News

The May 15 version of NSPS News and Views is now available at http://www.multibriefs.com/briefs/nsps/nsps051513.php. Topics Include:

• FEMA Flood Hazard Data
• David-Bacon Act
• Water-Wastewater Bill Introduced

Check out the new job ads listed in our Employment Opportunities section.

PSLS extends thanks to board treasurer Mark Hummel, PLS, for giving a Trig-Star presentation to pre-calc and trig students at Seneca Valley Intermediate High School, Harmony, Pa.

This was the second school he visited this week; 35 AP students participated today and 5 on Monday.

See photos and a brief article about his visit.

Donations welcome!

Please read this important message from Robert R. Miller, PLS, Pennsylvania's NSPS Director.

A list of member benefits is available in this latest issue of News & Views.

The April legislative report from Wanner Associates is now available in the Members Only section under Government Affairs.

In observance of the 2013 National Surveyors Week, dedicated PSLS member Bruce Lewis, PLS, braved the elements in southeastern Pennsylvania on GPS Day, March 16, to collect data for submission to the OPUS-DB. The weather that day included just about everything that could fall from the sky: rain, sleet, wet snow (and maybe a few cats and dogs), but Bruce was not going to be deterred.

He originally planned on observing a USGS monument near Morgantown, Pa.; however, when he arrived at the site, he found that the monument had been removed. Determined to collect his data, Bruce then called a fellow PSLS member to ask for suggestions on a different location. Eventually, Bruce found his way to the suggested USGS monument in Kimberton, Pa. Supplied with a receiver and data collector generously loaned by Frank Lenik of Leica Geosystems, Bruce endured the inclement weather and recorded all of the information required for submission to the OPUS-DB. The data was submitted, reviewed and now there is another Pennsylvania monument in the USGS data base. Well done, Bruce!
 
The published solution (assigned PID is BBCZ11) is available at: http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/OPUS/getDatasheet.jsp?PID=BBCZ11&style=modern


Photo: Bruce Lewis

Many thanks to Rich Shewman, PLS, for submitting this information to PSLS.

View brochure for registration and information

On behalf of the Surveyors Historical Society (SHS):
 
Registration is now open for 2013's national “Surveyors Rendezvous” August 28-31 in and around historic Philadelphia. SHS urges everyone to attend.
 
Rendezvous 2013 is shaping up to be a very significant surveyors' event--not just for SHS but for our entire profession. At Rendezvous 2013, we will not only mark the “Real” Stargazer's Point in rural Chester County, plus dedicate a new historical marker along South Street in Philadelphia--but we will also honor Charles Mason at the cemetery where he lies buried (in an unmarked grave, two blocks from the Liberty Bell). His memorial monument will be an authentic 1766 Mason-Dixon Stone, from the famous line he and Jeremiah Dixon laid out nearly 250-years ago.
 
Please see the above registration brochure for all details. Mail-in registrations are now being accepted, and on-line registrations will become available shortly. The existing SHS website, www.SurveyorsHistoricalSociety.com, has been augmented by a special new Rendezvous website, www.SurveyorsRendezvous.org, which is now live and will feature on-line registration capability very soon. Please visit both places.
 
SHS' all-volunteer “Rendezvous 2013 Committee” has been working hard for more than three years preparing for this important event. We'd like to see our profession come to Philadelphia in great support this August, plus we also invite the public at large. Our ceremonies at this Rendezvous transcend any single profession or organization. We're adding new pieces to American history itself.
 
Kindly feel free to forward this information to anyone you feel may be interested. We look forward to seeing you at Philadelphia this summer. We'll “Rendezvous” on the very spot where William Penn first landed in 1682. Please join us.

Warmest best wishes and we hope to see you there!
 
Chas Langelan, SHS Vice-Chair
Professional Land Surveyor (retired)
SHS Rendezvous 2013 Organizing Committee