The eating disorder thing is something I had failed to consider. Jodi, Thanks so much for pointing it out to me. Although we have not had the problem here at sjvsc, I know of the problem, and seen it occasionally in distance runners and others in the general population.
I can certianly see how it could become a vaulter problem. When I first heard of weigh-in's.... I thought wow! Pole vaulting is going to get like wrestling. It reminded me of living in Mary Burke hall at U. Alabama in the '70's. After dinner each night we would hear the toilets all flushing on the floor above us, always around 7pm. So one night we went up to investigate. It was the wrestlers, they were throwing-up dinner. Each night they would gorge themselves in the dinning hall....and then head up stairs for a "group puke" (their name for it).
A standard, if properly written, can help make the weight rule less prohibitive, and more user friendly. The prupose of a standard is to protect the consumer. I feel so strongly about this a National Safety Chair, that I have dedicated large portions of my time and energy for the purpose of standardization over the past few years.
A large number of people have helped me in this work. However, most of them prefer to remain annonyous. They want nothing from it. They simply want a safer more cost efficent PV world.
When the work is finished and the standard is opperational all consumers and manufactures will benifit.
This fall we will begin the process of standarization of poles. We have done our home work! The system we have in mind has been worked and reworked, and reworked! We thought we had the soloution when we finished the "Best Flex" project in 1998. But upon further review, Best flex was only a partial soloution. There were factors and variables that we were unable to study at that time. The technology was simply not avaliable. We did not feel we could go to ASTM with the data and necessary resources for approval. So about a year ago when the landing pit project was coming to an end we began serious preperations for the pole standardization.
Standardization must get throught the ASTM or it will not be acceptable to the HS federation, or the IAAF, or the NCAA.
Have you looked at the ASTM web site?
www.astm.org click around a little
bit and read the mission statement, and the about astm on the info page.....
This fall's ASTM meetings will run all week in Tampa, Florida. Many
different groups will meet and work on setting up or revising standards for
all kinds of differt products. For instance the helmet commitee, which I'm
not a part of, but I always sit I on their meetings and give input, if asked
for, will have representatives from approximalty 10 manufactures, that
represent helmets for all kinds of uses.
The "American Society for Testing Materials" is a non-partisiam organiation
that provides the platform for companies and other
interested parties to work on setting standards for all kinds of commerical
products.
Typically the meetings are attended by representatives of companies who make products (for which standards are being developed), lawyers, doctors,
special interest groups, government agencies, and insurance agencies.
Here is a agenda for this falls meetings. We have invitited approximatly 200 people to take part. Probably only 20 or so will show up for the pole vault stuff.
In general, it is my opinion, that most coaches and vaulters, would love to see standardization become reality.
~jan~
1000 to 1015 Introductions and Misc. Admin.
1015 to 1030 Box Collars
1030 to 1045 Base Pads
1045 to 1100 Pit Testing
1100 to 1130 Pole Test Method
1130 to 1200 Pole Stress Test Method
1200 to 1300 Lunch
1300 to 1430 Pole Test Specification
1430 to 1500 Pole Stress Test Specification
1500 Adjournment
1800 Social
