On 6/3/01 7:23 PM, "George Irvine" <George-Irvine@em*.ne*> wrote:

> Who are the people behind this one?

I don't know exactly, but it's Rodale's so it's probably safe to assume that
Gilliam is one of the "usual suspects." The article isn't signed by any one
person, but by the "Editors of RSD," no guts I guess.

There is an interview with Brian Carney, Training Manager of SDI who proudly
states in his agency was the first to certify 10-year-olds and that "most of
our instructors are also TDI (Technical Diving International) instructors .
.. . ."

The RSD interviewer is clearly friendly, even leading, suggesting at one
point that the resistance to Solo Diving Certification is similar to early
"concerns about nitrox" and then Carney picks up the thread, "and deep
diving and dive computers before that and BCs before that. It's been a
constant theme: certification agencies resist change, fail to provide
updated training, and divers pay the price. That's one of the reasons
SDI/TDI was founded: to provide what other agencies refuse to."

The email blurb I received from Rodale's also included several articles, one
of which was by Paul Humann who concludes, "I urge you to become certified
as a solo diver, to carry your own solo diver liability release, and most of
all, to refuse to be used as a patsy in someone's attempt to lessen their
own liability at the expense of yours."

Mr. Humann is described as: "A former lawyer, Paul Humann is co-author of
the popular Reef Fish Identification books and a licensed private pilot who,
by virtue of education, training and experience, is allowed to fly solo, a
far more dangerous undertaking than diving ever could be for passengers,
himself and those on the ground."

The last article talks about liability and compares SDI/TDI to PADI:

"PADI does not support the teaching and supervising of solo diving. SDI/TDI
covers about 30 to 35 percent of all instructors through Jardine Risk
Management. The SDI/TDI policy explicitly includes provisions for
instructors who train and supervise solo divers."

So, clearly TDI is the driving force behind this. And this isn't the first
article about Solo Diving in Rodale's. They've been promoting it for some
time. So it's not much of a leap to wonder about the meeting Gilliam had
with the editors and how they could promote this new money-making
opportunity. I'd love to have been a fly on the wall for that meeting. If
this isn't an example of a magazine being a shill for an agency, I don't
know what is.

JoeL

--
Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'.
Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.

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]