DEDICATION - Spatial Sciences Institute | USC Dornsife



TITLE:SUBTITLEbyYour Full NameA Thesis Presented to theFACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOLUNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIAIn Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the DegreeMASTER OF SCIENCE(GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY) Month YEARCopyright YEARYour Full Name (spelled as above)DEDICATION TOC \h \z \c "Table" I dedicate this document to my parents for their constant support, and to Tommy Trojan, who has inspired me throughout this process.ACKNOWLEDGMENTSI will be forever grateful to my mentor, Professor Smith. Thank you also to my family and friends, without whom I could not have made it this far.TABLE OF CONTENTS TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u DEDICATION PAGEREF _Toc392670615 \h iiACKNOWLEDGMENTS PAGEREF _Toc392670616 \h iiiLIST OF TABLES PAGEREF _Toc392670617 \h iiiLIST OF FIGURES PAGEREF _Toc392670618 \h ivLIST OF ABBREVIATIONS PAGEREF _Toc392670619 \h vABSTRACT PAGEREF _Toc392670620 \h viCHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION PAGEREF _Toc392670621 \h 11.1 Subchapter PAGEREF _Toc392670622 \h 11.1.1 Second Level Subchapter PAGEREF _Toc392670623 \h 2CHAPTER 2: BACKGROUND AND LITERATURE REVIEW PAGEREF _Toc392670624 \h 42.1 Subchapter PAGEREF _Toc392670625 \h 42.1.1 Second Level Subchapter PAGEREF _Toc392670626 \h 52.1.1.1 Third Level Subchapter PAGEREF _Toc392670627 \h 5CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY PAGEREF _Toc392670628 \h 73.1 Subchapter PAGEREF _Toc392670629 \h 73.2 Second Level Subchapter PAGEREF _Toc392670630 \h 8CHAPTER 4: RESULTS PAGEREF _Toc392670631 \h 124.1 Subchapter PAGEREF _Toc392670632 \h 124.2 Subchapter PAGEREF _Toc392670633 \h 13CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS PAGEREF _Toc392670634 \h 155.1 Subchapter PAGEREF _Toc392670635 \h 155.2 Subchapter PAGEREF _Toc392670636 \h 15REFERENCES PAGEREF _Toc392670637 \h 16APPENDIX A: TITLE PAGEREF _Toc392670638 \h 17APPENDIX B: TITLE PAGEREF _Toc392670639 \h 18LIST OF TABLES TOC \h \z \c "Table" Table 1 List of Participating Schools (USC, 2013) PAGEREF _Toc389224458 \h 5Table 2 Armed-Conflicts by Territory, 2008-2012: Normalized by Population PAGEREF _Toc389224459 \h 8Table 3 Variables Referenced in the Analysis of Comparative Changes PAGEREF _Toc389224460 \h 11 TOC \h \z \c "Table" LIST OF FIGURES TOC \h \z \c "Figure" Figure 1 Ozro W. Childs PAGEREF _Toc389226786 \h 3Figure 2 2008 Armed-conflicts Heat Map PAGEREF _Toc389226787 \h 7Figure 3 Methodological Comparative Diagram PAGEREF _Toc389226788 \h 9Figure 4 Comparing Changes by Territory PAGEREF _Toc389226789 \h 10Figure 5 2008-2012 Abductions in Central Africa PAGEREF _Toc389226790 \h 12Figure 6 Map of Administrative Boundaries in Central Africa PAGEREF _Toc389226791 \h 13LIST OF ABBREVIATIONSAAGAssociation of American GeographersGISTGeographic Information Science and TechnologyJEPJoint Educational ProjectSSISpatial Sciences InstituteUSCUniversity of Southern CaliforniaABSTRACTThe Traveler tradition began in 1961 with Traveler the First. From 1961 to 1988, the equestrian mascots were selected, trained and ridden by Richard Saukko. After his death, the Saukko family continued the tradition of raising the famous Trojan horses until 2003, when equestrian manager Joanne Asman took over. CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTIONLos Angeles was a rough-and-tumble frontier town in the early 1870s, when a group of public-spirited citizens led by Judge Robert Maclay Widney first dreamed of establishing a university in the region. It took nearly a decade for this vision to become a reality, but in 1879 Widney formed a board of trustees and secured a donation of 308 lots of land from three prominent members of the community – Ozro W. Childs, a Protestant horticulturist; former California governor John G. Downey, an Irish-Catholic pharmacist and businessman; and Isaias W. Hellman, a German-Jewish banker and philanthropist. The gift provided land for a campus as well as a source of endowment, the seeds of financial support for the nascent institution.When the University of Southern California (USC) first opened its doors to 53 students and 10 teachers in 1880, the “city” still lacked paved streets, electric lights, telephones and a reliable fire alarm system. Today, USC is home to more than 33,000 students and nearly 3,200 full-time faculty, and is located in the heart of one of the biggest metropolises in the world.1.1 SubchapterMore than anyone else, real estate promoter, attorney and Judge Robert Maclay Widney was responsible for setting into motion the events that led to the founding of USC.A poor Ohio farm boy, Widney left home at 16, arriving in Northern California in 1857. After working at odd jobs, he entered the University of the Pacific, and upon graduation, taught mathematics and geology there while studying law on the side. He was admitted to the California and Nevada bars in 1867 and decided to settle in Los Angeles. He soon found that legal advice was less marketable than real estate in the little town, however, so he diversified, selling land to newcomers, settling land claims and boundary disputes, and publishing a monthly newsletter, Los Angeles Real Estate Advertiser. Using land he accepted in lieu of fees, he developed such towns as Pacoima, San Fernando, Ontario, Victorville and Long Beach. In 1871, Widney intervened as violent anti-Chinese rioting stormed through town, drawing his pistol and plunging into the mob to escort several immigrants to safety. In December of that year, he was appointed a U.S. district judge.Widney was instrumental in a number of advances in Southern California. He helped bring the Southern Pacific Railroad to Los Angeles, establish the city’s first horse-drawn trolley and organize the first chamber of commerce. He also helped form the Los Angeles County Bar Association and incorporate the city’s first light and power company.When the University of Southern California was founded, largely through his perseverance, he was elected the first president of its board of directors and was one of the original trustees of the endowment fund. Widney died in 1929, at the age of 93.1.1.1 Second Level SubchapterThe three men who made the original gift of land to establish the University of Southern California were as diverse as nineteenth-century Los Angeles. They came from three different countries and practiced three different religions, but the civic-mindedness they shared helped direct the course of their young city for decades to come.Ozro W. Childs?was born in Vermont in 1824 and, after paying his own way to gain an education, became a schoolteacher. A lifelong battle with asthma, however, prompted him to move to Ohio, where he hoped to find a more congenial climate. Figure SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 1 Ozro W. ChildsPhotograph by Tommy Trojan There he learned tinsmithing, a trade that provided a livelihood when the Gold Rush lured him to Northern California in 1850. Although he prospered, he soon opted for the milder climate of Los Angeles, where, as pictured in REF _Ref234827312 \h Figure 1, he spent most of his adult life. He and a partner opened a tin shop, and then switched to selling groceries and other provisions — the first of a series of successful ventures. In 1857, he turned to horticulture and founded yet another profitable business, a nursery importing and selling exotic trees and plants. A few years later, the city hired him to construct an irrigation ditch, or zanja, for the city. Instead of money, he took land as his payment. The parcel he received was bounded by Main, Figueroa, 6th and 12th streets. When he put the property on the market, his wife named some of the streets after the three Christian graces: Faith Street (which became Flower), Hope Street and Charity (which became Grand Avenue). A fourth street, called Calle de los Chapules in recognition of its large population of grasshoppers, became Figueroa. In 1884, he opened a new theater on Main Street, known as Childs’ Opera House.CHAPTER 2: BACKGROUND AND LITERATURE REVIEWFounded in 1972, the Joint Educational Project (JEP) is one of the oldest and largest service-learning programs in the country, offering students at the University of Southern California the unique opportunity to combine academic coursework with experiences in the community surrounding the campus. Each year, some 2,000 students from over several courses?receive academic credit for their participation in JEP. In addition, about 400 students serve as non-credit volunteers and share their time and special talents with their neighbors. JEP is also home to the Trojan Health Volunteers, a program designed to serve pre-meds and health educators, and USC ReadersPlus, an America Reads / America Counts work-study affiliate.2.1 SubchapterImagine an urban university that contributes to the well-being of its community while offering students an opportunity to learn about issues of poverty, immigration, education, inequality and other contemporary concerns. It is this vision that Dr. Barbara Seaver Gardner, of the University of Southern California, had in 1972 when she created the Joint Educational Project (JEP). Today JEP is recognized as one of the oldest and best organized service-learning program in the country (USC 2013).Through the years, over 70,000 USC students have contributed over a million hours of service to the surrounding community. At the same time, these students have carried away a better understanding of an academic discipline and have had an opportunity to work and learn with people of other cultures.JEP stands as a monument to the notion that universities and their communities can work together toward goals that are mutually beneficial. As seen in REF _Ref234827165 \h Table 1, there is a long history and many hours of learning support through the JEP program at the USC neighborhood schools.Table SEQ Table \* ARABIC 1 List of Participating Schools (USC, 2013)SchoolYears in JEP ProgramTotal Student Number Jefferson Elementary3550,00032nd Street School4075,000Manual Arts High School?2520,000Bravo Medical Magnet1515,000Source: Data adapted from USC (2013)2.1.1 Second Level SubchapterIn 1974, long before mentoring was a political agenda for presidents and governors, JEP students were working one-on-one with neighborhood children through our PALS program. JEP received its first mentoring grant in 1989. Two years before the Los Angeles Police Department began their D.A.R.E. program, JEP launched its Choices Drug Education program with support from the Walter S. Johnson Foundation.2.1.1.1 Third Level SubchapterIn 1991, JEP converted an adult literacy program designed by a USC undergraduate to a program for young readers. Literacy will be ever more important in the world of big data. As USC’s Dornsife College Dean, Steven Kay explains:The roar of ‘Big Data’ is driving this change. There are dizzying amounts of consumer records, music, satellite imagery, and of course, Facebook content, that have to be stored, retrieved and understood in their proper context. This stored information is growing by 23 percent a year and shows no signs of retreating. The mountain of data we now face will be but 1 percent of that in 2020. What does this mean? This sea of data influences how we contribute to society as academics. It shifts how we acquire and share knowledge. It changes how we teach our students to be leaders. It shapes how we inspire a passion for discovery deep within their being (Kay 2012, 4).The JEP program will no doubt adapt its literacy education to take account of the evolving requirements for adult literacy in the era of big data. The focus on big data also points to an increasingly important role for USC’s Spatial Sciences Institute (SSI) and its graduate program in Geographic Information Science and Technology (GIST).CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY This chapter will review LRA-active areas, discuss the data sources being used to capture metrics of violence, and it will provide a conceptual framework for conducting a descriptive analysis of change in the rates of violence given the introduction of radios over time.3.1 SubchapterClustering methods were explored to show where armed-conflicts are concentrated and whether there is evidence of heavy clustering. In a heavily clustered environment, there is the potential to identify predictor variables that can be used to explain the highs and lows of the data. Six kernel density maps were created to produce rasterized surfaces indicating concentrations of LRA activity. Figure 2 reflects the kernel density of armed-conflicts in 2008. Figure SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 2 2008 Armed-conflicts Heat MapWith conflict data spatially joined with the “Territories” feature class, Modelbuilder was used to generate 15 new territory feature classes as show in Table 2. Table SEQ Table \* ARABIC 2 Armed-Conflicts by Territory, 2008-2012: Normalized by Population?CountryTerritory Name20082009201020112012SSDRaja 0.000.040.000.070.00?Wau0.000.000.010.000.00?Nahr Yew0.010.010.000.000.00?Meridi0.050.020.050.000.00?Mundri0.000.020.000.000.00?Tombura0.050.160.250.160.02?Yambio0.020.020.100.100.00DRCAngo0.004.153.692.541.84?Bambesa0.000.000.000.060.00?Bondo0.000.000.050.000.16?Poko0.000.420.210.000.00?Dungu1.393.088.645.024.34?Faradje0.200.440.360.960.80?Niangara0.071.221.860.360.43?Watsa0.000.060.030.060.00CARDjemah0.002.180.000.000.00?Obo0.081.050.310.390.14?Zémio0.000.121.190.650.71?Yalinga0.000.000.770.000.58?Bakouma0.000.000.100.190.29?Bangassou0.000.020.030.020.05?Rafa?0.000.143.080.431.22?Birao0.000.000.100.000.003.2 Second Level SubchapterThe process of calculating the annual rates of change by territory is illustrated in Figure 3. Included in this figure are the additional steps taken to compare changes between the sample group of territories and the control group as represented by the analysis.Figure SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 3 Methodological Comparative DiagramAfter the rate changes were coded to each feature class, the territories were divided into two groups: the first group is the sample (n), which is composed of territories in which HF radios are located. The second group is the control (m), which is composed of territories without HF radios. HF radios were aggregated by territory and each territory was coded as either having or not having one or more HF radios. The mean rate of change for the control group was then subtracted from the mean rate of change for the sample group. Figure 4 is a conceptualization of this method, illustrating comparative changes between a sample group and a control group.Figure SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 4 Comparing Changes by TerritoryThe comparative changes between the two groups are calculated using Equation 1, which is based on the Difference-in-Differences statistical method (Abadie 2005):Resulting values indicate how the rate of violence in territories with HF radios changed in comparison to territories without HF radios. The detailed flowchart for this approach is included in Figure 16. Due to the low n, the significance at local scale of the true Difference-in-Differences statistical analysis could not be established or validated. Therefore, the numerical results derived from this method are shown in chapter four and described qualitatively focusing on a comparative description of the results. Next, feature classes for the same category of violence were joined from one year to the next using a table join and a common ObjectID (Territory_Name); Armed-conflicts_2008 was joined with Armed-conflicts_2009, and Armed-conflicts_2009 was joined with Armed-conflicts_2010, etc. Table 3 below shows the variables used to calculate rate changes by year.Table SEQ Table \* ARABIC 3 Variables Referenced in the Analysis of Comparative ChangesVariableDescriptionAssumptionsLimitationsiTerritoryThe territory sustained at least one armed-conflict for each year-to-year interval.Territories vary widely in area and population.rRate of changeRate of each assumes each territory's population is static through each year-to-year transition.The rate of change is calculated for armed-conflict, civilian murders, and abductions. It does not consider other forms of looting or harassment.yYearAnnual interval provides a summary of violence over the course of a year.Interval does not account for spikes or drops in violence that can occur weekly or monthly.nNumber of territories in sample groupAll HF radios locations are known.Territories are not weighted by how many radios they contain. mNumber of territories in control groupTerritories in control group are not affected by HF radios in adjacent territories.Some territories in the control group very seldom experience violence compared to territories in the sample group.zaIndicator = 1 if HF radios are present, 0 if notIf an HF radio is present in a territory, it is being used.Does not account for how long a radio has been present.zbIndicator = 0 if HF radios are present, 1 if notIf an HF radio is present in a territory, it is being usedDoes not account for how long a radio has been present.CHAPTER 4: RESULTSThis chapter documents the spatial distribution of violence and demonstrates change over time for each category of violence. Results of the distribution of violence are shown by countries and by territories. 4.1 SubchapterA summary of the raw number of armed-conflicts occurring from 2008 to 2012 is shown in Figure 18. The year 2008 marks the lowest levels of LRA attacks in the five-year span; only 55 attacks occurred during this period. However, violence increased significantly in 2009 and again in 2010 with attacks becoming increasingly prevalent in the DRC. center454470400Figure SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 5 2008-2012 Abductions in Central Africa4.2 SubchapterIn 2008, the baseline rates of civilian abductions (Figure 6) had a pattern similar to the rates of armed-conflicts and civilian murders. The mean rate of abductions across the area of operations was 4.06 abductions per 1,000 people. The highest rates were in Dungu and Faradje measuring 15.26 and 7.60 respectively making the two territories again the most dangerous in 2008. Figure SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 6 Map of Administrative Boundaries in Central Africa While the overall number of armed-conflicts steadily declined after peaking in 2010, the number of civilian-murders declined even more substantially. Although LRA killed 49 civilians in 2012, this is 96 percent fewer civilian than they killed in 2010 and over 99 percent fewer than in 2009.CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONSChapter Five discusses the impact of the findings, their contribution to existing research on conflict geographies, and their relevance to ongoing discussions regarding the development of counter-insurgency efforts in Central Africa. Shortcomings of the data are discussed, and several recommendations for future geographic studies in insurgency-violence are made.5.1 SubchapterResults in this work suggest that the LRA’s area of operations has fluctuated over time in an apparent reaction to external influences. Since the number of attacks and casualties peaked in 2010, there has been a steady decline in violence committed by the group with the year 2012 marking the lowest levels of violence in the years observed. In 2012, there were a total of 49 civilian murders. This is a 92.7 percent reduction in murders since 2010 when MONUSCO first adopted Security Council Resolution 1925. This represents a 74.8 percent reduction in CAR, a 97.3 percent reduction in the DRC, and a 100 percent reduction in South Sudan. 5.2 SubchapterThe diminishing of LRA attacks around Dungu suggests that MONUSCO’s forward base of operations have been influential there as an anti-insurgency organization. This work does not suggest that the same counter-insurgency efforts would be successful against other paramilitary organizations in Africa, but the contrary observations suggest that the LRA area of operations has reacted to the tailored counter-insurgency strategies targeting the organization’s structure, priorities, ethnic and ideological foundations. REFERENCESAbadie, Abel. 2005. “Semiparametric Difference-in-differences Estimators.” The Review of Economic Studies 72: 1-18.Andreas, Peter. 2002. “Transnational Crime and Economics Globalization.” In Transnational Organized Crime and International Security, edited by Michael Berdal and MarySerrano, 37-52. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers, Inc.Arquilla, J., Daniel Ronfeldt, and Martin Zanini, 1999. “Networks, Netwar, and Information-age Terrorism.” In Strategic Appraisal, edited by Zaria Khalilzad and Jonathon White, 24-48. Santa Monica: Rand.BBC. 2014. “DRCongo: Key Facts.” Accessed February 23, 2014 , Steve. 2012. “Dean Steve Kay’s Installation Remarks.” Accessed July 7, 2013., Ronald O. 2011. Trojan Living. Los Angeles: University of Southern California Press.Trojan, Thomas. 2008. The History of the University of Southern California. Los Angeles: University of Southern California Press.USC (University of Southern California). 2013. The Vision of USC’s Joint Educational Project (JEP). Accessed July 7, 2013. A: TITLE1. Data CollectionReports are gathered from a variety of sources:?? HF radio towers in DRC and CAR?o Civilians report activity to HF radio tower operators?o Over 30 HF radio operators call the Dungu hub twice daily to report armed-group?activity?o Activity is entered into a spreadsheet and then sent to data coders?? UN & NGO reports?? News & media outlets?? Civil society contacts in local communities?? Field research conducted by Resolve and Invisible Children staff2. Database EntryDatabase entry:??? Reports are divided between a team of coders from both Invisible Children and Resolve. Coders determine if the source is reliable or unreliable (see section 4.2B of the codebook). Before an incident is reported, the coder reads through other incidents to check for duplicates.??Verification ratings:??? After an incident is categorized, each incident is given a verification rating (see section 4.2A of the codebook).??? If a coder determines that an incident was potentially committed by the LRA, the incident is rated on the LRA Actor Verification Scale (see section 4.2C of the codebook).3. Data Review?? A second data coder reviews each incident to catch human errors and duplicate reports (see section 4.1E).?? IC and Resolve staff with field experience review sensitive incidents immediately and review all incidents every three months. Should these staff members feel an incident was misreported, the incident is corrected. External LRA and regional experts are consulted as necessary.4. Data Mapping & Sharing?? After an incident is entered and approved to be mapped, it appears on the LRA Crisis Tracker website.??? Data is regularly sent to UN agencies and humanitarian practitioners for comparison and collaboration.5. Data Revamp?? As the database grows and policies are updated to reflect best practices, data coders revisit and “revamp” the data when needed.6. Data Analysis & Reporting?? Crisis Tracker staff analyze data for trends and patterns in LRA activity.??? Specific areas and provinces are also analyzed for increases or decreases in the number and type of attack.??? After analysis has been completed and reviewed, it is reported in various Crisis Tracker reports that can be found on the LRA Crisis Tracker website.Source: Invisible Children. 2012. The LRA Crisis Tracker. APPENDIX B: TITLECountryTerritory20082009201020112012SSDRaja 02040?Wau00100?Nahr Yei32000?Meridi42400?Mundri02000?Tombura391491?Yambio3315150DRCAngo036322216?Bambesa00010?Bondo00103?Poko04200?Dungu3373205119103?Faradje51192420?Niangara1172656?Watsa02120CARDjemah04000?Obo33811145?Zémio02201112?Yalinga00403?Bakouma00246?Bangassou01213?Rafa?0243617?Birao00500?Ouanda Djallé00200 ................
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