In July, an appeal was made for donations in support of the 2015 Education and Outreach Auction.  The article also reminded everyone that the auction was renamed “PLSO Education and Outreach Auction,” even though many of us still refer to it as the scholarship auction.  This commentary addresses why outreach, as well as the scholarship fund, deserve support.

Each year, PLSO scholarships assist a limited number of students.   For the 2014-2015 academic year, a total of $14,500 was awarded to five winning applicants.  The scholarship fund presently has a balance of about $250,000.  This amount virtually guarantees that annual awards will amount to more than $14,000 whether we add monies to it or not.  Funding scholarships is important, but outreach is equally, if not a more important issue for PLSO.

Outreach has risen to a high priority because of numerous challenges and opportunities that confront the survey profession.  Enrollments have been declining at survey institutions in Oregon and other states.  A large percentage of professional surveyors are well over the age of 50, so there seems to be great potential for young people who choose to enter this field.  The survey profession needs to promote a better understanding of its services to allied career fields and to the general public.  In recognition of these matters, the PLSO Board recently decided that it should expand and enhance outreach efforts.

In the last issue of “The Oregon Surveyor,” three articles spoke to the importance of outreach, particularly noting that our profession faces extinction if we don’t make a concerted effort to increase public awareness.  These articles stated that additional outreach efforts will require increased financial and organizational support from PLSO.  Devoting part of the auction proceeds to outreach will help that cause monetarily, and will focus more attention on this important issue.

Proceeds from the auction will either be assigned to outreach or to the scholarship fund.  The PLSO Board distributed funds from the 2014 auction to both endeavors.  In the future, individual donors might prefer to designate their contribution to a particular program.  The auction committee is considering a suggestion that would allow donors to designate their contributions for one of three options: (1) Scholarship; (2) Outreach; or (3) A combination at the option of the PLSO Board.  The proposal is still pending final consideration by the auction committee and the Board.

Whether you more strongly support scholarship or outreach, your assistance is essential to the success of the PLSO Education and Outreach Auction.  Participate in this important event by donating one or more special items and by making a purchase at the auction.  Your generosity will promote the survey profession wherever it is used.

Gary Johnston

Auction Chairman

National Trig-Star Committee Selects Winners of the Richard E. Lomax National Trig-Star and Teaching Excellence Awards

Oregon State Winner Jolyn Chance Came in 8th Place Nationally!

The National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS) is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2014 Richard E. Lomax National Trig-Star Awards.  The Trig-Star committee met on July 11, 2014 to determine the three top high school students from the national examinations submitted by state winners.  This year there were thirty-seven state winners submitted.  A past president of NSPS, Richard Lomax was the driving force behind the elevation of the local Trig-Star program to the national level.  In October 1994, Board action named this high school trigonometry skill award in his honor.

The Richard E. Lomax National Trig-Star Awards are as follows:

First Place:      Luben Deng, Cherry Creek High School, Greenwood Village, Colorado

Second Place:    Benjamin Fawcett, New Hanover High School, Wilmington, North Carolina

Third Place:     Natalie Sanchez, Rochester High School, Rochester, Washington

The Richard E. Lomax National Teaching Excellence Awards are as follows:

First Place:      Dorothy Dady, Cherry Creek High School, Greenwood Village, Colorado

Second Place:    Nicholas Corak, New Hanover High School, Wilmington, North Carolina

Third Place:     Carolyn Johnson, Rochester High School, Rochester, Washington

The first place student receives $2,000, second place student receives $1,000, and third place student receives $500.  The first place teacher receives $1,000, second place teacher receives $500, and third place teacher receives $250.  The Trig-Star Policy states that “the National Student and Teacher Awards be given to the winning students at or before the next state professional land surveying organization conference of the student’s home state.”

The following is a list of the remaining State Winners in the order of finish:

David Stockhouse, Alaska; Stephen Joyce, Minnesota; Russell Kenney, Wyoming; Emily Parnell, Virginia; Jolyn Chance, Oregon; Anna Keri, Ohio; Crystal Nevius, Georgia; Tyler Rosenberger, Pennsylvania; Robert Ross, Indiana; Taylor McCreary, California; Kristopher Schaff, Montana; Jessica Gustad, Michigan; Jacob Zamora, Utah; Shoshaunah Jacob, Wisconsin; Sairahul Pentaparthi, Texas; Cameron Fisk, New Hampshire; Nathan DeGraaf, Iowa; Eric Pitman, Idaho; Alexander Snouffer, Maryland; Alexander Bakker, Massachusetts; James Johnson, Kentucky; Anthony Abbazia, Jr., Connecticut; Katie Kanich, Delaware; Yun Wei Yang, Nevada; Elijah Mathews, North Dakota; Evangimel Miranda, Puerto Rico; Su Yang, New York; Mathias Wingert, South Dakota; Rachel Douglass, Louisiana; Isaac Swiney, Illinois; Nicholas Tice, Maine; Matthew Harrell, Alabama; Elizabeth Goodrow, Kansas; and Zachary Wade, Missouri.

The Richard E. Lomax National Trig-Star and Teaching Excellence Awards are a few of several annual NSPS awards.  For more information about the NSPS awards and scholarship programs, please contact NSPS, 5119 Pegasus Court, Frederick, MD  21704, (240) 439-4615, e-mail: Trisha Milburn at trisha.milburn@nsps.us.com, or visit the NSPS web site at www.nsps.us.com.

All CGSIC:

May 15, 2014

Recently, many GPS users have reported intermittent GPS outages in their devices. After investigating, the U.S. government has linked the problem to flawed processing of GPS satellite data within certain GPS receiver chipsets. The GPS Satellite service continues to function as designed and is fully operational and available worldwide.

The problem affects only user equipment that erroneously ignores the satellite health status information broadcast from every GPS satellite. The problem is not related to the April 28, 2014, activation of civil navigation messages on the GPS L2C and L5 signals.

Since March 15, 2014, the Air Force has been conducting functional checkout on a GPS satellite, designated Space Vehicle Number (SVN) 64. SVN 64 broadcasts a data message that clearly indicates SVN 64 is unusable for navigation. Nevertheless, the U.S. government has confirmed that certain GPS receivers are using data from SVN 64, in violation of GPS interface specifications, resulting in outages or corrupted, inaccurate position calculations.

The Air Force testing is scheduled to end in mid--‐May 2014 at which time SVN 64 will begin normal operation. At that point, these problems may stop occurring. Meanwhile, the U.S. government urges all GPS device makers to review their products for compliance with the GPS interface specifications, and if necessary, to issue software/firmware updates to users as soon as possible. View specifications: www.gps.gov/technical/icwg

Users experiencing GPS outages should check with their device manufacturers for available software/firmware updates. In addition, any civil user seeing unusual behavior in GPS user equipment should report it to the U.S. Coast Guard Navigation Center (NAVCEN). Aviation users should file reports consistent with FAA--‐approved procedures. Military users seeing unusual behavior should report it the GPS Operations Center (GPSOC).

Please direct any civil user questions to NAVCEN at (703) 313- 5900,

http://www.navcen.uscg.gov

Please direct any military user questions to the GPSOC at (719) 567-2541, DSN: 560--‐2541,

gpsoperationscenter@us.af.mil

https://gps.afspc.af.mil

Military alternate:

Joint Space Operations Center, (805) 606-3514, DSN: 276--‐3514, jspoccombatops@vandenberg.af.mil

--‐--‐--‐--‐

See also:

Technical explanation for device makers (PDF)

http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/pdf/gps/GPSOC_PRN

30_Notice.pdf

V/R

Rick Hamilton

CGSIC

Executive Secretariat

GPS Information Analysis

Team Lead

USCG Navigation Center

703--‐313--‐5930

Oregon Tech Geomatics Students Take Second at National Competition

May 7, 2014 – A team of students from the Oregon Tech Geomatics Department took second place in the annual National Society of Professional Land Surveyors Student Competition this April. The National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS) held its 14^th Annual Student Competition in conjunction with the California Land Surveyors Association (CLSA)/Nevada Association of Land Surveyors (NALS) joint conference in San Diego, California on April 12-16, 2014. 12 schools with baccalaureate degree programs in surveying, surveying engineering technology, and/or surveying engineering participated.

Results:

First Place: Southern Polytechnic State University

Second Place: Oregon Institute of Technology- Klamath Falls, Oregon

Third Place: Fresno State University

Honorable Mentions: Penn State, New Mexico State, Michigan Tech, Utah Valley University, and New Jersey Institute of Technology.

The topic for the 2014 competition was ALTA/ACSM Land Title Surveys and consisted of a Project, Project Binder (Project Documentation), Map, and Oral Presentation. The purpose for this four pronged approach is to provide students with an opportunity to hone their skills in organizing and presenting a project using the various mediums (Documentation, Map, and Oral Presentation) regularly utilized in surveying practice.

The Oregon Tech team was led by Josie Campbell, a senior from Portola, CA. Orlando Aquino and Steve Randall, seniors from Klamath Falls; Tim Brown, junior from Vernonia, OR; Arlo Kneeland-MacDonald, junior from McMinnville, OR; Wesley Inman, junior from Red Bluff, CA; and Tyler Puzey, sophomore from Clatskaine, OR made up the rest of the team.

The Oregon Tech team prepared a survey of the Amerititle office in Medford for this competition. The team was responsible for the legal research, field surveying, mapping, documentation and final presentation. Once the first draft of the map was completed, the team sent their map out to 15 professionals around the country including Professional Surveyors and Real Estate Professionals, including attorneys and paralegals that work with these surveys for their comments. These valuable comments were added to the final project that was submitted to NSPS.

For more information, please contact Mitch Duryea, Assistant Professor, Geomatics Department at 541-851-5762, or visit www.oit.edu/academics/degrees/geomatics.

About Oregon Tech Geomatics

At Oregon Tech, the study of geomatics combines theory, problem-solving and field work in a computer-intensive curriculum that prepares students for employment and licensure as Professional Land Surveyors. A shortage of trained personnel makes the employment forecast for geomatics graduates exceptional.

Oregon Tech's geomatics program is accredited by the Applied Science Accreditation Commission of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), 111 Market Place, Suite 1050, Baltimore, Md. 21202-4012.

About National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS)

NSPS is the national organization representing the Land Surveying profession in the United States and has among its aims and objectives: Advancing the sciences and disciplines with in the profession; supporting new practical methods of surveying; promoting public faith and confidence in the profession; encouraging high standards of ethical and professional behavior; and seeking improvements in higher education curricula for surveyors.

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Math and Politics

By:  Darrell W. Fuller, PLSO Lobbyist

This is for people who like politics or math, or both.  If this is not you, then it is possible you will stop reading before the end.  But that’s okay.  For the rest of you, stay with me.

 

Today’s important numbers will be 60, 31, 30, 16, 76, 11 and 1. 

 

The Oregon House of Representatives has 60 members who each serve a two-year term.  To be in the majority, you need…wait for it…31 members (half of 60 plus one).  It’s math, but not quantum algebra.  Since all 60 seats are up for re-election every two years, we have NO IDEA who’s going to be in charge, right?  Well, wrong.

 

Of those 60 House members, 26 are running for re-election and no one is running against them.  So, they have a pretty good chance of winning.  Of the 26, 17 are Democrats and 9 are Republicans.  So, already the count is 17 to 9 in favor of the Democrats and no one has voted yet.

 

Now, let’s be candid:  If you are a Democrat running in Portland, or a Republican running in Eastern or Southern Oregon, it doesn’t really matter if you have an opponent.  We just know that certain seats are “safe” seats for each party.  So, in addition to the races with no opponent at all, there are 13 safe Republican seats and 13 safe Democratic seats.

 

Add them to the uncontested races and the count is 30 Democrats and 22 Republicans.  Remember, you need 31 votes to be in the majority.  So, before anyone opens their ballot and casts a vote, the Democrats are only one seat shy of a majority.

 

That leaves only 8 races out of 60 that will really determine who will be in the majority in the House come January, 2015.  And, the Republicans have to win all 8 just to get a 30-30 tie.  These races will get a LOT of money and a LOT of attention. 

 

We’ve covered numbers 60 and 31. Let’s move on.

 

The Oregon State Senate is a little trickier.  There are 30 Senators.  They each serve a four-year term.  Their elections are staggered so about half of the Senators are up for re-election every two years.  The other half will return to the Capitol in January without an election.  In the Senate, it takes 16 members to have a majority.  Among Senators NOT up for re-election, there are 6 Democrats and 8 Republicans.  So, the Republican Party, in theory, already has a two-seat edge.

 

Of the Senators up for re-election, only 5 are Republicans while 10 are Democrats (one Republican isn’t running for re-election).  So, the Democrat Party has more territory to defend (but a lot of those 10 seats are in Portland).

 

Like in the House, some of the Senators are unopposed and some have only “token” opposition since they are in safe seats.  Republicans have 1 unopposed and 4 more in safe seats.  Democrats have 4 unopposed and 4 more in safe seats.  Add these numbers to the incumbents who are not up for re-election and -- without a single vote cast -- we already know the numbers in the Senate are 14 Democrats and 13 Republicans.  Pretty close.

 

This leaves only 3 Senate seats that are really up for grabs.

 

So, with 60 House seats and 16 Senate seats up for election in November (76 races total), you and I already know which party is going to win 65 of them.  That leaves 11 in the balance (3 in the Senate and 8 in the House).  11 seats are all that really matter in November and a lot is riding on who wins those 11 seats.

 

That leaves only one number left.  1.  When the Legislature passes a bill, 1 person has a super-vote.  1 person can sign that bill into law or veto it.  That 1 person is the Governor and he is up for re-election, too.

 

Thus ends today’s lesson.  It may be politics, but in the end, it’s all about the math.

 

Thank you to everyone that participated in National Surveyors Week. With nationwide participation, a large contribution was made to the NGS GPS on Bench Marks Campaign.

Below are two NOAA maps depicting the contributions to OPUS DB. The first represents the entire month of March, which saw the largest ever number of submissions, 282 including one from Puerto Rico. Click the image to enlarge.

 

 

The second map represents only those submissions made during National Surveyors Week.
The top contributor was Pennsylvania, with 13 marks, others included 9 from OH, 8 each from AZ & CA, 7 from AL, 5 from DE, 3 each from NC & SD, 2 from CO, CT, FL, GA, ID, KY, MI, MO, ND, NJ, OR, VA & WY, and one from LA. Click image to enlarge.

 

 

Great job everyone!

 

NSPS Election Results for 2014 are as follows:

President-Elect race, the results were: Jon Warren – 780; Debi Anderson – 750.

For the NSPS Vice President race, the results were: Tony Cavell – 620; Jan Fokens – 549; Henry Dingle – 328

Pat Smith was not on the ballot for the Presidency since it is an automatic accession from President-Elect.

Kim Leavitt ran unopposed in the Area 7 Director election.

The PLSO Board of Directors is pleased to announce that it has hired Aimee McAuliffe of Associate Solutions Management LLC as its new Executive Secretary. She will work closely with the organization in its professional education and outreach efforts to ensure a vital future for the Oregon surveying industry.

McAuliffe has 10-years of experience in the non-profit management arena as full-time staff of the Oregon Association of Nurseries. During her tenure, she managed member programs, continuing education and events, including the Farwest Show – one of North America’s largest nursery trade shows. She is well versed in marketing and events in both non-profit and for-profit sectors.

Board Chair Lee Spurgeon said, "The ad hoc committee that reviewed our executive secretary’s contract was extremely impressed with McAuliffe’s qualifications, experience, intelligence, demeanor, enthusiasm, and vision." 

McAuliffe replaces Mary Louise Van Natta who is working on the transition through March. As reported in the March/April edition of Oregon Surveyor magazine, Van Natta has chosen to step down and pursue other professional goals in the communications and public relations field.

McAuliffe adds, “I am extremely excited about working with PLSO. There is something special about people that spend their valuable time collaborating with peers for the betterment of the industry.” 

March 10, 2014, Tigard, Ore. – The Professional Land Surveyors of Oregon (PLSO), a non-profit trade association, is partnering with the National Council of Examiners for Engineering (NCEES) as well as 12 other western state land surveying associations to sponsor teachers for the Teaching with Spatial Technology (TwiST) program.

“Spatial Technology includes Geographic Information Systems, Remote Sensing and Global Positioning Systems,” explains John Thatcher, PLSO Chair-Elect and state representative for the Western Federation of Professional Surveyors. “The technology allows us to understand and visualize data in different ways in the form of maps, globes, reports, and charts. Not only are they powerful tools in the future development of our country, but they are extremely helpful in understanding environmental changes and more.”

TwiST is designed to teach grade 6-12 educators how to use Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) in the classroom to create meaningful and challenging lesson plans for students. Held June 23-27 at Clark College in Vancouver, Wash., it is a week-long workshop designed to make teachers proficient in the many aspects of spatial technology. The course is a mixture of classroom study and field exercises while learning to use GIS software, a GPS receiver and other related materials.

Teachers are expected to learn about applications that classroom activities can accomplish around their school and community. Ranging from resource management to environmental assessment, cartography and more, the activities may be taught at various levels of grade appropriate complexity.

Local teachers are encouraged to log on to http://www.plso.org/twist for an application to attend and sponsorship opportunities that will cover costs of tuition and travel. Tuition costs for the week long workshop is $600, which includes all course teaching materials, ESRI GIS Software for teachers, Garmin GPS receiver, PC cable for downloading data, a 2GB thumb drive, hand compass, and other training materials. The deadline to apply is April 14.

Contact: John Thatcher   

# # #

The Professional Land Surveyors of Oregon, based in Tigard, represents more than 500 land surveyors and associated suppliers. It serves the land surveying industry in Oregon through professional education and outreach, holding paramount the interests of the public. To learn more visit www.plso.org.