Fresno State student, group honored by the U.N. and State Department

The United Nations, U.S. State Department and a West Virginia manufacturer of instruments to detect landmines have honored Fresno State senior David Biswanger and an engineering student group for raising money to help remove landmines, the manufacturer has announced.

Biswanger is president of the student chapter of the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping at California State University, Fresno, which worked with the Civil & Geomatics Engineering Department at the university and several other groups on the project.

They collected more than 400 cell phones for recycling and raised more than $1,029 to buy a de-mining tool from Schonstedt Instrument Co., which also makes devices used to detect cluster bombs and other unexploded ordnance.

The magnetic locator purchased through the fundraising -- and a matching tool donated by Schonstedt -- were sent to Nepal, according to the company.

Biswanger, 40, of Carmel Valley is a geomatics engineering major.

"It's nice to be honored, especially by the United Nations and State Department," he said. "It was really nice getting a letter from both those entities."


Posted in The Fresno Bee 10/29/08 23:41:17
http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/974480.html

2009 Officer Nominations

At the August Chapter meeting, the nominations for 2009 Chapter Officers were finalized. The nominees are:

President:
- Kevin Nehring (Incumbent)

Vice President:
- Bob Greene (Incumbent)
- Brad Luken (2008 Secretary)

Secretary:
- Augustine Ramirez

Treasurer:
- Kevin Nehring (Incumbent)
- James Temple (2008 Past President)

Chapter Representative:
- Ted Kerber was elected last year to a two year term.

Ballots will be mailed to the general membership and others on the Chapter mailing list early next week. The votes for nominees, along with write-in votes, will be counted at the Chapter meeting on September 11, 2008. The officers will be installed at the Chapter meeting on November 13, 2008.

Call for Nominations

During the July Chapter meeting of the San Joaquin Valley Chapter of the California Land Surveyor's Association, a call was made for nominations for new Chapter Officers for 2009.

Board positions are as follows: President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer. Duties can be found in the Article 7 of the Chapter Bylaws.

Final nominations will take place at the August Chapter meeting, and ballots will be mailed out soon after. Ballots will be tallied at the September meeting.

If you would like to nominate someone for a position, or volunteer yourself, please contact the Chapter President, Kevin Nehring, at SJVCLSA@gmail.com or by phone at 559-297-4200 x8.

Trimble buys Seco Manufacturing

REDDING
July 30, 2008 8:29am

• Second acquisition of an engineering and construction accessories company

• "Seco will enable us to continue to augment our existing product lines"

Privately-held Seco Manufacturing Company Inc. of Redding has been acquired in an all-cash transaction by Trimble Navigation Limited (NASDAQ: TRMB) of Sunnyvale.

Seco makes accessories for the geomatics, surveying, mapping, and construction industries.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

Trimble recently acquired of Crain Enterprises, which was announced in January. The purchase of Seco and Crain allows Trimble to provide the necessary accessories that can be offered as part of its positioning products used in the engineering and construction markets, it says.

Seco specializes in the development, fabrication and machining of metallic accessory products while Crain is more focused on polymer and composite-based products.

"Seco will enable us to continue to augment our existing product lines by offering additional accessories as part of our solutions portfolio,” says Bryn Fosburgh, sector vice president of Trimble. “The acquisition allows us to better satisfy our user's needs."
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Posted in the Central Valley Business Times July 30, 2008
http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=9440
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Read Trimble's News Release HERE.
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Land surveyor becomes one of world’s oldest PhD recipients

Colonel Michael Cobb, an RICS member since 1949, has become the oldest recipient of a PhD from Cambridge University at the age of 91.

Over 40 family members joined Col Cobb at the ceremony in July, some coming from as far as Texas and Canada.

Col Cobb received his doctorate for creating The Railways of Great Britain: A Historical Atlas, taking 18 years to complete and a total of 25 years before it was published.

Dr Richard Smith, Head of Cambridge's Geography Department and one of Michael's PhD examiners, said the atlas is a remarkable piece of scholarship.

"It is a definitive record. It is not just of interest to the enthusiast but a vital tool for anyone seriously interested in the economic geography and history of Great Britain. There is nothing like it."

Originally from Devon, Col Cobb saw action in Dunkirk, north Africa and Italy.

After the end of the war in 1945, Michael began surveying for the Army, commanding survey regiments in Egypt and other places.

He retired from the Army in 1965 and worked in mapping until his retirement in 1971.
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Photograph courtesy of Guann-Yeu Chin
Posted on the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors on 24 July 2008
http://www.rics.org/Networks/Faculties/Geomatics/oldestphd_f_230808.htm

SJV-CLSA July Meeting in Visalia

Hello All -

We're meeting in Visalia this month! For those of you in the southern part of the Chapter, we're bringing the meeting to you. We hope to see you there.

The July meeting for the San Joaquin Valley Chapter of the California Land Surveyor's Association will be held on Thursday, July 17, 2008, at 6:30 pm, at Crawdaddy's, 333 E. Main Street, Visalia, CA 93291, Phone 559-625-5300 (http://www.crawdaddysvisalia.com/). We'll be able to order off the menu this month; prices range from about $8.00-$20.00.

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The CLSA State Office has been contacted by various High Schools throughout the State regarding their Career Fairs. Within the San Joaquin Valley Chapter, the High Schools from Corcoran, Dinuba, Hanford, and Laton have all expressed an interest in having a CLSA representative visit their schools for their Career Fair.

If you would like to volunteer, please contact the SJV-CLSA Chapter President, Kevin Nehring, at sjvclsa@gmail.com or 559-297-4200 x8, or contact Crissy Willson at the CLSA Central Office at 707-578-6016.

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Mark Your Calendars -

Thur., July 17, SJV-CLSA Chapter Meeting
Where: Crawdaddy's, 333 E. Main Street, Visalia, CA 93291
Speaker: TBA
Topic: TBA

Sat., July 26, 10:30-16:00, CLSA Board of Directors meeting
Where: Oakland Hilton, 1 Hegenberger Road, Oakland, Ca.

Sat., Aug. 2-5, ESRI Survey & Engineering GIS Summit
Where: San Diego, Ca.

Thur., Aug 14, 6:30pm - SJV-CLSA Chapter Meeting
Where: Andiamo Ristorante Italiano, 1275 Shaw Ave, Clovis, CA
Speaker: TBA
Topic: TBA

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For more information:
visit the Chapter website at: http://www.sjvclsa.org/
visit the Chapter calendar at: http://www.sjvclsa.org/Calendar.htm
or contact the Chapter President at sjvclsa@gmail.com

Current Chapter activity, Chapter polls, and links to current trade magazines & articles (updated daily) are posted on the Chapter's (updated occasionally) online blog at http://sjv-clsa.blogspot.com/.

Additionally, the Chapter has an online chat group at http://groups.google.com/group/SJVCLSA available to all Chapter members and those on the email list. (You will need a Google account to post.)

SJV-CLSA June Meeting

The June meeting for the San Joaquin Valley Chapter of the California Land Surveyor's Association has been CANCELED

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The CLSA State Office has been contacted by various High Schools throughout the State regarding their Career Fairs. Within the San Joaquin Valley Chapter, the High Schools from Corcoran, Dinuba, Hanford, and Laton have all expressed an interest in having a CLSA representative visit their schools for their Career Fair.

If you would like to volunteer, please contact the SJV-CLSA Chapter President, Kevin Nehring, at president@sjvclsa.org or 559-297-4200 x8, or contact Crissy Willson at the CLSA Central Office at 707-578-6016.

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Mark Your Calendars -

Thur., June 12, SJV-CLSA Chapter Meeting CANCELED

Thur., July 10, SJV-CLSA Chapter Meeting
Where: Visalia Area (We're working on it)
Speaker: TBA
Topic: TBA

Sat., July 26, 10:30-16:00, CLSA Board of Directors meeting
Where: Oakland Hilton, 1 Hegenberger Road, Oakland, Ca.

Sat., Aug. 2-5, ESRI Survey & Engineering GIS Summit
Where: San Diego, Ca.

Thur., Aug 14, 6:30pm - SJV-CLSA Chapter Meeting
Where: Andiamo Ristorante Italiano, 1275 Shaw Ave, Clovis, CA
Speaker: TBA
Topic: TBA

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For more information:
visit the Chapter website at: http://www.sjvclsa.org/
visit the Chapter calendar at: http://www.sjvclsa.org/Calendar.htm
or contact the Chapter President at president@sjvclsa.org

Current Chapter activity, Chapter polls, and links to current trade magazines & articles (updated daily) are posted on the Chapter's (updated occasionally) online blog at http://sjv-clsa.blogspot.com/.

Additionally, the Chapter has an online chat group at http://groups.google.com/group/SJVCLSA available to all Chapter members and those on the email list. (You will need a Google account to post.)

Candidate for surveyor was fined in 2003 on ethics issue (Medford, Oregon)

By John Darling for the Mail Tribune - May 14, 2008

Kerry Bradshaw, a candidate for Jackson County surveyor, came under review five years ago by the state ethics commission over allegations he used city time and resources to do private work on the side while employed as a surveyor for the Medford Public Works Department.

Based on documents found on Bradshaw's computer and other evidence, the Oregon Government Standards and Practices Commission found there was "substantial objective basis" to believe Bradshaw had violated the law and recommended further investigation.

Bradshaw said in a recent interview that rather than fight the complaint, which would've cost him "thousands of dollars," he paid a $500 fine and quit the job.

"The city felt my outside business was crowding into my city work," Bradshaw said. "We had a disagreement and I quit and started my own business."

The complaint was filed by public works Director Cory Crebbin, who declined to be interviewed for this story.

Darrell Huck, Bradshaw's opponent in the primary, said the complaint against Bradshaw was five years ago and therefore a "dead issue."

Huck added, however, that he believes mixing personal and government business is a clear conflict of interest.

"You shouldn't use public resources to conduct personal business," Huck said. "That is straightforward, basic ethics."

Huck said he is concerned that Bradshaw has said he would keep operating his private business, Timberline Land Surveying Inc., if elected county surveyor.

"I would treat the county surveyor job as a prime occupation needing full-time attendance," Huck said. "To try to run two businesses opens the door for potential conflict of interest."

According to the GPSC's preliminary review, the city found documents on Bradshaw's work computer indicating he had engaged in personal business with city resources and on city time. The documents included legal descriptions of property, proposals and contractual agreements, survey drawings and invoices for work performed.

"It appeared that Mr. Bradshaw had been operating this personal businesses as a land surveyor during the years 2000 into 2003," the review said.

In his defense, Bradshaw said surveyors were allowed flexible work schedules and could work on weekends, evenings or early mornings to compensate for personal time taken during normal business hours. He also said he used the work computer when his home computer was down and that some of the documents found, though personal, were used when conducting city business. He said that his personal business activities "had never resulted in any complaints, reprimands or unfavorable evaluations," the GSPC review said.

Bradshaw said in an interview he admitted no guilt when he paid the civil penalty.

"It wasn't worth the hassle. I didn't agree with it but I didn't have the thousands of dollars to fight it," he said.

Doug Detling, manager of the city's Human Resources Department, said in an interview that city employees, then and now, are not authorized to do secondary work using city time or resources and that flex time (making up hours used for personal work) is not allowed.

Employees are allowed secondary work outside business hours as long as they report it in advance and it doesn't occur inside the city, Detling said.

John Darling is a freelance writer living in Ashland. E-mail him at jdarling@jeffnet.org.

Posted in The Mail Tribune: http://www.mailtribune.com/
http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080514/NEWS/805140326/-1/LIFE