Week of September 17

I hope you had fun this weekend.  The CMSA BBQ was a big success in two ways:  1) there were a ton of students there and the faculty showing was strong.  I think this is the first time since I started at Sac State CM that Mike, Bish and myself were all in attendance.  2) I consumed an ample amount of food and beer that I did nothing to procure.  Victory on both fronts!

The semester still seems to be in chill mode, but don't become complacent.  It won't be long before the overwhelming crush of midterms is among us.

Quote of the Week

"An ounce of performance is worth a pound of promises" -- Mae West, American Actress

General News

More career advice:  Another post in my "Advice for Students" section.  Thanks to Tommy for the great question and to Kim for the great advice.  

Sac State wins again!  Think about that--it's been a long time since those words have been typed in that order.

World Trade Center construction progress:  more cool pix from an awesome project.

Hard commodity prices will collapse by 2015:  this article is a bit wonky, but it predicts that hard commodity (basic metals such as gold, but also steel, concrete, timber) prices will fall because of economic tensions in China.  This could be a big deal in the construction industry.

CM News and Events

September 17: Reno applications *may* be available (DO NOT E-MAIL ME IF YOU DON'T GET A MESSAGE--YOU WILL BE NOTIFIED WHEN THE APPLICATIONS GO LIVE).  The application will be entirely online (through Survey Monkey).  I'll post a link as soon as it goes live.  Until then, start thinking about which teams you want to compete on.  If you want to return to the team you were on last year, touch base with your coaches to make sure they know (and are ok) that you want to return.

October 1: TMCS Golf Tournament.  Volunteers are needed.  Since our department is the beneficiary, make the effort to volunteer if you can.  It's also a great way to network with industry.

October 6:  Sac State CM Sporting Clays Shoot.  This is a fundraiser for the Reno teams.  It's also a great place to network and enjoy the great outdoors.  Volunteer to help out.  Contact a CMSA Officer or e-mail the Reno Supreme Leader, Henry Meier for more details.  It's an all day event, but you will get fed.  You will likely get face time with your Reno coaches.

October 12:  The American Society for Professional Estimators is welcoming Dr. Jim Adrian of Bradley University back to Sacramento for a full day seminar in the University Union.  We have a total of 20 seats for students who will have their fee ($100!) covered by ASPE (only six have been claimed thus far).  This is a great opportunity to network and learn a lot about estimating and productivity (don't worry, it's not a boring estimating lecture--it's great info that's highly applicable and well presented).  If you're waffling because you typically work on Fridays, try to get you employer to pay for your time while you're at the presentation.  It's a great investment for your employer.  If interested, send me and e-mail.

October 12-14:  CMSA Camping Trip.  After an awesome day of learning from Jim Adrian (see directly above), treat yourself to some fun with your fellow CM classmates.  Word on the street is that Mike will be taking his boat up.

October 17:  Sacramento Builders' Exchange CIEF Golf Tournament.  Another chance to volunteer and meet industry executives and PMs.  This tournament raises money for scholarships, so some of you may ultimately end up as beneficiaries of this event.  VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED.

Job Leads

Boldt:  I sent out an e-mail last week regarding an internship position for a junior-level CM student.  Sean Davis received seven resumes quickly and submitted the best to his manager.  If you're a really high quality candidate, you better send your resume to Sean quickly (as in last week).  You can e-mail Sean here.

Turner:  Apparently, there's a career fair on campus on September 26th.  Turner will be there, so if you're interested in working for them, polish your resume now.  Find out more about Turner here.

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.  Find out more info about their info session here and more about the company here.


What's Going On in Classes

CM 10:  This week's speaker is Tim Murchison of URS.  You can see his unique professional background here.

Remember to bring a FINAL version of your write-up for Nick Parker.  If you haven't proofread your partner's paper yet, do so quickly (in other words, be a good partner).  This system only works if you help each other out.  I'll be honest with you, if I do all the proofreading, you won't be happy.  I was raised my an incredibly anal-retentive mother whose pet peeve is poor English.  Her tendencies rubbed off on me. 

Also, bring your rough draft of your Heman Chand write-up to class and repeat the cycle of exchanging papers with a classmate.

CM 121:  MAKE SURE YOU BRING YOUR GOODYEAR PLANS TO LECTURE AND LAB THIS WEEK!  We will start estimating Goodyear this week in labs (so be ready).  This week is all about site work and we will actually start estimating.  QTO + productivity + labor cost + equipment cost + material cost = total cost.  HW 1 may also be assigned (it's a game-time decision).

CM 126:  First-things-first: the presentations (Toolbox and Team) have been pretty good thus far.  Without giving specific feedback to bias the rest of the presentations, Mark and Kim did a pretty good job of breaking a complex subject into a hand full of "things you need to know," and Eric and Nate did a good job of boiling their Toolboxes into takeaways (I really liked Nate's "5 keys to saw safety"). But as the Navy SEALs say, "the only easy day was yesterday," so I expect the quality to maintain or increase throughout the term (there are benefits to going first...).

For this week, Forest Fire Podva will (appropriately) be talking about fire safety on Tuesday and Richie Orlando will be covering issues with equipment around power lines (which is a common safety issue in construction) on Thursday.  Thursday's team presentation will be Phil Bremerman and Jack "T Slammer" Warner on RFIs.

Rounding out Monday's lecture will be a discussion/lecture on partnering programs and issues with managing projects employing alternative delivery models.  Wednesday will be a discussion on Assignment 2 and the kick-off of Assignment 3.

With respect to Assignment 2, be sure to include (as an addendum if necessary), the tool or method for how you chose your team.  Be methodical about how you complete the assignment.