All Jen Williams, a disabled SF State senior, wanted to do was swim. However, her goals, and numerous other SF State students’ athletic desires, have been deferred now that the pool is closed indefinitely due to a malfunctioning Spectrum Aquatics wheel chair lift.

The pool lift is on its way to Spectrum Aquatics testing facilities in Montana.

“We have agreed to have the pool lift shipped UPS red label to us,” George Bowman, vice president of sales and marketing of Spectrum Aquatics said. "We are going to spend as much time as it takes to test the lift, and then send it back to San Francisco. We want to make sure that the lift is in perfect shape before your guys put it back on the pool's deck."

Paula Moran, director of the recreation and intramural sports programs, is worried about the pool's closure, but is now out of the loop. "It's totally out of my hands, and it's very frustrating," Moran said. Moran received word from Gene Chelberg, director of SF State's Disability Programs and Resource Center (DPRC), that it could be two to four weeks before the pool is reopened. However the pool is open for kinesiology classes, and other classes that have approved waivers.

According to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) all public accommodations must comply with basic nondiscrimination requirements that prohibit exclusion, segregation and unequal treatment of the disabled.

If these laws are not followed, the government could fine SF State $55,000 for the first violation and $110,000 for each successive violation.

Chelberg said that closing the pool was the right decision.

“It just isn’t fair that anyone who needs the wheel chair lift, like Jen Williams, to use the pool, but can’t. The pool needs to be accessible for everyone, and until it is, it will remain closed. It’s not okay with me that the pool continues to be inaccessible.”

SF State’s maintenance department has been working hard to make the pool accessible.

“It’s a very important project,” SF State Maintenance Superintendent Evan Christensen said. “We just took a video clip of how unstable it is and are sending it to the manufacturer to prove it. Just today (Thurs., Apr. 22, 2004) we got the vendor, the representative and the pool consultant down there and made modifications to the pool lift, but the manufacturers recommendations made it worse.”

According to Christensen, SF State hired a Spectrum Aquatics pool consultant/architect, a testing engineer and a concrete company to help facilitate the pool lift’s installation. “After all of that work, then we find out that the doggone thing didn’t work properly,” Christensen said. “We are determined to get this thing solved, and we have been screaming loud and long (to Spectrum Aquatics) about it.”

Christensen said liability risks forced SF State to follow Spectrum Aquatics’ advice.

“We have to do what Spectrum recommends, otherwise, we become liable if we were to just try to fix it on our own,” Christensen said.

"The Pintlar (Spectrum Aquatics’ pool lift model) is definitely covered under the five year warranty, but I'm not sure how much the university paid for it, or who is paying for the UPS shipping. All of those details are being worked out with customer service," Bowman said.

Bowman also commented about the possibility of SF State buying a more expensive and structurally sound pool lift in the next couple of months.

"I believe that the university will be purchasing a new heavy-duty lift after this one is installed. Maybe sometime soon, but we will be trying to reinstall this one for the time being."

Jen Williams, a 35-year-old psychology major and human sexuality minor, who suffers from fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome, has experienced the malfunctioning Pintlar first hand.

“The pool lift was sitting on the side of the pool for an entire semester. They finally installed it over winter break, and then the brand new lift breaks with me on it,” said Williams. The whole thing cants like a 30-degree angle and falls backwards into the pool. I literally end up bailing out of it into the water to get out of the damn thing because I’m thinking it’s going to go all the way to the bottom with me stuck in it.”

Williams’ one wish is to be able to speak to SF State's administration and let them know how it feels to be a disabled student.

"I wish I could get in the same room with President Corrigan, Gene Chelberg, and the head of the athletic department just to have a real conversation about what it’s like to use the facilities at SF State," Williams said. "I just feel really bad for everyone who can't use the facilities right now."

“It’s extremely unfortunate that this has happened. It happens with a lot of disability technology,” Chelberg said. “We really worked hard with the university to get a swimming pool lift consultant and an architect. This lift is used all over the county. In fact, that same lift is used at the YMCA, and San Francisco County’s recreation facilities. It’s just so exasperating.”

This is not the first time that SF State has been involved with accessibility issues. In Nov. of 1999 the university settled a suit brought against them by Elizabeth Campos and 29 others who filed in 1997, claiming that their rights were violated under the ADA law.

According to The San Francisco Chronicle, SF State pledged to improve the campuses access and remove barriers for the disabled after agreeing to pay the plaintiff’s $100,000.

At the time of the lawsuit, S.F. State said it had spent $8 million in the last decade to improve access, and another $2.7 million project was in progress.

About the current situation, Chelberg said, “This project will get finished, and if we didn’t have everyone’s attention before, we sure have it now.