Letter From the President

STAY FOCUSED ON THE PRIZE…

We are in the midst of one of the slowest economies in the last 15 years and we wonder how the next year will take a toll on our businesses and development. History has shown that our economy takes peaks and lows about every 10-15 years. But this time, we have escalating fuel prices, development costs and construction costs…But there is something GREEN…

Landscape Architects are being discussed and marketed more now than ever! With an interesting political environment, rising costs on our natural resources and developments thinking “sustainable”, we have a great opportunity to educate and demonstrate our abilities to our surrounding professionals.

Even in my city environment, our political leaders are discussing LEED, sustainability, walkability, trails, Green solutions with combined sewer issues, light rail, bus, climate protection, etc. There are great opportunities to partner with our other professional allies, APWA, AIA, APA and others to lead and assist in these great strides to promote and design projects that “benefit” future generations. I tell you, “Pick your time and make it the right time to get involved.”

As my presidency nears the end (Oct 7 th, end of the national convention in PA will be my last day as president of PGASLA), our Executive Committee this past year, as one of our goals, is to develop strong relationships with our professional allies, but another goal that our Executive Committee has strived for is; Education with students. With many of us in the ACE program (Architects, Construction, and Engineering), http://www.acementor.org/, and our affiliation with KSU students, PGASLA has been able to support and educate many students and get them involved in ASLA and the landscape architecture profession. Without the commitment of you and the volunteers, our goals would fail. So I say, “Stay focused on the prize”…whichis our future opportunities to lead and design great things with our professional allies and mentoring our future LA’s.

August is a busy month, as we prepare for a wonderful fall of activities. Check out the list of dates and mark them on your calendars. We have GREAT sponsors, but still need more support. Check out the QUICK VIEW CALENDAR and see you soon!

Any input from our members is welcome. Please join us for our last Executive Committee meeting of the 2007-2008 at the AIA offices on Thursday, August 14 th, 2008 at 5:35pm. Our last committee meeting with be at KSU and afterwards a social with the students.

Go to PGASLA.org for job postings, events, information, and to support our sponsors.

Jade Liska, ASLA
President PGASLA

“QUICKVIEW” – AUGUST 2008:

August 11 - Elections begin for Executive Committee 2008-2009
August 14 - Executive Committee Meeting, AIA offices, 5:35pm
August 26 - Last day for voting for Ex. Comm. 2008-2009
September 17 - Executive Committee Meeting, KSU, 4:30-6:30pm (tentative)
September 26 - PGASLA GOLF TOURNAMENT, St. Andrews Golf Club, Noon
October 3-7 - ASLA National Convention, Philadelphia, PA
October 15 - 2nd Annual Rocktoberfest – Sturgis/PGASLA, Boulevard Brewery (tentative)

Thank You to the PGASLA Oak Level Sponsor

GOLF TOURNAMENT!!
SEPT. 26th at St. ANDREWS GOLF CLUB. SIGN UP NOW.
PGASLA Golf Tournament

SAVE THE DATE!!
OCTOBER 15th - 2nd ANNUAL ROCKTOBERFEST with
STURGIS/PGASLA at Boulevard Brewery
FREE! Bring colleagues and friends! Social time with BEER and food!!

Firm Profile

I would ask all the firms that PGASLA represents and would take this opportunity to ask all our professionals to submit "new or interesting" projects that they could share with everyone. We would love to display or show our LA's work (both locally or nationally) in our monthly newsletter.

Please submit project information and/or pictures-data about upcoming or interesting work that is going on. We would enjoy the opportunity to profile your firm next month. Please send your project information with your firm background/profile to us to use in the next newsletter. Email Kristen@aiakc.org to submit your Firm Profile.

News from National

New Jersey legislation to upgrade the title act to a practice act awaits action from Governor Corzine. He has 45 days from its passage (August 7) to act on the bill or it becomes law without his signature.

The headquarters building has earned theEPA ENERGY STAR for 2008. Earning the ENERGY STAR indicates that the building is using approximately 35% less energy than average buildings while still providing quality service and comfort to occupants. The EPA has awarded this to more than 3,200 buildings nationwide. In the U.S., it is estimated that energy loss from commercial buildings represents 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions.

Over 1,000 attendees have registered for the ASLA annual meeting so far and all tours, field sessions, and special events are showing strong sales as well. An email featuring the highlights video of the 2007 annual meeting and the article about Philadelphia that appeared in LAM was delivered to 32,367 individuals this week, along with a reminder about the July 23 early bird deadline. August 27 is the deadline for registration at the regular rates.

Member and Chapter Services
Current ASLA Membership statistics:

Member Type	Total
Affiliate ASLA	848
Associate ASLA	1,788
Corporate ASLA	191
Full Member	10,775
Full-Fellow	603
Honorary ASLA	96
International ASLA	264
Student Affil ASLA	600
Student ASLA	3,005
Total	18,170

The chapter dues increase form must be received by August 29, 2008. This is a chapter’s only opportunity to increase chapter dues for 2009.

Chapters must complete their elections 30 days before the start of the annual meeting (September 3, 2008) and results must be submitted to ASLA national by September 30, 2008. Submitting your Chapter Executive Committee roster will be done online. Please make sure that when submitting your new chapter officers, that each is a current member of ASLA.

Job Opportunities . . .

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