Next Meeting Presentation

Post President Mark Angelo (r) thanks Chuck Spitzack who is the Program Manager for the Corps of Engineers' Upper Mississippi River System.  Chuck's presentation provided background as to the history and the present state of activities for what is commonly referred to as the NESP Program.  This program was authorized in Title VIII of the Water Resources Development Act of 2007 for the Upper Mississippi River and Illinois Waterway Systems. 

The program includes seven new navigation locks, small scale navigation improvements, and ecosystem restoration throughout the 1200 miles of river and 2.7 million acres of floodplain within the Upper Mississippi River and Illinois Waterway Systems. 

Limited funding appropriations have been provided the past several years for initial planning studies, however at the time of the presentation it was uncertain as to how funding for this program will be affected by the Corps' civil works budget for this fiscal year or by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
 

SAME offers high school freshman, sophomores, and juniors the opportunity to attend a one week camp.  They learn leadership, engineering and construction skills, and have fun with students from all over the world.

The Minneapolis-Saint Paul Post would like to sponsor a high school student to attend either one of the following summer camp opportunities.  The Post will pay the Registration Fee and and ¹/₂ of the Airfare; the student's family is responsible for the remainder of the airfare.  High school students that are interested in this opportunity should:

1) review the camp website(s) and the links to eligibility requirements and application forms so that all requirements are clearly understood, and

2) contact Ben Tustison at 763-205-2651 or tustison@mbkengineers.com to submit your name as being interested in this opportunity.

The MSP Post deadline for responding to Ben Tustison regarding your interest in being considered for this opportunity is 15 March 2009.

From the qualified respondees, the Post will select one attendee and one alternate; the alternate may be able to attendee if the primary selectee is unable to attend or if additional space becomes available at the camps.  Once the Post has selected an attendee and an alternate, the selectees will be given additional instructions for submitting the required applications.  Selections will be made by 30 March 2009, which will the selectees adequate time to complete the required applications.

Click on the names of the camps below to hyperlink to the National SAME web pages that have additional details about the camps along with detailed registration information.

SAME / US Army Camp
Vicksburg, Mississippi
June 14-20, 2009

SAME / US Air Force Academy Camp
US Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, CO
June 26-July 2, 2009

SAME / US Navy Seabees Camp
Port Heuneme, California
July 19-25, 2009

The Scholarship Application Form is now available on the " Grants & Scholarships" page of the web site.  The form can be downloaded as either a MS Word file or as a fill-able PDF form.  There will again be three $1500 scholarships available.  The deadline for submitting scholarship applications is Friday, April 3rd.

Two scholarships are planned to be awarded in what is called Category I, which is for high school seniors and Post-secondary students, regardless of discipline, who are children, grandchildren, or siblings, of members of the Minneapolis-Saint Paul Post.  Sponsoring members must be a SAME Minneapolis-Saint Paul Post member for the current year and have been a member of the Post for a minimum of at least one year prior to the current year.  Applicants must be registered as full-time post-secondary students in the fall of the year of selection. 

One scholarship is planned to be awarded in what is called Category II, which is for all Student Members of the SAME Minneapolis-Saint Paul Post who will be registered as full-time post-secondary students in the fall of the year of selection.  Applicants under this category must be registered through SAME as a Student Member; student memberships are free for full-time undergraduates at an accredited college or university, or high school students.  At least one of the scholarships in this category will be awarded to a student in an engineering, science, or technology-related field.

A committee of Post members evaluate the applications.  All applications are kept confidential, and only the winners are announced.  For additional information, please contact Ben Tustison at 763-205-2651.  Scholarship Application Packages can be downloaded from the Post’s website at:

http://www.same-msp.org/PDF/Scholarship_App&Inst_2009.doc or
http://www.same-msp.org/PDF/Scholarship_App&Inst_2009.pdf

Application packages should be mailed to Ben at the following address:

MBK Engineers
ATTN: Ben Tustison, P.E.
Chairperson, SAME Scholarship Committee
16610 26th Avenue North
Plymouth, MN 55447-1844