EDITORIAL

ACSM Issues New Revised Definitions

by Ilse Genovese

The best-selling Definitions of Surveying and Associated Terms has long been a permanent fixture in the toolkit of practically every surveyor in America. The revised Definitions fill a gap in terminology accrued since 1978 when the reference was last upladed. <<more>>

FEATURES

Turning Point on Energy--and Arctic Drilling

by Ilse Genovese

After years of lobbying, efforts to open up Alaska's arctic wilderness for oil and gas exploration were stymied in the Senate, just before Congress adjourned for the holidays. The legislature was passed late this year by the House of Representatives, but its defeat in the Senate is another defeat for oil companies who have sought access to the coastal refuge for more than two decades. Arctic oil both tantalizes and angers, no matter which side of the issue one stands. < <more>>

Geodesy? What's That? A New Frontier, Part 13 (1)

by Irene K. Fischer

It had started with a request for help from the Datum Branch in early 1972. Jim Walker, its Chief, gave frequent support to the geodetic needs of our test range on the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, and now "they" wanted to improve their first-order control network and densify the deflection data. The deflections of the vertical, as you may or may not remember from reading the earlier chapters (where I told how I myself gradually found out about these little creatures), are important little indicators of what the variations in the gravity force of the Earth from place to place might do to, e.g., a missile trajectory (we worked for the Defense Department, you know). They indicate by how much, at a specific station, the vertical direction to the zenith in the sky is deflected by the irregularities in the Earth's crust, mainly in the neighborhood of that station. If the entire area of and around the test range were covered with deflection data, it would permit an important refinement to trajectory testing. < <more>>

Legislative Issues 2006

by Laurence Socci

At the recent Joint Government Affairs Committee meeting, as part of ACSM's fall meeting in Virginia, the committee discussed many legislative issues relating to our members. The more we discussed the issues, the more it became clear that we have a full plate in 2006. I want to use this column to go over some of the more important issues we'll be working on.<<more>>