Our
April, 2008 meeting will be held as a video conference at the SKYPE Web-page. See you
there for the next meeting on April 28, 2008 at 7:30 p.m. Central Standard Time! This meeting will be held on the fourth Monday of the month this month only. THE SCUBA CORPS has developed the computer generated capability to hold our monthly meetings on the world wide web. A free range of discussion will be available to all divers able to log on. Get SKYPE! Read On!
Chairman's
Report: The Chairman's position remains unfilled.
No Chairman's Report will be available
President's
Welcome & Report: Paul Knutson
The new year 2008 presents THE RACHEL CARSON SCUBA CORPS with significant challenges. Since 1985 when we began meetings in the science lab on board the R/V RACHEL CARSON, we have collected an impressive record of accomplishment only to see the organization membership decline to its current small levels. This is an industry-wide problem! Dive shops are closing and OUR WORLD UNDERWATER, for example, appeared to be smaller than in previous years. Should we take our dive club, an Illinois 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization, and throw it away or find ways to get back in the water with a mission?
One of the ways to generate new interest in the SCUBA CORPS is through technology. Starting in April, 2008, our monthly meeting will be held on the Internet. This move away from live meetings in a restaurant reflects the SCUBA CORPS' concern for the increasing price of fuel to attend the meetings and the competition for member's free time, which is limited. Another big change in the SCUBA CORPS' activities is the reduced importance of THE SCUBA PARK, located due east of the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, Il. for example. Unable to provide security against suspected vandalism, THE SCUBA PARK will continue to be supported by the SCUBA CORPS, especially the Archaeological Survey Test Site, with individual sites of the SCUBA PARK being promoted against the promotion of the hexagon shaped SCUBA PARK project as a whole. In 2008, The Archaeological Survey Test Site or ASTS will be the focus of SCUBA CORPS volunteer mission development. Chicago and Midwest divers should realize that a SCUBA PARK is already a reality in Lake Michigan and should get behind it and support it's development. With the fear of litigation ever present in the minds of those public servants charged with protecting the citizens of Chicago specifically from the threat of legal action brought by divers and their families in a potential future diving accident, the present SCUBA PARK resides far enough away from municipal, state and federally protected areas and has a viable chance to exist. The first step is the ASTS project in The SCUBA PARK and it's evolution should peak excitement at our R.C.S.C. meetings on the Internet at the SKYPE Web-site!
A significant change has taken place in the lake that has affected the operations of the SCUBA CORPS. The infestation of zebra mussels have reduced the excitement associated with Great Lakes wrecks as the mussels have attached themselves to wrecks. Their sharp shells cut divers and damage equipment making the work projects of the SCUBA CORPS all the more difficult. Also the availability of using donated boats has declined as boat owners find the costs of operating their boat becomes too expensive for missions like those in the SCUBA CORPS. Even though the SCUBA CORPS can issue tax letters to help compensate supporters of SCUBA CORPS missions, finding viable projects worthy of compensation is difficult. This is a key reason that the SCUBA CORPS has taken a lower profile in recent years.
So you can see, the SCUBA CORPS is embracing technology to accomplish its mission of performing ecological projects for the public good. Through the lively discussion generated at our monthly video conference meetings on the Internet, using the SKYPE Telephone Web Site, it is all going to get considerably more exciting around THE SCUBA CORPS in 2008!
To find out more about the exciting new underwater video mission of THE RACHEL CARSON SCUBA CORPS, E-mail Paul Knutson, pknutson@miint.net.
Secretary's
Report: Cindy Kulik
The new SCUBA CORPS monthly meeting will be held on the Internet at the SKYPE Telephone Web site - USERNAME: pwknutson. The meetings will be held on the third Monday of the month, at 7:30pm Central Standard Time, except this month. All divers and their guests are welcome at our meetings on the world wide web.
Our meetings will try to adjourn at approximately 9:00 p.m.
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