The faculty of the CM Department spent this morning giving tours of the facilities to the ACCE accreditation team.  Students may not appreciate them, but we actually have some great facilities at Sac State.  Our CM 9, 40 and 135 labs are among the best in the CM universe.  Mike asked all the faculty to show up to walk the team through the labs in which we operate.  We didn't need to be there, but it looked really good that we all showed up.  But the best part of the morning was when Henry Meier showed up.  Most of you know Henry, but if you don't, he's the President of SCMEF and is serving as the Member of the CM Department Industrial Advisory Board's representative to meet with the accreditation team.  He also basically serves as the "athletic director" of all our Reno teams and is a CM alumni.  So stating the obvious, he gives a lot to the Department.  Henry certainly didn't need to be there today, but he was.  And he stayed all day and is having dinner with the accreditation team as well.  I should also say that Henry is a PX for Swinerton and has a family.  In other words, he's a busy guy.  But he didn't hesitate to volunteer a full Sunday to serve as the the Department's industry bridge to the accreditation team.  We all owe Henry a huge "thanks", so when you see him (and at some point, you will all meet him), tell him you appreciate his efforts.

I'm in a great mood as I write this.  Awesome Halloween party Saturday night.  First pheasant hunt of the season Sunday morning and I had to clear out my sewer line Sunday afternoon.  "What, you're happy about having had to clean your sewer line?" you're likely asking yourself.  Well, not really.  But I'm stoked that I didn't have to call a plumber.  Instead I called Stan.  You see, my buddy Stan is the MacGuyver of my crew.  He has every tool known to mankind and can fix anything.  So when I was bummed about having to buy a 50' snake, I stopped off at Stan's house to see if he had one.  Not only did he have one, but it was one of the industrial-sized motorized ones (his aunt and uncle used to own hotels.  I had to ask).  So he set me up big time.  But that was just the half of it.  Later, he stopped by to see if I needed help.  And yes, I really did.  The contractor I hired to put in a clean out in my sewer line put in a 90 degree bend that was hard to get the snake into.  With an extra set of hands and Stan's ingenuity, we figured it out.  It still took awhile to get the clog out, but it finally did and I will be forever shocked to see the garbage my wife and kids flush.  Seriously, I'm amazed and completely grossed out.

Anyway, I am so stoked about Stan's overly cool act of kindness, that, despite not getting my Sunday-day-after-going-hard-recovery-nap, I'm in a fantastic mood.  If you're in CM 10 or CM 121, you had better hope this feeling lasts.  And if it lasts until I write your exams, you all owe Stan a beer (He's a Pliny guy, if you're wondering.  I'll make sure he gets it).

Quote of the Week

"I've come to the conclusion that the two most important things in life are good friends and a good bullpen."  -- Former major league player and manager Bob Lemon

This quote is appropriate for two reasons.  Obviously because of the MLB playoffs, but also because of the story up above.  Take care of your friends.

CM News and Events

There are no student events this week that I know of.  However, this is the week the CM Department goes through its evaluation for accreditation.  I have a ton of stuff to pull together to prove that I actually teach you something (yeah, I'm still figuring out how I'm going to pull that rabbit out of a hat...), so if I'm more absent-minded that usual, you have my apologies.  Also, be cool to Mike this week and try not to burden him with unnecessary issues.  He's likely developing a minivan-sized ulcer right now.

Job Leads

Nothing this week.  But if you haven't heard, it's job huntin' season for you graduating seniors.  Other students, the internship hiring season typically come later.  If you haven't done so yet, polish your resume.  And a word to the wise:  unless you're looking for a job as a PX (and you're not), keep your resume to one page. No one in our department, including faculty, can justify a resume longer than one page.  If you cannot say it in one page, you will lose your audience.  

What's Going On In Classes

CM 10: Exam this week.  It will cover all of the classes and guest speakers we have had (Nick Parker (Turner Construction), Heman Chand (Whiting-Turner), Tim Murchison (URS), Ruzaw Cooper & Bill Schmazel (Cooper Oates Air Conditioning), and John Nunan & Scott Maxwell (Unger Construction), as well as my lecture on the Reno teams.  Test will be true/false.

CM 121:  Exam on Tuesday.  True/false, multiple choice, and one or two problems to be solved (as we discussed in class).  Thursday we will start discussing timber construction.  We will start the timber estimate for Goodyear this week and will spend two weeks on it.

CM 126:  I'll be honest--I don't have the list of speakers on me, so I'm going to wing this.  Please confirm with me tomorrow morning if there is some confusion.

Two toolbox presentations on Tuesday:  Maria Gutierrez (safety awareness/red tape) and Tom Salazar (lock-out/tag out).  I'm hoping for a "what not to do" demonstration from one of those presentations, but I won't say which...

Last Friday, ten CM students visited the San Francisco Transbay Terminal project (where Justin Burke, CM '10 and Stacy Wilson, CM '12 work for Turner Construction, which is the agency CM on the project).  Involving six blocks in a heavily congested city, it's needless to say that this project is unbelievably complex.  The terminal portion is just over $1 billion, with the excavation (just the excavation!) being $200 million (and trending more).  

If you ever get a chance to visit this project, make the effort to go.  If you're going to San Francisco anytime soon, just walk in the vicinity of the project so that you can get a feeling for the magnitude of the project.  One other thing: if you walk any construction site, be sure to wear pants and sturdy shoes.  Which means definitely don't wear shorts and mountain biking shoes.

On Saturday, the Sac State Construction Alumni Chapter held it's 3rd annual Sporting Clays Shoot at Camanche Hills.  It was a fantastic event*.  THANK YOU to all the CM students that gave up a beautiful Saturday to volunteer.  If you're on a Reno team and did not volunteer, thank your teammates that did.  The proceeds go to the Reno effort.  Every dollar made from the event means a dollar you don't have to raise.  You should be grateful that the alumni like you.

I don't know the final dollar amount raised, but I'm sure it was a good chunk of change.  Combine that with the $20k raised at the Tricorp Hearn/TMCS golf tournament (and THANK YOU for the students that volunteered at that event as well), and the CM program is getting a lot of love from the construction industry.  I wish I could have stayed for the raffle and the peach cobbler.

*My only gripe about the event was that my team was callously robbed of first place.  We didn't have five shooters, but we were able to get the best score, in a perfectly reasonable way, with only four shooters.  Not that I'm bitter.  I'm not.  Well maybe a little.  OK, a lot.  But hey, it's for charity, right?

Quote of the Week

"If you're not in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?" -- T.S. Eliot

I love that quote--it's possibly my favorite.  This is the time of year when things start getting busy (really busy in some cases).  Just remember, everything you're going through is a test of your character.  The more work you're juggling, the more character you're building.



CM News and Events

October 12:  The American Society for Professional Estimators is hosting Dr. Jim Adrian of Bradley University to Sac State.  ASPE has graciously covered the cost ($100) for 22 students!  It's all filled, but if you want to be added to the wait list, shoot me an e-mail.

October 12-14: CMSA Camping Trip.  I'm not sure what happens at the camping trip (not sure I want to know), but I hear it's fun.  Just don't let Tommy feed chili and hot dogs to random dogs.



Job Leads

Gilbane Building Company:  Gilbane will be on campus for an info session on October 16 and ill be conducting interview on October 17.  They are looking for interns.  Several Sac State CM students have interned for them and have great things to say.



What's Going On in Classes

CM 10:  NO CLASS THIS WEEK!  I think we have a guest speaker the next week (John and Scott of Unger).  If not, we will have the first exam.  I will clarify this in next week's update.

CM 121:  More on Goodyear.  Monday's lab section will be working on footings, while Tuesday and Thursday will be working on the slab(Monday will work on the slab next week).  If I get my act together, we will also have Homework #2 assigned this week.

Remember in the first lab session I said that I'm pretty relaxed about lab but I expect everyone to make an strong effort to complete as much of each weekly lab assignment in lab?  Well, that lasted about a week.  Already people show up for lab and leave 30 minutes later.  There will be some labs that you will be left up to you own devices, but for now, I want people to work in lab.  So this week, your labs will be due at the end of lab.  Plan on putting in a full lab session.  REMEMBER: name your files "Week 6 <last name>.xlsx

CM 126:  I cannot recall off the top of my head who is responsible for the Tool Box presentation(s) on Monday, but hopefully they remember.  We will have a presentation after the Tool Box(es).  On Wednesday, CLASS HAS BEEN CANCELED!  The presentations for that day will be rescheduled.  I'll try to e-mail you the revised schedule.

By the way, a homework assignment was posted on Wednesday that is due this Wednesday to SacCT.  I was going to make you ask me how many people could work together, but I'm not sure I want to get 20 e-mails, so I'll just tell you that you can work in pairs (that means no more than 2 per group.  If you cannot find a partner, you can easily finish the assignment by yourself.  In fact, the only reason I'm allowing people to work in pairs is because I'm behind in grading and don't want to create more work that I can handle.  Even though that's the case, don't try to convince me that it's smart to allow groups of 10 because it will reduce my work load even more.  I'm cool with groups of two).

Also, remember to put you name(s) in the files you upload.