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August 1998 NewsletterSteve Reutebuch This is the first issue of the PSR Newsletter compiled and edited by our new newsletter editor, Gord Shields of Eagle Mapping Services. On behalf of all PSR members, I want to thank Gord whole-heartedly for donating his time, thereby making it possible for PSR to continue its newsletter. In addition, I want to thank Chris (Greer) Hansen for her many years of hard work as our past newsletter editor. Many thanks to both of you! Much has happened since our last newsletter in December, 1997. On the national scene, ASPRS has chosen a new Executive Director, Jim Plasker, formally with the USGS. The financial woes of ASPRS have been overcome through the skilled management of Roger Crystal, National Past President, with the able assistance of Mike Renslow, National President Elect. The 1998 ASPRS National Annual Convention in Tampa was our first without ACSM as a co-sponsor, and it was a great success both technically and financially. Plans for the 1999 ASPRS Annual Convention in Portland, Oregon, are moving ahead smoothly. So mark your calendars early and plan to attend the Portland meeting May 17-21. A lot of organizational soul-searching has taken place, and ASPRS management has become much more focused and mission-oriented over the past year. To better reflect the nature of ASPRS's technical scope, a tag line has been added to our national name: American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing: The Imaging and Geospatial Information Society In announcing the new tag line, National President Tom Lillesand pointed out that "Our Board of Directors took unanimous action to adopt a tag line on March 31, 1998 at the Society's annual meeting. The Board thoroughly considered alternatives and explored the legal implications of this action. The intent is to preserve the legal name of the society while providing a better expression of who we are and what we do as an organization. We are extremely proud of our historical roots in imaging science and technology in the form of photogrammetry and remote sensing, and we intend to maintain and build upon our emphasis in this area. However, our membership is focused on imaging not only in the sense of primary data acquisition, but also with respect to the extraction of information from image data in a decision support context. We want to make clear that ASPRS represents a scientific and professional home for a broad array of individuals whose interests span the entire spectrum of geospatial information sciences, technologies, and applications." Here locally in the PSR, we also hope to make ASPRS an organization that attracts people from the entire spectrum of geospatial information sciences. Over the last 6 months, we have had several important events. In February we again co-sponsored a regional annual convention with the Lands Surveyors Associate of Washington (LSAW) and the Washington Chapter of ACSM. The convention was held in Everett and was titled "Navigate to `98". Over 300 people attended, making it the most successful meeting in our region's history. In conjunction with the meeting, PSR held its Annual General Meeting and a board meeting. At the AGM, Kamal Ahmed was sworn in as Vice President and Tracie Luthi as Secretary. Jeff Morrow moved on to Past President, Steve Reutebuch to President, and Alan Walford to President-elect. Terry Curtis remains as our able-bodied National Director and Kathy Muhlbeier as our Treasurer. In addition, Gord Shields volunteered to become the PSR Newsletter editor. On behalf of all PSR members, I want to extend a big thanks to Nancy Hultquist who finished her 4 years as an ASPRS-PSR officer as of the Everett AGM. Also at the Everett convention, 1997 Chittenden Award winners Ryan Miles, Nete Leth, and Mark Gaines received their official certificates during the Awards Luncheon. Unfortunately, in 1999, PSR will not be co-sponsoring a regional annual convention with LSAW. This is due to the fact that LSAW will be holding their annual convention in Portland in April as part of the National ACSM Convention. This poses two problems. Firstly, the meeting is outside our regional boundaries, therefore, according to our bylaws, we cannot hold our AGM at the meeting. Secondly, the meeting date is too late for our officer installations. In 2000 however, PSR will again work with LSAW and ACSM-WA to co-sponsor a regional annual convention. I have been in contact with LSAW and have confirmed ASPRS co-sponsorship. The 2000 Joint LSAW/ASPRS/ACSM Annual Convention will be held February 17-19 at the Shilo Inn and Ocean Shores Convention Center in Ocean Shores! The PSR board met in May in Mt. Vernon, WA, and set the 1999 ASPRS-PSR Annual General Meeting in Vancouver, BC, on Friday, February 26 in conjunction with a one-day technical program. This is very fitting, as our incoming 1999 President is Alan Walford from BC. In April, PSR was well represented at the 1998 National ASPRS Convention by board members Terry Curtis, Kamal Ahmed, Tracie Luthie, and myself. We met with representatives of both the Columbia River Region and the Rocky Mountain Region to discuss possible changes to region boundaries. The proposal to combine PSR and CRR was thoroughly discussed. CRR proposed that rather than combining regions, PSR and CRR should jointly organize the 1999 Portland National meeting and then co-sponsor the " GIS in Action" annual meeting in 2000. This course of action was adopted in lieu of outright merger of regions. Once again this year, PSR and CRR are sponsoring a joint one-day Information Exchange Meeting on Thursday, September 17, in Vancouver, WA (see the related article in this newsletter for registration information). Last year's session was very successful, with over 20 speakers giving 10-minute presentations. So please plan to attend if you want to find out what's going on in the local regions! In closing, hope to see you all at either the September Info Exchange, the February AGM, and/or the May 1999 ASPRS National Convention! PUGET SOUND REGION SUSTAINING MEMBERS By: Terry Curtis The Puget Sound Region extends a resounding "THANK YOU! to our Region's seven "Sustaining Member" organizations, their proprietors, and staff for providing ongoing support of the National (and Regional) ASPRS, and for their contributions to and/or advancement of the mapping sciences through the products and services they provide. These organizations pay annual dues at the National level in exchange for several Sustaining Member benefits including reduced advertising rates, 4 copies of the PE&RS Journal, reduced rate and preferential exhibit space at conferences, company profile in annual "Directory of the Mapping Sciences", and listing in the "Products and Services" section of the ASPRS homepage. Shouldn't YOUR company name be included here ?! For more information contact ASPRS Membership Dept. at (301)493-0290 or email at members@asprs.org, or download an application form from the ASPRS website at http://www.asprs.org/asprs/society/membership/memcorp.html ! In grateful recognition of all the Puget Sound Region's Sustaining Members: Cymbolic Sciences Int'l., Richmond, B.C. Terry Curtis, Membership Liaison Puget Sound Region would like to extend a warm WELCOME! to its newest members (February through June, 1998): ACTIVE: STUDENT: We're glad to have you all aboard and look forward to meeting you at one of our next Puget Sound Region functions! Why not bring a friend and encourage them to join also! 1998 PSR Scholarship Award Winners Vice President Kamal Ahmed recently met with representatives of LSAW and ACSM-WA to select the 1998 Chittenden Award winners. The Chittenden Award was established in honor of Professor Hiram M. Chittenden who for 42 years taught surveying, photogrammetry, and highway design at the University of Washington. The award fund provides for one year of full, in-state tuition for an undergraduate civil engineering student at the University of Washington. This year two winners were chosen. Congratulations to Jesse Beaver and Michael Jewsbury! The 1998 George F. Walker Memorial Scholarship winner has also been selected. Congratulations to Tamara King. Tamara will receive $3,000 to assist her in pursuing a career in surveying and mapping. She will receive the award at the September meeting of the North Puget Sound Chapter of LSAW. In addition to the financial assistance, these three outstanding scholarship winners will be receiving a complimentary one-year student membership in ASPRS. If you have a news item of interest to your fellow readers, please send it (preferably via e-mail) to the Newsletter Editor. We would particularly like to feature short articles which focus on ne w projects or new technologies . All contributions of professional interest will be considered for publication!! Send your news to: INFORMATION EXCHANGE MEETING ANNOUNCEMENT Joint Puget Sound and Columbia River Regions Information Exchange
The Puget Sound and Columbia River Regions of ASPRS are having their second annual joint information exchange this fall. What is an "Information Exchange"? It's an opportunity for people who are interested in the topics of photogrammetry and remote sensing to learn more about what's going on in our own backyard--in business, academia, and government. The information exchange is a day-long session in which local practitioners can present a 10-minute talk on one of their current or recent projects. A slide projector and overhead projector will be available, but presenters must be concise with their presentations and keep it under 10 minutes to allow everyone to have a chance at the mike. Anyone who wants to share information about some interesting or unusual project in the areas of photogrammetry and remote sensing are welcome; however, no commercial presentations or endorsements are allowed. In addition to the presentations, each speaker will submit a 1-page description of the project and a 1-page profile of their organization (forms can be downloaded from the meeting website). The 1-page write-ups will be submitted before the meeting and compiled into a notebook for distribution at the meeting. Lunch and the notebook will be included in the registration fee. Speaker slots will be limited to 30 due to the single-day schedule, so get your requests in early to insure your slot. Of course anyone is welcome and encouraged to come and find out more about what's going on around our regions, even if they don't want to make a presentation. We particu-larly want to encourage non-members to come find out more about ASPRS. As an encourage-ment, any new members who join ASPRS the day of the session will have the registration fee waived. So please invite your colleagues who work in the areas of photogrammetry and remote sensing. In addition, any person or company can sponsor a student by covering the $10 registra-tion fee, so if you know any students working in the field, please consider sending them to this session to learn more about our industry and society. Due to the geographic vastness of the PSR, we are planning a second information exchange day in our other Vancouver (BC) later in the year at a yet to be determined date. You may contact one of the following people for more information or to reserve your speaker slot on the program:
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