April 2000 Newsletter
See you at the Radisson Hotel |
Quote
of the Day: The wise man must remember that while he is a descendant of the past,
he is a parent of the future.
Herbert Spencer
Monthly Attendance Records
At the monthly Branch meetings, an attendance record card is handed out and is to be
completed by all attendees in order to fulfill Branch recording requirements to ASCE, to
track number and membership type of attendees and to identify and recognize guest and
potential new Members. The card has just been redesigned and printed for easier
completion. All relevant membership grades have been shown. According to ASCE, Life
designation is used in conjunction with one of the five grades. If you would like to be
recognized as Life Member, Fellow, or Honorary Member, please write in on the card. The
card has room for potential members’ address. Many attendees are not a member and do
not want or cannot become a member. We welcome them to the meetings. They may check the
"Frequent Visitor" box on the card and they will not be contacted to join. So
please take a few minutes and complete our "Attendance Record" card that are now
printed on gold cardstock and will also be referred to as "Gold Card".
Engineers Week 2000
National Engineers Week 2000 was celebrated by TSPE, ASCE and other engineering societies
in Dallas during the last week of February. Mathcount competitions were held at various
area schools. A toothpick bridge competition was held at the North Park Mall. Dallas Mayor
Ron Kirk on behalf of the City of Dallas signed a proclamation honoring the Dallas
engineers. A full-page ad in the front section of the Dallas Morning News informed the
public about the E-Week, engineering societies, firms and honored engineers. TSPE Dallas
Chapter President, Scott Young, P.E. thanked all engineers and societies and stressed the
need to inform the public on the significant contributions of the Dallas engineers. The
E-Week ad was placed in the front section of the Dallas Morning News to achieve that
objective. Oren Kesler, P.E., Ph.D. of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic
Engineers and Raytheon received the "TSPE Engineer of the Year" Award. Three
ASCE Dallas Branch Members were also honored as follows:
*Roger Behgam, "Outstanding Engineer
Award (ASCE)"
*Lissa Whitehead, "Outstanding Young Engineer Award
(ASCE)"
*Jeff Ground, "Outstanding Young Engineer Award (TSPE)"
The National Engineers Week Annual Awards Gala was held in LeMeridien Hotel in downtown Dallas on Saturday February 26, 2000. Over 250 engineers and guests attended the Gala. Shaunna Sowell, VP, Texas Instruments, Manager of Worldwide Facilities was the key speaker. A mechanical engineer by training, she presented a program entitled "Back to School: Engineering a Better Education." She stressed that despite her busy family and career schedules including extensive international travel, she still manages to volunteer her time and managerial skills to make an inner city high school a better place. She encouraged engineers to lend their process thinking, problem identification and solution skills to make their neighborhood schools a better place.
Joint Meeting with the UTA Student Chapter
The Dallas Branch held its annual Joint Meeting and Luncheon with the University of Texas
at Arlington ASCE Student Chapter on February 2, 2000. The Meeting was held on the UTA
campus and was attended by about 35 Dallas Branch Members as well as UTA Faculty and over
20 students. The group had an opportunity to network and hear a presentation by a Dallas
Branch Member. Dallas Branch President, Mac McWilliams, P.E., a UTA alumni thanked the
audience for their participation, encouraged the UTA students to attend the Branch
meetings, reiterated the Branch intentions to support and fund the students "Paper
Contest" and presented the Student Chapter with a check for $2,000.
The presentation was entitled "Consulting Engineering 101" and provided an overview of the business side of consulting engineering firms. Bob Reach, P.E., a Vice President at the Dallas office of Turner Collie & Braden, Inc. was the speaker. He informed the students about the various engineering career options they have upon graduation. A brief summary of the "Texas Engineering Practice Act" was also provided. The speaker stated the various requirements that a consulting engineer must meet including: professional engineering license from the Texas Board of Professional Engineers; total commitment to protecting the public safety and welfare; practicing engineering in compliance with the Texas Engineering Practice Act; obtaining qualifications through education, experience and examination; public works project completion by a P.E.; selection of a consultant through a "qualifications based" process (rather than price based/bidding process) as per Texas Professional Services Procurement Act and other relevant requirements.
Mr. Reach informed the audience about the various types of consulting contracts that are used by various public sector clients. Services may be provided based on a "time and expense" agreement where fixed hourly rate of an engineer plus an overhead rate or amount and profit are added. A "not-to –exceed" amount is normally included as a budgetary control. A "lump sum" contract" establishes an agreed fee for completion of the job regardless of the time taken by the engineer. Other types of contracts were also discussed.
Typical accounting procedures and terms that are most prevalent in the consulting firms were highlighted including "direct labor" and "labor burden" such as cost of employee benefits that may be 20% to 40% of the labor cost; overhead expenses/G&A expenses to compensate firm’s contribution towards rent, equipment cost, marketing expenses, liability insurance, and other non-project related expenses. The speaker illustrated the terms with examples and calculations. The examples demonstrated how an engineer’s time on the project would have to be charged and invoiced at 2-3 times the hourly pay and how a few additional hours spent by the project team could make a vast difference in the profitability of the project and even cause loss of revenues.
A lively and lengthy question and answer session followed the presentation and involved participation by the faculty, students and Dallas consulting engineers. President McWilliams invited all to the next Joint Meeting with the Student Chapter.
A Tribute to
Jack Haston
Jack was a sixth-generation Texan and president of Haston Associates in Arlington, Texas. Born in Fort Worth, raised in Fort Worth and west Texas, he attended UT-Austin and UT-Arlington, receiving a B. S. in Civil Engineering from the latter in 1972. His fields of practice were geo-environmental engineering, pavements and residential structures. Before founding Haston Associates in 1998, Mr. Haston held various positions from staff engineer to president/CEO of three engineering companies in Dallas: Trinity Engineering Testing Corporation, Harding Lawson Associates and StanTech Engineering Co. He successfully managed major engineering projects including work from initial investigation to successful completion and closure of RCRA/CERCLA/TOSCA/LUST sites. He provided geotechnical design, inspection, and 20-year performance monitoring of first Texas municipal landfill slurry trench. He designed first landfill in Texas with a demonstrated alternate Subtitle D liner system including in-situ-soils. He was the principal investigator for over 1,500 geo-environmental, structural, materials, and forensic studies in five states. He performed over 10,000 residential geotechnical/structural engineering designs and evaluations, including subdivisions and designed cost-saving high-strength municipal concrete pavements.
His passion for engineering led him to quite a number of unique projects. In fact, he pioneered several geotechnical applications for landfills in Texas -- such as:
He was an active member of numerous technical and professional organizations and had served as President of the Dallas Chapter of the Texas Society of Professional Engineers, where he was voted "Engineer of the Year" in 1997. He was also division chair and Vice President of TSPE. As a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, he received the Texas Section "Service to People Award" in 1993. Mr. Haston was also active in civic, youth and service organizations including Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Camp Fire and Kiwanis. He earned the rank of Eagle as a youth in Fort Worth’s Troop 155. He was Senior Patrol Leader in his troop and attended a National Jamboree. He served two three-year terms as District Commissioner of the Boy Scouts in Arlington. He also served three terms as Republican Party precinct chair in Tarrant County. He chaired the host committee for the Special Olympics in Arlington. He was an active member of First United Methodist Church, Arlington, where he was a teacher. Jack is survived by his son, Zachary Haston, Ph.D., of Haston Associates, a daughter-in-law Pam and four granddaughters. |
Jack Haston, a well known and energetic civil
engineer passed away unexpectedly in February. The Dallas Branch extends its deepest
sympathy to his family especially his son, a civil engineer and his colleagues in the
community and TSPE. Getting involved in
Election 2000
From ASCE's Government Relations Staff.
Why would a civil engineer want to become involved in upcoming elections? Because
Civil Engineers, and especially leaders of the profession, have a unique opportunity to
help elected officials. Most lawmakers are not’t civil engineers, but it’s the
engineers who are experts when it comes to issues that affect many citizens’ health,
safety and welfare, not to mention the civil engineering profession. Providing information
and advise to policy makers allows them to make informed decisions about the quality of
peoples’ lives.
How does a civil engineer become more acquainted with policy makers? One of the best ways is to participate in the upcoming elections. Her are ten ways to get involved in elections 2000:
- Register to vote.
- Vote in your state’s primary.
- Vote November 7, 2000.
- Watch the Presidential, and other debates.
- Visit with candidates at candidate forums.
- Invite candidates to your workplace/jobsite.
- Gather information on the candidates.
- Write to your newspaper about who you feel is the best candidate and why.
- Contribute money to your favorite candidate(s), within the confines of the law, of course.
- Volunteer to work on the candidate’s campaign.
AIR 21 Bill
The Airport and Airway Trust Fund was created in 1970 to provide user-fee funding for
capital improvements to the nation's airport and airway system. Revenues in the trust fund
come primarily from airline user fees and aviation taxes. When Congress created the Trust
Fund, it made a contract with the American people that the revenues from those user fees
would be spent to improve our airports. Unfortunately, Congress has since broken that
contract by allowing surpluses to accumulate in the fund and the money to be spent on
non-capital improvements such as some of the Federal Aviation Administration's day-to-day
operating expenses.
Federal funding of airport construction has been halted for the past six months because Congress cannot come to a compromise on funding for capital improvements to the nation's airport and airway system. This deadlock exists because the United States Senate refuses to unlock the Airport and Airway Trust Fund and also provide higher general funds for daily operations of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The House of Representatives passed the FAA reauthorization bill H.R. 1000, also known as AIR-21, that would take the Airport and Airway Trust Fund off-budget so that Congress could only use the Fund for its intended purpose - capital improvements to our nation's airports. AIR-21 would also guarantee higher funding for FAA daily operations, to be funded from the federal government's general fund. But AIR-21 has been stalled because the Senate refuses to take the Trust Fund off-budget or provide the FAA with higher general funds.
ASCE supports H.R. 1000, and has long supported the use of dedicated user fees and trust funds to finance infrastructure needs. ASCE believes that all monies collected from these user fees should be deposited directly in the Airport and Airway Trust Fund and that the trust fund should be removed from the unified federal budget so that the money cannot be spent on expenses not related to airport capital improvements.
For more information and action items see the Branch or National Website.
Opal Awards
The first annual Outstanding Projects and Leaders (OPAL) awards dinner is set for April
29, 2000 in the nation’s capital. Join ASCE leaders in honoring the people and
achievements that make us all proud to be civil engineers. We will be celebrating
leadership, creative spirit and commitment to excellence for past achievements and
contributions yet to come. You and your colleagues will find this prestigious gathering
rewarding and inspiring. You may reserve individual tickets ($175 each) or a table of
eight ($1,400). A Limited block of rooms has been reserved at the Capital Hilton Hotel in
Washington, D.C. For more information, contact Pat Montgomery at 1-800-548-ASCE (x6101) or
e-mail: pmontgomery@asce.org
Article Submission
You are cordially invited to submit a forum article or paper to ASCE Journal of
Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice. The journal seeks papers on a
wide range of issues affecting civil engineering practice and education, including
engineering ethics, educational innovations and professional development. For more
information about the journal or potential submittals, contact Editor Brian Brenner: (617)
951-6276 or brbrenne@bigdig.com
Member News
Professional Services Industries (PSI) is pleased to announce that Jonathon Szostek has
joined the firm as District Manager for the greater Dallas-Fort-Worth Metroplex.
Previously Szostek was the president and owner of Old Forge Testing Company in Old Forge,
Pa.
Editor’s Note
In last month’s issue the article "The Law and Civil Engineering" by Eugene
L. Bass, Esq., Registered Civil Engineer and Attorney at Law, the article stated, "In
addition to the signature, all final civil engineering plans, specifications, and reports
shall bear the seal or stamp of the registrant, and the expiration date of the certificate
or authority." The expiration date of certificate refers to only the states that
require this. Texas is not one these states that this applies to. The editor is
researching the states that to require this and will put an update in a future newsletter.
Important Dates: April 31, 2000-Members are placed in dues arrears for non payment of 2000 dues and publications are suspended.
Upcoming Monthly Meetings |
|
May 1st |
at Radisson Hotel |
June 12th |
at Arlington Hilton Hotel (Joint Meeting) |
Branch Fax and E-mail Databank
Ivan Nicodemus, P.E., has accumulated a databank of fax numbers of the Dallas firms to
send Branch Meeting announcements. One fax is sent to each firm. If you receive the fax,
please post it on your bulletin board to inform everyone in your office. If your firm is
not on the list, please fax Ivan (number is on the Branch Directory on the back page of
the Newsletter).
The Branch is now in the process of developing a databank of e-mail addresses for quicker dissemination of important notices. One e-mail will be sent to each firm and its contact. The contact will then be asked to e-mail internally to the firm's engineers. If you would like your firm to be added to this databank, please e-mail Ivan at cmaq@onramp.net or Roger Behgam, P.E., Website Editor at:
Roger Behgam <dlsasce@flash.net
You may e-mail all Board and Committee Chairpersons from the Branch Website's Oficers' Page.
Newsletter Deadline
Due to delays in distribution of the Newsletters through the bulk mail process, the
deadline for accepting news items and ads has been changed to the first day of the month
for the preceding month (i.e.: January 1 for the February Newsletter). Please forward your
Member news, Committee announcements and other Newsletter items to Rhonda Hurst, E.I.T.,
Newsletter Editor at Dowdey, Anderson and Associates, Inc. at (972) 931-0694 or e-mail her
your articles to: rhurst@daa-civil.com
| CONTINUING EDUCATION COURSES | |
| March 29-31 | Municipal Storm Water Management, New Orleans |
April 12-14 |
HEC-RAS Computer Workshop, Las Vegas |
| April 13-14 | HEC-HMS Computer Workshop, Dallas |
| May 1 | Wetlands, Galveston |
| May 1-3 | Applications in Storm Water Mgmt, Denver |
| May 15-16 | Design Build Contracting, Orlando |
See ASCE Events http://www.asce.org/confconted/cal2.html.
Dallas ASCE
