Quinn Carver first donned a scuba mask and strapped an air tank on his back when his family lived in Indonesia about one-and-a-half years ago.

His attraction to scuba diving grew after experiencing the uniquely calm sensation of being underwater.

"It's really serene, quiet and relaxing," Carver said.

Now Carver (freshman-liberal arts) is enrolled along with more than 70 other students in one of the University's four physical education scuba diving classes.

Students come into the class with varying levels of experience, some having "grown up" in the water and others having spent most of their days on terra firma. Experienced or not, all the students must first learn the basics of scuba diving.

Students spend about 15 hours in classroom lectures and 30 hours in the McCoy Natatorium pool gaining hands-on experience with diving tanks, masks and regulators, said Tom Griffiths, aquatics director of the natatorium and scuba instructor. Griffiths, a diver for nearly 20 years, said the University offers the introductory course during the Fall and Spring semesters, and an advanced course held in Ginnie Springs, Fla., during intersession.

Students' motivation for taking the class varies as much as their levels of experience.

Tom O'Donnell, a class member who had never dived before, said his interest arose from a friend.

"I've just heard a lot of good things about it," O'Donnell (senior-speech communications) said after a class lecture, which included a slide presentation about dangerous marine life.

In addition to time spent learning in the water, O'Donnell said the class has taught him how to properly check and maintain gear for safe diving.

Many of the students take the class to learn skills necessary to become certified, Griffiths said.

Certification allows divers to rent or have their air tanks filled at any diving shop, giving a diver the key to almost all the world's bodies of water. Diving certification lasts a lifetime.

Carver said certification was not required in Indonesia and he is taking the course so he can eventually become certified and continue diving while in the United States.

Although completion of the course does not merit certification, Griffiths said it "leads you right up to it." Between 60 percent to 75 percent of the class goes on to become certified, he said.

O'Donnell said although he had never dived before the class, he plans to work toward certification.

"We're supposed to be diving machines when we get out of here and I think we will be," he said, adding the class is "a blast."

Griffiths said a basic scuba diving certification course would require a person to successfully make five open water dives on two separate days.

Proper training can help keep an unexpected underwater situation from becoming a potentially fatal one. Griffiths said he once dove in waters so cold his partner's tank regulators froze and they had to take turns sharing air.

But the potential treacheries of equipment failure and dangerous aquatic life do not keep diving aficionados from the sport they have enjoyed for many years.

David Petersen, a diver with 25 years experience, said his interest in scuba diving grew after spending much of his youth on the shores and in the waters of Lake Erie. The arrival of Jacques Cousteau's first commercial diving system prompted him to try out the then obscure sport of scuba diving.

"I was fascinated with the first system," Petersen said, adding that his cousin shared his interest. "We bought it on Friday night and we were diving on Saturday afternoon. That was before certification."

Petersen has since been certified and has dived in the Great Lakes, the Bahamas, the Red Sea, New Guinea, Mexico and the Galapagos Islands.

"Every dive is virtually a new experience," Petersen said. "You seem to bump into a new creature all the time. Night diving is more spectacular than day diving; your lights reflect off the fish and the coral looks beautiful."

In the fall, he is planning to dive off the coast of Mexico where divers can swim near giant manta rays.

Some who have not yet had the opportunity to dive in such exotic locales, simply enjoy the pleasure of being a spectator in a different, calm environment.

James Wolfe, a scuba student who is also a member of the swim team, said his interest in diving arose after a short scuba excursion off the Caribbean island of St. Thomas.

"It's something I'll be able to enjoy for the rest of my life," Wolfe said.