[Review of] Alex Harris and Margaret Sartor, eds. Gertrude Blom - Bearing Witness

This jungle filled me with a sense of wonder that has never left me. It has cast a spell over me, and I always return to it ... I have seen all this perish. It started almost imperceptibly. Gertrude Blom, a political activist and refugee from Europe, arrived in Mexico in the 1940s. In 1943 while working as a journalist she joined an expedition sent to observe the Lacandon Maya in the dense rainforests of Chiapas bordering Guatemala. She encountered these people at the pivotal point when they were still self-sufficient and worshipping Mayan gods but beginning to feel the impact of the camesinos settlements on the edge of their jungle

Generating Factor Variables for Asymmetry, Non-independence and Skew-symmetry Models in Square Contingency Tables using SAS

In this paper, a SAS program (macro) is written to generate factor and regression variables required for implementing asymmetry, non-independence, non-symmetry + independence models as well as skew-symmetry models in discussed in square a x a contingency tables having nominal or ordinal categories. While several authors have developed similar factor variables for use with GLIM, we have extended this to the non-independence and the non-symmetry+independence models. The former includes both the fixed and variable distance models as well as the quasi-ordinal symmetry model. Further, our implementation of the asymmetry model in terms of the required factor variable is different from those defined for implementation of same in GLIM. Most of the models described in this paper however assume ordinal categories for the contingency table. The SAS macro developed can be applied to any square table of dimension a. We apply the models discussed in this paper to the 5 x 5 Danish mobility data that have been widely analyzed in various literatures.

Convergence and Divergence: The Simultaneous Transformation of Old City Philadelphia

The development of Old City Philadelphia represents a unique transformation of the urban form. Development and land use patterns in Old City reveal two different subneighborhoods with two different groups of users. The first sub-neighborhood, which formed north of Market Street, can be generally explained using classical cultural gentrification models like those presented by Neil Smith and Sharon Zukin. However, more thorough analysis of this sub-neighborhood reveals a gentrification movement that was formed based on the convergence of ideal physical landscape, culture in the form of artists and art galleries, and financial capital, made possible by the Federal Historic Rehabilitations Tax Incentives. The area south of Market Street has evolved under much different development conditions, despite the close proximity of the two sub-neighborhoods. These differences were caused by the Old City Zoning Overlay, which attempted to protect the cultural and residential area north of Market Street by prohibiting restaurants and bars from opening there. Because of these differences, classical gentrification theories do not adequately explain patterns of development in the southern area. The south of Market Street’s transformation began when a marginal entrepreneur, Stephen Starr, opened Continental Restaurant and Martini Bar. His success attracted many other entrepreneurs, which began the evolution of the south of Market Street area into a Martini District. The conflicting development patterns caused by the Overlay have created two polarized sub-neighborhoods in Old City, with very little cross over use. This polarization exhibits the unintended consequences of universal zoning, and displays the shortcoming of a zoning system that must settle for compromise rather than promote best uses for optimal development. The case of Old City provides a unique example of residential and commercial redevelopment, the ways in which these types of areas development, and the interaction between these different land uses

A Simulation-Based Analysis of Chemical and Radiological Hazard Zones Adapted to Physical Boundaries

In the United States, industrial and terrorist use of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) materials pose a risk to public safety. During the initial phase of typical CBRN incidents, emergency responders establish hazard zones based on standard distances from published guidelines and recommendations. This research investigates how standard hazard zones change in a real world environment that accounts for physical boundaries. Using a python simulation in ArcGIS®, new hazard zones were created by expanding standard hazard zones to follow nearby roads, railroads, and rivers. The new and standard zones were compared by calculating the population and area affected by each zone. Additionally, responder efficiency was compared across different combinations of physical boundaries. The simulation generated 990 random points across three cities and three environments (urban, suburban, rural) and was replicated for six hazards. The results revealed significantly larger populations and areas affected by new zones compared to standard zones and significant effects from the environment and city where the incident occurred. Depending on hazard, the median growth ranged from approximately 340 to 8,000 people and 0.6 to 8.8 square miles. The particular combination of physical boundaries used in creating hazard zones was not found to influence responder efficiency

Social Work Research and Abstracts.

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VII Congreso Estatal de Diplomados en Trabajo Social y Asistentes Sociales: "La Intervención Social en la Europa sin Fronteras" (Barcelona, 3-5 de diciembre de 1992).

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Congreso de estudios y planificación de la acción social.

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