• New "Section Informant" Addition-Ask Counselor Tara (ACT)
  
  NERYMC 2007: Strides Towards the Future
  
  Membership
  
  An Opportunity to Serve at the National Level
  
  Celebrate the Ingenuity of the Civil Engineering Profession
  
  EWRI Congress Technical Program Posted Online
  
  Symposium on Egress Stairs in High-Rise Buildings
  
  Seeking Government Relations Contacts
  
  The Professional Practice Ethics and Leadership Award--Call For Nominations
  
  Continuing Education Webinars
  
  Mark Your Calendar!
  
  Region Boards of Governors
  
  Committee on Geographic Units
  
  Executives
  
  Geographic Services Department
  
  Contact Information
  
  
  Region Boards of Governors
  
  Committee on Geographic Units
  
  Executives
  
  Geographic Services Department
  
  Contact Information
  
• ASCE

As you may be aware, ASCE employs full time legal counsel on staff. Tara L. Hoke, Esq., Assistant General Counsel along with Tom Smith, Esq, General Counsel and Assistant Executive Director provide the ASCE staff and members with sage guidance and advice on issues facing the Society. We are fortunate to have such well respected professionals represent us.

In an effort to provide for improved service to the Sections and Branches, Counselor Tara has agreed to author a new column in the " Section Informant" entitled “Ask Counselor Tara” (ACT).   We encourage all Regions, Sections and Branches to submit questions. We do ask that when submitting a question, please consider the impact the answer will have on other Sections and Branches of ASCE. We’d like to keep this column focused and provide benefit to as many of our constituents as possible.

We hope you find this to be informative.  Please feel free to submit your questions to Jennifer Lawrence at jlawrence@asce.org

The first question is:

I was recently at an ASCE Region Leadership Conference and enjoyed the multi-media PowerPoint presentations.  I was curious if the inclusion of music in ASCE PowerPoint presentations or played at any ASCE event, nationally or locally, violate any type of copyright law?

Counselor Tara's answer is:

U.S. copyright law gives copyright owners the exclusive right to public performance of their copyrighted works. In the music arena, this means that any person wishing to play a copyrighted song in public (whether from a recording or with a live band) must receive a copyright license from the copyright owner. Of course, given the sheer number of copyrighted songs in existence today, it would be nearly impossible for persons looking to play the radio or hire a DJ for a public event to secure all the necessary copyright licenses. Fortunately, the music industry has provided a solution for this problem. Two performance licensing agencies, the American Society of Composers, Songwriters, and Publishers (ASCAP) and Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI) handle performance licensing for nearly every copyrighted song in existence. These agencies offer so-called "blanket licenses," with annual fees based on the type of use and the audience size, which allow license holders to play any song in the agency catalogue during the term of the license.   ASCE maintains blanket licenses with both ASCAP and BMI, allowing performance of these agencies' music catalogues at all meetings and events held by ASCE, its Sections, Branches, and chapters.   Of course, these blanket licenses do not provide protection for all uses of a copyrighted song. For example, distribution of copyrighted music or inclusion in a video presentation used outside of an educational setting may require a different form of license that, in general, must be negotiated with the individual copyright owner or owners.   For more information on performance rights and licenses, see www.ascap.com or www.bmi.com, or, for general information, visit the U.S. Copyright Office website: www.copyright.gov.

By Lee Ann Gudorp, EIT, A.M.ASCE

New Jersey Section, Central Jersey Branch Younger Member Group

The Northeast Regional Younger Member Council (NERYMC) was hosted by the Central Jersey Branch Younger Member Group on January 26 – 27, 2007 at the Hyatt Regency in Princeton, New Jersey. Fifty-five Younger Members (YM’s) from Regions 1 and 2 attended the annual leadership development conference.

The conference began on Friday with an introduction from the ASCE Executive Director, Patrick J. Natale, P.E., F.ASCE, New Jersey Section President, Dan Brammell, P.E., M.ASCE, and Central Jersey Branch President, Andrés Roda, P.E., M.ASCE. The afternoon activities consisted of an icebreaker exercise entitled Engineering Ethics Live, an overview of ASCE by Nancy Berson, Michael Cook, Jennifer Lawrence and Kevin Bush from the Geographic Services Department and the Committee for Younger Members (CYM) Overview by Gregory Kuklinski, P.E., A.M. ASCE, Eastern CYM Representative. Carl Selinger, M.ASCE, author of “Stuff You Don’t Learn in Engineering School”, presented an interactive session on Public Speaking.  At the end of the day, there was a Region Interface session between the Students, Younger Members and Section & Branch Leaders.  All of the attendees broke into roundtables of 8-10 and discussed various topics that were distributed to facilitate communication between the three groups.

An activity filled Saturday began with a talk by President-Elect David G. Mongan, P.E., F.ASCE and the Order of the Engineer Ceremony. After breakfast was “Saturday Morning Live”, an interactive question/answer session with ASCE President William F. Marcuson III, PhD., P.E. Hon.M.ASCE, President-Elect David G. Mongan, P.E., F.ASCE and Executive Director Patrick J. Natale, P.E., F.ASCE. Next the Younger Members viewed a presentation on the “Design Challenges for the Trans-Hudson Express Tunnel”, by Richard W. Gramlich, P.E., P.P., Senior Project Director of New Jersey Transit.  Next on the agenda was lunch featuring a motivating presentation by ASCE President William F. Marcuson III, PhD., P.E. Hon.M.ASCE.  The next item was a topic entitled “Project Engineer to Project Manager.”  Guest panelists included  project managers with vast project management experience and expertise. The panel forum discussion was moderated by Andrés Roda, P.E., M.ASCE, CYM Corresponding Member.  The guest panelists were Patrice Malleus, P.E., M.ASCE of Schoor DePalma, Inc., Jean G. Hansen, P.E., M.ASCE of Nielsen-Wurster Group, Inc., Thomas A. Fisher, P.E., M.ASCE of PB, Inc., Raymond Mankbadi, P.E., M.ASCE of Hardesty & Hanover, L.L.P., and Douglas Freudenrich, P.E. of Michael Baker Jr., Inc.

The afternoon Business Session led by Todd Eckhart, P.E., M. ASCE memorialized Resolution 07-01 which recommended that the Committee on Student Activities (CSA) coordinate with the CYM at future conferences to allow for more interaction with students; Resolution 07-02 thanked Richard Pascual, EIT, A.M.ASCE and the Central Jersey Branch YMG for hosting NERYMC 2007; Resolution 07-03 thanked Gregory Kuklinski, P.E., A.M.ASCE for his continued support of the conference and promoting interaction between the students and the Younger Members;

Resolution 07-04 expressed NERYMC’s desire to make sure the Student Chapters from Regions 1 & 2 are financially able to attend the new Eastern Multi-Region Conference; Resolution 07-05 recommended the Philadelphia Section as a host the 2009 Eastern Multi-Region Conference.

The conference closed with group roundtable discussions.  Each roundtable was facilitated by a champion who was knowledgeable about the topic.  The following roundtables and  respectively facilitators were  “Juggling Family Life and ASCE”,  Kim Parker-Brown, P.E., M.ASCE, Region 2 Governor; “Policy 465”,  Col. James O’Brien, P.E., M.ASCE, Managing Director of the ASCE Professional & Education Division; “ASCE Membership”  Susan Blodgett, Director of ASCE Collaborative Marketing; “Public Policy”,  Brian Pallasch, CAE, Director of ASCE Government Relations;  “Starting Your Own Engineering Business”, Len Cilli, A.M.ASCE Region 1 Governor; and “Public Awareness and Outreach”,  Reed Brockman, P.E., M.ASCE, Outreach Chair for BSCES.

As part of this year’s conference, the first ever NERYMC Younger Member Group Awards were presented to recipients from Regions 1 and 2. The Awards recognized exemplary young engineers and Younger Member Groups for their work with ASCE and the local community.  The winners were as follows: Outstanding Younger Member Group Community Service Project Award was presented to Boston Society of Civil Engineering Section (BSCES) for their work with neighborhood cleanup in Boston, MA. The Outstanding Young Civil Engineer in the Public Sector Award was presented to Matthew Shuman of BSCES.  Kirin G. Smith, EIT, A.M.ASCE from the National Capital Section was a triple award winner.  She was presented with the Outstanding Young Member in Community Activities, ASCE Activities, and the Young Civil Engineer of the Year in the Private Sector. 

The Central Jersey Branch YMG would like to thank Richard Pascual, EIT, A.M.ASCE, Marty Wade, P.E., A.M.ASCE and Sarah Weissman, EIT, A.M.ASCE, for their hard work in planning the conference and the support of the New Jersey Section, Central Jersey Branch and ASCE.Special thanks also go out to Judson Wible, EIT, A.M.ASCE, Awards Chair, Jennifer Sokoloski, EIT, A.M.ASCE, NERYMC Website Designer, Todd Eckhart, P.E., M. ASCE, Business Chair, Gregory Kuklinski, P.E., A.M.ASCE, Eastern CYM Representative, and Nancy Berson from ASCE for her continued support of Regions 1 & 2, CYM and the Younger Members of ASCE.

Help Graduating Students Find the Path to ASCE

An estimated 7,000 ASCE Student Members will graduate in May and not all of them will stick with civil engineering.  Today’s graduate faces both the decision to advance their ASCE membership, and whether or not to stay with civil engineering at all.

Talk to May grads in your area and tell them about your positive experiences with ASCE.  Be sure to remind them about important benefits like:

• May grads can earn money for their student organization.  When students advance their membership before July 1, ASCE donates $10 of the $50 first year dues back to their student organization, plus they’ll have access to the white paper "21 Ways to Jumpstart Your Civil Engineering Career."

• Only 27 percent of students know about the graduated dues scale, including 64 perent of officers according to a Student Member survey last year.  Tell students they won’t have to pay the full dues amount until they’ve been a member for five years.  In fact, when May grads advance and pay, they won’t owe dues again until Jan. 1, 2009.

Help local students make the right decision and demonstrate just how valuable, and fun, membership in ASCE can be.

Take Your Membership Year “One Day at a Time”

During the 2007 Region Leadership Conferences, ASCE’s Membership and Marketing Department introduced the “One Day at a Time Calendar.”  ASCE leaders now have access to the major events, important deadlines, and key tasks that will help them maximize their recruiting and retention efforts. 

Download your calendar and start planning your Membership year.

What Can Google and Career Connections do for ASCE Members?

ASCE’s Career Connections teamed up with Google Base and Indeed.com to offer employers triple the exposure for their open jobs.  Positions posted to the Career Connections’ job board now appear on the jobs section of Google Base, an online classified ad aggregate, as well as Indeed.com, a search engine exclusively for jobs.  With more than 16,000 unique visitors to Career Connections each month alone, employers now have the opportunity to reach thousands more of the industry’s best and brightest. 

>>Check out Career Connections’ new tools or contact Sean Scully at sscully@asce.org for more information.       

What’s in a Name?

Does the title Honorary Member effectively convey the acknowledged eminence of the Society’s most prestigious honorees?   ASCE’s Board concluded that it does not and is moving ahead with a proposal to change the title of this elite member grade to “Distinguished Member.”  ASCE’s membership will have the opportunity to finalize the change by voting for it this summer on the Society election ballot, contained in the June issue of ASCE News.  

What Does Bank of America’s new Partnership with ASCE Offer Members?

ASCE’s new relationship with Bank of America offers you and your members the opportunity to earn points towards cash, travel, merchandise, and gift certificates with the WorldPoints® card and no annual fee.

Point your members to www.asce.org/benefits for more information on this and other new benefits with Bank of America.

Membership Data Hint of the Month

Sections and Branches can use membership data to recognize members who have achieved significant milestones in their ASCE membership. Consider honoring these members at meetings; listing them in your Section/Branch newsletter; and contacting them with a personal e-mail, phone call or letter thanking them for their support of ASCE.

Life Members

Life Members are identified in your membership data by a “yes” in the Life Member Code field. In addition, the Life Year field lists the year in which a member either became a Life Member or will become one in the future.

To identify new Life Members, simply sort the data by “yes” in the Life Member Code field and then sort by the Life Year field – members who have a “yes” in the Life Member Code field and “2007” in the Life Year field have recently become Life Members.

Membership Anniversaries

To identify members who have achieved significant membership “anniversaries,” such as 20, 25 or 30 years of ASCE membership, just look at the Election Date field in your membership data. For example, a member who joined ASCE in 1982 has reached their 25th year of ASCE membership in 2007.

If you have any questions about how to use or access membership data via File Transfer Protocol (FTP), contact Michael Cook at 800.548.ASCE (2723) ext. 6121, 703.295.6121 or mcook@asce.org.

The Board of Governors of the Structural Engineering Institute is comprised of nine individuals, two of whom are elected by the local Structural Technical Groups (STG) and SEI Chapters of the ASCE Sections and Branches.  The Local Activities Division (LAD) of SEI is unique in that the local groups develop their own process to determine one nominee, and decide how they will place their one vote in the election.

A Call for Nominations and Nomination form will be sent to all local STG and SEI Chapter Chairs at the middle of February and the ballot period will be May 4 to June 1.  Please begin thinking of a potential candidate from your Section or Branch local group who would be an active addition to the SEI Board. Also, pass this notice on to your Structural Technical Groups to be sure each local group has an opportunity to participate. When a ballot has been established, each local group will have one vote.

The elected representative will convey the needs of the local STGs to the SEI Board of Governors and be a conduit for BOG initiatives back to the local groups. The term is for four years, starting on October 1 and ending September 30, 2011. 

For further information, contact Mary Ellen Saville at mesaville@asce.org.

Limited seats are available for this year’s Outstanding Projects and Leaders (OPAL) Awards on April 25 in Washington, D.C.  Help honor the profession’s accomplishments and recognize those who pave the way for the next generation of engineers, by attending what has been called the preeminent civil engineering event of the year.

Tickets are available for purchase online (www.asce.org/opal) or by contacting Patty Montgomery at (800) 548-2723 x6101 or pmontgomery@asce.org. Tickets for the Gala are $275 each, or tables of eight are available for $2,000 (all but $115 of each ticket purchased is tax deductible).

Water resources and environmental Professionals are invited to attend the World Environmental & Water Resources Congress 2007 to be held at the Tampa Marriott Waterside, in Tampa, Fla, May 15-10.

The EWRI 2007 technical program is now posted, please visit http://www.asce.org/conferences/tp/ewri2007.cfm for the latest Congress program information.

With the anticipated attendance of approximately 1,000 water resources planners and environmental professionals, don’t delay in making your hotel reservations at the Tampa Marriott Waterside on or before April 23 at tel.: (800) 228-9290 or (813) 221-4900.

» Click here for all the Congress details.

The Architectural Engineering Institute (AEI) of ASCE is hosting a Symposium on Egress Stairs in High-Rise Buildings at the McGraw-Hill Auditorium in New York City on May 15.   The symposium will feature a series of presentations by leading experts and will allow for interaction among participants.

Cooperating organizations include The Infrastructure Security Partnership (TISP) and the Building Security Council (BSC). The symposium is geared primarily to architects and engineers, owners, operators, risk managers and individuals responsible for ensuring occupant safety in new and existing buildings, from both the public and private sectors.

The web site for this event is at http://content.asce.org/symposium/aei_ny07/index.html and register online at https://www.asce.org/register/egr/2007.  Attendees will earn 6.5 Professional Development Hours.

Is there a person or committee within your Section or Branch that follows government relations issues?  Are you that person?  If so please let us know.

ASCE maintains a list of Government Relations Contacts by Section and Branch to better coordinate government relations activities.  Activities such as the writing and distribution of Key Alerts, setting up legislative “drive-ins” at the state level and educating the section on current issues are just a few of the things we can help you with. 

Please contact Adam Gagnon at agagnon@asce.org or 202-789-7845 with the name and contact information for the appropriate person in your Section or Branch

ASCE, in conjunction with ASFE, presents a new award this year to promote and recognize civil engineering leadership in professional practice and ethics.  The award will honor an engineering leader for a specific accomplishment or for lifetime achievements that demonstrate superior ethics and leadership while a participant in professional practice or service to the public.  The individual must be a licensed professional engineer, but need not be a member of ASCE or ASFE.  Also, the individual may not currently serve on, or within five years of the nomination date, the ASCE Board of Direction or the ASFE Board of Directors.  The award winner will receive a certificate and honorarium and can only receive the award one time. 

Take this opportunity to nationally recognize one of your local members!  

For additional award information and for the official award nomination form, see ASCE’s awards online at http://www.asce.org/pressroom/honors/.  Click on “Complete List of Awards Presented By ASCE,” and scroll down to “Ethics and Leadership Award, The Professional Practice.”  Please send nominations to awards@asce.org by June 1, 2007.  For paper submissions, send one copy to Honors and Awards Program, ASCE headquarters, 1801 Alexander Bell Drive, Reston, VA  20191-4400.

·  May 1~ Noon - 1 p.m. ET
Two Key Tools for Leading: The Power of Feedback and Recognition

·  May 3~Noon - 1:30 p.m. ET

Deterioration and Repair of Concrete

·  May 2~Noon - 1:30 p.m. ET
Dealing With Difficult Behavior and Situations

·  May 8~Noon - 1:30 p.m. ET
Tort Liability: The Civil Engineer's Role as a Witness, Part II

·  May 9~Noon - 1 p.m. ET

Leadership: Developing the Leader In You and Others, Part I

·  May 15~Noon - 1 p.m. ET
Understanding the Market for Engineering Services in Sustainable Development

·  May 16~Noon - 1 p.m. ET
Leadership: Developing the Leader In You and Others, Part II

·   May 22~Noon - 1 p.m. ET

Renovation of Masonry Facade

·  May 24~Noon - 1 p.mm ET

Project Work Plans: Why and How?

·  May 30~Noon - 1 pm ET
The Engineers' Survival Kit - Tips for Moving Ahead and Keeping Your Head while Practicing the "Art" of Engineering

·  May 31 ~ Noon - 1:15 p.m. ET
Quality: What Is It and How Do We Achieve It

May 4: Response due at ASCE World Headquarters for national collection of Section dues.

June 1:

• Deadline for submission for the Outstanding Section and Branch Web Award Competition
• Nominations due for Ralph B. Peck Award and H. Bolton Seed Medal

Aug. 4: Submission deadline for the State Public Affairs Grant Activity Report to ASCE Washington Office.

Aug. 15: Nomination deadline for Casagrande, Construction Management, Kapp, Middlebrooks, Peck, Seed and Terzaghi Awards.

Oct. 1:

• Nomination deadline for Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award (OCEA)
• Nomination deadline for Outstanding Projects and Leaders (OPAL)

Oct. 30:

• Nominations for the Workshops for Section and Branch Leaders and the Younger Member Council Meetings are due
• Nominations for the National Outstanding Section/Branch Award are due

Nov. 1:

• Submission deadline for the Outstanding Section and Branch Newsletter Award

• Nomination deadline for Arid Lands, Bartholomew, Bechtel awards, Bickel, Biot, Can-Am, Cermak, Chow,  History & Heritage, Computing in Civil Engineering, Norman/Croes, Duke, Einstein, Freese, Freudenthal, Greeley, Hardesty, Hering, Hilgard, Hinds,  Hoffman, Horner, Howard, Hydraulic Structures,  Innovation in Civil Engineering, International Coastal, Laurie, T. Y. Lin, Masters, Middlebrooks, Moffatt- Nichol, Moisseiff,  Newmark, Peurifoy, Reese, Rickey, Roebling, Rouse, Rowland, Scanlan, Smith, State-of-the-Art, Stevens, Surveying & Mapping, and Wisely  

Nov. 3: State Public Affairs Grant applications due

Nov. 30: Section Annual Reports are due at ASCE World Headquarters.

             Region Annual Reports are due at ASCE World Headquarters.

Feb. 1:

• Nominations for National ASCE Edmund Friedman Young Engineer Award for Professional Achievement and the Daniel Mead Prize for Younger Members are due
• Nominations for Young Government Civil Engineer Award are due
• Nominations for Younger Member Group Award are due at ASCE World Headquarters
• Nomination deadline for Collingwood Prize

ASCE World Headquarters
1801 Alexander Bell Drive
Reston, Virginia 20191-4400
(800) 548-2723 toll free
(703) 295-6300 international
(703) 295-6141 GSD Fax

The Geographic Services Department (GSD) is charged with providing support to the local units of the Society and ensuring effective coordination and cooperation among the Regions, Sections, Branches, Younger Member Groups and Staff. This newsletter is produced to help meet this charge. Questions, comments and suggestions regarding this newsletter are welcomed and should be directed to Jennifer Lawrence at: jlawrence@asce.org.