I have on occasion taken scientists and
videographers from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation down in the sub to film oyster
beds in Chesapeake Bay. Although it is true
that most scientific institutions cannot pay for the use of a non ABS classed vehicle,
they can, however, accept the service as a donation. Most non profit institutions
will then gladly type up a letter detailing the donation- which can then be
written off by the sub owner as a legitimate tax deduction. This has worked
well for me and the CBF in the past but, of course, check with your tax
advisor.
Greg C.
From: owner-personal_submersibles@psubs.org [mailto:owner-personal_submersibles@psubs.org] On Behalf Of Smyth, Alec
Sent: Tuesday, January 12, 2010
9:02 AM
To: personal_submersibles@psubs.org
Subject: RE: [PSUBS-MAILIST]
Public Outreach Program
Jim,
I had no idea you were involved in
education! Here is a link you may find interesting: http://www.seaperch.org/
Years ago I ordered a book solely on the
basis of it's title. It was called "How to build an underwater
robot". To my surprise, when I received it the book was written for
children, and described how to make a simple ROV out of PVC components you can
get at any hardware store. Well, some folks were inspired by the book and took
it a step further, setting up the above program for teachers and
students to build ROVs as a classroom project. Neat idea. I wrote to the
contact person last night, because I'm local to them and this could be an ideal
outreach opportunity. Imagine they get kids together who have just built ROVs.
What could be more on topic than a presentation about how to build little subs?
thanks,
Alec
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From: owner-personal_submersibles@psubs.org [mailto:owner-personal_submersibles@psubs.org] On Behalf Of kocpnt tds.net
Sent: Friday, January 08, 2010
6:59 AM
To: personal_submersibles@psubs.org
Subject: Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST]
Public Outreach Program
I think your thoughts are exceptional. I know many people
have done similar things in the past and when I'm complete I plan on some of
the outreach ideas.
I happen to be president of our local school board, (bad
timing) , and have an interest in the educational component, but probably even
more so the ability to inspire people to think outside of the box and pursue
their dreams.
I think we need to inspire people to go beyound the expected
and the status quo. This is where most good ideas come from.
On Thu, Jan 7, 2010 at 11:18 PM, Jon Wallace <jonw@psubs.org> wrote:
Psubbers,
One of the areas that I hope we can expand on this year is an
"outreach" program where we expand our interest beyond concentration
of fabrication issues and delve into dive operations, education, and community
involvement with our submersibles. Construction is only one phase of
owning a submersible which when finished inevitably leads to the question
"Now what?"
Because of the uniqueness of our vessels, we have a unique opportunity to use
them for much more than just a short spin under the lake. As I have
mentioned in previous emails as a means of illustration, backyard astronomers
make useful contributions to science and education by accounting for the vast
majority of newly discovered comets, monitoring variable stars, and tracking
asteroids. While the professional astronomers are using Hubble to unlock
the depths of the universe and test theories of relativity, the backyard
astronomers are keeping an eye on areas of the sky closer to home that their
smaller instruments are able to adequately monitor. Likewise, we also
have the ability to make useful contributions to science and education related
to oceanographic study and underwater environments. While the professionals
study tube-worms and tectonics tens of thousands of feet under the oceans
surface in multi-million dollar submarines, there's a large area of ocean
bottom not regularly being monitored or investigated between 120 and 1,000
feet.
I raise this issue once again because it has come to my attention that just a
few days ago a conference was held in the Washington DC area sponsored by
Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society with a NOAA representative as the
primary speaker, to cross-pollinate ideas between various agencies and
specialties involved with undersea exploration and research including technical
diving and manned submersibles. I have it on good authority that PSUBS
was brought up during informal conversations by people attending this conference
and discussing the involvement of psubs in programs that further ocean
conservation, science, or education. If realized, this could mean
providing useful contributions to scientific research while at the same time
enjoying your submersible.
This then seems like a good reason, and time, to bring this topic up once
again.
Of course, such oceanographic research is only one possibility and there are
plenty of other opportunities that you can help with in terms of public
outreach. How about sponsoring a public display of your submersible?
Or what about contacting your local indoor shopping mall and offering to
put your sub on display for a week (roped off of course). Have you ever
considered contacting the science department of your local school and offering
to talk about underwater diving in a submarine, or bringing your sub to the
school and explaining how it works. Trust me, I was a member of the
school board for 9 years and schools LOVE that kind of interaction. Most
towns and cities beg to find participants for parades. The next time your
home-town has a parade, why not sign up and tow your sub down main street
(George Kittredge did it in 2008 at the Maine Lobster Festival).
For those of you who own submarines, or will have a sub soon, please consider
this plea for public outreach. In the past I have merely made an
announcement when some group or entity was requesting a service and waited for
one or more of you to respond, however I'm hoping we can become more proactive
starting this year. We have a "Public Display" web page on our
web site to advertise these kind of things and I would like to invite you to be
on it. I'm asking you to look at http://www.psubs.org/pubdisp and consider listing your
availability in whatever capacity you are comfortable with, and I promise that
we will help you with any coordination or support.
For those of you without submarines, you are still able to contribute by
perhaps giving a talk in your local community or visiting a local school.
You could for example use the DVD "Wally's First Dive" as a
multi-media tool and then provide more detail about how submarines operate and
what they can be used for.
If you can help out with this "outreach" project, please contact me
off-list.
Thank you!
Jon
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