Lab 3: Neogeography

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Geog 7 Lab 3

Travels of an Engineering Student

    Given the chance to make a personalized map, I wanted to look back at the travels I have made as a UCLA engineering student around the country.  Joining the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) and Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) has given me the chance to meet Engineering students and Professionals from around the country.  Each engineering organization is broken down into geographic regions to organize the membership and chapters around the country.  For the National Conventions, a different region hosts the event every year so that each region gets to enjoy a local convention.  Luckily for me, two of the past National Conventions have been held in my region for each organization: Region 2 (SHPE) SHPE Regional Map in Phoenix and Region 6 (NSBE) NSBE Regional Map in Las Vegas.  Thanks to these two organizations, I've been able to see parts of the country I otherwise wouldn't have been able to see.  I was even to travel international to Canada, which was especially fun, because I got to travel with so many of my friends from school, reconnect with people I've met from around the country, as well as meet new people from around the organization.  This travel has given me a chance to expand my horizons and my personal network.

Pitfalls, Potential, & Consequences of Neogeography

    As I have been given a chance to explore Google Maps in this week's lab, I have been able to see what people will map when they have the opportunity to do so.  The biggest issue I've found with Neogeography is trying to track down where people are getting their information and its validity.  People can create personal maps or maps on politics, pop culture, or international conflicts; how accurate is that information is the question we need to be asking ourselves.  At the same time the issue of who owns the information that is being used is a conflict that will reappear again and again with this new technology.  However, at the same time the fact that the average citizen with access to computer can create a map of anything and everything can be used to open up areas that have been traditionally closed off to populations, humanitarian groups, and governments.  At the same time, anyone can edit the geographic information in real time, which means that geographic information can constantly be updated and verified, unlike like decades previous where a team of geographers would make a map of an area and it wouldn't be officially updated until the next geographic survey.  The possibilities of neogeography far outweigh its issues.  It is making the population more spatially aware that any thing happens somewhere. It is in turn our responsibility as neogeographers to make sure the geographic information is as accurate as we can possibly make it, because this new technology is not going away. 


Photos for Lab 3:



Note: here are the citations for each photo as well as the links. Each photo is a personal one that is currently posted online within the Facebook network with varying degrees of accessibility.


NSBE Fall Regional Conference 2007 Seattle - Facebook
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v161/207/0/584165329/n584165329_687230_1620.jpg

SHPE National's 2008 Phoenix - Facebook
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v652/180/10/2538828/n2538828_43701628_2375.jpg

NSBE National's 2009 Las vegas - Facebook
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v3329/207/0/584165329/n584165329_2895920_5374015.jpg

NSBE Region VI Summer Camping Conference 2009 - Facebook
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs150.snc1/5580_134716355085_119786480085_3735458_7323698_n.jpg

SHPE National's 2009 Washington D.C. - Facebook
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs071.snc3/13840_333974730713_688200713_9851644_2224002_n.jpg

NSBE National's 2010 Toronto - Facebook
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs085.snc3/15330_394753490880_635615880_4311611_4126116_n.jpg

NSBE Regional Leadership Conference 2010 San Diego - Facebook
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs422.snc4/46536_435798890880_635615880_5387439_5975502_n.jpg

NSBE Region VI Fall Regional Conference 2010 - Facebook
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs244.snc4/39558_453353150880_635615880_5748520_3109499_n.jpg


Videos for Lab 3:

Note: here are the citations for each video as well as the links in case there are any issues with the presentation, which was found early in the creation of this lab.

YouTube - NSBE Region VI - http://www.youtube.com/user/NSBERegionVI

Fall Regional Conference Long Beach 2009 Promo


YouTube - NSBETV Channel - http://www.youtube.com/user/NSBETV

Las Vegas Promo


YouTube - NSBETV Channel - http://www.youtube.com/user/NSBETV

Toronto Promo

Lab 2: USGS Topographical Maps

Geog 7: Lab #2 USGS Topographic maps

Here are my answers for the questions to the 7.5 minute map:

1. What is the name of the quadrangle?
Beverly Hills Quadrangle

2. What are the names of the adjacent quadrangles?
Adjacent quadrangles starting from due north and going clockwise: Van Nuys, Burbank, Hollywood, Inglewood, Venice, (Open Ocean), Topanga, Canoga Park.

3. When was the quadrangle first created?
The topography was compiled in 1966.

4. What datum was used to create your map?
North American 1927 (NAD 27) was used to create the map & North American 1983 (NAD 83) is shown in dashed lines.

5. What is the scale of the map?
1 : 24 000

6. At the above scale, answer the following:
a) 5 centimeters on the map is equivalent to how many meters on the ground?
5 cm <=> 1200 m

b) 5 inches on the map is equivalent to how many miles on the ground?
5 in <=> 1.894 miles

c) one mile on the ground is equivalent to how many inches on the map?
1 mile <=> 2.64 in

d) three kilometers on the ground is equivalent to how many centimeters on the map?
3 km <=> 12.5 cm

7. What is the contour interval on your map?
Contour interval is 20 ft

8. What are the approximate geographic coordinates in both degrees/minutes/seconds and decimal degrees of:
a) the Public Affairs Building;
DMS: LAT   34° 4' 26.6"     LONG -118° 26' 21"
DD:    LAT 34.07405          LONG -118.43921

b) the tip of Santa Monica pier;
DMS: LAT 34° 0' 27"        LONG -118° 29' 59.7"
DD:    LAT 34.00750        LONG -118.49993

c) the Upper Franklin Canyon Reservoir;
DMS: LAT 34° 6' 11.9"     LONG -118° 24' 48.7"
DD:    LAT 34.10331        LONG -118.41353

9. What is the approximate elevation in both feet and meters of:
a) Greystone Mansion (in Greystone Park);
580 ft or 176.8 m


b) Woodlawn Cemetery;
140 ft or 42.7 m



c) Crestwood Hills Park;
680 ft or 207.3 m


10. What is the UTM zone of the map?
The Universal Transverse Mercator zone of the map is zone 11.

11. What are the UTM coordinates for the lower left corner of your map?
Approximately 361,470 mE by 3,762,970 mN


12. How many square meters are contained within each cell (square) of the UTM gridlines?
Approximately 1,008,560 meters ^ 2


13. Obtain elevation measurements, from west to east along the UTM northing 3771000, where the eastings of the UTM grid intersect the northing. Create an elevation profile using these measurements in Excel (hint: create a line chart). Figure out how to label the elevation values to the two measurements on campus. Insert your elevation profile as a graphic in your blog.
Elevation Profile along UTM northing 3771000:

 





















14. What is the magnetic declination of the map?
The magnetic declination is 14º East.

15. In which direction does water flow in the intermittent stream between the 405 freeway and Stone Canyon Reservoir?
North to South

16. Crop out (i.e., cut and paste) UCLA from the map and include it as a graphic on your blog.

Cropped UCLA from Beverly Hills Quadrangle

Lab 1: 3 Maps

For our first assignment for Geog. 7, we were asked to find 3 maps on the internet that were interesting to us.  Not knowing what I wanted, I entered the term "maps" into Google, Yahoo!, and Bing image searches and picked my favorite from each.

1) Google - American Creation Blogspot 

http://americancreation.blogspot.com/

For my first map, I discovered “Leading Church Bodies, 2000” from the blog American Creation. The goal of this blog is 'promote discussion, debate and insight into the history, particularly religious, of America's founding'. This map gives a breakdown of the most popular Christian religious sects in different counties from around the country. This map can be used to find insights into the religious mindsets of different parts of the country. I chose this map, because it represents not only the religious breakdown of a country that is predominately Christian, but also the political breakdown as well. Many liberal states have either predominately Catholic majorities or have multiple denominations having leads in different parts of the state. However, the more conservative states tend to be located in the Baptist Bible belt or the Mormon Rocky Mountain West.

2) Yahoo! - Yale University

http://www.yale.edu/gsp/colonial/california_tribal.html

For my second map, I came across “California Indian Tribal Groups” with the insert map “California Tribal Linguistic Groups” from Yale University's Genocide Studies Program. The draw of the map is how it shows the many different tribal groups existing in California. I find this map interesting, because when studying American history, the Pacific coast tribes are largely ignored. As far as American history is concerned, there were Native peoples in the Eastern States and Central Plains but nowhere else. These tribes were almost driven to extinction and hunted for sport; the last indignity that they could suffer is to be forgotten by history.

3) Bing - Mental Floss 

http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/17550

The final map I found comes from Mental Floss, a website that showcases random and interesting facts that you could use to appear knowledgeable at parties. The map is “The Proposed 38 United States of America,” and it is based off an idea that a professor of geography at a California State University, George Etzel Pearcy, came up with in 1973. His idea was with cities within states fighting for most of a state's given revenue, the state lines should be redrawn and renamed so there are a limited number of population centers in a given state. The idea was quite controversial, because it would have been a logistical nightmare. I like this map for two reasons: one, it divides northern and southern California into separate states, which is how I believe it should be; and two, the names of the new states speak to the history of different regions, including the natural landmarks and the tribes that have resided in that area.