marinuse
Registered
Dear Mares,
You acquired the SSI organization not too long ago.
This means that you have influence on what's going on within SSI.
You cannot possibly have missed the uproar two SSI instructors have caused in the past month.
One was rightfully expelled from SSI for misconduct, but the other one, as it seems now, is happily slipping through the proverbial net.
Videos and photos of this particular individual have been going around the scuba diving community (and are still available when you search).
Considering the fact that this particular individual's behavior was already first brought to SSI's and the public's attention back in the early 2000s, and now again (not only for his questionable behavior UNDER water, but also in his store), proves that SSI is not very keen to deal with this matter.
I believe that there is a serious conflict of interest with SSI's Grievance and Resolution Department, because the particular individual seems to be part of this Department. How can a specific department objectively research a case which involves one of its own main members?
In the videos this particular individual is showing how to squeeze marine life to get them to discharge, resulting in clouds of distress of the animal in question. He also teaches his students how to cut up marine life so they can feed it to other marine life.
When confronted with this by the community his reaction was something along the lines of "Diving is supposed to be fun, and we at [insert name of diving school here] make it fun for everyone."
Well... I daresay that it's not fun for "everyone".
I'm sure that you will have no problems finding out whom I'm talking about, since there's a 40+ pages thread on this particular individual and his school on this very scuba board.
SSI's Grievance and Resolution Department, who stated that he was very cooperative with all the inquiries that they made about this case, had him delete all the offending videos more likely to save face of him and the diving organization than from a remorse point of view. This person has been doing this for over 10 years. He won't change, he's just not going to video it anymore (if he's smart enough).
For the diving community this is not enough.
People like this should have their license revoked. They should not be allowed to call themselves representatives for scuba diving.
We, as Dive Professionals, are setting the example for all the future divers we are responsible for, and this person is not helping our cause. We teach to not touch marine life. We do NOT teach to squeeze marine life to get some funky colorful clouds of discharge in the water around us.
THIS IS NOT OK!
Since SSI is now under Mares's flag, and SSI doesn't seem to be willing to shut this person and his school down, maybe it's time that you get involved and give SSI a nudge in the right direction.
Someone who writes " I strive to help create a safer and more intelligent diving community" on his divessi.com profile and behaves like he does is NOT helping to create a more intelligent diving community.
Please take action!
You acquired the SSI organization not too long ago.
This means that you have influence on what's going on within SSI.
You cannot possibly have missed the uproar two SSI instructors have caused in the past month.
One was rightfully expelled from SSI for misconduct, but the other one, as it seems now, is happily slipping through the proverbial net.
Videos and photos of this particular individual have been going around the scuba diving community (and are still available when you search).
Considering the fact that this particular individual's behavior was already first brought to SSI's and the public's attention back in the early 2000s, and now again (not only for his questionable behavior UNDER water, but also in his store), proves that SSI is not very keen to deal with this matter.
I believe that there is a serious conflict of interest with SSI's Grievance and Resolution Department, because the particular individual seems to be part of this Department. How can a specific department objectively research a case which involves one of its own main members?
In the videos this particular individual is showing how to squeeze marine life to get them to discharge, resulting in clouds of distress of the animal in question. He also teaches his students how to cut up marine life so they can feed it to other marine life.
When confronted with this by the community his reaction was something along the lines of "Diving is supposed to be fun, and we at [insert name of diving school here] make it fun for everyone."
Well... I daresay that it's not fun for "everyone".
I'm sure that you will have no problems finding out whom I'm talking about, since there's a 40+ pages thread on this particular individual and his school on this very scuba board.
SSI's Grievance and Resolution Department, who stated that he was very cooperative with all the inquiries that they made about this case, had him delete all the offending videos more likely to save face of him and the diving organization than from a remorse point of view. This person has been doing this for over 10 years. He won't change, he's just not going to video it anymore (if he's smart enough).
For the diving community this is not enough.
People like this should have their license revoked. They should not be allowed to call themselves representatives for scuba diving.
We, as Dive Professionals, are setting the example for all the future divers we are responsible for, and this person is not helping our cause. We teach to not touch marine life. We do NOT teach to squeeze marine life to get some funky colorful clouds of discharge in the water around us.
THIS IS NOT OK!
Since SSI is now under Mares's flag, and SSI doesn't seem to be willing to shut this person and his school down, maybe it's time that you get involved and give SSI a nudge in the right direction.
Someone who writes " I strive to help create a safer and more intelligent diving community" on his divessi.com profile and behaves like he does is NOT helping to create a more intelligent diving community.
Please take action!
