Contractor?EUR??,,????'???s Compromise

LASN received immediate vocal, response to its October 1994 question: Would you like to see Licensed Landscape Contractors sit for the Landscape Architect?EUR??,,????'???s exam if they still need a Landscape Architecture degree, but weren?EUR??,,????'???t required to apprentice?

Dear LASN: Why not?EUR??,,????'??+If they have gained experience to a level that allows them to pass exam, they should be able to take and pass same and be an LA. Syracuse, NY.

Dear LASN: If licensed landscape contractors are required to obtain a degree before taking the exam, then I am definitely in favor of their being allowed to obtain an LA license. Pasadena, CA.

Dear LASN: I think that a trial period of 2 years would give contractors an opportunity to take the exam & for the profession to see if the substitute experience has provided adequate training to support acceptable pass rates. On pass rates: A test of minimum competency should be just that. If it fairly tests competency to practice a trade or profession, then there should not be an arbitrary % of expected passage, since the candidates may or may not have the knowledge. Kay Stewart, San Diego, CA.

Dear LASN: Re: Qualifications for taking the L.A.R.E....

This is my 16th year of teaching Landscape Architecture at LSU, and I have been for some time involved in licensure matters within the State of Louisiana?EUR??,,????'??+including helping to draft and lobby for passage the latest laws regulating landscape architects. From the early 1980?EUR??,,????'???s to the present, I have served on the Louisiana Horticulture Commission?EUR??,,????'??+the State Licensing agency for Landscape Architects?EUR??,,????'??+as the profession?EUR??,,????'???s representative. Since about the same time I have chaired or have been involved in annual U.N.E. and L.A.R.E. Review Sessions and have upon numerous occasions evaluated exams for C.L.A.R.B.

When Louisiana passed its current legislation regulating L.A.?EUR??,,????'???s, one of the compromises was to give, apprenticeship credit to those working for landscape contractors, architects and engineers (if the potential candidate held a Landscape Architecture degree from an accredited institution). Painfully aware of how few full time L.A. firms there were (and still are!) within the State, the decision was made to ease the qualification process. Legislators and exam candidates were pleased, since fewer graduates would have to leave the state to fulfill their apprenticeship requirement and protests about exclusionary tactics were lessened.

However, for what it is worth, my opinion is that in trying to be open minded toward the candidates, we might have created a bigger problem. Rather than waiting for more ideal internship opportunities, with exposure to a wider range of aspects covered by the L.A.R.E., first-time candidates have been all too eager to avail themselves of the

they have almost surely increased their chances of failure. Those failing the exam are not easily convinced that their formal education wasn?EUR??,,????'???t the cause, rather it might more likely be their first (mis)steps into the so-called ?EUR??,,????'??professional education continuum.?EUR??,,????'?? I truly believe that this is the major cause of Higher L.A.R.E. failing rates.

I do not want my comments to sound like a slam at contractors or ?EUR??,,????'??design-build?EUR??,,????'?? firms, but anyone who spends their entire apprenticeship period planting plants is not likely to be well prepared for the design and implementation portions of the exam.

Having voiced my concern, I still believe in a high degree of flexibility regarding who may sit for the exam and despite all the debate, I remain committed to the L.A.R.E. Given the option, however, I feel more stringent rather than ?EUR??,,????'??weaker?EUR??,,????'?? apprenticeship requirements will be for the benefit of all concerned, especially the public we serve!

Thank you for the opportunity to sound off my opinion. Sincerely, Van L. Cox, Baton Rouge, LA.

Dear LASN: DEFINITELY NOT! I don?EUR??,,????'???t think they should even be allowed to sit for the exam at all. Allowing them to sit for the exam further removes us from ?EUR??,,????'??the professional?EUR??,,????'?? category. I?EUR??,,????'???m already tired of being referred to as ?EUR??,,????'??the landscapers on the project.?EUR??,,????'?? Sacramento, CA.

Dear LASN: Landscape contractors are not landscape architects. A degree, apprenticeship and successfully passing an exam is the road to licensure. California politics will destroy the profession in California. R. Boudrero, Salt Lake City, UT.

Dear LASN: Absolutely not allow contractors to sit for the exam. They do not have the education to be L.A.?EUR??,,????'???s. Would citizens of Calif. allow building contractors to sit for an architecture or engineering exam! No. Long Beach, CA.

Dear LASN: Allow landscape contractors to sit for the exam without an internship? Why? Why hold our own apprentices to a higher standard if we allow outsiders to slide by without fulfilling all the requirements? What incentive is there to follow the rules? Why have apprenticeships at all if they are unnecessary? Why kiss the butts of L.C.?EUR??,,????'???s while whipping the butts of our associates? No! Ohio RLA.

Dear LASN: I do not agree with the Calif. Bd. of Licensure?EUR??,,????'???s decision to allow licensed landscape contractors to be eligible to sit for the exam without 2 yrs. of experience under a licensed LA. Do you see the architects board allowing a similar qualification? No. It is just another example of the Board being out of touch with the profession in California. A professor of Landscape Architecture. Santa Barbara, CA.

Dear LASN: I believe the answer to the trivia question in your latest Communications 101 column is incorrect. During the decade prior to my retirement (nine years ago) the number of landscape architects at the top three agencies were approximately:

Forest Service, USDA   300+

Corps of Engineers   150 - 200

National Park Service, USDI  100 - 200

The numbers have probably changed some since then, but I suspect the ratios are about the same. As I recall, we always had problems determining the numbers at COE. Their personnel management system dropped the professional identity when people moved into supervisory positions or general categories such as planning. Their computer could not tell how many landscape architects there were but their LA?EUR??,,????'???s could. . .and did.

To their credit, the NPS, although third in number, did advance landscape architects to more and higher positions, including that of Director.

It is also interesting to note that Frederick Law Olmsted was not only instrumental in the founding of the NPS, but also, through his work at Biltmore, encouraged the creation of the first school of forestry in the US and eventually the Forest Service. Sincerely, Edward H. Stone, 111, Bowie, MD.

LASN?EUR??,,????'???s editorial staff thanks you for sharing this information with the profession. We have made repeated efforts to reach all of the Landscape Architects and Planners in the COE, NPS, and USFS and have encountered similar difficulties determining exactly where the LA?EUR??,,????'???s have gone. However, Landscape Architects and Planners at the COE, NPS and USFS know who they are, as you say, and are welcome to request a subscription.

Dear LASN: I have been enjoying your magazine and particularly Mr. Schmok?EUR??,,????'???s editorial barbs for ASLA. Keep up the good work. Also, though I missed last month?EUR??,,????'???s questionnaire, I wanted to add my vote against Mr. Otsuji?EUR??,,????'???s endorsement of Clinton Health Care. This is not where I want my dues spent. Kevin L. Berger, South Bend, IN.