Category: Final project

Posted on

Stage 6- Marie Amelse to Evan Murphy

This storymap was on futbol/soccer stadiums in the United States and how different things impact their creation and continued use. The story map not only explains the locations of the stadiums but also different leagues that have existed in the country, and still do today such as the MLS, NSWL, and the USL. The map also included how these different leagues also would share geographical spaces, or in other cases be more spread out. In addition the story map explains United States culture around futbol but also how it fits into futbol culture around the world.

The use of several different maps to show physical location, change over time, and comparison was one of this maps strengths. In addition the way in which the story map told the story was a large assets The story of culture intertwined with organization is something that can not always be told linearly, but this story map did a great job of including enough information in the right sections, in a way that was not overwhelming. Another thing that was very impressive about this map was the use of different medias- images, timelines, even a video.

This map had many strengths and I felt it was a very effective story map, my only critique is that it might have been beneficial to use different types of maps, along with the maps that showed the physical locations of the stadiums. I enjoyed how culture was tied into so it might have been interesting to have seen a map to represent that in some way.

This story map is an excellent example of how storytelling and maps can work well in complimenting each other to show a more complete story.

Posted on

Gabe Murphy: Stage 6 – Review of Sam Ellerbeck

In the maps provided, and the project as a whole, Sam showed the history of redlining practices, medical facilities, and the ties to racial inequality. He even discussed the implications it had on COVID-19, which I thought was a great touch. Overall, Sam’s argument can be summed in one quote: “In Omaha, medical deserts are appearing in the areas in which redlining was once practiced – the locations of marginalized minority communities who have been disadvantaged by historically structured racial discrimination.”

There were many approaches, from differing points of view, and the mapping products themselves were great. In particular, I thought the 30-minute Walk was a great use of technology to highlight the medical desert that northern and southern Omaha are. To begin, who would want to walk 30 minutes to a hospital when you need to see a doctor? In many cases, that walk may even be impossible. Secondly, I estimate ~60% of the map’s area is not within a 30-minute walk of the nearest hospital. Without access to a car, how in the world may people get the treatment they need? This is a real issue that needs serious change. Another strength I noticed was acknowledging the opposing side of the argument, and providing evidence for why that side was incorrect. Instead of ignoring opposing viewpoints, they were acknowledged and proven wrong: great. I also really appreciated the different styles of mapping Sam used for the project: choropleth, dot-vectors, geo-referencing historical maps. In my project, I used the text more to argue my point; but Sam’s use of mapping as one of the primary sources for evidence made it easy to see his argument. 

Going back to the 30-minute Walk map, I think color-correlation would be something that could be changed. Many of the hospitals and 30-minute radius overlapped, so using different colors that each radius could correspond to the hospital point would make the overall viewing/analysis of the map much easier for the reader. My only other critique would be along the lines of color again: keeping a consistent theme. Some maps have orange, some have blue, some have red, some have yellow. That may be nit-picky, but I like to have a consistent feel and the different colors seemed a little jarring to me.

Great project overall! The use of maps was outstanding.

Posted on

Madeline King, Stage 6 – Review of Erin Buglewicz Final Project

Erin’s project details the water contamination of Hinkley, California with Chromium-6 and how this contamination has continued to affect residents in many aspects of their lives. Erin begins her paper with an introduction to her question and information regarding the methods she used to gather data and information. She then continues her project with the introduction of the 1996 lawsuit that brought Hinkley, California to the forefront of news. Residents of Hinkley, California had had alarming health problems ranking from cancer to birth defects, all tied to PG&E’s gas compressor station. The remainder of Erin’s paper explains what Chromium-6 is and how this was related to PG&E, how the problem began, and how it has continued. She analyzed health effects, property values, access to education, and population changes.

I thought that Erin’s project was very visually interesting to look at. She added a lot of elements in her project that engaged her reader. She had side bars, interactive maps, and I especially liked that touch of adding in the audio recording of news. I thought this really helped the reader take away the human aspect of this project. I also appreciated how informative Erin’s project was. I felt like I got a good understanding of the problem as it first existed as well as how it continues to be a problem for residents in Hinkley today. I thought Erin’s maps worn informative and they made the information being presented easy to understand.

The main critique I had for Erin’s paper was organization. I felt as though there was some jumping around between topics and years. For example, the legal case is brought up several times throughout, but I think it could have been all one section. I also thought that information about Hinkley, such as median home value, property value, and population could have been organized more directly with each other, while information about Chromium-6, the plump, and PG&E could have been organized more directly with each other.

Overall, I really enjoyed this project.

Posted on

Stage 6- Criticism of Samuel Duncan Project

. The project by Sam Duncan is focused on the population shift between East and West Germany before the fall of the Soviet Union. Sam’s achieved this by looking at the population shifts in West Germany (due to missing data in East Germany) and researching census data from individual states in West Germany. The author’s hope is that this project will contribute to the wider study of human mass migration and proof that the collapse of the Berlin Wall and Soviet Union were the greatest events in the 20th century.

. Same used for his mapping project the tool of QGIS to complete his mapping project. Sam showed comparisons between population density of Germany between 1970 , 1972, and 1980. I found interesting from the maps (as the author noted) that once the tensions between East and West Germany began to decrease the population in East Germany grew. This is particularly clear during the 1980s, with the population of East Germany increasing due to immigration and higher birth rates in the East. The maps are pretty and the data is accurate and shows surprising population trends.

. While the maps are accurate and I like the inclusion of historical events that impacted the population trends in West Germany. However, the project is somewhat brief in that it would’ve been cool if second-hand quotes were used in the project. For example, quotes from mappers and Professors that have researched this particular topic and what viewpoints they hold over the data. That way there is more of a diverse range of opinions on what the data presents and why… I understand that census data for East Germany is missing/ unavailable especially during the height of the Cold War. However, there is data available of the decline of the Jewish population in East Germany following the holocaust and anti-jewish programs right after ww2. A view sources with this information are the “Jewish Virtual Library” and “the United States Holocaust Museum in Washington DC.”

Posted on

Erin Buglewicz, Stage 6: Review of Maddey King’s Final Project

This story map provided a detailed explanation of school access and race in Omaha. The project established the history of redlining and white flight, which created a form of unofficial segregation in schools, especially in North and South Omaha. It also explored how private schools enabled parents to avoid placing their children in integrated schools until it was declared unconstitutional in 1976. Finally, the story map delineated different eras in Omaha, such as when integration was ordered and some students were bussed to schools outside of their neighborhoods in an attempt to correct racial imbalance and also after mandatory integration ended in 1999.

This story map had many strengths. At the beginning, it acknowledged the limits of data collection, which is important to understand, and the timeline that was included allowed me to understand the different eras that the story map would discuss. Throughout, there was also a nice inclusion of brief videos that discussed topics such as the difficulties of desegregating after the Brown v. Board of Education decision as well as an explanation of Runyon v. McCrary. The maps themselves were generally clear and effective. Plus, in particular, it is important to note that the maps that referred to different races were made in an ethical manner by not using colors like white and black to represent them. 

Although effective, there are still some areas where the story map could be improved. For example, in the introduction, I did not find a clear thesis statement or a specific historical question that the story map addressed. Although the story map presents a strong argument for the intersection between race and schools in Omaha, it seems that a thesis statement that presents a claim about this topic is present in the conclusion. Another area of improvement is in the maps themselves. I think that a few of the maps could have been layered together to create a stronger argument. For instance, using the choropleth of race in Omaha with a map of top and bottom performing schools could have more effectively conveyed the argument that schools with worse performance rates are in areas with that have larger populations of African Americans. Moreover, it would also be helpful to see separate maps for elementary and high schools rather than have them included together.

Overall though, this was still an effective story map with well-supported claims.

Posted on

Stage No. 6 – Criticism –

Theresa Borkowski’s story map informs its viewers on the spread of the AIDS epidemic across a wide array of subject groups in California. The time they center their maps depicting the impact AIDS had on different groups is 1985, at the height of the AIDS epidemic in California.

“I chose to research 1985 because I wanted to account for the time that had passed to ensure that my data was at the height of the epidemic.”

Theresa Borkowski

Borkowski’s story map was overall concise and straightforward, but the explanations they gave on the first four slides worked especially well in setting up the presentation. The first and second slides worked to give the reader some contextual understanding of the environment the AIDS epidemic took place in. The third and fourth explained well what AIDS, scientifically was. how it could be spread, and the symptoms its carriers experienced.

However. For a presentation that’s goal was to inform on the impact AIDS had on various groups and communities across California, it did very little to show it’s viewers the realistic impact AIDS had on the groups they discussed. Not only was the legend below all of their maps a dark grey color on top of a dark grey background, the colors used to identify the varying topics (ethnicity, age, speed(?)) were described through words or numbers instead of the colors they were identified with on the map. Making it difficult for me to say with certainty which color identified which group. There were also no numbers identifying how much quantified the number 1 darkest shade. There were also unfortunately no citations for me to go to in order to better understand the impact of AIDs. I don’t believe numbers are the exclusive, best way to understand impact either though. Throughout the presentation I felt that the descriptions accompanying the maps and legends were sterile and at times I found myself thinking “Why is this important?” Despite having relatives who were directly impacted by AIDS and identifying as part of the “alphabet mafia(as the young ones are calling it nowadays)”. Of course, my opinions are purely subjective and could be wrong though.

The final two slides in the conclusion worked well to draw viewers back in through the good information on all of the possible medical treatments available to treat AIDS today and the progress it took to get here.

Posted on

Stage 6 – Michael to Wyatt

Wyatt Greco’s “Deindustrialization and Demographics” of Michigan and West Virginia presents a convincing argument of the deindustrialization linked to an area’s core industry; In this case being the automobile, and coal industry. The time period he is studying is the 1940s to 80s and from 1980 to, 2020. During this time, Greco could link the deindustrialization of Michigan and West Virginia to the decline in population density. This is shown through the two maps he has created, with red being the decline in population as mines and factories are shut down. Greco concludes that while there is a correlation between deindustrialization and the decreasing population density, that is not the only factor that is at play here. Public policy and other economic factors have also led to the decrease in population density.

Greco’s maps are clear and to the point. They provide a good basis for his argument and show a great understanding of his topic. The instructions were clear and accurate, with the sources clearly labelled and cited. Greco provides a convincing argument on how deindustrialization has affected these areas.

Greco’s methodology is sound; however, he does not explain why he is using density rather than a percentage change in population. Maps are clear, with points of interest clearly labelled, but a legend would be nice to help the reader along with the assumption that density has increased, particularly if we are not interested in reading over the methodology.

Overall, Greco did a superb job in summarizing and presenting his argument. None of his claims are unsupported and his argument is presented eloquently and to the point.

Posted on

Stage 6: Isabel Blackford to Payton Mlakar

What truly makes this map special for me is how this topic very clearly mirrors my own which I can only assume is why Dr. Sundberg paired us together. Overall, it is very apparent and a lot of time and effort went into this map and Payton was very thorough when creating this map. This leads to my observation that this map seemed a little excessive in the amount of content it included, while it shows the author is well versed in the material it does seem a little like words were just strewn across the story map when it could be communicated more effectively. There was couple sections that I believe could have been cut out entirely since they did not really relate to the thesis and seemed to just be fun facts that did not need an entire section dedicated to it. Additionally in terms of the in-text portion there were a few grammar and punctuation errors that I noticed as well and there were a few times the wording that was used was confusing. I loved all the visuals of the story map which I believed made the map come together and more effectively show the audience what was being written about/ mapped out. The map included in the Leadville: The Early Years I wish would have a more dramatic difference in color to show the difference in population because although I am able to see the topographic lines meant to show the difference in population I am unable to visually see much outside of those lines since the colors do not seem to change.

Posted on

Stage 6 Levi Laib to Emily Gaddy

Emily presented a story map project that looked at How Omaha’s North Freeway paved the way to inequality and how Omaha is racially segregated. To do this, Emily looked at racism on the frontier and how it was seen in Omaha. She then discussed Redlining and what it is, providing the HOLC map of Omaha. Afterward, Emily discusses road building specifically the North Freeway. She provides background information on the interstage system and why it was implemented. She also discusses freeway revolts and how Omahans reacted to new freeways being built. She ends her project by talking about how people are trying to reconcile what was done.

I enjoyed overall how the story map was set up. It first discusses racism and segregation by focusing on the nation and then narrowing it down to Omaha. I also enjoyed how it gave background information on how the highway wars were in other cities across the nation. I also enjoyed the images throughout the project and how the maps were analyzed. I also liked the slide bar for the various maps and images, especially the one showing how Omaha has changed from 1962 to 1972. Another strength of the project was the inclusion of the reconciliation. I feel it provides the audience with information on what is being done about this currently. A final strength was the use of sources.

One critique I have of the story map is the lack of a conclusion as a way to wrap things up. While I enjoyed the section about reconciliation, I don’t feel it serves the best as a conclusion. Something else that could have been included is how the interstate systems in Omaha still affect Omaha today. It does talk about how it is still seen today, but potentially a census data map of Omaha currently could have helped show how it is still in effect. While I know we looked at Redlining in Omaha in class, I feel the story map could have benefited from it. Another critique I have is of the HOLC map compared to the 1960s census. I feel the colors of the sections should have been the same colors as other HOLC maps where A = green, D = Red, etc. Otherwise, a map key would have been useful. The caption gives what the colors represent for the census map but not for the HOLC map. I don’t feel the project made any claims that it did not support.

Posted on

Stage 6 – Wyatt Greco to Michael Lau

Michael Lau’s “Asbestos Mines in the United States” studies the potential effect of decreased asbestos demand (due to health revelations and government bans) on U.S. populations near asbestos mines. To study the relationship between asbestos mine closure and population change, Lau created two interactive products. The first contains two maps of asbestos extraction sites, with one showing population change from 1970-1980 (when asbestos mining peaked) and the other covering 1980-1990 (following the publication of a landmark federal study). For his second interactive, Lau maps population change in comparison to former asbestos mines in a single locale (Aston Township), illustrating that the presence of former mines did not necessarily hinder population growth. Ultimately, Lau concludes that census-tract-level analysis reveals no strong correlation between population decline and changes to the asbestos industry.

Lau effectively sets the stage for his project; the timeline of asbestos production and banning explored in the background section well justifies the time period of his study. Despite the rather large scale of the first interactive (that scale being the entire United States), the number of features is not overwhelming to the eye. Types of asbestos extraction sites are clearly distinguishable from one another, and the slide function allows for the user to easily identify changing census tracts. For both interactives (national and local), the choropleth color scale easily distinguishes between increasing and decreasing percent change in population (as well as the relative amount of that change in either direction for each tract with data). Finally, by acknowledging the limitations of census-level data and analysis, Lau does not make any claims which his data does not support.

If Lau were to continue developing his project, he might consider adjusting pop-ups (which appear when any feature is selected) to show only the most relevant information, such as population change in a particular census tract or the closure date of a particular mine. Lau could also consider narrowing the scale of his mapping to only one or two regions with asbestos mines. This would focus the project and reinforce its primary argument. Additionally, if these focus regions are rural, county-level data could be used in lieu of census tract data. Then again, counties can be large and not as descriptive of particular settlements as census tracts. Lau is certainly correct in pointing out the challenges of gathering data on rural areas and niche (but potentially impactful) local industries.

css.php