Editor:

This letter is in response to the Feb. 16 Wildcat article (Spiegler Awarded $5M in Lawsuit) written by Ann McBride. I cannot begin to understand how any journalist can write a story without speaking to all the relevant parties involved. No, the last paragraph of the article does not relieve the reporter of the responsibility of getting both sides of an issue straight before printing an article. Grant Smith was not the only individual with knowledge of this case. Since this was the case with Ms. McBride, I will try and fill you and the rest of the student population on the other side of the story. I have been involved with the fitness industry for over twelve years, and I can assure you that the Student Recreation Center is one of the best institutions when it comes to the education and training of its student employees. It far surpasses anything I had experienced up to the point when I was hired by the Student Recreation Center. I know this because I was one of the individuals that went through, and administered, some of that education and training.

Another point I wanted to make is that of accountability. Ms. Spiegler's case, although tragic, is an example of the "It's not my fault" mentality that this society has become. Even though Ms. Spiegler knew she had a preexisting congenital heart condition (hypertrophic cardiomyopathy), she decided to ignore it and participate in an unsupervised exercise program of her own design. Is Ms. Spiegler not responsible for her own actions? "Hindsight is twenty-twenty," but maybe this whole incident could have been avoided if she had just used all the services provided to her through the Student Recreation Center prior to jumping into an exercise routine. I will give her lawyers one thing, they played the emotional card very well. This incident was tragic, and many emotions were prevalent throughout the trial. Obviously, the jury saw it fit to ignore many of the facts of this case. Emotion had a very large part in the outcome of the verdict. Yes, Ms. Spiegler was permanently injured, but the Rec Center employees did everything that they were trained to do in a very stressful situation. She was breathing and had a pulse throughout the time that she was under the Rec Center employees' care. As anyone who is certified in CPR will attest to, one does not start CPR if the victim is still breathing. I was, and always will be, proud of them and their performance.

Finally, to the students of the University of Arizona, I wanted to assure you that the staff of the Student Recreation Center is very well trained. They take pride in their job, and are well prepared for any situation that might arise. Enjoy yourselves at the Rec Center, and rest assured that it is very well-staffed.

Erik D. Pence

University of Arizona alumnus

Erik D. Pence
University of Arizona alumnus