Unless you're a Minnesota Football fan, or a '50s rock-and-roll aficionado, as a surveyor you wouldn't think that these two things would have anything at all to do with your day to day life. You would be wrong. Elvis and the Vikings have forged the path of our work process in an almost Socratic manner. No heresy, a matter of fact.
....
Nestled on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River in Rock Island, Illinois, stands a testament to man's desire to maintain academia and tradition, Augustana College. Founded as Augustana College and Theological Seminary in 1860 by the Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod in Chicago, it moved to its current home in 1875.
Reading up on Augustana Synod brings me visions of this fella, a character in "Hell on Wheels":
Besides his burning discipline, I'm sure he was a nice guy..
Augustana College has stood the test of time and has throngs of alumni. Plenty of scholarly accomplishments have marched forth from their ivy covered halls. One in particular, their football team, the Vikings (of course) have four Division III NCAA Championships. Another accomplishment, while not as tail-gate worthy, is just as awe-inspiring.
In 1991, Dr. William Roy Hammer, a professor at Augustana College discovered the skeleton of a previously unknown dinosaur Cryolophosaurus, in Antarctica. This bipedal carnivore possessed a unique crown bone on the crest of his skull that bears an amazing resemblance to Elvis Presley's signature hair-do. Although the latin-based name Cryolophosaurus looks better to those obsessed with academia, this dinosaur earned the nick-name Elvisaurus. Cute.
What does all of this have to do with surveying? Quite a bit, just pay attention.
About the time Augustana's Board of Regents was approving budgets to send Dr. Hammer to Antarctica and send the football team to nationals their Trust was bequeathed with a gift from a deceased fan. A gentleman named Erick Schonstedt suddenly passed, while attending a friend's funeral. Having no family, Erick had directed his business, The Schonstedt Instrument Company, to become the property of Augustana College.
From a 2005 article penned by our buddy Angus Stocking, LS:
"...For its part, Augustana College was never more than an absentee owner and never effectively came to terms with Schonstedt's existing management. The result was predictable and business declined for a couple of years. It looked as if Erick's legacy might be lost."
It looks as if the Regents were more concerned with Elvis dinosaurs and football than looking into the real management of the outfit that provides us with our most prized tool, the pin-finder.
Angus continues:
"..Fortunately, Augustana College decided to get out of the locator business and in 1997 sold Schonstedt Instruments to Redwood Venture Group, a consortium of three venture capitalists specializing in stressed companies. Redwood brought in Michael Head as Schonstedt's President, and Schonstedt Instrument Company was reorganized into a much leaner firm."
I realize that most of us could do without dinosaur bones. And NCAA Division III football? ..meh..But how different would your and my world be today if we couldn't pull out the Schonny? It better be the first thing you DO get out of the truck.
I like to thank Augusta College for paying as little attention as it did to the Schonstedt Instrument Company.To quote the King:
"Thank you, Thank you very much..."
WOW! And I thought I hit the jackpot today when I saw a Land Surveyor on Judge Judy!