More
From the Field
November 2002
Sometimes I think we forget what it is that we are all about. Fortunately, there is a crew in the great northwest that didn’t one day. A Coos County, Oregon crew found a bearing tree with not one but two scribings—that of the original government surveyor’s and a subsequent surveyor who didn’t realize that he had found the actual original bearing tree. This was no small task and required a great deal of dedication and love for the job. Any member of a survey crew that has been fortunate enough to take part in such a discovery understands the excitement, anticipation and exhilaration of such a find. Thanks guys for bringing that back home to me—and very well done. Your dedication is awe-inspiring.
Anthony Roark
via rpls.com
Editor’s Note
January 2003
I have for many years observed the “lack of public awareness” in the surveying profession. Perhaps surveyors should be an integral part of the engineering profession and be titled professional engineer (global and land technology) to help with our image and attitude of the general public toward surveyors?
J. Pack, PS, PE
via E-mail
Mapping Out Professional Maintenance
January 2003
I am strongly in favor of everyone getting all the education they can stand, but I remain opposed to a college degree being required as a condition for being granted a license to practice. There are other means of gaining knowledge, and the only thing the degree proves is that the student survived the curriculum. Even then, that is only one aspect of the applicant’s qualities. I might argue the legitimacy of the state’s power to even restrict who may practice, but the degree requirement only gives more power to those who would monopolize the profession.
Will Aygarn, LS
Norfolk, Va.
A Kind Thank You
And Note About the Basics
After browsing (quickly) through the POB site, I am glad to see several educational articles there. I retired from land surveying about five years ago after about 30 years as a party chief. I wrote a letter to the editor back in ’97 or ’98 about the lack of education and training in the field that I enjoyed in the ’60s and ’70s, where the boss worked with employees [who] were interested in learning, teaching them techniques learned over years of experience.Just wanted to say thanks for your efforts in educating new and maybe even older surveyors, and hopefully showing them that there is more to the profession than just “Holding the Stick.” Even with the new technology, GPS, etc., a good understanding of the basic principles of good procedure in the field is needed for a crew to achieve its goal. Hoping the old ways are not lost in space.
Nathan Good
Tatum, N.M. (formerly from Austin, Texas)
The ideas and opinions expressed by our readers do not necessarily reflect those of POB. Send your thoughts to the editor at brownl@bnp.com or mail to Letter to the Editor, POB magazine, 755 W. Big Beaver Rd., Suite 1000, Troy, MI 48084.
