A Birds Eye View

Of this weeks readings I thoroughly enjoyed, "A Geographer Looks at the San Joaquin Valley" by James J. Parsons. I thought he did a very good job at taking an area commonly thought of as being a big, hot, stinky armpit, and turning it into this amazingly interesting, diverse and complex agricultural dream come true.

The main reason I enjoyed this so much is because it hit so close to home. Both of my parents were born and raised in Bakersfield California where today many of my relatives still reside. When my parents left for college in the mid 60's they made a promise to each other they would never live in Bakersfield again. Lucky for me they held true, and in 1977 I was born and raised in Placerville, California on the the west side of the Sierra just 45 miles east up highway 50 from the Central Valley. Though my father picked a career as an integrative pest management specialist in the San Joaquin Valley, he would never again live there. After a few years of driving to this region from Placerville 3 to 4 times a week, he decided he would just go ahead and get his pilots licence so he could fly himself to work in well under half the amount of time it took to drive. In those days a pilots licence only cost around $2,000 and within a few months he was up and flying. That was 1973, he's done this now for 35 years! Way to go Pops!

Anyways, my whole life I've been flying with my dad. Though we've taken some great trips to Baja, Northern California and Oregon, the majority of my time spent in the air has been in between Placerville and Bakersfield to visit the family. This flight is right smack over the the San Joaquin Valley. Usually flying at an altitude of five to six thousand feet, the view is spectacular with the Sierra Nevada on one side and the valley and coastal ranges on the other. Some of my earliest childhood memories are being in that plane glued to the window in awe of all I could see and wonder about, it was always so exciting. The valley seemed to stretch for ever, the grids of our growing food one after another, I really had no idea what was going on, I just liked looking at it.Then days later, flying north back to Placerville with the Sierra to the east all the way home. All I could do was marvel at the snow capped mountains with all the deep green gorges, the rivers like glinting slivers. 

It was not for many years later that I would begin to understand that land I'd been looking at for so long. Never could I see the the people living and working those fields or the stores and restaurants that served them. I could follow cars and trucks driving north and south on hwy 99 though I had not a clue of what they might be carrying, or where they might be going too. I could see the buildings and homes surrounded by great big trees in the middle of an orchard, but without a clue as to who might live in them and who might have built them, and when. I knew those colored checkers were food, though I had no concept of how it was watered  or where that water came from. 

well weren't, those just the days. Yes the world has become a much different place since then.

You grow up and everyday places seem to take on a whole new look. Not only in appearance but in your minds new awareness and understanding. Through the years that flight has never let me down. Not only has dad stuck it every time, while always pointing out the cool landmarks, but It's just never the same trip twice. With this new set of eyeballs, I can hardly wait for my next birds eye view of the richest agricultural valley of the world! It's good stuff!

Income vs. consumerism

I would have to agree that income statistics don't tell the whole story of American living standards. Take Joe Blow college student for example. Here he or she is in school maybe working, maybe not, but more than likely working for a low income wage. But all the while, somehow, living a pretty darn decent life with having the means to pay for rent, food, tuition, books, cell phones, clothing, ipods, bicycles, booze and entertainment. There are also the students who even have expensive car payments along with gas, insurance, maintenance, and stiff parking fees.

So where does a full time student spending $15,000 to $20,000 a year or more acquire that kind of money to spend? Though some very dedicated students work both at school and job, most are finding ways to live for now and pay back later or have some other situation worked out with their parents or extended family. So with the help of credit cards, student loans, trust funds, financial aid, grants, under the table work, part time, and full time work, and maybe the occasional bet or hustle of this or that..we end up spending more annually than it shows we make. So, sorority sister Sally who drives a brand new Audi A7, with a $500 hand bag complete with matching heels and a recent trip to the beauty salon for all those can't go without essentials, comes up on the national income census as living in poverty.This is clearly not poverty. And we all know this doesn't stop with Sally.

Why not look to people’s consumption rates for a means of determining more accurate American living standards? Cox and Alm were right, if you look at peoples income you see a much larger gap between the top fifth and the lower fifth, when you look at consumption rates, that gap shortens substantially. Americans are living better on less than they ever have as a result of international trade, and I agree that we should be looking at consumption rates instead of income rates. Also, with using consumption rates, we have the opportunity to look into many more areas of American life than with income rates.

comments on week 4 readings

Undergraduate geography students Barrett Young (left) and Kevin Weddle (right) are spending their summer doing research to catalogue the health of the Truckee River using GIS technology and repeat photography methods. (Photo by: University Communications)

Of all this weeks readings, the Presidential address by Peirce Lewis stands out the most in my mind. Not only did I enjoy his thoughts and ideas on geography, but I really agreed with his style of writing as well. I enjoyed his way of bringing you, the reader, into the realm of geography by using his own experiences as examples; he kind of just brought you along with him and his day.

He obviously has a very keen understanding of many different topics within geography and as a result can very clearly and affectively explain what it is he knows and understands. It is interesting the ways which he chooses to convey a certain thought or idea for the purpose of getting you to look inwards at your own geographic soul.

It was great to here his comments on how the average person reacts to the news that you are a geographer or studying to be one. He was dead on. With a perplexed look, and a scratch of the forehead, you know their drawing a blank. I've probably experienced it myself now at least 100 times and lately I've even been able to call it before its even said. Usually in my cases, the standard comment is "Oh.....Geography.........um............now what do you plan to do with that"?

My comment has been "Geography is everywhere. It's in most everything we do in one way or the other, i plan to do a lot with it."

So reading this has got me thinking.....what do I want to do with my Geography education. I've gone round and round about this but have never come up with one solid "know for sure" idea. Lewis brought up some interesting ideas on childhood education concerning geography. I must say it would be pretty rewarding to build a very solid, thought provoking geography program for middle school students. I think it is very likely that a substantial percentage of middle school students here in the United States hears the word geography and instantly feel like they know very little about it, when in fact they might; but on the flip side, I bet if they had the option of taking a geography class or if geography was miraculously to become core curriculum again, that they would find they know a lot more about geography than previously thought.

week two readings

Ephraim Ketchall: A Forgotten Pioneer of Modern Geography
By: David Lowenthal

It has been said that American Geographers often don't give enough attention to the "great and genial figures of our past."(5) Although recent news tells of a different story. It is said that American geographers now more than ever are growing increasingly interested in the lives and contributions of these people. Though there are many, one particular character stands out among geographers, his name was Ephraim Ketchall. He is remembered by most as an American political economist, though many neglect to acknowledge his contributions to physical sciences, history and geography. He was a mathematical wizard and a shrewd , relentless arguer. When he was only 19 he advised his superiors that the stories in the old and new Testament should be put in alphabetical order. After much debate he was terminated and set sailing for adventures in Ethnography. It is noted that he was a fierce American Patriot and insisted that the United States Of America was and is the worlds leading force.


Wilbur As Icon
By: Peirce F. Lewis

This was a very refreshing article written by Dr. Peirce Lewis of Penn State on a man who has become one of America's top geographers. Wilbur Zelinsky was no doubt a natural born geographer. In 1951 he published an article in a journal called Social Forces, titled, " Where the South Begins". It was a look into the boundaries of our southern land, where it begins and where it ends. He began his research with his keen sense of vision, looking for any and all clues to what answers were written in the landscape. After much field work along with many hours of research, he concluded that the line was in the middle of Virginia because its where farmers north of this area used horses and farmers south used mules.
Wow! That's the work of a cultural geographer alright.
In the year 1962, the author of the article Dr. Lewis of Penn State felt that the Penn State Geography Department was in serious need of some new exciting staff members to quickly give the department a fresh burst of spirit and improvement. They contacted Wilbur to give him an offer and to their surprise he agreed to the offer and soon moved north to Pennsylvania for the job. There at Penn State he has built the department into one of the nations most complete geography programs and many of his colleagues consider him a model of modern geography.
Like many Geographers his interests are wide and varied with great knowledge of classical music.