Editorial Notes

Welcome to the eightieth volume of the Yearbook of the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers, the first for which I have had the pleasure of serving as editor. The Yearbook has long served as the publication of record for all things relating to the annual meeting as well as a venue highlighting original research and commentary. This volume is no different, and therefore includes all of the abstracts, reports, and awards from the well-attended and highly successful meeting in Chico, California, last fall as well as original research articles.

Continuing with established tradition, this volume begins with the APCG Presidential Address from the previous annual meeting. Thus Dennis Dingemans shares insights and observations gleaned from more than four decades of research and teaching on the visionary housing development Village Homes, from its lofty ideals to its contemporary lived reality.

Ron Davidson also considers the cultural landscapes of suburbia, where ethnicity and history are inextricably and often contentiously intertwined. In this case, a seemingly simple monument prompts three stories that reflect differing interpretations of history and illustrate the complex relationships between Asian communities in Greater Los Angeles.

From California, our attention shifts southward. Klaus Meyer-Arendt explores tourism development in Mexico, specifically the shifting fortunes of Tecolutla, a small community on Mexico's Gulf Coast. Initially a fishing village proposed as an eastern rival to Acapulco, Tecolutla never emerged as an international destination, and today functions as a small resort town frequented by middle-class tourists from Mexico City.

Drawing from sites worldwide, Ron Dorn and Ara Jeong offer a pilot study on the weathering characteristics of recently exposed rocks at the margins of retreating glaciers. Based upon their preliminary investigation, they suggest the need for further analysis of rock decay and rock coating development as a means to better understand the spatiotemporal dynamics of glacial retreat.

Mike Pesses then takes us on a journey through the idea of how we define the spaces of nature, using John Muir as a touchstone. Ranging widely, his ruminations leave us with the suggestion that perhaps the perspective of geography itself is worthy of further reflection.

Finally, Kalli Doubleday and Stacie Townsend urge deeper consideration of the ways in which graduate students are trained for the university classroom. The Supplemental Instruction model, they argue, is perhaps more effective than the graduate-assistant approach commonly found in geography departments, and should indeed be seen as a viable alternative to that traditional model, which leaves students underprepared for the classroom.

Though they are not numerous, I believe the articles in this year's volume are a good sample of the wide-ranging perspectives found in our discipline; I look forward to bringing even more of them into future volumes of the Yearbook. With that in mind, the topics and range of papers typically presented at our annual meetings is broad, and I encourage attendees at the upcoming Reno meeting, and the APCG community at large, to consider the Yearbook as a venue for your research and perspectives.

Of course, the Yearbook does not just produce itself. Many thanks to Jim Craine for his insight early in the process of taking over the editorial role, and also to Dave Deis for once again creating the cover for the Yearbook. My biggest thanks, however, go to our indefatigable copy editor Rick Cooper, who with patience and humor contributes so much to the final form of the Yearbook.