A Slap In The Face To The Profession Of Surveying

This category of topic came up at the Dennis Mouland seminar I attended today. He told how Curt Summers (ACSM or whatever now) had announced several years ago that the survey education programs were being hijacked. GIS and business-type departments were adding this offering while engineering-type departments were closing down.

Interesting indeed. I'm kind of partial to the specialization in "electronic surveying"... whatever that is.

I'll be making sure this gets circulated in the AZ powers that be. Myself included.

Thanks Paul
w

I don't think it's a slap in the face..

Dentists don't go to Medical School, why do Land Surveyors go to Engineering School? I think it's mostly based in tradition, a tradition which turns a legal question into an Engineering problem.

Westwood "College" is just an overgrown TV and Radio repair school from the 50's that takes advantage of the student loan system to prey on the un and under employed. They've been sued by multiple state's Attorneys General as well as the Department of Justice.

The curriculum seemed heavy on field experience and light on details. I could see that a student gets credit for co-op work he pays to do.

Still looking for faculty details.

I threw these out there to get feedback.

Paul in PA

I graduated from the survey program at Westwood in 2001 when it was run by Lynn Patton. The program came out of the Brinker School of surveying run by DIT many years ago and has put many surveyors both licensed and non-licensed into the profession. While it was plagued with internal Westwood politics, it was a good school for those who took their education seriously. To my knowledge the program was shut down last year by Westood.

The Same Brinker Who Wrote Surveying Textbooks ?

I just found out about Westwood and Saint Paul from the former ACSM now NSPS website.

Paul in PA

The Same Brinker Who Wrote Surveying Textbooks ?

Not the same Brinker who wrote the textbook(s). Dexter Brinker is in Colorado (in his late 80's now) and was one of the founders of the PLSC organization. He started Brinker School of Surveying and Mapping and sold his school to "DIT", Denver Institute of Technology who later sold out to Westwood if I am not mistaken. I went to DIT only around a year or so after it transferred from the Brinker school, back in 1981.

The Same Brinker Who Wrote Surveying Textbooks ?

Tom, you didn't happen to work for Merrick back in the early 80's did you?

The Same Brinker Who Wrote Surveying Textbooks ?

I just ran into this thread while researching Dexter Brinker. He is not the Brinker who authored the surveying textbook but was the founder of the Brinker School of Surveying and Mapping in Denver Colorado (not Boulder). He sold his school to Denver Institute of Technology. I had occasion to join the teaching staff for the DIT program under the tenure of Larry Isabel in 1982. In 1983 I had the honor of becoming program supervisor and took advantage of that opportunity to steer the program in the direction of the legal aspects of land surveying while still providing instruction in the mathematical and technical skills needed to succeed in the profession. Sad to say I have no idea what happened to the program when I left to rejoin the mainstream of the industry in 1986 but I'd like to think that many of the students of the program under my tenure have ripened the skills learned into successful careers and leaders in the profession.

As to Mr. Brinker - I had the pleasure of meeting and studying under his tutelage in continuing education courses, in particular spherical geometry and the nuances of the Transverse Mercator Projection. The man was brilliant. Thank you Mr. Brinker.

The Same Brinker Who Wrote Surveying Textbooks ?

Ric,
I didn't see this until mscanlon bumped it back to the top. No, I didn't work for Merrick.

mscanlon, Larry was our head teacher when I went there. There was a teacher there named "mike" as well. Was that you? I "graduated" in 1982. We had three instructors, Larry, Mike, and one other whose name escapes me. Larry was a funny guy from somewhere like South Carolina? He had funny stories, and would tell them in a southern accent in a kind of Andy Griffith type humor. When he referred to complicated equations like the law of cosines, or the quadratic equation and his explanation was something like "Some crazy sommofabich stayed up all night and figure that one out. That was the mathematical "proof"....

Brings back memories. Last I knew Dex is alive and well and would be around 88 now.

The Same Brinker Who Wrote Surveying Textbooks ?

Tom, That was certainly me. The other instructor was Wes Worrell. I taught there until mid 1986 and went back into private practice in Connecticut. I probably taught you how to program your HP41. Do you still use it? Larry was a character especially at survey camp at Buffalo Creek.

The Same Brinker Who Wrote Surveying Textbooks ?

.
>
> As to Mr. Brinker - I had the pleasure of meeting and studying under his tutelage in continuing education courses, in particular spherical geometry and the nuances of the Transverse Mercator Projection. The man was brilliant. Thank you Mr. Brinker.

Are you saying you studied under Admiral Russell C. Brinker?

The Same Brinker Who Wrote Surveying Textbooks ?

No, no - not the Admiral. I'm referring to Dexter Brinker the land surveyor from Colorado.

The Same Brinker Who Wrote Surveying Textbooks ?

>
> Are you saying you studied under Admiral Russell C. Brinker?

Don't know about Dexter Brinker, but Russell C. Brinker did author surveying text books. Mine is "Elementary Surveying, 5th Edition". Also, don't know about Russell C. Brinker the Admiral, but Russell C. Brinker, that authored the text books was 'Professor of Civil Engineering at New Mexico State University'.

The Same Brinker Who Wrote Surveying Textbooks ?

The Russell C. Brinker Prize in Civil Engineering is awarded to that junior in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department who, in the opinion of that department’s faculty, is deemed most deserving on the basis of self-reliance, scholarship, and student activities.

Russell Brinker came to New Mexico State in 1960 from UTEP. He replaced Frank Bromilow as Head of Civil Engineering when Mr. Bromilow became Dean of the College of Engineering in 1961. Prof. Brinker remained Head of Civil Engineering until 1966. His major duties at NMSU were surveying when he became known as “Mr. Surveyor”. He was editor of the 5th and 6th edition of “Elementary Surveying”, and served as Editor-in-Chief of the “Civil Engineers Series” by Intext Publishers through 1975. Prof. Brinker was a registered professional engineer and land surveyor in many states, and retired from the U.S. Navy Reserve as Admiral

The Same Brinker Who Wrote Surveying Textbooks ?

> >
> > Are you saying you studied under Admiral Russell C. Brinker?
>
> Don't know about Dexter Brinker, but Russell C. Brinker did author surveying text books. Mine is "Elementary Surveying, 5th Edition". Also, don't know about Russell C. Brinker the Admiral, but Russell C. Brinker, that authored the text books was 'Professor of Civil Engineering at New Mexico State University'.

Russell C. Brinker the Author of Elementary Surveying Taught at the University of Hawaii, UTEP, New Mexico State and retired as an Admiral in the Naval Reserve.

Edit: Never bothered to read Jim's post, sorry

The Same Brinker Who Wrote Surveying Textbooks ?

I also have his book "4444 Review Questions For Surveyors", which I think is the 1975 version with the picture of the HP 3810A Total Station on the front cover.

The Same Brinker Who Wrote Surveying Textbooks ?

> I also have his book "4444 Review Questions For Surveyors", which I think is the 1975 version with the picture of the HP 3810A Total Station on the front cover.

Brinker published tons of stuff, 4444 is just one of them. According to his resume he had 57 publications including 4 textbooks and 2 songs.

It would interesting to listen to these songs. 🙂

BTW I also have a copy of 4444

Here's a link to his bio:
Brinker