PLSO The Oregon Surveyor March April 2020

4 The Oregon Surveyor  | Vol. 43, No. 2 From the PLSO Chairman Jeremy A. Sherer, PLS Chairman of the Board MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN T hey were so cute and adorable. Miss Lisa’s 3-year-old ballet class lined up on stage in their tutus, twirling around and flapping their little arms in their first performance to an adoring parent audience. All the parents were giggling, smiling, and flaunting over the ballerinas until a roar of laughter broke. A sweet, little ballerina near the end of the row, with arms down and a stern look, refused to dance. My wife and I looked at each other and were hor- rified. That little ballerina was our sweet daughter. That was ten years ago. Years later, I asked my daughter if she remem- bered that performance and asked why she refused to dance. Without missing a beat, she responded, “Because the other ballerinas weren’t doing it right.” Recent- ly, I heard those same words from one of our founders of PLSO. In a conversa- tion with Eugene DiLoreto, I asked him, “Why was the PLSO created?” He simply replied, “Because surveyors weren’t do- ing it right.” 50 years after our founding, the question is, are we doing it right? Like little ballerinas, some in our profes- sion are flapping their arms in a desperate attempt to grab attention, while others, like the adoring parents, don’t see the flaws and are happy with the status-quo, or perhaps others are like the horrified parents, embarrassed and ashamed. I suspect, however, that most surveyors are like my daughter—refusing to make a mockery of the profession just to please the crowd. Like my daughter, most Sur- veyors want to be part of the dance, but think everyone else is doing it wrong. We expect excellence in our profession, and we have expected it since our founding. On June 30, 1959, Norman Price, LS 33, moved that the “Registered Land Survey- ors of Oregon organize into a professional body separate from existing organized engineering bodies...” and so, the Pro- fessional Lands Surveyors of Oregon responded to the call to do it right by sep- arating itself on a foundation based on ethics, the practice of surveying, education, and the preservation and perpetuation of our profession. In our early development, we separated ourselves and did it right by establishing a “Practices Committee” to assist OS- BEELS in investigations, a “Membership Committee,” and an “Information & Ed- ucation Committee.” Later, we hired a lobbyist to represent the interest of our profession and adopted a code of eth- ics. Throughout the 60’s and 70’s, we continued to find ways to “do it right” by defining what standards and education were needed by developing a certification program for “Survey Aides,” by preparing for what would become our Profession’s “Standards of Practice,” and by introduc- ing continuing education requirements to OSBEELS for licensees. In 1971, doing it right meant that our scholarship fund moved from being chapter sponsored, Promoting the surveying profession means “moving forward” or “advancing.” Through marketing and advertisement, we desire the public to understand why it needs a Surveyor or why someone should become a Professional Land Surveyor for our own preservation. Doing it Right: The Making Of A Good Ballerina Surveyor