Association of Pacific Coast Geographers Annual Meeting September 25–28, 2013 Olympic Valley, California: Abstracts for Oral Presentations and Posters

Oral Presentation Abstracts

Kelly J. Acridge, acridge@csus.edu, California State University, Sacramento. The Effect of Campus Impaction on New Student Distribution, Spring 2008 to Spring 2013. The California State University faced budget cuts after the 2008 financial crisis. The budget cuts resulted in a need for CSU Sacramento to reduce student enrollment, a reversal of the historical trend to increase matriculations. This budget-driven decrease in enrollment was achieved, in part, by becoming an impacted campus. Impaction allows a campus to set differential standards for admission based on the applicant’s location. This study was conducted to discover what effect impaction had on the geographic distribution of new matriculations to CSU Sacramento. The primary research conducted was the spatial analysis of new matriculations over a five-year period beginning in 2008. My results indicate the geographic distribution was not effected by impaction; CSU Sacramento still draws its applicant pool from the same geographic regions as before. However, the relative proportion of students from different geographic regions has changed; specifically, more applicants are matriculating to the campus from outside the impaction service area since impaction. Rather than favoring nearby students, it appears that impaction has had the opposite effect. This may indicate a need to reevaluate what criteria are used when enrolling applicants from across California.

Julianna Aguilar, jaguilar11@csustan.edu, California State University, Stanislaus. Investigating Hydrological Anomalies in the Ka‘a‘awa Valley. Ka‘a‘awa Valley’s serene and unstudied environment poses many questions. The valley itself holds a main watershed and several tributary watersheds. Since this study is taking place during Oahu’s dry season, it has been relatively difficult to observe the water network at its peak. There seems to be only one observable perennial stream, and there is a break in flow toward the middle of the valley. This study focuses on gathering enough information to explain the stream’s break in flow. Geologic, elevation, soils and aquifer data were used to determine which factor plays a leading role in the submergence and emergence of water. The research advanced, and the answer is quite plausible. Further data collection could provide additional support to the observed explanation.

Joshua D. Andreas, joshua.andreas.488@my.csun.edu, California State University, Northridge. Impacts of Agricultural Development on Ephemeral Channel Planform: Cuyama River, California. Agricultural activities often yield both direct and indirect impacts on nearby fluvial systems; understanding these impacts helps inform mitigating management strategies. The primary objective of this study is to examine river planform change along a nine-kilometer reach of the Cuyama River in California as it relates to the growth of modern, irrigated agriculture in the surrounding valley. Six sets of aerial photographs from 1938 to 2011 are analyzed using ArcGIS to determine historical river planform geometry and to classify agricultural land use near the river. Changes to lateral erosion rates, channel width, and riparian vegetation are measured for different segments of the study reach for each time period between sets of aerial photographs. These variables are then related to the amount of agricultural land adjacent to each segment. Results show increases to lateral erosion rates and channel widths following the growth of agriculture. These results corroborate related research demonstrating that agricultural activity leads to local increases in runoff and, therefore, increased discharge and sediment load in downstream rivers.

Daniel D. Arreola, daniel.arreola@asu.edu, Arizona State University. Life and Death of the Mexican Border Town Curio Store. A once-vital tourist attraction of every Mexican border town, the curio store is disappearing from this urban scene. Part pilgrimage shrine wed to bold hucksterism, the curiosity store has been fundamental to the very identity of the Mexican border town and its vogue. Shop barkers enticing passersby with “Comoneen takalook” is one of the persistent echoes in the memory of every tourist to the main streets of border towns. Long a Mom-and-Pop cottage industry that helped sustain border communities for decades, these curiosidades mexicanas were enhanced in some towns by a federal government program a generation before maquiladoras. Today, the...