* Finalize appropriation for FY ’09 and provide economic stimulus that creates jobs;

* Improve domestic energy security;

* Extend tax provisions; and

* Reauthorize E-Verify to give employers across the country the confidence they need to deal with the pressures of hiring a competent legal workforce.

“The construction industry is suffering a drop in employment, especially in highway and transportation construction, which has seen employment drop more than 5 percent in the past year,” says Stephen E. Sandherr, chief executive officer of AGC. “We have also seen significant volatility in diesel/energy prices over the last five years, for instance, #2 diesel fuel is up 341 percent. In the few legislative days that remain, we urge Congress to address these construction industry priorities.”

A call for student design competition participants

The Society of Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, along with the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association, will host the 5th annual Student Design Competition consisting of a two-stage, team-based problem involving a technical design and an oral presentation. The technical design takes place during the first semester of the school year on each team’s campus. It is designed to simulate an engineering project prepared by an engineering group for a company.

This year, the problem will focus on designing a greenfield quarry operation using actual exploration data from an aggregate company. The second stage of the competition will be held at the 2009 SME Annual Meeting in Denver. It will be an oral presentation given to the “board of directors” of the company. In the past, the second stage has typically consisted of a financial justification of the first stage.

Students who would like to participate and can put together a team of six undergraduates should contact the Student Design Competition Committee at 804-476-6433. The benefits of participation include experience in engineering design, enhancing public speaking skills, gaining leadership experience in a team environment, a great resume builder, opportunities to contact sponsoring companies that may be looking for new hires, and, of course, prize money.

Companies or individuals interested in being involved with the youth of the mining industry should consider becoming a sponsor of the competition. A sponsoring company’s name will appear in front of a large group of the industry’s future employees, and provide an opportunity to see those future employees in action.

Subhead: Briefs

Vulcan Materials’ Sussex Quarry recently received the Rock Solid Gold Award for 2007 from the Illinois Association of Aggregate Producers. Vulcan received the award for excellence in health and safety – its fourth straight year of operation without a lost-time injury. A Vulcan press release stated that the company actively promotes safe and healthy working conditions within its facilities and protects the health and safety of its employees, customers, and neighbors.