Mailing List Archive Mailing List Archive
on 4/6/00 5:05 PM, Mike Bruic at mikebruic@di*.co* wrote: > Heres the deal if you want to dive Madison Blue Spring. You must either be > certified by GUE, "or" be a active GUE member. This means that if you have a > NSS/CDS, NACD or IANTD cave card, you can still dive Madison as long as you > are also a member of GUE. The electronic subscriber membership is only $19.00 Mike, The current state of Cave Diving representation via the various Boards of Directors is abysmal. It's a clique, a non-representative group of self-important N Florida cave divers who I believe have, for the most part (not everyone), gotten involved for some business self-interest, teaching or otherwise. The CDS and the NACD should either dissolve or join into one agency. And once having joined they should make every effort to be representative, to disseminate their core values (after they figure out what they are) and to involve their members in every way possible in decision-making and the process of making cave diving a safe and exciting activity. They should take their prodigious purses and create a uniform cave line standard. They should promote safety programs to local diveshops. They should hold regular round-table discussions on safety, technology and exploration. They should promote mentorship and require service to the community by certified instructors. They should make a better effort to bring divers together instead of being the inbred, suspicious, and narrow-minded lot that they are and dividing the divers into polarized groups. The very reality of two cave diving organizations within 30 miles of each other is completely absurd. They share rosters, caves and instructors . . . really, what is the point? I once suggested that the CDS use email to communicate more effectively between the BOD and its membership. The response I got back was that email could not be trusted even if the sender could be easily and positively confirmed! Reading between the lines I realized that the BOD didn't WANT to hear from the broad spectrum of its members, only from those who lived close enough to drop in on a board meeting--can you say clique? Close 'em down or bring them into this new century. And so we have GUE. But is GUE a representative agency? Isn't it a business? Does it elect its board or is it self-appointed? From the GUE site: >Both organizations are dedicated to education, research, exploration, >and conservation initiatives with a portion of all GUE memberships >diverted to a nonprofit research entity. Is this non-profit? I respect the divers who make up GUE and what I know of GUE is positive, but whether its GUE or someone else, someone needs to REPRESENT cave divers, not just lead them. There is still a place for a representative organization. Now comes you and Madison and the move you're making is mostly right, but I have to wonder about the remedy for those, like myself, who got certified by the CDS or NACD long before GUE existed or even before you came to own Madison. The remedy? Pay $20 to GUE. Uh, OK, I thought this was part of what was being avoided here: payola for cards. Sure GUE has a good rep and excellent instructors, but I won't be joining because it's a good idea (and it is), I already looked at the site and initially decided against joining based on the charges and services offered. I'd pay the $20 and consider it a small, but reasonable extortion. So be it. If that's your solution . . . . >I will also pay for your 1st > years GUE membership out of my own pocket if you cancel your current NSS/CDS > NACD and/or IANTD membership and subscribe to GUE. The free membership offer > is only valid if you fill out the forms at Madison Blue Springs, and bring > proof of your other active membership. And doesn't this punish those of us who got religion before YOU did? I canceled my CDS and NACD memberships last year after a year of howling at the BODs (specifically the CDS) for failing to represent their memberships. I've been doing battle, distant and up close, with the CDS board since 1997 and critiquing them for years before that. So I guess because I figured it out before ya'll did, I pay the extra $20. This is good. And so it goes . . . . Later, JoeL PS--
Navigate by Author:
[Previous]
[Next]
[Author Search Index]
Navigate by Subject:
[Previous]
[Next]
[Subject Search Index]
[Send Reply] [Send Message with New Topic]
[Search Selection] [Mailing List Home] [Home]