October 2006
Scuba classes available to campus on the cheap
by HARRY KEELY / The Rambler
October 2006- Dive, Dive, Dive. A new scuba class is being offered to Texas Wesleyan employees, spouses and their significant others. The Wednesday classes began Sept. 13th with 11 students currently enrolled.
This is the sixth year that the class has been offered, but the response to the class has been good, according to Bill Rucker, a class instructor.
"We began the class to let people come try scuba and see if they like it," said Rucker, who began teaching at Wesleyan in 1992.
He and co-instructor Bob Biggs are both certified instructor trainers and have together taught more than 5,000 college students to dive.
Skills taught in the class include how to use the basic equipment such as the mask and snorkel, buoyancy control, safe diving practices, decompression charts and how to use them.
Cost of the class is $40 plus the expense of your own mask, snorkel, fins and boots. The equipment costs approximately $100-150 (or more) and can be purchased at Scuba Fort Worth or Scuba Grapevine, but $50 kits are for sale through the class.
A comparable class at one of these dive shops costs $200-$300 plus equipment, according to the Web sites for both shops.
"Rucker and Biggs both volunteer their time, which makes this deal possible," said Pam Rast, chair of the kinesiology department.
After passing the final certification dives, held at a remote location on a weekend, students receive their open water certification (the basic certification offered at Wesleyan). The final certification dives may cost an additional $50-$125 depending on the location chosen.
Students' open water certification can be added upon to achieve master diver's status. Divers also have the option of gaining specialized certifications pertaining to wreck diving, cave diving, rescue diving and night diving.
In addition to basic certification, Wesleyan also offers a minor degree program in recreation diving management. The program is unique to North Texas and is comprised of approximately 40 credit hours. This minor will prepare a student for a variety of diving related jobs.
Diving enthusiasts can also join Wesleyan's student scuba club. This year's officers are Brooke McNabb, Adam Harrison, Danielle Parks and Colleen Burnie. The club, which had 25 members at their last meeting, meets monthly and dives at locations around Texas such as Aquarena Springs in San Marcos, San Solomon in Balmorhea and Blue Lagoon in Huntsville. The next dive is October 14th and the next meeting is Nov. 6th.
Wesleyan's next certification class is scheduled to begin next spring, but according to Rucker, a special class may be scheduled if a large enough group is interested
August 8, 2006 11:15 AM | send page | Press Releases