Oregon Man Fined $500 for Criticizing Red-light Cameras

[ABC]

 

 

[ABC]

https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2017-04-26/man-fined-500-for-criticizing-traffic-cameras-with-math

[eaterfan]

I read the article. It seems like he was fined for passing himself off as an engineer when he isn't a licensed engineer. Did I misread the article?

[Thomas]

Intel probably employees thousands of degree holding engineers and holding that title in the state. The number of them being licensed is very likely to be a small number. The selective enforcement of this statute is likely to be an issue.

[eaterfan]

7 minutes ago, Thomas said:

Intel probably employees thousands of degree holding engineers and holding that title in the state. The number of them being licensed is very likely to be a small number. The selective enforcement of this statute is likely to be an issue.

They probably don't go on TV calling themselves engineers or call themselves engineers to government panels. Also we don't know what it takes to be licensed by the state. It could just be getting a degree in engineering at an accredited US university.

[Thomas]

10 hours ago, eaterfan said:

They probably don't go on TV calling themselves engineers or call themselves engineers to government panels. Also we don't know what it takes to be licensed by the state. It could just be getting a degree in engineering at an accredited US university.

Considering how many engineers are brought in on H1Bs I would doubt it would have to be an US university. Any accredited university abroad would do I imagine. However for the guy in the article I assume degrees from Cornell and MIT in engineering would suffice. Seeing as there are clearly many engineering jobs in the state that don't require being licensed, such as the other example in the article of working at Boeing or my previous example Intel, the state is going to have a significant burden establishing that they indeed hold a monopoly on the term. 

[Jay]

[Tank]

Reason magazine reports the board fined an activist $1,000 in 2010 for engineering without a license, after the activist told the City Council in La Pine, Oregon, that a proposed power plant would be too loud. In 2015, board members also decided to issue a warning to Portland City Commissioner Dan Saltzman for calling himself an "environmental engineer." 

Saltzman, Reason reports, "has a bachelor's degree in environmental and civil engineering from Cornell University, a master's degree from MIT's School of Civil Engineering, and is a membership of the American Society of Civil Engineers."

FFS. sounds to me like the city council is in desperate need of money.

[Tank]

that's useful info, spencer.

i think where they lost me was the fact that they fined him for voicing an opinion, as if only a licensed engineer is entitled to do such a thing. he wasn't lobbying for a job or representing a company by doing this, so why fine him?