benblee

Those can provide support, but you shouldn't just rely on that. One thing most people look past is how much your hamstrings and leg muscles affect the muscles in your lower back. Just doing some simple stretches to keep your legs loose will really help releive a lot of tension in the lumbar region. Ben Lee www.CollegeSkydiving.com

You're definitely right on the fact that you can never really know when to make what call. I guess its just really frustrating as a student when something like this happens and you're still asked to go to class to look at powerpoint slides that could have been emailed to you. It's a big game that probably can't be won, but its good to keep looking for ways to help or at least to better the odds of everything turning out alright. If you don't know the VT skydivers, check out their website, they're a great group that is always lending a helping hand. http://www.skydiving.org.vt.edu/ Ben Lee www.CollegeSkydiving.com

So you said it yourself. The money can be better spent. The other thing to mention is that part of the tuition and fees are for this counceling center. If they can't offer help, then let me keep my money for that and seek my own help. Either way, schools just plain push harder nowadays, and they expect a lot more from their students. As far as things in the old days and how people dealt with it, the same stuff happened then. Go back far enough and things were even worse. That's how the world and the people in it work. Some are good, some are bad, and some are just horribly mixed up. I was just stating that there are much better ways to deal with these problems and that we leave a lot of room open for these problems to happen. You either want to help fix it, or you don't. It's the whole "learn from your mistakes" attitude. Ben Lee www.CollegeSkydiving.com

I'm a Georgia Tech student and I can tell you a few things about the way colleges operate. Number one is that they are very good at keeping things quiet. There have been a number of suicides that are only heard about weeks and months later (even by people in your same dorm). This was most likely the first reaction of the school. Second, there are plenty of campus police to put on every street corner on campus saying that class is cancelled (Even if the professors don't know it yet). Lastly, the schools know what's going on and can (and should) have more in place to help students. Here's a for instance: When my parents were going through a nasty divorce, I went to the counceling center to talk to someone to make sure I was keeping my head straight. They said I could schedule an appointment for 5 weeks from then. Then they told me that they have counselors on call for emergencies, but that they were booked up for a week. What if instead of me, it was a student like this one? They would have just sent him out the door. They are just plain understaffed. The kicker is, the first priority for funding in the student government meeting was for our Athletic Association (which is asking for and extra $3 million). A fraction of that can and should be spent on things like help for students that are already under a very large amount of stress. Instead, it goes to over paid Athletic Association personnel that really don't do anything productive. $3 million for athletics instead of helping students at a school that has the 3rd highest suicide rate in the country. Schools know, and schools can avoid these situations, and they choose not to. I feel terrible for the Virginia Tech people and I am very thankful that every one of their skydivers is alright. They have an outstanding skydiving club up there full of outstanding people. Ben Lee www.CollegeSkydiving.com

Now there's pictures of my girlfriend all over the internet. When is this gonna stop. I really had no idea what I was getting into. Skydiving is one thing, dating Nikki is a whole other ... adventure ... challenge ... uuuuuuuuuuhhhhh, I better shut-up now. Ben Lee www.CollegeSkydiving.com

This one sounds a little weird and I don't know if it would sell ... Bartholomew Cain Creek (Yeah, I couldn't spell my middle name til I was about 12 years old) Ben Lee www.CollegeSkydiving.com

Hey Don, you are a saint for offering to buy us beer. We'll take you up on that. I like Guiness and popsjumper can post what he likes.

I know you pay for your own jumps. I was talking to popsjumper, for the little mis-communication thing we had going on. As far as "The Don" is concerned, I'll help you cook burgers anyday, but the jump money is mine. Hahahaha. Ben Lee www.CollegeSkydiving.com

That works. If you can make it to SDA, I'll buy your lift ticket. That's how we bury the hatchet in skydiving. I will warn you that my girlfriend is ridiculously hot, so you can't hit on her if you want the jump paid for! Ben Lee www.CollegeSkydiving.com

OK, cool, I'll post on other threads. We can jump in the big way at SDA and call it quits. That's what this site is about...right...skydiving? Or is it old people that haven't gotten any in a while? Ben Lee www.CollegeSkydiving.com

OK "popsjumper", I was joking around and having a little fun with posts. That one is a little too far over the line though. This is all in good fun, so lets keep it GOOD fun. Ben Lee www.CollegeSkydiving.com

What about "The Don". I've heard this guy is a sweet talker. He once tried to give my girlfriend a nickname and gave these clues "pretty and white" I immediately said "Lard!!!"...I was wrong. He was talking about something completely different. I spent a long time making up for that one. Who thinks "The Don" owes me beer for this. Ben Lee www.CollegeSkydiving.com

But don't they jump at SDA? Ben Lee www.CollegeSkydiving.com

3 and 1/2 minutes after starting to have sex with my girlfriend...I'm done and ready to talk. It was good for me and now I'm back on DZ.com... she fell asleep, when she wakes up, I'll let her know that she needs to post. So what's up with you guys? Ben Lee www.CollegeSkydiving.com

Nikki and I will be showing up! I will be jumping with you guys for sure, Nikki is a maybe. She hurt her wrist this week and isn't sure how well she'll be able to work the toggles. It's left handed, so she can pull, she just doesn't want to end up landing hoping that her opening direction takes her to the right place. I told her all right turns is fine, but she's not buying it. Ben Lee www.CollegeSkydiving.com

That sounds cool...I don't know what you're talking about...OK, I'm gonna go have sex with my girlfriend now. Ben Lee www.CollegeSkydiving.com

My girlfriend just said, "That mouse isn't fucking the other mouse ... he's just checking on it!". OK ... you guys keep discussing this ... I'm going to go "check on" my girlfriend. Ben Lee www.CollegeSkydiving.com

I took some of the advice from here and gave the site a whole new look. Check it out and let me know if I'm on the right track. If you didn't see the first draft, go ahead and comment on this one. http://www.collegeskydiving.com Ben Lee www.CollegeSkydiving.com

No worries about hyjacking the thread, you added a clicky!!! That's worth a couple random posts, at least. Ben Lee www.CollegeSkydiving.com

Also good advice. Right now there is a Gallery that users can have their own album and upload to. There is also a forum that's getting pretty popular for not being up too long. We will also be hosting a virtual competition where there will be a draw and then students can submit their videos to be judged online. It should be pretty cool. FYI ... we are using Joomla for a CMS and it's been great and has a ton of plugins for just about everything. Again, if you haven't seen it yet: http://www.collegeskydiving.com Ben Lee www.CollegeSkydiving.com

A whole thread and finally an idea for the site. This is good advice and I like the idea of clubs being able to post their paperwork. I have sections about 'Starting a Club' and 'Maintaining a Club' with some of the Georgia Tech files posted, but every school is different and has something to contribute. If you haven't checked it out yet, I'd like to know what you think so far: www.collegeskydiving.com I'm also struggling with making this a site for clubs and people in the sport and leaving the recruiting to the schools, or making a section for "wuffos". Ben Lee www.CollegeSkydiving.com

Back to the web stuff. What's more important, Pics, Vids, Info, Stupid Stuff, Bad Jokes ... come on people, be creative. Ben Lee www.CollegeSkydiving.com

I was just looking for what people wanted to see on a site. As for the weather links for DZ's, I picked the USPA dropzones because that's a huge list to start with. I also just linked to the DZ zip code on weather.com. That seemed like it would be more reliable. It was also the best way to get a lot of listings up quick. I do think that the USPA is a great organization and I'm curious as to why a DZ wouldn't want to be a group member with them? Ben Lee www.CollegeSkydiving.com

Not many people pick up on how many skydivers have come from Georgia Tech. I do think that all of them have had better grades though. I'm trying to get more colleges involved, so let me know what you think of www.collegeskydiving.com. I know that's a plug for a site, but it's for a good cause. Ben Lee www.CollegeSkydiving.com

This site is very up for suggestions, so don't shy away from posting. I also want to remind you that college girls look really good, so you should encourage this site as much as possible! Ben Lee www.CollegeSkydiving.com