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I grew up in Omaha, the youngest in a large Catholic family. We belonged to the Jewish Community Center, where I took swimming lessons in its bleak and echoing indoor [...]

If you have ever thrown an elbow or slid cleats high. If you ever snapped back or punched first. If you have ever quietly stolen inconsequential things, small pieces of [...]

ABSTRACTGIS-based spatial access measures have been used extensively to monitor social equity and to help develop policy. However, inherent uncertainties in the road datasets used in spatial access estimates remain largely underreported. These uncertainties might result in unrecognized biases within visualization products and decision-making outcomes that strive to improve social equity based on seemingly egalitarian accessibility metrics. To better understand and address these uncertainties, we evaluated variations in travel impedance for car and bus transportation using proprietary, volunteer-information-based, and free (non-volunteer-information-based) street networks. We then interpreted the measured variations through the lens of street data uncertainty and its propagation in a common E2SFCA model of spatial accessibility. Results indicated that travel impedance disagreement propagates through the modeling process to effect agreement of spatial access index (SPAI) estimates among different street sources, with larger uncertainties observed for bus travel than car travel. Higher impedance coefficients (β), a model parameter, reduced the impact of street-source variations on estimates. Less urbanized regions were found to experience higher street-source variations when compared with the core-metropolitan area. We also demonstrated that a relative spatial access measure – the spatial access ratio (SPAR) – reduced uncertainties introduced by the choice of street datasets. Careful selection of reliable street sources and model parameters (e.g. higher β), as well as consideration of the potential for bias, particularly for less urbanized areas and areas reliant on public transportation, is warranted when leveraging SPAI to inform policy. When reliable/accurate road network data are not accessible or data quality information is not available, the SPAR is a suitable alternative or supplement to SPAI for visualization and analyses.

Geographers have long played an important role in water resources scholarship; however, academic literature has not focused on the teaching contributions of geographers in this area. To address this gap, we cataloged courses taught and faculty interests for geography departments in the United States with a stated focus on water resources. We identified 129 departments with both courses and faculty having water resources expertise. The majority of water‐related courses focused on climatology or climate change, suggesting that students are regularly provided opportunities to learn about water topics primarily through the lens of climatology and water resources. We also summarize a panel organized at the 2017 American Association of Geographers Annual Conference that focused on water resources curriculum in geography programs. The panel discussed curriculum and pedagogical approaches, concluding that a water resources course syllabi repository would be beneficial for creating new and refining existing water resources courses. The panel also recommended that faculty consider incorporating water resources topics into their general education classes to concurrently enhance student learning opportunities and positively impact recruitment and interest in geography programs. Additionally, online education represents a substantial change in higher education that presents new challenges and opportunities for geographers. We hope these data and the summary of the panel session stimulate greater discussions of curricular needs across all disciplines that offer water resource focused courses.

The author reflects on the significance of Lent. He discusses the need for Catholics to take firm hold of their flaws, no matter how big or small. He shows that Lent is necessarily for Catholics or Christians, or those who believe in God or saints, but also for those people who take time to name their wrongs. Practices for Lent, particularly acknowledging one's flaws and sins, are suggested.