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--part1_112.14459dc2.2a5f55b9_boundary Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit To All Concerned, Allow me to contextualize Mr. Crowell's comments of 7/9/2002. The last two years have proved to be a period of tremendous growth for GUE; a growth that seems to accelerate with each passing month. Divers, recognizing the value of a GUE education and of the standards of excellence GUE defends, continue to line up to take our classes. However, this ever-growing success, tied as it is to very high standards, has not gone unnoticed by those whose economic interests are threatened by the ever-growing attention focused on community training standards. Mr. Crowell's remarks reflect the discomfort felt by such interests. Unwilling to challenge GUE or its standards directly, these elements have mounted a smear campaign against GUE in the hope of disabling our mission to elevate industry standards. Ranging from personal attacks, to removing instructors who refuse to acquiesce to questionable practices, to fictitious claims of GUE lacking insurance, to ludicrous claims about a lack of international recognition, to illicit attempts to control regional training requirements, these dubious tactics prove to be the last ditch effort of the desperate who, desirous of preventing an open comparison of standards, seek to confuse the community by disseminating inaccurate and misleading information. As you all know, such strategies never work, they fail before they begin. Rest assured that everything is just as it should be at GUE: John Witherspoon insures all GUE instructors, our student base and international reputation grows by the day--e.g., the 1999 Britannic Project permit was issued by the Ministry of the Greek Interior to GUE--our instructor corps is recognized as one of the most talented and demanding in the industry, and we enjoy the growing support of the international scientific community who is cognizant of our long-term commitments to exploration, ecology and conservation. On an average day, we ignore malicious attempts, like Mr. Crowell's, to promote their nefarious agendas by deceiving the public. Exchanges of invective are such a colossal waste of time, and we have none to spare at GUE. However, following this last round of remarks, we can no longer justify ignoring such transparent and dishonest attempts to slander GUE. Slander is legally actionable; the intentional distortion of the truth designed to harm others is frowned upon by the law. If Mr. Crowell, or any other entity, has questions that need to be answered, they should address these to the officers of the organization, not tell stories to the public. If they choose not to, and persist in these slanderous public attacks, we will have no other choice, however offensive we might find this, than to seek legal recourse to either silence them or coerce them into representing things how they are, not how they wished them to be. Sincerely yours, Dr. Panos D. Alexakos Vice-President and Director of Quality Control Global Underwater Explorers GUE (www.gue.com) is a non-profit organization committed to education, research, and exploration with thousands of dedicated members worldwide. --part1_112.14459dc2.2a5f55b9_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit <HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><FONT SIZE=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" FACE="Arial" LANG="0">To All Concerned,<BR> <BR> Allow me to contextualize Mr. Crowell's comments of 7/9/2002.<BR> <BR> The last two years have proved to be a period of tremendous growth for <BR> GUE; a growth that seems to accelerate with each passing month. Divers, <BR> recognizing the value of a GUE education and of the standards of <BR> excellence GUE defends, continue to line up to take our classes. <BR> However, this ever-growing success, tied as it is to very high <BR> standards, has not gone unnoticed by those whose economic interests are <BR> threatened by the ever-growing attention focused on community training <BR> standards. Mr. Crowell's remarks reflect the discomfort felt by such <BR> interests. Unwilling to challenge GUE or its standards directly, these <BR> elements have mounted a smear campaign against GUE in the hope of <BR> disabling our mission to elevate industry standards. Ranging from <BR> personal attacks, to removing instructors who refuse to acquiesce to <BR> questionable practices, to fictitious claims of GUE lacking insurance, <BR> to ludicrous claims about a lack of international recognition, to <BR> illicit attempts to control regional training requirements, these <BR> dubious tactics prove to be the last ditch effort of the desperate who, <BR> desirous of preventing an open comparison of standards, seek to confuse <BR> the community by disseminating inaccurate and misleading information. <BR> As you all know, such strategies never work, they fail before they <BR> begin. Rest assured that everything is just as it should be at GUE: <BR> John Witherspoon insures all GUE instructors, our student base and <BR> international reputation grows by the day--e.g., the 1999 Britannic <BR> Project permit was issued by the Ministry of the Greek Interior to <BR> GUE--our instructor corps is recognized as one of the most talented and <BR> demanding in the industry, and we enjoy the growing support of the <BR> international scientific community who is cognizant of our long-term <BR> commitments to exploration, ecology and conservation.<BR> <BR> On an average day, we ignore malicious attempts, like Mr. Crowell's, to <BR> promote their nefarious agendas by deceiving the public. Exchanges of <BR> invective are such a colossal waste of time, and we have none to spare <BR> at GUE. However, following this last round of remarks, we can no longer <BR> justify ignoring such transparent and dishonest attempts to slander <BR> GUE. Slander is legally actionable; the intentional distortion of the <BR> truth designed to harm others is frowned upon by the law. If Mr. <BR> Crowell, or any other entity, has questions that need to be answered, <BR> they should address these to the officers of the organization, not tell <BR> stories to the public. If they choose not to, and persist in these <BR> slanderous public attacks, we will have no other choice, however <BR> offensive we might find this, than to seek legal recourse to either <BR> silence them or coerce them into representing things how they are, not <BR> how they wished them to be.<BR> <BR> <BR> Sincerely yours,<BR> <BR> <BR> Dr. Panos D. Alexakos<BR> Vice-President and Director of Quality Control<BR> Global Underwater Explorers<BR> <BR> GUE (www.gue.com) is a non-profit organization committed to education, research, and exploration with thousands of dedicated members worldwide.<BR> </FONT></HTML> --part1_112.14459dc2.2a5f55b9_boundary-- -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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