Well, that sure explains a lot. Maybe "Helium Diver" can tell us what a
great thing TDI and SDI are. These people need to be incarcerated in my
opinion.

-----Original Message--
---
From: Ben Greenhouse [mailto:b.greenhouse@ut*.ca*]
Sent: Monday, June 04, 2001 12:00 PM
To: Joel Markwell
Cc: George Irvine; techdiver@aquanaut.com
Subject: Re: Solo Certification - Good Grief!


SDI is TDI's "recreational" agency.

Ben

Joel Markwell wrote:

> 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
>
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