Masonry Magazine April 1982 Page. 14
Simmons urged mason contractors to consider design/build work, instead of bidding jobs, saying they can make more than 30% profit on a turn-key job and "still give the owner an attractively priced building."
"Apprenticeship and Training In the 80s," moderated by Bruce N. Voss, director of the IMI Apprenticeship & Training Program, featured a panel composed of Robert Ebeling, Charles Velardo and G. W. Veazey, Jr., all of whom are members of the Apprenticehsip & Training Program Board. Their discussions were augmented by an 8-minute film and a slide presentation.
Voss gave an overview of the current apprenticeship promotional programs that have been completed or are in the developmental stage:
* Acquisition of the Tile Setting Work and Textbook produced by the state of California for distribution to BAC tile locals.
* Completion of companion books, glossary and follow-up tests for the audio-visual presentations to enhance their value as training aids. Included with each booklet is a short quiz to measure the apprentice's effectiveness.
* Completion of the slide presentation on "Rigging," which is described as a "major accomplishment" for 1981. It provides a basic overview of the equipment and methods employed for suspended work platforms, with emphasis on safety.
* Development and production of 10 new audio visuals for "Career Days" presentations by MCAA chapters, local unions and apprentice coordinators when requested to participate at local high school career planning programs. The presentation focuses on all the trowel trades and on pursuing masonry as a career.
MCAA Material Handling Committee chairman Tony Luczynski (holding mike) helped to stage the Masonry Industry Showcase featuring live demonstrations of rough terrain forklifts and other material handling equipment (facing page).
The Showcase was m.c.d by W. C. Dentinger, Jr. (in hard hat, at left), newly elected vice president of MCAA. Prime-Mover's L-812 (top of right hand column), a counterbalanced small forklift for handling brick, block, stone and tile, was introduced 25 years ago at the MCAA Show in Chicago.
* A slide presentation on "Brick Pavers" scheduled for completion in May, 1982.
* Plans to purchase copyrights to four existing A/Vs-"Basic Bricklaying," "Basic Blocklaying," "Rowlocks and Soldiers," and "Arches."
* Development of a prototype program similar to the Apprenticeship and Training Program for pre-job training to monitor trainees' progress while in the program and a tracking system after graduation.
* Development of a poster program for JATCs for classroom and lab training. Currently there are 12 such poster designs available to the program.
Two industry workshops on "Metal Studs-Their Pros and Cons" and "ERISA-The Employment Retirement Security Act of 1974" occupied the entire morning of Wednesday, February 17.
The panel program was moderated by Jerry Dufour of MCAA, with slide presentations and comments by Russell H. Brown, Ph.D., Department of Civil Engineering, Clemson University: Robert Hatch, MCAA Contract Research Committee chairman, and Alan Yorkdale, vice president, engineering & research, Brick Institute of America.
Dr. Brown reported on the research project at Clemson University, which was jointly sponsored by the Metal Lath/ Steel Framing Association and the Brick Institute of America. The scope and purpose of this research project was to determine the behavior of a typical configuration of this wall system under lateral loading (wind), and to evaluate types of ties that are available. continued on page 23