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License to Dive JAMES DURBIN Daily Egyptian Underwater bubbles partially obscured the sunken wreck below. Sinking deeper into the darkess, a steering wheel appeared through a gaping hole where the windshield used to be. The front half of a sunken school bus materialized, begging to be explored. Diving sunken wrecks is an activity typically reserved for coastal areas, but the Mermet Springs scuba training facility, located in Mermet, makes underwater exploration only a 45-minute drive away from the SIUC campus. A group of 12 southern Illinois residents, SIUC students and faculty met at the Recreation Center’s Base Camp at 9 a.m. Saturday to make the trip to Mermet. For many of the participants, such as Mike Dixon, said it was their first time diving. “You are totally weightless down there,� said Dixon, a senior in biological sciences from Rockford. “I want to get certified now. This solidified that.� Mermet Springs offers the opportunity to become a certified diver through classroom instruction and water training from dive specialists. The facility also has a variety of submerged objects to explore, from a school bus to a Boeing 727 passenger jet used in the 1997 movie “U.S. Marshals.� “Every time I take someone down, it’s a different experience,� said Rick Cobb, a dive control specialist at Mermet Springs. “You don’t know what to expect from them, but seeing
someone learn to dive and knowing they made it is the best feeling.� Each day, Cobb said he takes firsttime divers below the surface. First-time divers at the facility watch an instructional video and are given an overview of how the equipment works before going underwater. Before diving, Cobb goes through a series of hand signals for underwater communication and tells students if at any time he or she feels uncomfortable, to give a signal and they will head to the surface together. Once under the surface, the instructor and divers navigate and observe sunken objects ranging from 10 to 15 feet in depth. Cobb said some students cannot get past the initial submersion. “Breathing underwater just feels wrong,� Cobb said. “But some people take to it like they have been doing it forever.� Dixon said he was not scared by his first experience. “My instructor had my back the whole time,� Dixon said. “There is a lot of pressure down there, and getting used to it does hurt a little bit.� Dixon said his favorite part about the dive was getting to see the nooks where fish hide from a new perspective, and he hopes it will help improve his fishing tactics. “Learning to dive is like getting a license to see the rest of the world,� said Glen Faith, owner of Mermet Springs. Water covers 70 percent of Earth’s surface according to the
JAMES DURBIN | DAILY EGYPTIAN
Timothy Pyzik, a second year law student from Bolingbrook, and Mike Dixon, a senior from Rockford studying biological sciences, listen to instructors at the Mermet Springs dive facility explain how respirators work before heading Environmental Protection Agency, and the divers at Mermet Springs do not limit themselves to diving only in southern Illinois. Mermet Springs organizes dive trips to exotic locations as well. “We have travelled literally around the world to dive destinations like the Red Sea, Galapagos Islands
underwater for the first time. The Mermet Springs dive facility is a flooded rock quarry that contains dozens of underwater wrecks to explore such as a school bus and a 727 passenger jet.
and Fiji,� Faith said. If a trip across the world is not in the budget, or if a person just wants to try diving for the first time, Mermet Springs rents complete scuba gear packages for a daily rate of $45. The scuba trip was organized by SIUC’s Base Camp outdoor adventure program, which coordinates outdoor
trips for students and residents. “We take people backpacking, climbing, paddling, every kind of outdoor activity you can think of,� said Kaia Pirazzini, the interim manager of Base Camp.“What we do empowers people. Come to two or three of our programs and you will learn the skills to take your friends out.�
Chicago baseball painful to watch, especially for Guillen JOE RAGUSSA Daily Egyptian Chicago Cubs manager Mike Quade is the star of an advertising campaign for ItGetsBetter.org, but unfortunately he isn't talking about baseball. Quade and White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen have their hands full this season, but that doesn't mean much for either team as they stumble into the trade deadline on Sunday. The Cubs are in a battle for the worst overall record in the league and the White Sox are behind the Cleveland Indians and Detroit Tigers in a division they could easily have if big-money stars like Jake Peavy, Adam Dunn or Alex Rios play well. “A lot of people say I talk s--because I have to talk s---. No I don't. I talk s--- because that's all I see,� Guillen said in a press conference after a July 20 loss to the Kansas City Royals, where he was smacked in the face with a foul ball. “The way we go about our business here, horse s---.� Guillen has plenty of reasons to be
angry these days, and not just because no one in the dugout yelled “Heads up.� The Sox started the season with a 10-17 mark in April and are lucky to be just 4.5 games behind Detroit in the AL Central despite scoring only 397 runs so far this season, which is 20th in the league. This is an offense that added freeagent slugger Adam Dunn in the offseason to a lineup that already had All-Stars like Paul Konerko and Carlos Quentin. But with Dunn hitting well below the Mendoza line with an average of .160, it's easy to see why Guillen is frustrated. The only difference between the Sox and their rivals to the north is that the pitching has been there. Philip Humber has surprised everyone, posting an 8-6 record with a 3.27 ERA this year, and starters like Mark Buehrle, Edwin Jackson and John Danks have all pitched well. Sergio Santos has become a steady closer for the team after Matt Thornton had a shaky start to the year, and the entire bullpen has been solid. If the bats warm up over these last few months, the Sox
should make the AL Central race a competitive one. The north siders, on the other hand, have a lot more to worry about. “I don't make a lot of excuses, probably could have gotten rung two or three times in this series alone,� Quade said in a press conference after a July 17 loss to the Florida Marlins. “Been thrown out three times, young manager, all that crap, but it's getting tough to watch some of this.� Quade complained about the umpires during that series, but it didn't sound like that was the only thing on his mind. The Cubs are 18 games under .500, and if it wasn't for the abysmal Houston Astros, they would be last in the National League. The Cubs’ pitching staff has been hit hard this year. Opponents are hitting .269 against them, which is third worst in the league according to MLB.com. Aside from Matt Garza, who is still 4-7 this season, and the back end of the bullpen, the entire staff deserves to be
shipped out. Ryan Dempster has struggled his way to a 5.00 ERA, and opposing teams are hitting .273 off of Carlos Zambrano after he looked to be back to his old self with a hot start to the season. The fourth and fifth starters have been a revolving door of forgettability with Casey Coleman, Doug Davis, Rodrigo Lopez, Ramon Ortiz, James Russel and Randy Wells all pitching mediocre games. The Cubs’ hitting hasn't been terrible this season; they're middle of the road in almost every major offensive category according to MLB.com, but they have a lot of pressure on them since their pitching staff is giving up the second-most runs in the majors. With the 103rd year without a World Series ring approaching fast, the only thing worth watching with the Cubs is where some of their bigger bats and arms will land before the trade deadline July 31. Aramis Ramirez already told ESPN's Bruce Levine July 19 he wants to stay with the Cubs, but aside from him and Starlin Castro, it looks like everybody
is available. Kosuke Fukudome is in the last year of the contract he signed after he came over from Japan in 2008, and the Cubs have been talking to teams like the Cleveland Indians, who need outfield help according to ESPN. In the same ESPN report, teams have expressed interest in lefthanded reliever John Grabow along with outfielders Alfonso Soriano and Marlon Byrd. A source told Levine the Cubs are willing to eat a high percentage of the $60 million left on Soriano's current contract, which would make him enticing to teams that desperately need a power bat in their lineup. Carlos Pena has also been rumored to be on the move with the Pittsburg Pirates and Arizona Diamondbacks named as the most likely suitors for the slugging first baseman according to Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman. This leaves a lot to be answered in the next few days. For White Sox fans, the divisional race looks like it could go down to the wire once again. For Cubs fans, did you hear the NFL lockout is over?