Geog 7 - Lab 1 

 

Map 1 - Obesity in the United States

 

 
Source:
http://www.treehugger.com/green-food/you-are-where-you-eat-obesity-maps-of-north-america.html
http://media.treehugger.com/assets/images/2011/10/obesity-usa.jpg

          This map gives an "obesity index" relative to each state. The "obesity index" is calculated based on the percentage of the adult population in each state that is considered obese from data  gathered by the CDC. I find it interesting that there is a cluster of states ranging from Oklahoma to the south-eastern states that have a more obese adult population relative to the remainder of the states. It seems that there is a more significant problem with adult obesity in this area of the country as compared to other areas, such as the states farther north and west. Such a map is interesting in that it raises some important questions for further research and also allows for important real world applications. For example, researchers may want to learn why obesity is concentrated to a higher degree in this particular segment of the country. They can potentially investigate eating practices in different parts of the country in an attempt to understand how these practices may be impacted by the geography and culture of different areas. They can look into the nutrition information of the food consumed by all of states as well. In the end, they can compile the information they have obtained and compare similarities and differences between the south-eastern states and the rest of the country. Additionally, this map may also be used for strategic marketing involving weight loss and exercise products, as companies may be able to gauge where to more focus their advertising efforts.

Map 2 - Sales Tax Rate of the United States

Source:
http://taxfoundation.org/blog/monday-map-state-sales-tax-rates
http://taxfoundation.org/sites/taxfoundation.org/files/UserFiles/Image/maps/salestax.png

          This map shows the sales tax rates of all the states. The 10 states with the highest sales tax are colored in blue, while the 10 states with the lowest sales tax—excluding those states with no sales tax—are coded by color between the shades of gray and white. The states with no sales tax are displayed in white, and the rest of the states are colored gray. I find it interesting to note that California has the highest sales tax rate amongst all the other states. It has a sales tax rate 1.25 percent higher than the states with the next highest rate (Indiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Tennessee). As Californian residents, we pay more on each item purchased on which sales tax is levied in comparison to any other part of the country. It is also interesting to note that there are states that levy no sales tax at all. Of course some may argue that other states may compensate for revenues from sales tax by having higher taxes of other types (e.g. state property tax), but it must be noted that California in general is deemed a "high tax state." Another interesting point that this map brings up is that sales tax is a regressive tax. Regressive taxes impact the poor more harshly. If, for example, someone has a $50,000 income and purchases an item in California worth $5,000, it can be determined that this individual must pay $412.50 of sales tax on the basis of the average sales tax rate of 8.25 percent in California. This amount of $412.50 is 0.825 percent of this individual's income. If someone else with an income of $100,000 purchases the same $5,000 item and pays the same amount of sales tax, he will only be using up 0.413 percent of his income to pay sales tax on that item. Therefore, those with a lower income are harmed more by a higher sales tax rate than those with a higher income.

 

Map 3 - Violent Crime Rate in the United States

 

 

Source:

http://www.stormfront.org/forum/t478763/

http://www.jrsa.org/ibrrc/using-data/mapping/usa_vc.jpg

          This map shows the violent crime by state of all the states (excluding Alaska and Hawaii). The shades of green indicate a lower violent crime rate per 100,000 people as contrasted with the colors orange and red, which indicate a higher violent crime rate. Even though this map was compiled from 1999 data, it still provides interesting and valuable information. For example, there is a general pattern that states with a greater population, such as California, Florida, and New York have a higher violent crime rate. The crime rate also corresponds well with the population density of each state, meaning that states with a greater amount of residents per some measure of area also tend to have a higher crime rate. Rural areas and states with a smaller population on average have a lower crime rate. This makes some intuitive sense. One would expect that states with a smaller population and lower population density would have lower crime rates, since contact among people would be more limited in comparison to densely populated states. There are some interesting and useful applications of such a map in that the data can be used by government officials to make decisions regarding what regions of the country law enforcement officials, such as the police, should be increased. Individual state governments can also better understand how to budget their money on law enforcement accordingly, rather than spending either too much or too little money.