor Andrew Tatem. "Still, a child dies of malaria every 45 seconds, especially in sub-Saharan Africa," he noted. The Gainesville Sun (Fla.) (2/22)

Research, Education and Global Change

Researchers find evidence of ancient landmass
Researchers have uncovered evidence for an ancient micro-continent, the remains of which may lie beneath the Indian Ocean. The researchers found extremely old zircons on the island of Mauritius that may have once been part of fragments of continental crust. Volcanic eruptions may have transported the zircons -- one of them at least 1.97 billion years old -- to the surface. Nature (free content) (2/24)

Does the Electoral College favor a particular party?
In this blog post, Nate Silver discusses the Electoral College and whether it tends to favor Republicans or Democrats. He concludes that "the Electoral College does not convey all that much advantage to rural voters versus urban ones, or wealthy voters versus poorer ones, and therefore does not provide all that much long-term advantage toward either party." The New York Times (tiered subscription model)/Five Thirty Eight blog (2/26)

Technology and Applications

Sequestration and the military: A state-by-state analysis

The White House has released its forecast for how the looming sequestration would affect each state and the District of Columbia. This analysis dives deeper into the military aspect of the sequestration by analyzing which states receive the most overall and the most per capita funding from the Defense Department. The states that enjoy the most funding have the most to lose as military jobs and families power other aspects of their economies. SmartBrief/SmartBlog on Finance (2/25)

How industry helps the government manage "tsunami of data"
Cybersecurity may be a hot topic, but few understand the role the private sector plays in helping the U.S. government develop best practices around information sharing and safeguarding. Kshemendra Paul, head of the government's Information Sharing Environment, weighs in from the sidelines of Esri's FedGIS conference and details how the geospatial community is helping tackle the "tsunami of data" that must be collected, shared and protected. SmartBrief/SmartBlog on Leadership (2/26)

Association News

Audrey Kobayashi to speak on race in geography discipline
In her upcoming Past President's Address at the 2013 AAG Annual Meeting, Audrey Kobayashi will focus on race in the discipline of geography, tracing the concept of race through American geography. She will also focus on addresses from AAG past presidents Ellsworth Huntington and Harold Rose. "Both reflect currents of thought and controversy that guided the discipline at specific times, and both are part of the larger social and intellectual context," she writes. Read more.

AAG names Maya Lin 2013 Honorary Geographer
The AAG has selected Maya Lin, a world-renowned artist and architectural designer, to receive its 2013 Honorary Geographer Award, which recognizes excellence in the arts, research, teaching and writing on geographic topics by non-geographers. Her work, including the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., impressively integrates monuments and landscapes in new and dramatic ways and allows for new ways of looking at the world. Learn more.

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SmartQuote

He that will not apply new remedies must expect new evils; for time is the greatest innovator."

--Francis Bacon,
British author and statesman

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