The Conditions of Coastality

Abstract

I shall begin my talk tonight by noting that a Presidential Address at an academic professional meeting is a rather peculiar tradition. Though the APCG President's address may not rank at the top of the list of peculiar regional customs (it's not as bad an idea as, say, slavery) still you have to wonder. Here we are, coming up on the very end of this fine conference. Presumably at this point you've already sat through innumerable paper presentations. Some of those you perhaps found rather stimulating; certain others probably left you with that special conference feeling. You know the one: that sort of glazing compound made up of too little sleep, too much beer, too much PowerPoint? And now, after ingesting and imbibing in a fine banquet feast here at the fun and funky Madonna Inn, how in the world can we sit still and subject ourselves to yet another pon derous academic paper? No wonder they call us eggheads! Over the past dozen years I have served as the executive secre tary of another professional association, one somewhat akin to the APCG: the Western Regional Science Association (WRSA). One of the numerous jobs that my august position with that group entails is working each year with the newly selected WRSA president in planning the presidential address at the banquet. I've come to a couple of conclusions as a result of those experiences—as well as from having sat in the audience for quite a few such addresses. My first contention is that the best talks are short (I promise this one's going to be a resounding success from that standpoint!). My second is that certain personality traits that help individuals become recog nized scholars don't necessarily equip them to be good after-dinner 9

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