Pool not maintained

Discussion

September 14, 2012

Pool not maintained

Anonymous Staff The Tahlequah Daily Press Fri Sep 14, 2012, 12:08 PM CDT

TAHLEQUAH — Editor, Daily Press:

The NSU pool is not safe to swim in. It should have been closed the day the state health inspector tested it.

The pool has many code violations that have been ignored for years. The most serious violation has been a failure to enforce the “shower first” rule. Second is the carpet. Indoor carpet is prohibited by state code. It collects organic waste, mainly from dirty shoes.

The violations create chloramines, which are heavier than air. These gases hover over the water below the deckline. Installing those plywood shafts over the deck return vents was a big mistake. The purpose was to draw hot air from the ceiling. But that cut off, pulling the chloramines from the pool surface where swimmers breathe.

Of course, you do not believe me. So all I ask is that you check this out by going online to CDC/healthy swimming/chlorine health problems. This will bring up many reputable aquatic websites. Or you can ask to see the 50-plus pages that I gave [NSU President Steve] Turner and Mark Robertson. If you pull up the state statutes, Title 63 320-310, you can read about all the other violations that are endangering your health and safety.

NSU is in the business of educating students at affordable costs. It doesn’t need to fund aquatics for the general public. NSU should not repair the pool. Gut it and make the space into a gym that is so badly needed by the students.

There are not hundreds of patrons using the pool. The staff has never favorably encouraged the full range of programs that other colleges offer. Why is there not a morning and noon lap swim? Why not water polo, evening high-intensity water aerobics or scuba classes?

Water aerobics belongs in a warm, shallow pool with swim lessons, rehab and slow dog-paddlers. The Cherokee Nation is an excellent choice. Last year, I provided excellent blueprints to [NSU Auxiliary Director and former Cherokee Nation official] Todd Enlow and the Continuing Education people. Hundreds of patrons would use it, but nobody here wants to get off of their butts and start building it. It’s better to whine and blame someone else.

The swim team belongs with Tahlequah Public Schools, perhaps in a partnership with the city. Let them build a proper facility that could include lap swim when the swim team was not in the pool. The swim team’s time to use the whole pool should be six days a week, in the early morning in the late afternoon, without maintenance breakdowns or students breaks, if they want to be truly successful.

As for the lap swimmers, there less than 15 regulars now. There were more, but poor scheduling of swim times, numerous maintenance breakdowns, and rowdy, undisciplined behavior by others in the pool, drove many serious swimmers away.

I tried for years to get a morning and noon lap swim started. I even went back to renewing my life-saving certification so I could volunteer to guard the pool. Not one lap swimmer joined me in the effort; they just wanted to complain.

Every time something broke, for no valid reason, not one lap swimmer joined me in protesting the sloppy maintenance. Not one lap swimmer ever helped me try to improve anything in the pool.

Andy Jorgensen

Tahlequah

Editor’s note: Mr. Jorgensen, before he stopped swimming, was at the pool for 20-30 minutes per day, beginning at the opening. His information about the number of patrons using the NSU pool, both regularly and occasionally, is disputed by several people, both NSU staff and those who use the pool.

Text Only

Letters to editor

Pray for leaders, too
Dave Thomas needs to be sure he is uttering facts, not claims, before he prays.

May 8, 2013
In defense of the 2nd
There are four reasons why I am against a mandated background check to purchase a weapon. The first is how I read the Second Amendment: “...shall not be infringed..” means that Congress does not have any authority over “arms.” I do not believe a body of fallible men and women should have that kind of authority.

May 8, 2013
STIR incensed at letters
Now we learn that not only have Northwest Arkansas forces successfully weaseled another study of Oklahoma’s

April 26, 2013
Foot patrol needed here
Folks are putting in [the Press] their pride for the police department. If all was so fine, why did we get a new chief?

April 26, 2013
Kudos to Daily Press
I just want to let you know how impressed I am with the professionalism displayed by Tahlequah Daily Press Managing Editor Kim Poindexter during a disturbing incident I witnessed Monday, April 1.

April 24, 2013
In defense of cops
One of my pet peeves is people talking about something as if it’s fact when they don’t have a clue what they’re talking about. In response to Phyllis Wilfong’s letter to the editor, let me set the record straight.

April 22, 2013
CN to be commended
I have to applaud Cherokee Nation’s investment in health care.

April 17, 2013
In appreciation of cops
Wow, maybe we should start dictating to our police force where, when, what time, what type of food, and with whom they should be eating! More often than not, co-workers are often seen lunching together. Why should law enforcement be looked upon any differently?

April 17, 2013
The unfriendly streets
I have lived in the Tahlequah area since 1994, and since 2009, within the city limits of Tahlequah. Since 2011, I have begun running in town, and since 2012, also started bicycling in town.

April 3, 2013
Coming full circle
When I was a child growing up in Tahlequah, the Indian children were looked down on. The “White” kids made fun of their names and accents.

March 29, 2013
More Letters to editor Headlines

What do you think of Sen. McCain's proposal to allow cable TV channels to be sold a la carte (individually, rather than in bundles with a lot of channels no one wants)? Bear in mind some less popular channels could go by the wayside with no bundling support, and that while overall packages should theoretically decrease in cost, individual channels might cost more.

Letters to editor

Search Results

Discussion

Pool not maintained

Site Map

Contact Us