TWO WEEKS OF CLASSES LEFT (in case you weren't keeping track...)

General News

I moved "news" items to the Blog section of my web page.  Check it out.  And not because I wrote the entries there, but because it summarizes the news that impacts your chosen industry.  Besides, you'll sound smart when you're talking to a construction executive and you can say "wow, the housing market is starting get turn for the better, but the industrial/commercial market needs to get better before i'm done worrying."  Or something like that.  Anyway, get informed.

CM News and Events

Fall Student Welcome:  On Monday, November 26 (tomorrow night), the Fall Student Welcome will be held at the Firehouse Restaurant (1112 2nd Street) from 5:30 to 8:00.  In return for wearing nicer clothes than you normally do, you will get the opportunity to mingle with the construction industry's big ballers and have free food (and possibly free drink, but bring your wallets just in case).  The University's President and Provost will be there, so act accordingly.  Besides, it's Monday, so drinking too much will be a sign of much bigger problems.  Just sayin'...

WCIECA Scholarship: There is a $1,000 scholarship available through the Western Chapter of the International Erosion Control Association.  If interested, contact Cyndi Brinkhurst at (530) 272-2407 or [email protected].  This scholarship will likely not draw a lot of interest, so those that put some effort into applying for it will likely have a good chance.  I'm not sure about the deadline for this, but I bet Cyndi does, so e-mail her.

Job Leads

DeSilva Gates:  DGC is looking for PE's and Estimators. Contact Pete Davos at 925.829.9220 or [email protected].  They do heavy-civil/earthmoving, in case you were wondering.

College of Engineering Job Seeker Website:  If you haven't already checked this out, you can search through all the jobs that Cici Mattuzi (the College of Engineering's Career Coordinator) posts quickly here.  I did a quick search and found that Sprig Electric in San Jose (which is run by a really good group of people) and McClone Construction are hiring.  I'm sure there's more than that.  Check it out:  http://career.ecs.csus.edu/jetx4/

What's Going On In Classes

CM 10:  Sorry, another week without a guest lecturer, so you get me (#winning).  I'll come up with something to dazzle you with.  ***Reminder:  you should be working on your reflection paper, which is the last assignment for the class.

CM 121:  This week we start the McKinley Park Tennis Courts lab.  You will have the next two weeks to work on it, but that doesn't mean you should slack off this week and make the work up next week.  You will need all of the next two lab periods to get ready for BID DAY!  You may work in teams of up to three (3) people.  I recommend building a team with smart people, but that's just my $0.02.

Also this week, we're having Exam #2.  We'll have a short lecture on Tuesday and an even shorter exam review.  The exam will be on Thursday.  I have actually already written it.  Yeah, while you were stuffing your face with turkey, I was writing an exam.  Awesome.  I also graded some labs, but I want to finish all of them before returning grades to the entire class (I'm hoping to have most of Goodyear graded this week).  The comments you will receive will be limited due to time.  But if you want more detailed feedback, ask me during lab and I'll go through your labs with you.  That's a part of my stellar customer service program.

CM 126:  Busy week ahead.  On Monday, we have two toolbox meetings (John Vogt on steel erection fall protection and Matt Obregon on helicopter safety) and Sean Davis and Tom Salazar will be giving their presentation on PlanGrid.  Also, I will be revealing the winners of the 2012 CM 126 Hand Turkey Drawing Competition.  My kids selected the winners and graded your quizzes.  And apparently I'm raising really mean kids.  

This is the first of back-to-back short weeks.  The next two weeks will be fairly relaxed, and then we'll hit it full speed until the end of the semester.

General News


I'm moving the general news to the Blog section of my web page.  I hope to update it more frequently with news from the places that interest me (construction + economics + technology).

CM New and Events


Evening with Industry: I hope you have been seeing the e-mails Sean Davis has been sending out.  This Wednesday (November 14) is the Evening with Industry.  It starts at 5:30 (I think) and is being held at the Boldt Sutter Hospital project in midtown.  Since this event is being held at a construction site, dress appropriately (hard hat, boots, vest, eye protection).  This is a great chance to tour a cool project and meet some great people from industry.  A lot of current students and alumni work on this project, so it will be nice to support them and you will get to experience the craziness of an OSHPD project.

Student Fall Welcome: On the Monday when we get back from Thanksgiving break (November 26), the Fall Student Welcome will be held at The Firehouse Restaurant (1112 2nd Street) from 5:30 to 8:00.  Wear nicer clothes (clean ironed dress shirt, nice pair of pants, etc. for the gents, ladies should wear their equivalent to that).  Our industry sponsors put this event on and some big industry and academic ballers show up (Sac State's President and Provost are coming).  We will be celebrating our becoming a department and will be having two alumni presenting on one of their projects.  This is a fun event and this year there is a lot to celebrate.

WCIECA Scholarship: There is a $1,000 scholarship available through the Western Chapter of the International Erosion Control Association.  If interested, contact Cyndi Brinkhurst at (530) 272-2407 or [email protected].  This scholarship will likely not draw a lot of interest, so those that put some effort into applying for it will likely have a good chance.

Job Leads


Mike has a couple of internship opportunities that he has cycled around.  I don't have any details, so hit him up here for more info.

What's Going On In Classes


CM 10:  I will be lecturing this week.  Your memos for Bill Hansen are due this week.  Next week (week of Thanksgiving), we WILL NOT be having class.

CM 121:  THERE WILL BE NO LAB THIS WEEK OR NEXT (***except for the Monday section, which will meet next Monday***).  However, we are essentially done with Goodyear, so all outstanding Goodyear lab assignments will be due the week we return from Thanksgiving class.  After Thanksgiving, we start our next project, which is McKinley Park Tennis Courts.

In lecture, we will be doing a data dump from the first 5 weeks of Goodyear and then covering subcontracting on Tuesday and discussing overhead and insurance on Thursday.

CM 126:  On Wednesday, we will be having a guest speaker from Rosendin Electric coming to class.  Please show some respect and show up for class.  Introduce yourself--these guys are looking to hire.  Even if you're not interested in working in the electrical, it's good to understand that side of the business.  Actually, let me restate that: it's incredibly good to understand the electrical business.  I promise to try to grade something this week.

"Nobody will ever deprive the American people of the right to vote except the American people themselves and the only way they could do this is by not voting." -- Franklin D. Roosevelt

Get the hell out and vote on Tuesday.  Even if you feel that, as a Californian, your vote won't count in the presidential election due to the electoral college process (if what you're reading doesn't make sense, click here), there are several California initiatives on the ballot that you should look into.  Pay particular attention to Propositions 30 and 38 because they apply to funding schools (including the CSU system).

General News

Hurricane Sandy creates havoc on a construction site.  Check out pix of this damaged tower crane.

Nonresidential building construction spending slumped in August after gaining in July.  So the news is mixed, but the market is still tough.  Check out which sectors are doing better that others (or less bad than others) here.

CM News and Events

Accreditation:  I cannot report anything specific about the accreditation visit other than that it is over and I think we've survived to fight another day.

Evening with Industry:  Evening with Industry will be on November 14 (5:30 to 7:30, I believe).  We are being hosted by Boldt Construction at their Sutter Hospital project in midtown.  Sign up on the list near Margaret's desk.

Job Leads

None this week.

What's Going on In Classes

CM 10:  No guest lecture this week, so you're stuck with me.  Not sure what I'll discuss, but we will likely talk about some of the things brought up by past guest speakers.

CM 121:  We will be discussing finishes and the (very) basics of MEP trades.  In lab we will be covering wood framing in the partitions and doors, frames & hardware.  Don't be sad, but this will be our last week of labs until after the week of Thanksgiving (except for the Monday section, which will meet on November 19 as a make-up for a previous missed lab date).

CM 126:  On Monday, the superintendents from Swinerton (formerly HMH), Rob Stratton and Steve Harless will be giving a guest lecture.  This will be cool because we rarely get superintendents to come to campus to talk about what's important to them.  Please be on time.

I don't remember exactly what's going on Wednesday (probably because I stupidly forgot to post the presentations schedule like I said I was going to do...).  I know Chip Becker will be doing his toolbox on heat exhaustion and Mark Campbell and Doug Shirk will giving their presentation on project controls.  I think there is another presentation or toolbox, but I cannot remember off the top of my head.  If you think it's you and want me to confirm, send me an e-mail.