One year of sponsored diving and a free underwater camera

One year of sponsored diving and a free Rolex!

Dive all over the world for one year, all expenses paid. Learn to dive a rebreather. You’ll get a complete set of dive gear for free. You’ll even get an underwater camera. And the Rolex that you always wanted, well it’s included.

No, this is not a late April fool’s joke. This is for real.

At the “Duikvaker†dive show, we spoke with Elvin Leech. Elvin is the European Vice President of a very special organization called “Our World-Underwater Scholarship Societyâ€. OWUSS promotes diving among young people. You want to know more? Go to our website and watch the video interview for more details.

The page with all interviews can be found at http://www.submergeproductions.com/Action/Interviews.aspx.

To display only the OWUSS interview: http://www.submergeproductions.com/Action/...ss/Default.aspx

Enjoy,

Peter

OWUSS promotes diving among young people.

Why does the recipient have to be a young person? What exactly is a "young person"? In the US, age discrimination is illegal.

Why does the recipient have to be a young person? What exactly is a "young person"? In the US, age discrimination is illegal.

One of the three scholarships is in the US and has been for over 30 years. So it must be legal what they do (-:

I was really impressed with the goals of this non-profit organisation.

Why does the recipient have to be a young person? What exactly is a "young person"? In the US, age discrimination is illegal.

Here are the Scholarship Eligibility Requirements:

* Minimum age of 21 and maximum age of 26 at the time of the application deadline (December 31)

* Valid citizenship for the relevant Rolex Scholarship (North America, Europe, and Australasia)

* Applicant has not yet earned a graduate degree by April 1st of the scholarship year and has not yet chosen a clearly defined career path

* High academic standing

* Fluency in English

* Certification as a Rescue Diver or equivalent with a minimum of 25 dives logged in the past two years.

* Evidence of adequate health insurance for duration of scholarship year

* Submission of a completed diving medical examination form, which is found in the application

Why does the recipient have to be a young person? What exactly is a "young person"? In the US, age discrimination is illegal.

Not for something like this. For a public company or some open job or position for sure you need to be careful but for this kind of thing, age discrimination is not an issue. There are loads of scholarships for "women in science" or young chemist's societies and things like that. Its their money, they can do with it what they want. I can't discriminate in hiring someone, that is the Equal Opportunity Act, but I can give my own personal money -if I had any - to anyone I choose.

i'm too old and educated. sigh

i'm too old and educated. sigh

UBC is considered an education? [snicker]

did you major in hydrophonic plant growing...

if i did i wouldn't need the scholarship.. i would be rich!

It is unbelievable that they only had 11 candidates last year for the European Scholarship. At least it gives the people that enter a decent shot at winning the scholarship.

I think you all are misunderstanding me. There are age discrimination laws in the US and they exist for a reason. Whether such laws encompass this scholarship is not my point (and I don't believe they do) but rather whether age discrimination is ethical in this case.

I did not see the age definition when I posted my first comment and I'd say that a 26 year old cutoff comes close to ruling out some graduates that they may desire to target. If someone discovers, after one or two misfires, that this kind of career is for them then they could easily be 28 or 30 and still be a viable candidate. Frankly, I think this is nothing other than short-sighted age discrimination and whether it's legal or not is beside the point. People can and do have longer and longer productive careers and there's no reason to institutionalize ANY age cutoff as part of the entry requirements. If two candidates appear evenly qualified, a younger one could receive consideration because he will have a potentially longer career. That alone should be sufficient especially since two candidates are never even.

There are arguments that can legitimately be made that an older person should receive preference over a younger one regarding financial aid. I don't personally agree with them because they don't support the interests of the ones giving the aid, but they do exist. When I was younger, I was told that older people deserved higher salaries because they had greater need for money. While that is true, it does not mean they are entitled. Likewise, I see no reason why young people should be entitled to gifting in this case. Let's face it, 30 years is young and a 30 year old today is likely to have as long a career ahead of him as his parents did at 21.

I would never support a cause that practiced this kind of discrimination, legal or not.

Not for something like this. For a public company or some open job or position for sure you need to be careful but for this kind of thing, age discrimination is not an issue. There are loads of scholarships for "women in science" or young chemist's societies and things like that. Its their money, they can do with it what they want. I can't discriminate in hiring someone, that is the Equal Opportunity Act, but I can give my own personal money -if I had any - to anyone I choose.

If its a private scholarship set aside for that purpose then that is true. If the scholarship comes from public funds or a cooporation, you can be sued for discrimination. People just don't make a habit of doing it. ...and on the job thing, it happens there as well. When I was in college I applied to NCAR for an internship. I was told over the phone that the remaining internships were reserved for minorities. Likewise when I applied for a scholarship to the Colorado Scholarship Assocation there were 8 total scholarships that were classified like this.

qty type

2 General Scholarships open to all

2 Scholarships for all ethnic minorities

2 women only

2 Minority women only

Basically entitlement and quotas only serve to further racism and discrimination. Maybe the above would have had more than 11 Europeans if they didn't make it so exclusive. Someone under 40 might want to start a new career. Someone over 40 might want to retire and do the same. There's nothing that says a younger person is going to have a greater impact on the world than someone older.

I'm kind of surprised that more people on this forum haven't heard of the Our World Underwater Scholarship Society. I know a few pro shooters who got their start as OWU-SS Scholars, and supporters of the program are found throughout the dive business. Check it out at:

www.owuscholarship.org

And if you are a subscriber to Scuba Diving, check out pages 4-5 in the May issue -- there's an overview of the scholarship, information on how you can get involved, and bios of the 2008 winners.

In a nustshell: OWU-SS is a non-profit organization staffed by great people and all privately funded. PCDiver refers to the three Rolex Scholarships they award annually, one each in North America, Europe and Australasia. The students get a stipend, lots of cool gear -- including a Rolex Submariner watch -- and unique travel and training opportunities with some of the best people in ocean-related fields. In addition to the Rolex Scholarships OWU-SS also helps fund internships with groups like the Divers Alert Network (DAN) and the Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF).

The great thing about OWU-SS is that it's really a network of divers -- just like you and me -- helping to cultivate future dive leaders. And if you're in a position to help out as a host or mentor to the scholars and interns, I'm sure they'd love to hear from you.

Finally, I'm pleased to say that I will be joining them in New York City next weekend when they officially award the 2008 Rolex Scholarships at the world-famous Explorer's Club. And if there's any interest, I'll post a picture and report from the event when I get back.

Keith Phillips

Editor

Scuba Diving magazine

(912) 351-6234

To put a different spin on this thread's responses so far:

Thanks for the info.

Why does the recipient have to be a young person? What exactly is a "young person"? In the US, age discrimination is illegal.

I would never support a cause that practiced this kind of discrimination, legal or not.

I have seen this be pass around a few times and think they do this very well indeed. They obviously choose from the applicants the best person they can and it seems they really throw them into the deep end for an entire year or activities and fields that it must be one hell of an experience and could possibly lead to almost anything you wanted to do in the underwater world from science to film making.

I say Hooray for Rolex and Hooray for the organisers ... and if you are in the age limit they see fit to choose from in their scholarship that they set up and hence get to make the rules ... then ... dag nab it ... apply !

Craig I think this one will be ok without your support most the money comes from Rolex.

Thanks for the insult, Giles.

I'm sure they do choose the best applicant from those who qualify under their discriminatory rules. Perhaps if their rules included "must be a while, male supermodel" you wouldn't mind either. It's OK as long as it doesn't cost you...

I have met many of the Scholars from the last few years - and shared many beers with them. I have hosted two (one European and one US) and dived with several more (see photo of last year's US scholar Brenna, below). I met Brenna and Matt in Sydney last year (although did not host them). I am hoping to organise hosting one of them this year too.

They are all great people - and they all make the absolute most of their scholarship year. It is a fantastic organisation and it is important to tell young, keen people about it - to get the best applicants applying.

Alex

We were seriously impressed with this organistation, their goals and the people behing it. That's why we made the interview and published in on our web site. They cannot get enough publicity.

Craig, I thought you were joking about the age thing. Jeez. There must be more serious issues to get so steamed up about.

PCDiver, you used the forum to increase exposure for this organization and that's fine. I called attention to that same organization's discriminatory selection criteria using the same mechanism. I feel such an arbitrary restriction is unfair and poorly serves the interests of those trying to do good. What possible harm would be done eliminating this criteria?

With the 26 year cutoff, a potentially deserving candidate who chose first to serve in the military in order to fund his college education will almost certainly have aged out. How can that possibly be the right outcome? What is so valuable about an education for someone under 27 that isn't equally valuable when given to a 28 year old?

Believe me, though, I'm not "steamed up" about this. I see discrimination everywhere, as we all do, and am numb to it. I believe, though, that it should be opposed everywhere it exists, not just when it's convenient or when it costs me personally. I posted to call attention to this, not to make people think I was red in the face over it. In my opinion, this practice is wrong and I'm opposed to it. I'm not saying any more than that.

Frankly, insisting on using the "young" tag to differentiate people where it is otherwise meaningless is disrespectful of young and old alike. We are all just people. To me, there is utterly no difference between an "up and coming photographer" and an "up and coming young photographer" and it annoys me that people insist on saying stuff like that. Age is irrelevant to many of the things we do.

There are age discrimination laws in the US and they exist for a reason. Whether such laws encompass this scholarship is not my point (and I don't believe they do) but rather whether age discrimination is ethical in this case.

Craig, how come the President of the United States of America has to have a minimum age of 35 when he is elected? Is there any difference with someone who is 34 and ready for the job?

Craig, how come the President of the United States of America has to have a minimum age of 35 when he is elected? Isn't that age discrimination also?

Yes it is. Does it make it right? Could it be challenged and thrown out, probably. Craig didn't insult the program. He simply pointed out a flaw in its rules. His comments should be taken constructively, as intended, to make a good program better.