Back in the Oct. issue, LASN asserted that requiring licensure for full ASLA membership should be a topic of conversation within the profession, and invited comment on our website. Herein are a few of those comments.

Not Clear on RLA/ASLA Designations

I am embarrassed to admit that after six years of practicing as a landscape architect (though I am not yet licensed) in Nashville, Tennessee, I was still not clear on the difference between the RLA and ASLA designation.

I always assumed that the ASLA title was only used after a person obtained licensure. I have never been clear why some LAs choose to use RLA as opposed to ASLA. Clearly by your article, the ASLA designation has nothing to do with licensure, rather the professional organization for which someone associates.

As I circulated the article through the office, I found that I was not the only person who was misinformed about the difference. I think that licensure should absolutely be a prerequisite for full membership in the ASLA since it is the professional organization which represents and fights for the recognition and good or our profession.

I feel licensure is an important aspect of landscape architecture to keep us in the same playing field with other licensed professions. Thanks for clearing up the misconception and good luck with the goal of 50 in 2010.

John Lavender
Nashville, Tennessee

Allow a tiered membership

Yes! Without a doubt. Allow a tiered membership fee structure for those unlicensed practitioners, and retirees but hold back some preferences (e.g. acronym use, secret handshake) for full registered members. I deeply want to join, and probably will within the next few months, but the views expressed in LASN make me wonder, ?EUR??,,????'??What?EUR??,,????'???s in it for me??EUR??,,????'??

So far, I?EUR??,,????'???ve gotten no good answer from the ASLA. I?EUR??,,????'???ve received several membership offers, but am straining to see what I?EUR??,,????'???ve been missing. Oh well, free agency is a good thing.

When I was fresh out of college I joined ASLA as an associate. If I recall correctly, I was not allowed to use ASLA after my name until certain criteria were met. I know that one of the criteria was to become an RLA. The other ?EUR??,,????'??or?EUR??,,????'?? criteria escapes me.

Another rule was if I ever let my membership lapse, I would only be allowed to renew one time. After two lapses, I was no longer eligible for ASLA membership. Well, as luck would have it, a war broke out, the economy dipped, and my former employer closed up shop. I waited tables, learned irrigation implementation, sold shrubs, worked greenhouses, and could not afford a 100 dollar associate membership. So I am still gun shy about renewing, I only have one economic crisis left and I?EUR??,,????'???ll be no longer eligible for membership?

Steve Czadzeck, RLA
Spunk Lake, Michigan

?EUR??,,????'??Ideas and Supplies?EUR??,,????'??

I?EUR??,,????'???m in the zoo field. I have gotten so many ideas and supplies out of your publication that I can?EUR??,,????'???t count them.

Joe Clawson
Monroe, Louisiana

?EUR??,,????'??thoroughly enjoy?EUR??,,????'??

I am semi-retired now and thoroughly enjoy your efforts to support and produce a first-class national publication.

George Tyler
Forked River, New Jersey

?EUR??,,????'??...consistent improvement?EUR??,,????'??

Landscape Architect and Specifier News shows consistent improvement!

Henry Wilhelmi
Palm Coast, Florida

?EUR??,,????'??The Best?EUR??,,????'??

This has been the best LA magazine in the country. Keep up the good work.

Kathleen Enz
Washington, New Jersey

Perhaps the first usage of the term ?EUR??,,????'??landscape architecture?EUR??,,????'?? in a book title was Landscape Architecture of the Great Painters of Italy, authored by Scotsman Gilbert Laing Meason in 1828. Landscape paintings were common enough, but pictorially examining the relationship between nature and the man-made structures imposed upon her made for an interesting, comparative study.