I too had the two year course at Eastern in '75 and '76. (I grew up in Gibbsboro)
I do know Mike Galante's work and he is very reputable.
I do know Mike Galante's work and he is very reputable.
Short Hike
- Thread starter TrailOtter
- Start date
Small world. I went to Eastern my junior and senior years. We lived behind where Masso's used to be, in Voorhees.
I'm curious, was Mr Munn the surveying instructor when you were there? He was pretty good except when he tried to make us run between points..lol.
I'm curious, was Mr Munn the surveying instructor when you were there? He was pretty good except when he tried to make us run between points..lol.
Taught by Munn and Brashear.
Munn committed suicide a long time ago.
I don't know where Brashear is.
Wow, that's sad. I always thought he had the world by the short ones. Brashear was generally a good guy but was better as a drafting teacher.
By the way, hand drafting was another skill that never hurt a surveyor when it came to note keeping.
Hell, they probably don't even teach surveying any more. The government, in it's infinite wisdom thinks everyone should be a scholar these days.
By the way, hand drafting was another skill that never hurt a surveyor when it came to note keeping.
Hell, they probably don't even teach surveying any more. The government, in it's infinite wisdom thinks everyone should be a scholar these days.
I took mechanical drawing in high school in the mid-seventies, and then again in college in the early eighties, but there is little call for it now. Drafting has been replaced by CAD system skills.
My point is that as far as surveying goes Mark, hand drafting was good training for taking field notes. Cad systems are great for office drawings but they do nothing for legibility skills.
Just another example of technology eroding skills.
We have trouble finding young people who want to do any field work, they want to stay in the office. I do underground electrical surveys (lifting manhole covers, verifying cables, etc...) and we can't find a younger person to help. I'm our youngest technical field surveyer (I'm over 50), and my mechanical counterpart turns 70 this March. He's been trying to find his replacement for a few years now with no luck.
I hear you, but the overall decline of handwriting skills applies far beyond the boundaries of surveying. It's a dying skill because it's just not needed the way it used to be. They don't even teach it in our elementary schools here anymore, beyond the basics in the early grades. The technologies that are replacing it are better, in my opinion, and the evolution makes sense. Maybe the question should be: why are surveyors taking notes by hand?
I understand that handwriting is a dying art that extends beyond surveying.
I just think it should still be taught just so that kids don't think that the language they use when texting is correct. Also, a lot of mistakes will still be made no matter what the application due to the fact that when people DO use hand writing, others won't be able to understand it.
As for surveyors, they do sketches of buildings and things they are surveying and need to put dimensions and descriptions on these field sketches for the people who don't come out into the field to make the CAD drawings with.
That second point qualifies as a general weakness of handwritten communication, and one of the reasons it will ultimately go the way of dial phones.
The first point is a different matter, I think. Correctness of syntax and logic are important regardless of the medium, and I share your dismay over where we are headed in that department.