Sriram Khé at WOU

Sriram Khé

About Me
Office Hours
Vita
Work Reports

Ph.D. in Urban and Regional Planning , University of Southern California, 1993
M.Pl. in Urban and Regional Planning , University of Southern California, 1990
B.E. in Electrical Engineering, University of Madras, 1985

Academic Experience

Associate Professor, Geography Department , Western Oregon University, (Fall 2002—), and Director, Honors Program (Fall 2005-Spring 2008)
Lecturer, California State University , Bakersfield, 2000-2002
Was also the Director of the Environmental Resource Management ( ERM ) Program, and contributing editor of the Kern Economic Journal.
Adjunct Professor, California State University , Bakersfield, 1999-2000
Adjunct Professor, Department of Computer Studies, Bakersfield College , Bakersfield, 1998
Graduate Assistant, School of Urban & Regional Planning , University of Southern California , Los Angeles, 1987-1992

Professional Experience

Associate Planner, Kern Council of Governments , Bakersfield, California 1994-2000
Intern, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Los Angeles, 1993-2004
Intern, Southern California Association of Governments , Los Angeles, 1992-1993
Professional Engineer, in Calcutta (Kolkata) and Madras (Chennai) in India, 1985-1987

Grants
(have not included grants through the Faculty Development program at WOU or CSUB)

* June 2002 $10,000 grant from Great Valley Center (through the Smart Growth Coalition of Kern County ) for a project to explore alternative metropolitan governance structures in land use planning in Bakersfield. Work initiated after joining WOU, and completed in May 2003.

Aug. 2000 $8,000 from the Great Valley Center (through the Smart Growth Coalition of Kern County ) for a project to better understand the cost of development in Bakersfield. Completed in May 2001.

July 2000 Worked with the Kern Tree Foundation and the California Department of Forests for a paid student internship ($10,000) for a student in the Environmental Resource Management program.

Publications and Presentations

Academic and Professional (Articles, Commentaries, and Letters)

* Book review of The Box: How the shipping container made the world smaller and the world economy bigger, Professional Geographer Volume 60, Number 2 (May 2008)
* “The United States of Gordon Gekkos”, Planetizen, April 7, 2008
* "The irrelevance of SAT in Honors" in the Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council, Volume 8, No. 2 (2007)
* "When A McMansion Isn't Large Enough”, Planetizen, September 17, 2007
* “A Note on Immigration from a "Naturalized" Geographer”, AAG Newsletter, Volume 42, #7 (July/August 2007) , pp. 18
* "Searching for Tatiyana”, Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council, Spring 2007, pp. 49-51
* “Sex and the City, Pregnancy and the Suburb?”, Planetizen, May 21, 2007
* “Miles to Go Before I Sleep”, Planetizen, July 24, 2006
* "Where is the Middle East?", AAG Newsletter, Volume 41, #5 (May 2006) , pp. 10.
* "A Way of Life", Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council, Spring 2006
* "Our Own Private Idahos", Planetizen, October 10, 2005
* "Practice What You Teach?" Planetizen, September 27, 2004
* Book review of Economic Revitalization: Cases and Strategies for City and Suburb in the Professional Geographer Volume 56, Number 3 (August 2004), pp. 442-443.
* "How I learned to love my new home: A tale of two neighborhoods" Oregon Planners' Journal March/April 2004
* "McClendon's Vision Too Narrow" Journal of the American Planning Association , Volume 70, Number 1 (Winter 2004), pp. 97
* "Alternative Governance Structures: Land use planning in Bakersfield", May 2003, Report submitted to the Smart Growth Coalition of Kern County
""Future" Symposium a Welcome Reminder" Journal of the American Planning Association , Volume 68, Number 1 (Winter 2002), pp. 96
“The Bottom Line in Research” Chronicle Review (Chronicle of Higher Education) , October 19, 2001.
“Urbanization in Bakersfield” Kern Economic Journal , Volume 3, Issue 2 (2001)
“ The Cost of Residential Development: A Case Study of Bakersfield, California ” May 2001, Report submitted to the Smart Growth Coalition of Kern County.
“Is Government Important in Kern County?” Kern Economic Journal , Volume 3, Issue 1 (2001)
“Million Dollar Growth: Local Government Budget” Kern Economic Journal , Volume 2, Issue 4 (2001)
“Location Decisions: Learning GIS Applications,” Kern Economic Journal , Volume 2, Issue 2 (2000)
“Gasoline Prices and Consumer Behavior,” Kern Economic Journal , Volume 2, Issue 1 (2000)
"Planning Important but Often Missed," Journal of the American Planning Association , Volume 65, Number 1 (Winter 1999), pp. 113-114.
“Economics of Urban Sprawl,” Kern Economic Journal , Volume 1, Issue 3 (1999)
“High Speed Rail and Regional Employment,” Kern Economic Journal , Volume 1, Issue 2 (1999)
"Is Silence Golden?" Journal of the American Planning Association , Volume 63, Number 1 (Winter 1997), pp. 146-147.
"A Note on Planning and Legislation," The California Planner , Volume VIII, Issue 3, (May/June 1996), p. 7
"Fast Lanes are not in the Bill of Rights," The California Planner , Volume VIII, Issue 1, (January/February 1996), p. 7
"Ever Heard of the APA?" The California Planner , Volume VII, Issue 2 (March/April 1995), p. 13
"Vision, Vision, Where Are You?" The California Planner , Volume VII, Issue 1, (January/February 1995), p. 12
"Market, State and the Specialist," Canadian Journal of Development Studies, Vol. XV (1994/95) No. 2, pp. 277-284
"Is Planning Democratic?" Journal of the American Planning Association , Volume 60, Number 1 (Winter 1994), pp. 111-112.
"Telecommuting: Alternative Transportation Paradigms and the Defense Industry", The Dispatch, Volume 24, Number 9 (November/December 1993), p. 4-5.
"Markets and States in Development," Scandinavian Journal of Development Alternatives, Vol. XI, No. 1 (March 1992), pp. 41-51.

Newspaper Op-eds

* “Measure the region's stability by what's cricket in Pakistan” The Register Guard, October 13, 2009
* "State budget cuts leave students with higher costs" The Statesman Journal, October 4, 2009
* “Obama's meeting with Dalai Lama is off for now” The Register Guard, September 23, 2009
* “Health care debate proves democracy in America is well” The Register Guard, September 1, 2009
* “Birthrate in India has dropped, while elderly live longer” The Register Guard, August 16, 2009
* “Hillary Clinton’s trip reveals India’s warm regard for U.S.” The Register Guard, August 3, 2009
* “US not the only place higher ed faces crisis” The Register Guard, August 3, 2009
* “In India, man has yet to make peace with nature” The Register Guard, August 1, 2009
* “Yes, we have no mangoes that haven’t been tainted” The Register Guard, July 20, 2009
* “Expect China and India to drag feet on climate initiatives” The Register Guard, July 13, 2009
* “Thailand and India stealing America’s medical mojo” The Register Guard, July 6, 2009
* "Geography about understanding relationships between, among areas" The Statesman Journal, June 12, 2009
* “US recognizing links between Afghanistan and Pakistan” The Register Guard, June 11, 2009
* “Elections a world away will resonate here” The Register Guard, May 13, 2009
* “Kicker falsely assumes economy is predictable” The Register Guard, May 7, 2009
* "Gas taxes, road maintenance--debate rages on" The Statesman Journal, April 21, 2009
* “In energy, too, it's the water” The Register Guard, April 6, 2009
* “Longer school year not a panacea” The Register Guard, March 23, 2009
* “Recession, trade limits don't mix” The Register Guard, March 8, 2009
* “Two-state peace plans have a history” The Register Guard, February 23, 2009
* “Struggle of the Uighur people is quite real” The Register Guard, February 5, 2009
* “Sri Lanka flies under the radar” The Register Guard, January 19, 2009
* “Hard to live green when just surviving” The Register Guard, January 4, 2009
* “In India, US gets blame for economy” The Register Guard, December 28, 2008
* “Let sports assist war on terror” The Register Guard, December 22, 2008
* “Car crisis could well be repeated” The Register Guard, December 16, 2008
* "Although sometimes annoying, be thankful for our democracy" The Statesman Journal, December 9, 2008
* “Hail a cab, explore the world” The Register Guard, November 17, 2008
* “America’s destiny is in space” The Register Guard, November 4, 2008
* “Ballot measures prove a tough test” The Register Guard, October 27, 2008
* “Indian-Americans breaking out” The Register Guard, October 21, 2008
* "The whole world is watching—and caring—about our crisis" The Register Guard, October 6, 2008
* "State officials deserve better salaries" The Statesman Journal, September 25, 2008
* "Instability in Pakistan increases" The Register Guard, September 23, 2008
* "Every Madras and Salem has a rich history" The Register Guard, September 16, 2008
* "Academics thrive because of generosity" The Statesman Journal, August 14, 2008
* "In our economy, industry is here today, somewhere else tomorrow" The Register Guard, August 10, 2008
* "Making a difference clearly lies in the bag" The Register Guard, August 4, 2008
* "Metric system better any way you measure it ", The Register Guard, July 28, 2008
* "Repeat after me: Ee-rock" The Register Guard, June 16, 2008
* "America's not getting any respect" The Register Guard, June 2, 2008
* "Sportsmanship should supplant foul ethics" The Register Guard, May 27, 2008
* "Think globally, speak locally" The Register Guard, May 12, 2008
* "To have peace there must be food" The Register Guard, April 27, 2008
* "Let's keep those 'only in Eugene' stories upbeat" The Register Guard, April 20, 2008
* "India tiptoes around China--and rightfully so" The Register Guard, April 10, 2008
* "Water one key to washing away poverty" The Register Guard, April 7, 2008
* "American dream in need of a tuneup" The Register Guard, March 23, 2008
* "State not ready for rainy day" The Statesman Journal, March 12, 2008
* "An honored ambassador for all of India" The Register Guard, March 10, 2008
* "Tourism a sign of our affluence" The Register Guard, February 20, 2008
* "Sadly, suicide bombings are nothing new" The Register Guard, February 6, 2008
* "1979 was the start of a new era" The Register Guard, January 31, 2008
* "Refugee issue hurts US image" The Register Guard, January 24, 2008
* "Fight for immigrant labor is global" The Register Guard, January 17, 2008
* "Don't forget: Schools should aim to foster creativity" The Register Guard, January 8, 2008
* "In India, climate change is very real" The Register Guard, December 20, 2007
* "Can lights stay bright forever?" The Register Guard, December 10, 2007
* "Giving thanks is universal, but Thanksgiving isn't yet" The Register Guard, November 22, 2007
* "Democracy about more than voting" The Register Guard, November 18, 2007
* "Invasive species always will be part of ecosystems" The Statesman Journal, November 13, 2007
* "US must maintain openness" The Register Guard, November 6, 2007
* "Tibet's fall replayed in Burma" The Register Guard, October 22, 2007
* "Indians integrate readily" The Register Guard, October 14, 2007
* "Geographic names are important on the world stage" The Register Guard, September 30, 2007
* "Long after guns fall silent, war's toll ripples through generations" The Register Guard, September 13, 2007
* "Paper's focus needs to be adjusted" The Statesman Journal, September 6, 2007
* "Does U.S. oversell college?" The Register Guard, August 27, 2007
* "Musharraf up against the wall in Pakistan", The Register Guard, August 12, 2007
* "A global view from Alaska", The Register Guard, August 1, 2007
* "Coos Bay port: Let's think big", The Register Guard, July 10, 2007
* "Gas prices affect entire economy" The Statesman Journal, June 16, 2007
* "Neglecting Higher Education is a Costly Mistake" The Register Guard, April 19, 2007
* "Market can't keep ignoring value of higher education" The Register Guard, February 23, 2007
* "Around the world, US losing its shine" The Register Guard, January 23, 2007
* "Nationalist movements span globe" The Register Guard, December 12, 2006
* "'Foreign' interests creep into ballot measures" The Register Guard, October 3, 2006
* "Future rides on investment in universities" The Register Guard, September 6, 2006
* "Education left behind in consumer spending frenzy" The Register Guard, March 28, 2006
* "Local papers fill essential role" The Statesman Journal, January 28, 2006
* "US is one country, many nations" The Register Guard, July 15, 2005
* "Initiatives sacrifice middle ground" The Statesman Journal, June 1, 2005
* “When it comes to money, universities are as conservative as it gets” The Register Guard, April 17, 2005
* “Rhetoric-over-fact culture threatens our democracy” The Statesman Journal, March 21, 2005
* “Debating issues is the American way” The Statesman Journal, January 29, 2005
* "Oregon Changing for the Worse" The Register Guard, December 4, 2004
* "Property Rights Are Not Absolute" The Register Guard, September 12, 2004
* "Suicide Law is State's Right" The Statesman Journal, November 8, 2002
"Baseball is Showbiz, So Are Enhancers OK?" The Bakersfield Californian, July 17, 2002
“Supervisors, Council Should Butt Out” The Bakersfield Californian , April 5, 2002
"Sprawl Inducing Taxes Have Better Uses " The Bakersfield Californian , February 9, 2002
"A Hard Lesson in Geography " The Bakersfield Californian , November 11, 2001
“Study Shows Costs Spread From Center of City’s Growth ” The Bakersfield Californian , August 12, 2001
“Civic Duties a Special Experience” The Bakersfield Californian , July 28, 2001
“Traffic Congestion and Energy Crisis Similar”, The Bakersfield Californian , May 29, 2001
“Merging Cities Works Economically”, The Bakersfield Californian , May 3, 2001
“More Partisanship is Needed, Not Less”, The Bakersfield Californian , December 14, 2000
Teenagers Handle Sex Saturation Well, The Bakersfield Californian , August 2000.
Sales Tax Proposal is no Big Deal, The Bakersfield Californian, April 9, 2000
City's Economic Ideas Questioned , The Bakersfield Californian , December 9, 1999
Society too preoccupied with dropout rates The Bakersfield Californian , September 25, 1999
Educators must impart values, The Bakersfield Californian , July 10, 1999
Government Needs to Do More for "Needy," The Bakersfield Californian , February 3, 1999
"Bakersfield Should Remember Famous Residents", The Bakersfield Californian , October 20, 1998
"Think Globally and Act Locally", The Bakersfield Californian , August 29, 1998
"Ignoring India Created Nuclear Nation", The Bakersfield Californian , June 13, 1998
"We Must Protect Minority Views", The Bakersfield Californian , December 1, 1997
"Jobs Missing from Welfare Equation", The Bakersfield Californian , August 29, 1997
"Congress Urged to Nix Tobacco Pact", The Bakersfield Californian , July 7, 1997
"Cities Don't Have to Entertain Residents", The Bakersfield Californian , April 16, 1997
"Environmentalists Not to Blame for Floods", The Bakersfield Californian , March 3, 1997
"Juggling Data Won't Fix Problems", The Bakersfield Californian , December 17, 1996
"Only We Can Prevent Wasteful Spending", The Bakersfield Californian , August 23, 1996
"Flat Tax Falls Short of its Goal", The Bakersfield Californian , February 1, 1996
"Privatize Portions of Public Library", The Bakersfield Californian , September 28, 1995
"Stop Immigrant-Bashing Rhetoric", The Bakersfield Californian , August 29, 1994
"Restrict guns instead of fireworks", The Bakersfield Californian , July 21, 1993

Academic Presentations

* "The paradoxical growth of new homes and self-storage", on April 19, 2008, at the 104th Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers
* "Money, too, is green in Oregon", special lecture to commemorate Oregon's 150th birthday, at Oregon Geographic Alliance Spring Conference, March 8, 2008
* "Practical solutions for bridging the gap between Arts and Sciences, and Education", Roundtable Session presentation by Girod, Mark and Sriram Khe at the 60th annual meeting of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, Feb 8, 2008
* "Mock to teach", on October 20, 2007, at the 70th Annual Meeting of the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers
* "Economic geography of Oregon," on July 10, 2007 at the Oregon Geographic Alliance's Summer Institute.
* "An autoethnographic approach to understanding urban sprawl", on April 21, 2007, at the 103rd Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers
* "Spatial aggregation of the likes", on February 24, 2007 at the Annual Meeting of the Oregon Academy of Sciences
* "How Sengottai lost its groove" on September 8, 2006, at the 69th Annual Meeting of the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers
* "Being and becoming a public scholar" on March 10, 2006, panelist at the 102nd Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers
* "Practice what you teach: Ethical issues in teaching, and talking about, geography" on April 5, 2005 at the 101st Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers
* "Practice what you teach: Ne'er the twain shall meet?" invited presentation on January 6, 2005 at the Winter Tea Seminars of the Geography Department, University of Oregon
* "Blessing or a Curse?" on September 11, 2004 at the 67th Annual Meeting of the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers
* "Regional Planning is Dead: Long Live Regional Planning", on March 17, 2004 at the 100th Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers.
* "The Irrelevance of Geography", on February 28, 2004 at the Annual Meeting of the Oregon Academy of Sciences.
* "Back to the Future: "Ten big questions" and the "two cultures", on September 20, 2003 at the 66th Annual Meeting of the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers
* "Alternatives to the Status Quo" on August 1, 2003 at the public forum sponsored by the Smart Growth Coalition of Kern County
* "Quality of Life and Economic Development: At What Cost", on March 6, 2003 at the 99th Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers.
* "Using Local Short Stories to Teach Geography: The Pomegranate Trees by William Saroyan" on October 5, 2002, at the 65th Annual Meeting of the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers
“Urban Geography Model” presented in Los Angeles on March 20, 2002 at the 98th Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers.
“Research is Dead: Long Live Research” presented on March 1, 2002 at the Philosophy Colloquium at California State University-Bakersfield.
“The Cost of Residential Development in Bakersfield” presented on August 16, 2001 to the Planning Commission of the City of Bakersfield
“The Cost of Residential Development in Bakersfield” presented on July 27, 2001 at the public forum sponsored by the Smart Growth Coalition of Kern County.
“Sluggish Third World Development” presented at the Southwestern Social Science Association Annual Meeting, March 1993.
“Growth and Welfare Through States and Markets” presented at the Western Regional Science Association Annual Meeting, February 1992.

Courses Taught

At WOU
(Since the implementation of the four-credit curriculum in Fall 2003.
Course numbers are consistent with the catalog revisions effective Fall 2009)
GEOG 106: Introductory Economic Geography
GEOG 310: World Regional Geography
GEOG 314: The Pacific Rim
GEOG 315: The Indian Subcontinent
GEOG 341: Introduction to Geographic Information Systems
GEOG 407: Seminar
GEOG 409: Practicum
GEOG 410: Global Issues
GEOG 413: Urban Geography
GEOG 418: International Trade and Transportation
GEOG 425: Urban Planning and Policy

Am on schedule to teach:
GEOG 495: History and Philosophy of Geography
GEOG 499: Capstone Experience

At CSUB:
ECON 309: Economy and Society
ECON 370: Environmental Economics
ECON 395: Economic Geography
ECON 410: International Development
ERM 490: Senior Seminar
GST 101: Food for Thought

Service to Academe

* Editor of Pacifica, which is the biannual publication of the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers. July 2005-
* Member of the Committee of College Geography and Careers, which is one of the committees of the Association of American Geographers, July 2007-, and Chair of the Committee since September 2009

* Institutional Service at WOU

Campus Curriculum Committee: Member representing the Social Science Division, 2009-
Writing Intensive Committee: Member representing the Social Science Division, 2005-2009
Delmer Dewey and Julia Smith Awards Committee: Member representing the Honors Program, 2005-2007
Presentation about the Honors Program to the WOU Foundation, June 2007
Personnel Review Committee of the Social Science Division, 2005-2006
Chair, Geography Department, 2004-2006
Institutional Assessment Task Force, 2005-2006
Teacher Education Division’s Faculty Search Committee, 2004-2005.
Social Science Symposium Committee (co-founder), 2003-2005
Faculty Senate: Senator representing the Social Science Division, 2003-2005
Academic Information Services Committee: Member representing the Social Science Division, 2002-2003
Planning Committee of the Social Science Division, 2004-2005
URSCAP Taskforce, 2004-2005
Information Competency Working Group, 2003-2004
Advisory Board of the Center for Teaching and Learning, Member, 2003-2004
WOU Foundation’s Board, ex-officio member representing the faculty senate, 2003-2004
Participated in the Preview Days and SOAR sessions for, and on behalf, of the Honors Program
University Preview Days, representing the Social Science Division

Professional Outreach to the community

* Presentation about Pakistan at the Eugene Metro Rotary Club on September 9, 2008
* Presentation about India at the Monmouth Senior Center, (February 2006)
* Reviewed applications for the Statesman Journal’s “Academic All-Stars Program”, 2005, 2006
* Judged sessions at the State Geography Bee (April 2004)
Board Member and Secretary, Tree Foundation of Kern , July 2001-May 2002

Other

Member, Association of American Geographers
Member, Association of Pacific Coast Geographers
Member, Sigma Xi
Listed in Who is Who in America
Outstanding Teaching Assistant, School of Urban and Regional Planning, USC
In October 2000, changed my name to Sriram Khé from Krishnamurthy Sriram