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2007 President-elect Candidates Deliver Speeches to the Board of Trustees
Voting is open now and will run through June 7. All full, associate, and international members can vote online or by mail.
Voting for the 2007 President-elect candidates is now open, and will run through June 7. All full, associate, and international members should be receiving ballot packages and email instructions for voting online in the immediate future. Please note that members will need this information prior to visiting the voting website. In order to help members make an informed decision on the candidates, LAND Online is printing the candidates’ speeches before the Board of Trustees as prepared for delivery below. The audio of the speeches is also available below, as are links to the candidates’ biographical and concept and aims statements and their answers to all three questions posed during the LAND Online E-Forum.
Click the links below to access information on each candidate:
Biographical and Concept and Aims Statements
Answers to Question One
Answers to Question Two
Answers to Question Three
ASLA Fellow Perry Howard’s speech to the ASLA Board of Trustees
Click here for audio
There are three messages that I would like to leave with you today. One, is that I want to be your next president; two, each one can teach one; and three, each one can reach one.
More than 100 years ago a professional society was founded based upon social justice and environmental stewardship. The confluence of those two seeds became the soul of the society. The members of that society believe in the reoccurring energies of OUR WORLD, the teachings of OUR DISCIPLINE, the faith of OUR PROFESSION, and the good deeds of OUR WORK. We are now at the moment where we must gather up our many collective messages of our world, our discipline, our profession, and our works. These collective messages are the summation of the society as an organism. We should turn those messages into sound bites. What do they tell us? At the root of these messages is the society’s ability to merge culture and environment. Every landscape architect would agree that this is what we do and have done. This is our soul.
In 1975, ASLA Medal winner Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe and Susan Jellicoe in the introduction to their book ‘The Landscape of Man’ wrote that “The world is moving into a phase when landscape design may well be recognized as the most comprehensive of the arts. The reasons for this are threefold: (a) the existing delicately balanced order of nature within the biosphere, or protective envelop of the planet, is being disturbed by the activities of man, and it seems that only his own exertions can restore a balance and ensure survival; (b) these exertions call first for ecosystems that are no more than a return to an efficient animal state of sustained existence; and (c) man’s destiny being to rise above the animal state, he creates around him an environment that is a projection into nature of his abstract ideas. The first has aroused an intuitive urge in biological man and caused the ‘green revolution’, so described at the Stockholm Conference on Human Environment, 1972; the second has encouraged comprehensive ecological planning by experts; and the third is promoting a landscape art on a scale never conceived of in history.” This is our shared vision and this is the soul of the society.
The society has grown from the eleven members one hundred years ago to over 16,000 members today with a ten million dollar annual budget. The membership and monies are important resources we should maximize. Governance and staff do an excellent job in maximizing financial resources but a better job could be done to maximize membership resources. I want to lead you in this effort. Each one can teach one.
Past-President Patrick Miller, FASLA said that we need to go about ‘helping people understand who we are and what we do’; President Dennis B. Carmichael, FASLA talks about needing more ‘public awareness’; President-Elect Patrick W. Caughey, FASLA said ‘lets build upon the things that draw us together and work to overcome those things that are divisive. And then lets go out and tell people’; and then Sadik Artunc, FASLA said we should ‘awaken the power of S.E.R.V.I.C.E’. This is about telling a story that all members have to do. This is service each member can do. All my years in the profession we have been trying to explain to people what we do. Let’s do it! If according to President –Elect Caughey, landscape architects should be telling the world what we do, then it is for the landscape architects to do.
The problem is how do we get all of our members involved? How do we give our members the information they need to get the message out? What does the society want? Is it jobs for its members or is it a better world or both? How much time will members spend working for the benefit of the society? Do members have any extra time? How can we make our members’ time more efficient? What are our members’ expertises? Are there tasks members can contribute to? How do we find out what members care about? Can we grow membership through membership volunteering? We must be clear on tasks we want members to do. We must identify and express benefits from accomplishing a task to our members, and we must ask for their help. Each one can teach one.
And each one can reach one. The 1992 ASLA Medal winner Dr. Robert S. Reich, FASLA, understood the need for diversity in the profession long before most people. His early understanding of my needs was appreciated. The 1990 ASLA Medal winner Raymond L. Freeman, FASLA, formed an ASLA Minority Task Force in 1971 to study the lack of participation of minorities in the profession. The 1980 ASLA Medal winner William G. Swain, FASLA, while visiting LSU in 1973, took the time to bring me a copy of a recent ASLA publication called “Landscape Architecture: A Profession Designed for Minorities”. They all showed they cared, they all showed compassion and they all showed understanding. Each one can reach one.
The 1994 ASLA Medal winner Edward D. Stone, Jr., FASLA, as part of the Minority Task Force decided to offer a $2,000.00 yearly scholarship in 1973. I received that scholarship. He and his office also offered me summer internships with the scholarship. In 1975 after graduation they offered a full time job even after the market downturn from the oil crunch. They offered a second scholarship when I went to Harvard Graduate School of Design. It was a total commitment. But more than that, they welcomed a poor young person in to their family and became mentors, teachers, and friends.
Each one can reach one. If each one of our 16,000 members reaches one minority and brings them in to landscape architecture, diversity is no longer an issue. Find one, whether Native American, Hispanic, Asian-American, African-American, or other, coax them into the profession, help them to attend any of our fine programs in landscape architecture whether it’s a bachelors, masters, or Ph.D., make sure they complete the degree, help them join an office or organization that care about their growth and welfare, and more importantly help them join ASLA. Each one can reach one.
Thank you for this awesome honor. Very few landscape architects are called and even fewer landscape architects are chosen to serve as president. I also want to thank the many people who helped and pushed me along the way. Dr. Robert Reich for his early understanding; Dr. Carl Steinitz for teaching me intensity and focus; both Louisiana State University and Harvard GSD for giving me a wonderful education; Ed Stone, Jr. and EDSA for employing me and helping pay for that wonderful education; Dr. Charles Fountain for steering me on my present course; North Carolina A&T State University and my students for continuing to provide me with challenges and opportunities; the North Carolina Chapter of ASLA for supporting me; my wife, Jean Howard, for after 33 years still providing me the freedom to continue my quest; my family for allowing me to leave their world during my pursuits, and lastly friends.
Landscape Architects are equipped with the tools to handle the research, planning, design and management of our landscapes. We must continue to find ways to carry that message forward while engrossed in the comprehensive work we have been educated to perform.
If elected president of ASLA, I would be a champion for the profession, cultivate the future of the discipline, service the needs of our members, effectively manage society resources, and nurture the soul of the society. Thank you very much.
ASLA Fellow Van L. Cox’s speech to the ASLA Board of Trustees
Click here for audio.
Candidacy is somewhat like an Academy Award nomination, and as a potential “Oscar” winner, I thank ASLA’s current leadership, especially Dennis Carmichael, Pat Caughey, Patrick Miller, the Executive Committee, and Chapter Presidents Council, for including Perry Howard and me in their Winter and Midyear Meetings. I also thank Nancy Somerville, Mary Hanson, and the entire ASLA staff for treating us with respect and conducting a fair and professional election process.
I appreciate the opportunity to tell you why I want to be ASLA’s next President-Elect and what I can do for you as your future President. First, I want to summarize my answer to the quintessential question, “What has ASLA done for ME?”, navigating quickly through my ASLA timeline, skipping much and stating how I hope to reciprocate:
• First Contact – As is typical, my initial encounter with ASLA was membership in a student chapter. My favorite memory was the first LABASH at Guelph—a fairly spontaneous event—and then as one of the student hosts at LSU the following year for the first official LABASH. Those of you who were student members then were my introduction to the Society’s future. Each year at universities (including the 2007 LABASH, slated again at LSU), there is a fresh crop of enthusiastic students, like the National Student Representatives, Rich Bensman and Jeff Orkin, I would love to lead into Full Membership in ASLA. It’s time we recruited more, and more diverse, students;
• First Annual Meeting – In 1978, while I was teaching as an adjunct instructor at LSU, ten students persuaded me to chaperone them to the Atlanta ASLA Annual Meeting. Entitled “Money, Law and Politics,” the meeting was a real eye-opener, where one could share a hotel elevator with the likes of Hideo Sasaki, or the late Garrett Eckbo and Jot Carpenter. It started a fire in my belly to become an active member. While there, LSU Student Chapter President, Patrick Moore, borrowed $10 for breakfast one morning, and later became ASLA’s first National Student Representative. I considered my money well invested, and if elected, I promise to continue investing in ASLA’s Annual Meetings, improving the quality and introducing the future icons of our profession;
• CELA / LAAB– As faculty member at LSU, I began attending Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) meetings, expanding my contacts and seeing a new set of devoted landscape architects--this time from the teaching sector. If elected, I promise to maintain and forge even closer relationships with our academic sector members and continue improving accreditation processes through the Landscape Architecture Accreditation Boards (LAAB);
• Chapter Presidency – I became Louisiana-Arkansas Chapter President a few years later, basically because everyone else in the room stepped backward when asked to be nominees! I want to work with those of you who’ve stepped forward when called upon to do so and reverse the direction of those headed in the opposite direction;
• Licensure / Continuing Education – An obvious volunteer and an easy target for nominating committees, I was appointed to the Louisiana Horticulture Commission (the licensing agency), a position I hold today after almost 25 years of service. When asked to draft language for a Practice Act, I used ASLA’s “model” language, and after a year of personal lobbying, using ASLA’s responses to legislative questions and the skills of diplomacy learned at Annual Meeting educational sessions, the law passed unanimously. Louisiana now has preliminary approval for a Continuing Education program, which I crafted with other Chapter members from ASLA Licensure Summit models. I want to be among those leaders who will finalize ASLA’s "50 by 2010" licensure effort;
• CLARB – As Louisiana landscape architects’ representative on the Commission, I began attending the Council of Landscape Architects Registration Boards (CLARB), meetings, gave exam reviews and participated in exam grading sessions. During these experiences and some related work on ASLA’s L.A.R.E. Review Committee, I may have crossed paths with you. I would continue improving ASLA’s working relationship with CLARB;
• Second Chapter Presidency – I was elected Louisiana Chapter President a second term, because this time I was the only one left in the room when nominations were requested! I was deeply affected by the Chapter Presidents Council (CPC) meetings I attended, which by then were institutionalized, and impressed with the knowledge, efforts and enthusiasm of participants—some of you were there, I know. I want to see the CPC continue to be productive, facilitating exchanges of information and networking among chapter leaders and providing management and leadership at the local level;
• Trustee Positions – I then became Chapter Trustee for two consecutive terms, working with the Board on ASLA’s Strategic Operating Plan and sifting through various Executive Vice Presidents. I was in awe at the level of commitment to the profession and incredible sacrifice for the Society by the Trustees. I would like to work with you and future Board members, facilitating consideration of key policies, prioritizing issues, and monitoring ASLA operations. I love working with the Trustees, who make ASLA as successful as it is, creatively planning for the future and making improvements when things don’t go so well;
• Executive Committee – In my last year as Trustee—that heady time when the Society turned 100 years old—I was elected Vice President, Education. Some of you were officers or Trustees during that period. As your President-Elect and leader of the ExCom, I would maintain effective lines of communication with and among ASLA members, chapters and the CPC, committees, Trustees, allied organizations and others;
• Annual Meetings – Part of my responsibility as Vice President was to chair various committees. I observed the member and staff time spent in the planning and conduct of Annual Meetings—in particular the New Orleans meeting, for which I was Co-Chair of the Louisiana Chapter Planning Committee. As your President-Elect, I would work with those who have the creative energy and intelligence, planning and producing meetings that offer high quality educational programming, workshops, social events, and networking opportunities. Some of you have or may become good friends, the ones I look forward to seeing at Annual Meetings, and I want to share with more of you those events that mark annual achievements for landscape architecture and ASLA;
• Fellows – Somewhere along the way, I was inducted into the Society’s Council of Fellows and once again found myself in the company of some of “the best of the best” ASLA members. I want to be among those in that brain trust that have become Presidents, and advance the Society by utilizing the expertise of the Fellows more fully;
• Committees / Membership – I’m no longer an officer, after serving ASLA continuously for more than a decade; my sole task being member of the Ethics Committee— authoring or illustrating occasional “Whatcha Gonna Do?” articles for LAND. The contributions of various ASLA committee members are amazing, though, and I want to encourage participation and sharing of resources by more members at the local level. Some members never actively participate and grouse occasionally about the value of membership; others feel disenfranchised--especially public sector employees and “design-builders”--yet could make a huge impact on the Society’s future. The performance of the Society at the national level is the best I’ve seen in 28 years of membership. If elected, my priority will be on tapping the resources of local chapters, improving communications with our entire membership, and winning the hearts of the uninitiated or those who’ve left our ranks. Consider if 16,500 plus local chapter members promoted daily the name of ASLA and the profession;
Certainly I must be brought up to speed on current and developing issues, but ASLA’s system of engaging current, future and past Presidents in their governance may assure you I’ll be prepared when the time comes. As your President-Elect, I promise to emphasize the following “hot-button” issues:
Public Relations and Communications
- Keep landscape architects in the public eye, increase coverage in general media and trade press at higher percentages each year, expand the ASLA website and maintain the quality of LAM, LAND and The Dirt ;
- Place greater emphasis on concurrent initiatives and local chapter efforts;
Membership and Chapter Services
- Continue highly successful Leadership Development Training Sessions;
- Continue emphasis on membership services, recruitment and retention;
reaching ALL members and providing them support for their initiatives;
- Develop the Emerging Professionals initiative;
Government Affairs
- Continue Federal advocacy and push funding for HALS; security design partnerships; disaster response and recovery mechanisms, and promote development of sustainable, diversified and safe transportation alternatives;
- Continue developing and improving on the annual Lobby Days;
- Support standardization of state licensure and continuing education requirements;
Professional Practice
- Continue developing the Professional Practice Networks (PPNs), including use of student interns to assist with research and web management, and promoting leadership roles in security design, environmental and sustainability issues such as the Millennium Assessment Update, Systems Integration Tool for Environmentally Sustainable Sites (SITESS), Green Roof efforts and context sensitive design;
- Maintain the momentum in the reinvigorated Landscape Architecture Technical Information Series (LATIS);
Other Priorities and Special Projects
- Secure funding for and finalize research on the economic value of landscape architecture;
- Develop career discovery such as ACE and other mentoring initiatives in K-12 schools, and expand the joint ESRI / ASLA / LAF Fellowships and Fellows scholarships aimed at minority and disadvantaged students;
- Continue satisfactory relationships with LAF, IFLA and other international partners.
Conclusion - In closing, let me relate how I became a student of landscape architecture, communicating perhaps the most important thing I would do for you during my tenure:
When I was in high school, hoping to be an architect, my father urged me to go talk with Dr. Robert S. Reich, FASLA, (then) Chair of the Landscape Architecture Department at LSU. Thinking the program was about farming, I resisted, but one Saturday before Easter vacation--during which my family traditionally went to the Gulf Coast of Florida--I reluctantly agreed to visit with Dr. Reich. Arriving to find only ‘Doc’ and a graduate student, I was impressed that the head of any program would meet with me on the first weekend of a vacation period and even more impressed with the graduate student being there! When I casually asked the student what he was going to do for the holiday, he replied he was going to the Gulf Coast, like me, and relax. ‘Doc’ immediately corrected him, saying, "No you're not, you're going to stay here with me and grade projects." What was truly impressive was the student didn't blink an eye, replying cheerily, "O.k., ‘Doc’, I'd be happy to." I reasoned that any man and profession that could so easily get a student to give up a weekend, and his vacation, deserved my respect—and my career choice!
If elected, what I'm really going to do for you is the same as that graduate student long ago; I will give up my weekends and my vacations, whenever necessary, work hard and continue volunteering my services to ASLA, the greatest service organization I can think of at this time. Help me do what I do best, and I promise you my full dedication beginning the day of my election.
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