President's Message Video

Howdy ASCE Houston!

November is a month of thanksgiving, and in a year like 2020 it can be difficult to maintain a positive attitude. I would like to challenge you to participate in an activity with me. For thirty days beginning this month find three unique things to be thankful for. I participated in this challenge previously, and let me warn you by day ten it gets difficult! What I learned was if you do this for thirty days you will reprogram the way you think. You will start to seek out the positive aspects in situations, and it will generally boost your spirits. ASCE Houston lets have thirty days of gratitude together and see how it changes our perspective!

Thank you to those who were able to join us at our October Branch Meeting. We had over 125 attendees including 8 students. Mr. John Blount delivered great content on Harris County operations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The next branch meeting will be held virtually on Tuesday, November 17^th from 12 – 1 PM. It will be the annual joint engineering societies meeting, and the keynote speaker will be Mr. Russ Poppe, Executive Director of Harris County Flood Control District. Mr. Poppe will be providing an update on the Harris County Infrastructure Resilience Team and Harris County Community Flood Resilience Task Force. I look forward to you joining us over GoToWebinar for this presentation! When you register please remember to follow the mandatory two-step process. After you register on the branch website you will receive an email with your receipt from [email protected]. At the bottom of this email will be a link to register for the event with GoToWebinar. You must complete this secondary registration to join the branch meeting.

I am receptive to all questions, comments, concerns, and ideas, you may contact me at [email protected]. I wish you all a bountiful and happy Thanksgiving with your loved ones.

Until next time ASCE Houston, take care of yourself and each other.

Sarah N. Alvarez
ASCE Houston President
[email protected]

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#EndTheStreakTX

There has been at least one death every day on Texas roads for nearly 20 years straight – that’s over 70,000 people. ASCE Houston proudly supports the Texas Department of Transportation in their goal to end the streak of daily fatal accidents by the 20^th anniversary of our last deathless day, November 7, 2000. We don’t just want to stop there – TxDOT’s ultimate goal is to cut the number of annual fatalities in half by 2035 and to have zero deaths on our roadways by 2050.

What are some ways you can help Texas reach this goal?

• Buckle up! – 925 unbuckled people died in 2019 traffic crashes
• Pay attention and put down your phone – 379 people were killed in 2019 distracted driving crashes
• Watch your speed – 715 people were killed in 2019 speeding related crashes
• Never drive under the influence – 1 in 4 people were killed in 2019 accidents involving an impaired driver
• Look out for your surroundings – 661 pedestrians were killed in 2019 traffic crashes

We ask that you all please be mindful of your driving over the next week and beyond to help us “End the Streak” together! For more info visit https://www.txdot.gov/inside-txdot/media-center/psas/end-streak.html and promote the cause using the hashtag #EndTheStreakTX on social media to help remind our fellow Texans of our shared responsibility in keeping our roads safe.

November 2020 Younger Member's Report