Summer 2000

Western Regional Science Association
Newsletter

Summer 2000

Get working on a paper for submittal by our traditional October 15 deadline. Remember, abstracts are not accepted. Papers on any regional science topic are welcome. Possible papers subjects include resource utilization, impact analysis, regional and urban planning, local public finance, migration and demographic analysis, and transportation. As per longstanding WRSA custom, all offers will be screened by the Program Committee prior to invitations being issued for presentation. Abstracts are not accepted, but at the time of the October 15 submittal deadline papers may be in draft form. Those wishing to organize a special session are encouraged to contact Dave Plane as soon as possible.

This year for the first time electronic submissions of papers are being encouraged! We hope to facilitate distribution of papers to discussants and chairs by having most papers centrally available at the Association office in electronic form. Manuscripts in either Word or Word Perfect format may be e-mailed as attachments to Executive Secretary Dave Plane. Alternatively hard copies (three, please) may be mailed or expressed. For multiple-authored papers, please be sure to indicate which author(s) plan to attend the meeting. See the “Call for Papers” accompanying this Newsletter or visit the Association’s website for full details.

Watch the WRSA website, reachable at http://geog.arizona.edu/wrsa for full conference information as it is posted in the months ahead. Pictures of the Riviera Resort, links to their and a Palm Springs tourist information web site, travel and rental car information, and the hotel reservation form are already up on the site.
Plan now to come bask in the midwinter Southern California sun, recharge your intellectual batteries, and see once again all your WRSA friends – old and new – as the Association celebrates its 40th anniversary!

WRSA to Host 17th Pacific Conference of the RSAI in Portland, Oregon

It’s never too soon to begin planning for a major event like the 17th Pacific Conference of the RSAI, scheduled to be held in Portland, Oregon from June 30 – July 4, 2001. The abstract submittal deadline is February 28, 2001, so there’s still plenty of time to consider submitting a paper.

The conference will be held in the Embassy Suites Hotel in Downtown Portland in the historic Multnomah Hotel. Here, the grace and charm of a historic hotel are accompanied by all of the services expected of a first class hotel. Located in Portland’s old town district, the hotel is steps away from shopping, art galleries, museums, restaurants and nightclubs.
Papers for the Pacific Conference of the RSAI are welcomed on any regional science topic. Sessions will be organized around several themes, including Sustainable Cities and Urban Transportation: Alternative Futures. Other themes will include high technology, changing household composition, tourism and international investment. The conference will be hosted by the Western Regional Science Association.

Abstracts should be submitted to David Plane, PRSCO 2001 Organizing Committee Chair, Department of Geography and Regional Development, University of Arizona, Harvill Building, Box 2, Tucson, Arizona 85721 USA. Any questions regarding the conference may also be directed to Dr. Plane at plane@u.arizona.edu.
Be sure to check the WRSA website (http://geog.arizona.edu/wrsa) in the months to come as more conference information becomes available.

Grand Tour of the Hawaiian Islands Completed with WRSA’s 39th Annual Meeting

This year’s Annual Meeting of the WRSA was a stellar success – productive, relaxing, and fun. The program was the longest ever, with four full days of sessions. Final registration for the conference was 260.

The program featured sessions organized by Lee Huskey and Mike Pretes of the Northern Development/Remote Regions group, as well as numerous other specially organized sessions and invited papers.

Lay Gibson presented the 14th Annual Tiebout Prize to Arno Van der Vlist. The 5th Annual Springer-Verlag prize was presented by Roger Stough, co-editor of the Annals of Regional Science, to Audrey Clarke, who presented a paper titled “The Role of the Innovative Milieu in the Locational Concentration of Computer Services: A Pilot Study of the Portland Metropolitan Area.” As winner of the Springer-Verlag Prize, Dr. Clarke receives $500 worth of her choice of books from Springer’s extensive regional science list.

The setting in Poipu, Kauai could not have been more beautiful, with perfect weather, gorgeous beaches, and stimulating entertainment. WRSA president, John Quigley, gave a memorable address, as did guest speaker Karl Kim. The social highlight of the meeting was an outdoor dinner banquet, which featured live Hawaiian music and abundant food and drink.
Although such a splendid conference may seem difficult to match, plans are now in the making for next year’s gala 40th Anniversary Meeting, so get started on a paper for submission and be sure to join us!

Van der Vlist Wins 14th Tiebout Prize

Arno van der Vlist of the Free University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, was presented with the 14th Annual Tiebout Prize in a ceremony at the opening plenary session of the 39th Annual Meeting. Van der Vlist’s winning paper was titled “Patterns of New Household Formation and Residential Career.” Past WRSA President, Lay James Gibson, presented the winner’s certificate and a check for the $1,000 prize money.

Also recognized at the opening session were two finalists, Johan Klaesson of the Jönköping International School of Business in Sweden and Rickard E. Wall from Linköping University in Sweden. Both Finalists received a certificate, as well as a $100 prize. The Reading Committee also awarded an Honorable Mention to Sari Pekkala of the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland.

Turnbull Cup: A Swinging Success!!

Once again, the Turnbull Cup golf tournament, held during WRSA’s annual meeting, was a terrific success. There was an excellent turnout of fifteen players and the beauty of the setting was almost incomparable. Next year’s tournament will be organized by Terry Clower, Paul Huszar, and Bob Formaini – with long-distance advice provided by Jack Sommer.

Stough New V.P.; Holly and Kim Join Board

At the annual WRSA Board meeting in Kauai, Roger Stough was selected as our incoming Vice-President. Professor Stough is Director of the Center for Regional Analysis and holds the Northern Virginia Endowed Chair in Public Policy at George Mason University. He co-edits the Association’s official journal, The Annals of Regional Science.

Brenda Moscove, Professor of Marketing at Cal-State Bakersfield, succeeds to become President-Elect of the Association for the 2000-2001 Academic Year. She will present the annual Presidential Address and host the traditional President’s Reception at the Palm Springs Annual Meeting.

John Quigley (who hosted a most lavish Presidential Reception at the Kauai conference thanks to support he obtained from U.C. Berkeley!) succeeds to become our 41st and reigning President for 2000-2001.
Arthur Getis, the Stephen and Mary Birch Foundation Chair of Geographical Studies at San Diego State University, has completed his Presidential year and becomes our Immediate Past President — joining the Tiebout Prize Reading Committee for a four-year term.

At the Board Meeting, Brian Holly of the State of Oregon Office of Economic Development, and T. John Kim, University of Illinois, were elected to the WRSA Board for terms beginning with the 2000-2001 year. Brian was formerly Professor of Geography at Kent State University and Director of the Geography & Regional Science Program at the National Science Foundation. T. John Kim currently co-edits The Annals of Regional Science.

Michael Greenwald, University of California, Irvine,
Receives 1st Annual Benjamin H. Stevens Graduate Fellowship in Regional Science

Michael J. Greenwald, doctoral student in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of California, Irvine, has been selected as the winner of the competition for the first annual Benjamin H. Stevens Graduate Fellowship in Regional Science.

The Fellowship will provide a $15,000 one-year stipend to support Greenwald in his dissertation research on how land use and urban form regulation influence travel mode choices for households in the Portland, Oregon urban area. The dissertation is titled: “The Road Less Traveled: Land Use and Non-Work Travel Relationships in Portland Oregon.” It is being supervised by Professor Marlon G. Boarnet of U.C. Irvine’s Departments of Urban and Regional Planning and Economics.

The Fellowship is awarded in memory of Dr. Benjamin H. Stevens, an intellectual leader whose selfless devotion to graduate students as teacher, advisor, mentor, and friend had a profound impact on the field of regional science.
A fundraising effort to increase the Fellowship’s endowment is ongoing. Donations should be sent to: The Stevens Fellowship Fund, First Busey Trust and Investment Company, P.O. Box 3309, Urbana, IL 61826-3309 USA. Checks should be drawn to The Stevens Fellowship Fund. Further information about the Fund may be found at the Ben Stevens memorial website: http://web.bryant.edu/~pnorton/resources/memorial.html.

The Stevens Fellowship is administered on behalf of the North American Regional Science Council by a Committee consisting of Professors Marcus Berliant, Economics, Washington University, St. Louis, David Boyce, Civil and Materials Engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago, Maureen Kilkenny, Economics, Iowa State University, Michael Lahr, Center for Urban Policy Research, Rutgers University, Ronald Miller, Regional Science Program, University of Pennsylvania, and David Plane, Geography and Regional Development, University of Arizona.

Faculty at all North American Ph.D. programs are asked to encourage their brightest students to apply for the Second Annual Stevens Fellowship, which will support the winning student’s dissertation research for the 2001–2002 year.
The application deadline is February 15, 2001. Full submission guidelines may be found on the Ben Stevens memorial website.

Mexicans Host PRSCO Institute

The Pacific Regional Science Conference Organization’s Institute was held in conjunction with the Mexican Association’s domestic meeting during the period June 12-16, 2000 in Mexico City, Mexico. The meetings were lively and well attended. There were five PRSCO paper sessions and 32 paper sessions associated with the Mexican association specifically. In all, there were 180 papers including 14 by non-Mexican scholars. There were also several excellent plenary type sessions including the PRSCO Institute’s opening session and PRSCO sessions on globalization and on the future roles of Latin America in the Pacific Rim. A special session was convened to award Dr. Jorge Serrano the International Prize of Environmental Creation. Following the award ceremony which was conducted by Hokkaido University’s Etsuo Yamamura, the 150 attendees were treated to a special program of Mexican folk music. During the Mexican Association’s program there were three more plenary sessions including one on trade liberalization organized by Buddy Weinstein, University of North Texas, another on urban development, and a joint PRSCO-AMECIDER closing session.

AMECIDAR, PRSCO’s newest member organization did a terrific job of managing a large and excellent joint meeting. Mexican colleagues have built a strong domestic section, which is now emerging as a major international player in the Pacific Region and in North America, too.

New Public Affairs Journal Launched

The Journal of Public Affairs Review, a new international journal focusing on research and applications in public affairs, released its inaugural issue in April, 2000. Twice a year the journal will publish empirical studies as well as critical review papers in both English and Chinese. Roger R. Stough and Minshen Wang, the general editors, welcome submissions in the areas of regional economic development, urban policy and city management, civil society and public participation, third sector development and management, among others. Book and software reviews will also be published. It is intended that this new journal will function as a forum for workers in all sectors of public policy, including planners, analysts, scholars, and other practitioners. For more information, contact Professor Stough at: rstough@gmu.edu.

Regional Science Meeting Calendar

29th International Geographical Congress,
August 14 – 18, 2000, Seoul, Korea.
The 29th International Geographical Congress will be held August 14-18, 2000 in Seoul, KoreaThe theme of the Congress will be ” Living With Diversity.” Subsidiary themes include “Geographic Systems Models in Society” and “Science and Technology of Geographic Information.”
For more information contact Barry Boots at bboots@mach1.wlu.ca or Richard Thomas at mfvstrwt@fs1.go.man.ac.uk. The Congress’s website is: www.geog.snu.ac.kr.

13th International Conference on Input-Output Techniques, August 21 – 25, 2000, Macerata, Italy
The conference will be held August 21-25, 2000 in Macerata, Italy, on Italy’s Adriatic coast.
Further information is available on the internet: http://www.unimc.it/ioconf/
Contact information: Prof. Dr. Michael L. Lahr, Tel:+1-732-932-3133; Fax:+1-732-932-2363; e-mail: Lahr@rci.rutgers.edu

40th Congress of the European Regional Science Association, August 29 – September 1, 2000,
Barcelona, Spain
The 40th Congress of the European Regional Science Association will take place August 29 – September 1, 2000 in Barcelona, Spain. Program details, as well as registration information, are available at the Congress’s web site: http://www.fbg.ub.es/40ersa/index.html.

First International Conference on Geographic Information Science, October 28 – 31, 2000, Savannah, Georgia
The National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis (NCGIA), the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science (UCGIS), and the Association of American Geographers have teamed up to organize the First International Conference on Geographic Information Science. The Conference is scheduled for October 28 – 31, 2000 in Savannah, GA. For further information, contact Angie Jackson of The Association of American Geographers at ajackson@aag.org. Details are also available at http://www.giscience.org.

47th North American Meetings of the Regional Science Association International, November 9 – 12, 2000, Chicago, Illinois
The 47th North American Meetings of the RSAI will be held November 9 – 12, 2000 at the Midland Hotel in Chicago, Illinois. Electronic submission of abstracts can be done through September 1, 2000. For further information, contact the Program Chair, Andrew J. Krmenec, at krmenec@geog.niu.edu or check the Meeting’s web site at http://www.niu.edu/depts/ext_prog/RSAI/site.html.

40th Anniversary Meeting of the Western Regional Science Association, February 25 – 28, 2001, Palm Springs, California
See article, above.

40th Annual Meeting of the Southern Regional Science Association, April 5 – 7, 2001, Austin, Texas
The 40th Annual Meeting of the Southern Regional Science Association will be held April 5 – 7, 2001 at the Driskill Hotel in Austin, Texas. For further information, contact the 2001 Program Chair, Frank Hefner, Department of Economics and Finance, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC 29424-0001. He can also be reached via e-mail at hefnerf@cofc.edu or by phone at 843-953-8111.

17th Pacific Conference of the Regional Science Association International, June 30 – July 4, 2001, Portland, Oregon
See article, above.