Announcements for GEOG 3523, Ziehr, NSU

GEOG 3523

Computer Carography

Dr. Chuck Ziehr, NSU
Class Announcements
Updated April 17, 2003

4/17/03 Final Exam Study Guide The study guide for the final exam is now online.
4/1/03 Class Cancelled for Today I still have some sort of illness. I have a doctor's appointment this morning so class is cancelled for Tuesday, April 1. You may wait until Thursday to turn in Exercise 3. Please begin work on the Dot Density tutorial. The fourth homework exercise should be on-line no later than Thursday, but maybe even today. I apologize for the inconvenience.

3/26/03 Check results of ArcView calculations One of your classmates reported that ArcView made errors when calculating the values of a new field created with the data supplied for Exercise #3 (OK-counties2000.dbf). He and I worked on the problem for a couple of hours yesterday, and never completely solved it. However, we did seem to narrow it down to a problem with only one variable (field) in the data set (the "Owner_occ" field). Nonetheless, I recommend that you test the results of the values produced when calculating a new field within ArcView by hand-calculating the values for a few counties using the same formula that you used to create the new field. Please let me know if you encounter similar problems so that I can help you with a solution or assign a new alternative variable to map. It's a good practice to always check a sample of such calculations by hand in any computer work that you are doing.

3/26/03 Late day to withdraw with automatic W The Academic Advisement Center has asked me to remind you that the last day to withdraw from a class with an automatic grade of "W" is Friday, April 11.

3/13/03 Mid-term exam and class I'm on campus, but my cold/flu/crud (whatever it is) is worse. I'll come to class just long enough to pick up your diskette with your mid-term exam on it. If you'd rather e-mail it (as an attached file) or drop the diskette by my office, that would be fine, too. Please be diligent in working through the Proportional Symbols tutorial. I apologize for dismissing class, but I won't be much good to be around. Have a great Spring Break!

3/11/03 Today's class (Tuesday) I have some sort of upper-respiratory crud, maybe the flu. I am on campus, and I will come to class at 12:30 p.m. I will distribute your graded Exercise #2 and answer any questions you may have regarding the take-home, mid-term exam. Then I will probably leave. Remember the exam is due at the beginning of class on Thursday, March 13. I recommend that you use today's class time to work on the mid-term exam or to work on the Proportional Symbol Mapping tutorial. I apologize for the inconvenience.

3/6/03 Exercise #3 is online The third homework exercise is now online.

3/6/03 Exercise #2 is graded You may pick up your graded Exercise #2 in my office, or I'll bring them to class on Tuesday.

3/4/03 Mid-term Exam The mid-term, take-home exam is posted on the i: drive in the ziehr folder under Geog3523. I have also sent it to each of you as an attached file in an e-mail.

3/4/03 Chapters 8 & 9 (about point data) These chapters are still assigned reading, but they will be covered in the third homework exercise and on the final exam. Therefore, you do not have to study them in preparation for the mid-term exam.

2/27/03 Kyoto Student Exchange Program The NSU Student Affairs Office has received information from Lieutenant Governor Mary Fallin of the Kyoto Student Exchange Program available for our students. The Lieutenant Governor's office, in conjunction with the Department of Commerce, sponsors this program scheduled for June 3-12, 2003. Criteria for selection includes career aspirations in the international arena, involvement in international exchange and youth activities and a desire to interact with international students. Preference will be given to upperclassmen.

Air travel to and from Japan, group transportation, accommodations and meals (with the exception of breakfast) will be provided. Students will be required to pay a $26.50 fee when leaving Japan.

Deadline for consideration is March 14, 2003. A selection committee will review the applications and choose semifinalist who will be invited to OKC for a personal interview. The final selection of eight students and two alternates will be chosen from this group. Applications and reference forms for those students interested in applying are available in the Office of Student Affairs, 204 Administration Building.

2/27/03 Adjustment of Reading Assignments I hope you recall that your take-home, midterm exam will be distributed on March 6 and due on March 11. There are several chapters in the Dent textbook that you should have been studying (see syllabus). I've decided to delete chapter 11 about cartograms from the reading list. It's a good chapter, but using ArcView to make cartograms is very problematic, so I've decided to skip it. So, you're off the hook for chapter 11.

2/26/03 No classes at NSU on Feb. 26 As you probably have heard, NSU is closed today (Wednesday, Feb. 26) due to the ice-covered roads. However, if you are on campus, you can get into the NET building to access ArcView and work on your computer cartography exercise. Please consult the radio and TV stations listed at the end of the syllabus for news about whether NSU will be closed later in the week. Be safe.

2/25/03 Weather Problems We will work independently on Exercise #2 rather cover new material because I know several folks were not able to get to campus today. If you're having any problems with Exercise #2, be sure to contact me either in class or in my office so that I can help you find solutions. Remember, the exercise is due next week.

2/20/03 Shapefiles for Exercise #2 There are some shapefiles that may be used (to copy for home use, etc.) on the "transfer on 'student' I: drive" in the ziehr/Geog3523/Exercise2 folder.

2/14/03 Exercise #2 The second homework exercise was placed online on Feb. 11. To assist with that exercise a WordPerfect document entitled "Accessing Census data for use in ArcView.wpd" is available on the "transfer on 'student' I: drive" in the ziehr/Geog3523/ folder which summarizes what we did in class on Tuesday, Feb. 11 and reviewed on Thursday, Feb. 13.

2/12/03 VOICE Vocal Oklahoman's in Civic Engagement This year "A Week of Action" (February 17-21) is the first of what will become an annual event on Northeastern State University's campus. On Monday, February 17 from 3:00 - 4:00 p.m. in the NET Auditorium there will be a Raise Your Voice Presentation with guest speaker, Mayor Jerry Cook. This presentation will address the meaning of civic engagement and how college students can become civically engaged!

2/3/03 Spring 2003 Internship and Career Fair "...sponsored by Placement Services, will be held Wednesday, February 5, 2003 in the University Center Ballroom, 10 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The Internship and Career Fair is an integral part of the education process at NSU. Representatives from companies, agencies and graduate schools are asked to discuss with our students, in general terms, the types of careers, internships, and graduate programs within their organization and the required qualifications." This is a great opportunity, even if you're not about to graduate soon; it will give you career ideas and allow you time to take courses to help you prepare specifically for that career.

1/28/03 Map Projections and Exercise 1 The first homework exercise is now online. In order to complete the exercise successfully and to be prepared for the map projection questions on the mid-term exam you should do the following:

1. Read Chapters 2 and 3 in the Dent textbook. Chapter 2 is pretty technical. Don't panic with the math; get as much of it as you can handle. Concentrate on the concepts being presented.

2. Work through the map projection ArcView tuorial on the Dent CD-ROM. Remember the tutorials are in the "workbook" folder. The map projection material is in the "Project" folder (inside the "workbook" folder). The text of the tutorial is in either of two documents: Project.doc or Project.PDF; the ArcView project for the tutorial is the file entitled project.apr.

3. An additional tutorial entitled "Exploring Map Projections using ArcView GIS" is available in the file called "Map_projections-esri.rtf" which can be found on the "transfer on 'student'" i: drive on the NSU network under \ziehr\geog3523\Exercise1\. You do not have to turn in this tutorial for a grade, but I highly recommend completing it for your own benefit.

4. Complete Computer Mapping Exercise #1: Projections and World Maps which is online at the class website.

5. An evaluation form for Exercise #1 is available in a file entitled "Evaluation form for Exercise1 - Spring 2003.rtf" which can be found on the "transfer on 'student'" i: drive on the NSU network under \ziehr\geog3523\Exercise1\. This is for your information in completing Exercise #1. It shows how that exercise will be graded.

1/23/03 Reading and Tutorial Reminders By the end of this week you should have completed the following (preferably in the order listed):

1. Fundamentals of Map Design* (19 pages)

2. ArcView Basics* (7 pages)

3. Chapter 1 (Dent textbook)

4. Intro Tutorial on Dent CD-ROM [This is found on the CD in the "Intro" folder inside the "workbook" folder. The text of the tutorial is in either of two documents: intro.doc or Intro.pdf; the ArcView project for the tutorial is the file entitled intro.apr.]

*Fundamentals of Map Design and ArcView Basics are available as documents on the "transfer on 'student'" i: drive on the NSU network under \ziehr\geog3523\.

If you have any questions or problems related to the above assignments, please contact me.

Next week we'll be working with Chapter 2 and the Project (map projection) tutorial.

Please check this page often (at least once a week). Important information pertaining to the class, especially revisions to assignments and cancelled classes, will be posted here.

New announcements will be listed first. Older announcements will be retained but will be moved farther down the list.