Elizabeth Renton

I agree with Wyatt. Please consider using actual tree stumps in this “nature play area.” It seems laughably ironic that one would put a concrete imitation of a natural item in a children’s space that is supposed to encourage exploration of nature! A concrete seat that resembles a tree trunk is a much less engaging and effective teaching tool than…[Read more]

Get to know the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s playground safety standards.http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/325.pdf
 
Safety is a HUGE factor when it comes to playground design. I doubt they’re going to ask you how well you know Autocad commands…it seems more likely that they’re going to want to see how well-versed you are in safety standards.

Thanks for contacting them about it. I’m glad they agreed with you and removed the post.

[like] [like] [like]
 
probably a discussion for a whole different thread but one of my pet peeves is when landscape architects and architects slap down a piece of plastic play equipment and call it a playground. If you know ANYTHING about child development you know that those plastic behemoths are not the most engaging play environments. They…[Read more]

[Like!!!]
 
I hate the raised playground equipment surrounded by a moat of black plastic timber edging. And the plastic edging buried in-ground also tends to pop up/out, get run over by lawn mowers, and otherwise go awry. I think a flush  poured-in-place concrete curb is the way to go. Excavate 9-12″ for the wood fiber fill so the whole system s…[Read more]

Judy, is failing the written portion the only item keeping you from passing? i had a similar experience last fall. When i took the redline review and saw that i’d gotten a ‘3’ on the ‘predicting environmental impacts’ portion i was floored. I went through the grading criteria listed, and saw that my written portion listed every one of those items,…[Read more]

Hi Hagen,
I had spoken to Sadik about doing a LARE review here in Houston sometime this spring. I am an officer for TX ASLA- Houston/Gulf Coast, so i’ll be sending out an email blast to our members to see if there’s enough interest and a large enough group to pay for Sadik to come. I’ll keep you posted! You’re welcome to join us!

I took the test in June, and then took the redline review offered in October. I think the comments on my redline do match the quote from clarb; there were indeed both positive and negative comments. But i wasn’t really interested in the positive comments….if i failed, i really only want to know what i did wrong, not what i did right. My beef,…[Read more]

scratch that, they just sent me an email saying that, contrary to the failing score they initially gave me, I actually passed section C last June. Hooray for the ‘score verification process.’ Booo for not grading it correctly the first time!!
So, section E, round 2 in June. Tips? Tricks? Handy pointers i must have otherwise overlooked?

I didn’t see the guy on Oprah you mentioned earlier. Who was he? What was he saying?

UPDATE: I had reason to believe my test was graded unfairly, so i paid the extra $276 for the ‘score verification process.’ Lo and behold, it turns out I was right. My test was graded unfairly, and they just sent me a notice saying my score had been reversed and i actually passed.
 
Lesson learned: ALWAYS take the redline review. You never know…[Read more]

I haven’t taken a class yet…I think that’s the next step in this gameplan. One of my old professors from LSU offers a 2 day LARE  review. I think i’ll get a bunch of my colleagues together and see if we can hire him.
 
So what do you think was your trick to passing section C this time? i’ll be re-taking that one in June.

Thanks for sharing. I hadn’t received an email notifying us that the scores were posted. I was lurking on the site yesterday though, hoping they’d be up.
 
Aaaaaand I failed section E. Big surprise. (not really. After my debaucle in June i was fully prepared to go down in flames again in December.) Guess it’s time to fork out another $150 for…[Read more]

I used their section D study guide. It seemed pretty reasonable; however there were a few questions in the study guide that i seriously questioned the supposed ‘correct’ answer. But that seems to be a pretty typical fault for the LARE in general. I guess the best benefit of the study guide is just going through each and every answer option that’s…[Read more]

I think it sounds like a good idea for anyone who doesn’t have a job in the profession and wants to stay current and fresh and engaged. Like Thomas said, if I already have a fulltime paid job in a landscape architecture office, i think i’d rather put in the extra time (and hopefully get extra pay!) at my existing job. But yes, for a bunch of…[Read more]

i am currently employed so here’s my answers:
 
1. currently work 40-50 hours per week. Sometimes more during crunch times, but usually 40-50 average. Late nights, weekends, holidays…at some point i’ve worked them all. Not every single day, but on a somewhat routine basis.
2. my coworkers hours vary. some are workaholics and put in long hours…[Read more]

That. Was. Awesome. I wish i could engrave this on a smooth polished stone and anonymously leave it lying around the office somewhere…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlLvi2q5M3w

a lot of this sounds strangely familiar….hahaha!

Wow that response letter was a bunch of technical jargon. I guess it’s supposed to make you feel like they’re being extremely thorough and proficient and scientific about the way they evaluate the exam.
 
What was ASLA’s response to your request for help? Have they been actively working on addressing these issues? I never hear much about what…[Read more]