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APRIL 2004 NEWSLETTER: WEBSITE EDITION

 

NEWSLETTER CONTENTS

NEXT MEETING:  TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 2004

From the Chairman

From the Program Chairman

GEM News

Section News

Upcoming Meetings & Events

Member News

Industry News

 

 Topic:

How Companies Can Work Together to Enhance Public Relations 

 Speaker:

Hamilton White, Vulcan Materials

&

Gary O'Toole, Material Service Corp.

Menu:

Entrees will be Smoked Butt, Creamed Sausage & Chicken; side items will be dumplings, mashed potatoes, sauerkraut, cabbage, vegetable, coffee/tea and desert.  Service will be family style. 

Reservations:

E-mail contact@ChicagoSME.org anytime up to morning of meeting

PDF Print Version

Click here for meeting place, times, directions, and costs

 

From the Chairman

It’s hard to believe that we are nearing the end of April already.  As they say, “Time flies when you’re having fun!” It’s also hard to believe that I have been Section Chair for three years…and I have been having fun, or at least a pretty good time.  Serving you in the Section has been a great learning experience.   I have really enjoyed working in the Executive Committee during that time (and before), and look forward to continuing those relationships.  But, I have particularly enjoyed serving the general membership of the Section during the past few years.  I hope I was able to move the Section forward or at least sustain a good course.  What I’m driving at is that May is our time of the year to vote new officers for the Section. I know many of you are more than happy to just be members of the SME and the Section, and that’s fine.  But there are others who have would like to be more involved.  Now is the time to step forward.  I’m sure that your participation would be warmly accepted by the Section.  Please contact me, or one of the other officers of the Section to express your interest.  As for me, if no one steps forward I would be pleased to stay in the ring as Chair.  However, I am more than willing to step aside for new blood.  I look forward to hearing from you.. -- Gordie Stevens

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From the Program Chairman

This Meeting

“How Companies Can Work Together to Enhance Public Relations”

Vulcan Materials and Materials Service are close neighbors at two quarries in the McCook area near Chicago.  These companies have faced the same issues in the same community for many years.  A few years ago the two companies cooperatively created the Lyons Township Advisory Council to jointly address the issues they both face working in an urban environment, including blasting, noise, dust mew legislation and road conditions.  They will be open for questions.

About the Speaker

Hamilton White of Vulcan Materials is General Superintendent of the McCook and two other quarries in northern Illinois.  He is approaching his 20th year with Vulcan, and is currently working on his MBA at Lewis University.

Gary O’Toole is the Environmental Manager for Material Service Corp at McCook and northern Illinois area. 

These two individuals have teamed to present several public events to give a positive view to the mining industry in the McCook area.  These two speakers show what can be accomplished in positive public relations for our industry with cooperation between major suppliers.

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Last Meeting

John Wiebmer is a Director of the A.I.M.E. from the Mining and Exploration Division talked on the results of the 2002 member survey and what that means to the Society.  This survey was commissioned in part due to declining membership.   This is due in part to the health of the mining industry in the United States, but also to a decrease in the renewal rate of existing members.  The survey measured the satisfaction of the membership with the national society, local sections, the annual convention, the publications and other services.  John explained the significance of the results, and described what the Society is doing to increase the member ship numbers and the satisfaction with the Society.

The group in attendance smaller than normal, but the discussion and feedback was interesting valuable.  Some members had never met a AIME Director before, others had specific suggestions to improve SME recruiting and programs to carry back to the Board of Directors. - Rick Ackermann  

 

Next Meeting

 

Our next SME section meeting (May 25th) will tentatively feature Frank Reed, of Vulcan Materials.  This was postponed from April due to Frank’s work commitments.  Frank has recently moved into the area and will share some of his experiences as a miner in the deep metal mines of the northwestern US.  Many of us don’t know the real meaning of “rockburst” until you’ve been buried in one up to your neck…anyway, we will leave the stories to Frank.  We hope to see you there. -- Gordie Stevens

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GEM News 

The Mansion ROCKS!

Over 150 people from a widespread area packed the Hegeler Carus Mansion in LaSalle for the Mansion Rocks program on March 21.  Linda Hiltabrand staffed the IDNR Rock Box outside the mansion while Bill Pearce (Western S&G) and Jim Bastian (Material Service) talked about the consumer uses of minerals.  Bill had also done research about how Frederick Matthiessen and Edward Hegeler had come to the IL Valley from Germany to eventually found the M&H Zinc Company. 

LaSalle, IL was chosen because of the abundant coal deposits that would be needed for the smelting operation.  The zinc ore was imported from WI and MO via the new railroad, I & M Canal, and IL River waterway.  This transportation system was a key component in the economic success of the company.

Each visitor went home with a small sample of sphalerite.  Many commented that they had always been interested in "rocks," but had not made a trip to visit the Hegeler Carus Mansion before.  We hope this program gave them a chance to learn more of the local history.

--Submitted by Linda Hiltabrand

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Again - Rock Samples Wanted 

The Gem committee is hunting for rock samples of approximately 1 inch in size in quantities of 35 samples or more for rock kits which will be given to teachers at the Illinois Association of Aggregate Producers teacher workshop next fall.   Contact Anne Leslie of Raimonde Drilling at 773-889-1412 or email at rdcdrill@rdc-drill.com if you can help out.

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Section News

Don't forget to pay your 2003-2004 dues.  Click here for details.

Click here for the 2003-2004 Officers

More on the Electronic Newsletter

There have been a number of very positive comments about the new electronic newsletter, which has been going out for three months now.  While the content may belong to the newsletter editor, much of the credit for the electronic format goes to the skill and creativity of our web site coordinator, Sarah Schlichtholz, of Continental Placer Inc.  She does an excellent behind the scenes job which all of us on the executive committee appreciate. - Rick Ackermann  (Thanks, Rick! --Sarah Schlichtholz)

This is the third month that we tried sending out electronic links to the newsletter to those of you who have e-mail addresses.  Paper copies can be sent out to those who request it and have paid the local section dues.  If you have an e-mail address and still want a paper Newsletter, let either Gordie Stevens, Section Chair, or Rick Ackermann, Newsletter Editor, know and we will continue to send you a paper copy.     Reducing the mailing costs will enable us to put our cash to more effective uses such as teacher scholarships to IAAP summer teacher workshops, other scholarships, engineers week and more and more

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Upcoming Meetings & Events

Illinois Association  of Aggregate Producers Annual Convention
May 13th, 2004
Springfield, Illinois 

Information concerning the annual meeting is now available and has been sent out to the associate members.  If you have not received information concerning the conference, give the IAAP a call or fax at:  Phone: (217) 241-1639  Fax:     (217)241-1641

For e-mail information contact the Association at: iaap@hansoninfosys.com  

Information on this show is not up on the IAAP website yet.   The web site is:  http://www.iaap-aggregates.org

MINExpo 2004 

The Equipment Show

 National Mining Association

September 27-30, 2004

Convention Center

Las Vegas, NV

 This show, which takes over the Las Vegas  convention center, is one of the largest mining equipment shows in the world, and only occurs every fourth year.  The last show in 2000 had over 35,000 in attendance from all over the globe, with hundreds of exhibitors.  There are also technical sessions and short courses in conjunction with the show.  Show fee is only $175. 

Check out the sessions, seminars and exhibitors on the web at: http://www.minexpo.com

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Member News

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Industry News

Will There Be Any Mining Schools Left In the Country?

This may come as no surprise, but Mining Engineering Departments in universities across the country are becoming scarcer, and more departments may be on the hit list.  Frank Kendorski has been following this trend for some time and with some concern reported to this author that two Mining Engineering departments ceased to exist as separate departments at two well known mining schools last year.  Michigan Technological University (Originally founded as the Michigan College of Mines) was forced to merge with the Geological Engineering Department by the accreditation board due to what amounted to an insufficient number of full time Phd’s on the mining faculty.  Also last fall the Mining Department at the South Dakota School of Mining and Technology was merged with the Geological Engineering Department due to a prolonged low head count in undergraduate enrollment.  It is my understanding that students now enrolled in these departments above the freshman year will be allowed to graduate with the Mining degree, but no new students will be enrolled.  The University of Idaho at Moscow no longer has a mining engineering department.  The Mackey School of Mines at the Uni-versity of Nevada -Reno was reorganized last year, saved only by Newmont’s efforts.

Then last Wednesday I got an e-mail from a friend who is the SME chair for the Phoenix SME Section.  The e-mail call for help for the University of Arizona was possibly the most disturbing of all.  Arizona is currently going through a budgetary crisis, as are several other states.  In response to this fiscal challenge, the University is proposing a program they call “Focused Excellence” to guide their reorganization decisions.  Under this program an internal University advisory committee has recommended that the Mining Engineering program be dropped in favor of the Geological Engineering with no input from the affected department.

The following letter is from Dr. Poulton, Department Head - Mining and Geological Engineering Dept.  She says that the provost has backed off since this letter was written, but the situation is floating and mired in politics.  Help is still needed since the department is still under pressure

Rick Ackermann

Dear Friends:                      April 10th

 

As part of the "Focused Excellence" program at the UA to find ways to reduce costs and close programs, the Provost created a study team last year to examine ways to improve synergies with all the units that work in the broad areas of earth and environmental science.  This included programs in engineering, social sciences, law, etc., not just science.  The draft report was released last Wednesday.  Included in the report was the committee's recommendation to either close MGE (mining & geological Engineering) or essentially eliminate mining engineering and focus solely on geological engineering. 

 

No one on the committee asked the department for data on our program, no one talked to me or the other mining faculty to find out what our program does, and the Provost did not tell me he had asked this committee to make any recommendations on the department.  Nor did anyone on the committee have any expertise in mining.  The basis for the recommendation is unknown to me.

 

The report is currently open for comment before the Provost and President decide a course of action.  I have attached the report and the Provost's memo to the university faculty. Clearly there is a need to redirect the program but that is to be the focus of our May 1 Industry Leadership Board meeting and I do not believe that should be put in the hands of a university committee. The Provost's website is http://w3.arizona.edu/~provost.  The site contains more memos on focused excellence if you want some background on the program closures already in progress.

 

We need to take this opportunity to provide critical information to the Provost and President about the mining industry and the importance of maintaining a healthy mining engineering program at the UA.  Emotional arguments won't carry the day nor will arguments about the historical significance of the program or criticism of the process that was followed.

 

The arguments we need to make are economic and legal ones.  The time-frame is very short.  I think we have about 5-10 days at the most to respond before the Provost and President make a decision about whether to accept the committee's recommendation to form a committee to decide whether we should be closed or how to redirect us.

 

I would suggest that letters to the Provost and President should include at a minimum background on your companies, including if possible their economic impact in the local, state, national, and/or global economies; background on yourself to establish your credibility in writing the letter; background on the need for mining engineers (and economic geologists as this group would be adversely impacted by the closure of our program); importance of maintaining a healthy mining engineering program at the UA for your companies and for the global industry.  Any information that can be provided on the national and global outlook for mining and the demographics of the industry (i.e. critical shortage of people) would be useful.  Any other factual data and arguments would be appreciated, such as constitutional arguments, public impact, impact of your company in Mexico, Latin America, or South America, etc.

 

Please enlist the help of other alumni, industry people, national organizations, etc. that could help.  I want to emphasize at this point

We are responding to a recommendation in a draft report to form a committee to examine whether the program should be closed or redirected.  We should view this as an opportunity to edu`cate the Provost and President and make our case rather than simply responding defensively to a threat.

 

Letters should be addressed to:

 

Dr. George Davis

Office of the Provost

Administration Building 512

P.O. Box 210066

The University of Arizona

Tucson, AZ 85721-0066

fax:  520 621 9118

 

Dr. Peter Likins

Office of the President

Administration Building 712

P.O. Box 210066

The University of Arizona

Tucson, AZ 85721-0066

fax:  520 621 9323

 

I would appreciate it if you could also copy me on the letters.  I thank you for any support you can provide.  I'll be happy to answer any questions you might have.

 

Dr. Mary M. Poulton

Professor and Department Head

Department of Mining & Geological Eng

1235 E. North Campus Drive, room 229

The University of Arizona

Tucson, AZ 85721-0012

 

ph: 520 621 8391

fax: 520 621 8330

home: 520 743 3126

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Phelps Dodge Chicago Seeking Civil / Mechanical Engineer

Minimum 3 yrs project experience in a manufacturing or mining environment with advanced degree or PE preferred. Committed to good safety practices, demonstrated ability to handle multiple priorities, manage complex projects, meet deadlines in fast paced environment. Should be detail oriented with excellent oral and written communication, strong computer skills including CAD, Excel, Word, etc.,  & active team player.

Will be a member of engineering department, reporting directly to the Project Manager, with safety being a key element and involved in project work in all phases – planning, budget, capital requests, technical expertise, project leader, and construction management of vendors for a variety of on a wide range of construction, expansion, or modification projects.  Also will assist  & support other departments in efforts to improve safety, efficiencies, cost controls and protection of the environment.

submit your resume on-line at: http://www.resumeware.net/pd_rw/pd_web/apply.cfm?uservalid=T&include_rb=1&which=website&mcolor=339999&reqnum=1788  under the current opportunities section, job title Project Engineer, Requisition #1788.

And/Or

Send your resume via email to Jannine:  searchsolutions@earthlink.net

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NSSGA Hails Victory For Landowners In Supreme Court

Date: 03/31/2004

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 31—Calling it a “major victory” for Western states aggregates producers, NSSGA President and CEO Joy Wilson welcomed today's U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning a Ninth Circuit Court ruling that returned the rights to sand and gravel deposits on private lands that previously were owned by the federal government.

“The Supreme Court applied a set of common sense standards in this 6-to-3 decision and now citizens in the Western United States will have access to literally millions of acres of sand and gravel they need for critical construction purposes,” Wilson said.


The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in BedRoc Limited, LLC, et al. v. United States, et al., in January. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled earlier that the federal government reserved ownership of common sand and gravel when it issued land grants for property in Nevada subject to a reservation of “all the coal and other valuable minerals in the lands.” This decision relied in large part on the 1983 Supreme Court decision in Watt v. Western Nuclear, Inc., which found gravel to be included within a reservation of “all the coal and other minerals” in land grants under the Stock-Raising Homestead Act of 1916. Four Supreme Court Justices, however, strongly dissented from the Western Nuclear ruling and specifically found that the majority reached its decision by largely ignoring the stated position of the Department of the Interior that gravel—like sand and clay—is not a mineral. NSSGA, which had supported a parallel case, United States v. Hess, filed an amicus brief in BedRoc.

 

Reprinted with permission from:  http://www.aggregateresearch.com/press.asp?id=4012&s=m

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