Julia Kosowsky

Assignment 1
UEP 232

Voting rights/ voter disenfranchisement

Summary:
I am very interested in exploring the Voting Rights Act and topics having to do with
voter disenfranchisement. The Voting Rights Act is particularly relevant right now because
section 4, which contains the formula that decides which states need to get federal approval to
change voting rights laws, was recently struck down. The supreme court is now in the process of
determining what new formula should be used. Aside from the Voting Rights Act, states have
recently been passing voter ID laws which specifically restrict low-income voters and People of
Color. A recent ID law in Texas had a large effect on the voting abilities of women, because it
required individuals to have their current legal name on their ID, which often is not true for
women who changed their last name for marriage. Throughout history this injustice of voter
disenfranchisement has changed and developed in different ways, another potential avenue of
exploration.

Spatial/geographic questions:
There are multiple spatial/ geographic questions that could be asked about voter
disenfranchisement. The first question could be an attempt to create and visually display
potential formulas for the new section 4 that is being developed. This would need to include data
on what kind of discriminatory practices have taken place in those states and other variables.
Another question could revolve around the effect of this disenfranchisement on voting patterns,
based on voting districts and the electoral college. Another interesting spatial/geographic
question could involve this disenfranchisement over time, and the different forms it has taken.

References (APA):
1. Voting Rights Act Map. (n.d.). Retrieved January 29, 2014, from
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/06/23/us/voting-rights-act-
map.html?ref=us&_r=0
a. This article gives examples of different potential formulas for section 4 and shows
how they can be visually displayed on a map. A project along these lines but
using different formulas and going into further detail is an example of a spatial/
geographical question to ask about voting rights.
2. Efforts to Change Voting Laws. (n.d.). Retrieved January 29, 2014, from
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/07/25/us/efforts-to-change-voting-laws.html
a. This is also a map that displays different efforts to change voting laws, again a
great example of the type of project that I am potentially interested in doing.
3. Voting Rights. (n.d.). American Civil Liberties Union. Retrieved January 29, 2014, from
 https://www.aclu.org/voting-rights
a. If I want to do a project about voter disenfranchisement in general this website is
extremely useful. It keeps the reader up to date on all recent disenfranchisement
policies. It also has multiple articles on the Voting Rights Act if I chose to take
that path.

Health Equity and the Built Environment

Summary:
Another topic that I am very interested in exploring is something to do with health equity
and the built environment. The built environment has a huge effect on the health of the
population. Environmental hazards and built structures that encourage healthy activity, are very
unevenly distributed by race and income. The Boston Public Health Commission has put
together a series of maps that display patterns of race and income, overlayed with patterns of
chronic disease, environmental hazards, and green space. The inequity is extremely clear and the
visual maps help show these trends in an undeniable and impossible to ignore manner. When
exploring the GIS suggestion website I liked the idea of combining a lot of the work done in the
spatial justice section with work from the health section. I am very unsure which specific project
would be feasible, and I am still waiting to hear back from a professor who does this type of
work and might have something that she needs mapped.

Spatial/geographic questions:
This project could include many different things, and I am still in the process of
narrowing it down. Some ideas that come to mind would be looking at environmental hazards
and what effects this has on chronic disease (for example trash receptacle or MBTA locations
and asthma rates or lead poisoning patterns). Another very interesting topic is access to
transportation and how this impedes the ability to buy healthy food and live a healthy, safe,
lifestyle.

References (APA):
1. Maantay, J. 2007. Asthma and air pollution in the Bronx: Methodological and data
considerations in using GIS for environmental justice and health research. Health and
Place, 13 (1), pp. 32-56
a. This paper used GIS to show patterns of asthma and air pollution in the Bronx.
This offers a potential model for me to follow if I want to do a health equity and
the built environment project focusing on asthma.
2. http://clfuture.org/programs/regional-equity-atlas/
a. The regional equity atlas offers multiple different examples of how equity can be
mapped. This is another place where, once I get more specifics of this project, I
could find potential resources and ideas of how to proceed. It also does things
with voting rights so I could use it for my other potential project as well.
 3. Jennifer Rogalsky. 2009. The working poor and what GIS reveals about the possibilities
of public transit Journal of Transport Geography, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available
online 24 July 2009
a. In her study, Rogalsky uses GIS to analyze the true geographic obstacles in
working poor women’s lives. I found this to be a particularly interesting example
of how GIS can be used to show a more realistic view of many of the theoretical
and more abstract conversations that are discussed regarding transportation. This
also served as an example of a project that I might be interested in and could be
incorporated into a project that looks at transportation and public health.

Reproductive Health Care Access

Summary:
A final topic that I am interested in is access to reproductive health care, again I have no
idea how feasible this would be. This past year has seen serious setbacks in the ability for women
to access reproductive health care (including, but not limited to, abortions). Laws that restrict the
ability for women to access this health care vary geographically. There are also many factors
aside from technical laws that limit this access for women; transportation, access to information,
cultural and social pressures, etc.

Spatial/geographic questions:
Again, there are numerous spatial and geographic questions to be asked. What
demographic of women are most affected by laws restricting access? Who is most affected by
other factors restricting access? What options would need to be available, be most helpful in
helping more women gain access?

References (APA):
1. Heard, N. J., Larsen, U., & Hozumi, D. (2004). Investigating Access to Reproductive
Health Services Using GIS: Proximity to Services and the Use of Modern Contraceptives
in Malawi. African Journal of Reproductive Health / La Revue Africaine de La Santé
Reproductive, 8(2), 164–179. doi:10.2307/3583189
a. This was a GIS research project that did some of the work I am interested in doing
in the US but in Malawi. The researchers located medical centers and mapped
how far this would be from, and what types of transportation would be available
to, women in surrounding areas.
2. McLafferty, S., & Grady, S. (2005). Immigration and Geographic Access to Prenatal
Clinics in Brooklyn, NY: A Geographic Information Systems Analysis. American
Journal of Public Health, 95(4), 638–640. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2003.033985
a. This project gives a great example of a type of project that I might do exploring
what demographics have the greatest access to reproductive health care. In this
case immigrant and US born women were compared.