By Lisa DiCarlucci, Entertainment Editor
Several resident students of Nassau, Republic and Alliance Halls were dismayed and disgusted in the first weeks of school to discover black mold growing in their dorm rooms, causing both physical illness and personal inconvenience. Some of the students feel that their problem has been neglected and are frustrated with the slow progress of their rooms’ cleanup.
Junior Lisa Terrio, a resident of Republic Hall, knew that her room had sanitary issues last semester because there was a water spot on the floor about the “size of a plate. Our room also smelled really musty and the carpet was damp near the HVAC,” she said. Terrio and her roommate chose to homestead the room despite this, assuming that the problem would be addressed over the summer.
“This year when we moved in though, there was mold everywhere-on the walls, closets, dressers, beds chairs, desks,” Terrio said. Though minor work was done on the room prior to this week, it wasn’t until Monday that significant work began.
“Eveyone who has had problems in this dorm building is very annoyed with how slow the response time is,” Terrio said, “but after showing them [Residential Life] all of the photos that I’ve been taking and threatening to contact the New York Department of Health, they actually started doing things.” Terrio and her roommate were asked to quickly pack their things and vacate the room.
When Terrio spoke with Residential Life about the clean up process, she was under the impression that it would be taken care of immediately so she volunteered to just stay in a friend’s room for the night. When it was discovered that the mold removal would take much longer, she did not receive temporary housing. “They [Residential Life] said that I had already turned down the temporary housing option,” Terrio said.
“We’ve had to spend a couple of nights on our friends’ floors because we weren’t allowed to or couldn’t sleep in our room because of the smell,” Terrio said.
Junior Nassau Hall resident Mary Kate Pedro first became aware of the mold problem in her room when she started to become sick. “I’m allergic to mold,” Pedro said, “and after I started getting sick I noticed black spots appearing on my walls.” Pedro said that she then contacted Public Safety who sent maintenance workers to clean the walls with bleach.
The problem persisted and Pedro was forced to have her father contact the University.She was eventually put in touch with Jean Smith, Associate Director of Residential Life, who had the room re-inspected. When it was found that the mold in Pedro’s room’s wall was a serious problem, Pedro, her roommate and her suitemates were moved into temporary housing in Suffolk Hall. Smith declined to comment on the matter.
“They [Residential Life] told us the mold removal would take approximately four days, but it’s been two weeks and we are still in temporary housing,” Pedro said.
Junior Alyssa Coco lives next door to Pedro’s suite and was angry that she did not find out about this problem from a Hofstra Residential Programs employee. “I was very disappointed that resident directors did not inform my suitemates and I of the mold problem,” Coco said, “…as a matter of fact we only discovered the problem when my suitemate read someone’s Facebook status.” She continued to say, “I find this very unprofessional for many reasons but mostly because we share a wall with them.”
When asked why other students in the residence halls were not informed about the mold problem, Joseph Barkwell, Vice President for Facilities and Operations, explained that these issues are handled on a room-by-room basis unless it becomes more serious. “Typically the mold cases we experience in our Residence Halls are confined to individual rooms and small areas where the occupant is fully aware of the situation,” Barkwill said.
“The HVAC design of our Residential Halls helps limit mold from spreading too much beyond the source,” Barkwill said, “and visible mold in a room caused by a pipe or wall leak is quickly identified by staining and repaired.”
“When scheduled,” Barwill continued, “informational signs are posted to inform occupants that air sampling within the building is being performed.”
Unlike Pedro and Terrio, senior Alliance Hall resident Jillian Scanlon had a mold problem in her room, which was taken care of immediately. “When I moved in this year I walked in my room and it was freezing,” Scanlon said. “The air conditioner was on and it felt like it had been for weeks,” she explained. When Scanlon came back two days later to complete the move-in process her room was covered in condensation, but it was her boyfriend who noticed the mold on the wall. “He went and spoke to my Resident Director and the problem was cleaned up immediately and I haven’t had a problem since,” Scanlon said.
Terrio on the other hand is still feeling the effects of this issue. “My roommate and I both have asthma and we are now sick,” Terrio said, “I don’t know if this is because of the mold in our rooms or because of a virus, but even so, it makes you wonder.”