Faire d'etudie

I took the day off to study yesterday. My class this semester is much more aligned to my GIS interests, as well as being a lot more relavent to my plans, post-graduation. We're still kicking around Capstone ideas (the major project you present for a review board prior to getting out). I've actually ditched my old idea, which had to do with neighborhood redevelopment in Minneapolis, kind of getting the idea that it would get too big & overwhelming, once I dug into it. A couple new ideas I am considering: 1) "'Full-Cycl':e A Cost-Benefit Analysis of Returning North Mississippi Regional Park to a Native State." Pretty self-explanatory, but the idea is that this riverfront part near my house had old activity; anything from old brick factories to an old shantytown in the early 1900s. I'd like to study the various transformations of the land, the relative stresses various units of the land have taken, and how that has influenced how they are working to now return it to a pre-White settlement state. OR 2) "Brain Drain: Creating an Iowa College Graduate 'Trade Area' ". I got the idea from the occasionally mailing I get from the state of Iowa, trying to entice me to move to Des Moines. I don't know who sends that out--the Departmentt of Economic Development? Anyway, I thought it would be interesting to obtain the zip codes from their mailing list and any other information regarding graduates (year of graduation, etc.) and study to where this exodus has occurred. Is the pattern to be expected, or are there surprises? Perhaps there are factors influencing this "rural flight" that might be used to influence the State of Iowa's planning, if indeed they are serious about retaining young adults.

Any thoughts?