Vol. 3 (1994): North Carolina Geographer

A number of factors have combined to hinder the timely arrival of this the third volume of The North Carolina Geographer. We hope that these problems are now behind us and that future issues will arrive as anticipated. At this point, however, we are reminded that no issue has arrived during the summer promised. Accordingly, we will designate future issues with a fall publication date. Thus readers should expect volume four to arrive in November of this year.

On this note we would like to welcome the large number of North Carolina regional and educational institution libraries that recently have become subscribers to the The North Carolina Geographer, the annual journal of the North Carolina Geographical Society. As indicated by the content of this issue we publish geographic research articles, reports, and book reviews of interest to the general public of our state. The emphasis is emphatically on the current North Carolina scene as viewed by geographers with their fascination for regional, people-environment, and place location issues. As is well demonstrated by articles presented here geographers are especially interested in recording the dynamics of change as is evidenced by the use of our land, environmental problems, and shifts in our social, political, and economic activities. From these concerns emerge the needs of our people and our environments, whether measured locally, regionally, statewide, or globally. Our authors seek to identify these needs and frequently will point to possible ways of meeting them.

So, for example, you will see in our lead article the results of research by Gene Palka and Tom Crawford of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on the incidence of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. How many North Carolinians realize that this, one of the most severe of infectious diseases, is a fairly recent entrant to the local scene? And it has so dramatically impacted our state that its populace is currently the worst afflicted in the nation! Explore with Palka and Crawford the options available to North Carolinians in the face of this plague.

Also from UNC-Chapel Hill is Don Albert, who looks at the dynamics of land use changes as these influence the location of physician offices. Albert chose to use Asheville over the past four decades as his case study. But the reality of these kinds of land use changes are near universal. MD' s have been fleeing the central city, as have many other professional and personal services, with the result of a marked decrease in the availability of medical care to the indigent population. And while the zoning land use tool has been important in defining appropriate medical function land uses, these, in their newfound locations, have not benefitted the central city resident.

Mike Lewis, a geographer, John Jezorek, a chemist, and Parke Rublee, a biologist, have applied their multifaceted research expertise to the problems of constructing in watersheds, which may result in negatively affecting urban water quality and the incidence of local floods. They study here the Lake Daniel Project in Greensboro. Here they found that a local citizen group, with support of the local chapter of the National Audubon Society and representatives of the Greensboro Parks and Recreation Department, was able to institute a series of beneficial environmental changes for the watershed. And this was accomplished without incurring the otherwise frequent adversarial/litigious prone conditions engendered among city officials, developers, and environmental groups when their diverse interests spark into conflict over storm water management approaches.

With Tink Moore and Don Mitchell of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte we return to a theme that we as geographers seem to persist in addressing: How to teach the fundamentals of a complex discipline to a noviate public, especially school children. Goaded on by persistent evidence of geographic illiteracy, we have devised various and sundry means to more effectively communicate the themes and relevance of our discipline. Moore and Mitchell address this issue through an example provided by Mitchell, a teacher in the Newton Conover Middle School, and find that the complexities of geography are best learned by beginning with a focus on places and activities of relevance to those to be taught. In this case the gym of the 'Red Devils' provides the place in question, and the basketball games, though more importantly, the great variety of other community activities, exemplify the themes of geography.

In our reports for this issue we include our traditional discussion of the multicolored journal cover. In this case we are exemplifying some of the wall map products created at Appalachian State University's Department of Geography and Planning. Art Rex, of this department, looks at the evolution of the cartographer's art to its present geographic information systems' status. A more detailed account of geographers' interest in recording the changing conditions of land use on the earth's surface is provided by Simon Baker of East Carolina University. Baker, a long time pilot, demonstrates the application of aerial photography to changing conditions along the North Carolina coast. His primary objective here is to provide information on the basics in this type of aerial survey, and to show that this is not a task difficult to perform, nor is it particularly costly even when you will have to rent the plane and hire the pilot. He recommends that this technique be applied more frequently by those who have a serious interest in the shifting fortunes of our shorelines. But, of course, the basics are applicable to any part of our state. Anywhere and everywhere this is an excellent technique for getting' on top' of land use change issues.

We are very pleased to have inaugurated with this issue, a book review section. Here we are evaluating Pembroke State University geographer Thomas Ross' book on Robeson County's geography. As noted by the reviewer, Frank Ainsley of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, this book provides an excellent example of what is needed for each of North Carolina's 100 counties. Well, county histories are quite popular. In fact, a goodly number of counties have more than one published history. It is time for more local level geography, a better way of getting at the intersect of people and environment as these relationships have evolved over time, and at a scale familiar to all of us.

In this issue you will see a number of editorial and design changes, perhaps most notably the addition of the book review section. We will henceforth include reviews of recently published books that clearly focus
on North Carolina's varied geography. For interested authors/publishers the procedure to follow is simply, contact the editor of the journal for preliminary approval and further information on the process to follow. As novices in the fine art of navigating the cutting edge of desk publishing technology we are still learning. Thus you will see a few new style wrinkles, designed to make the reading of the journal more enticing. With the support of Pat Pilchard and her crew, Beth Jacquot and Kerri Cox, of Appalachian State University's Media Center, we are now pleased that professionals are doing the Aldus ™PageMaker layout. And thanks go, as well, to Paul Maney for proofreading, to the faculty and chair of Appalachian State University's Department of Geography and Planning for unstinting encouragement and support, and the support generously provided in the form of advertisement fees by various geography departments in the state. For the general reader their ads provide additional information on the status and activities of geography departments in the state of North Carolina. Please look for them on the last pages of this issue.