Mold's back, tell a friend
Guess who's back, guess who's back?
Guess who's back, guess who's back?
Guess who's back, guess who's back?
Guess who's back?
via that Eminem song
Really miss circa 2k10 when 'mold' was a new thing. Mold reports were 'unconfirmed' and it was really difficult to get anyone to do anything about it. But these days they announce mold before school has even started! Email below~
Each fall we thoroughly prepare and inspect the residences for occupancy, including checking for the presence of mold. It is not uncommon to find isolated incidents of what could be mold given our damp climate. This year we have found what appears to be possible mold in some of the townhouses. Housekeeping staff, Facilities staff, and Residence Life staff went through every unit on Friday and Saturday and we have minor occurrences, mostly on bathroom walls and some linen closets, in some units. A few areas have spots of suspected mold on some of the upholstered furniture and/or carpet.
We do not want to alarm residents. However, we know that everyone on campus is quite sensitive to mold issues so we want to be open and transparent when we find it. It is important to note that this situation is unlike what we experienced last year in CD & PG where we encountered systemic mold outbreaks that were pervasive in each building.
We found one townhouse unit (Morsell 3) where conditions require the early arrival student to be temporarily relocated elsewhere on campus while the carpet and all upholstered furniture and mattresses are replaced. We found five other units that require some level of carpet cleaning and nine units where some upholstered furniture will be cleaned next week, before classes begin. This work will be done following standard EPA guidelines by a professional carpet and upholstery cleaning firm.
Housekeeping staff are completing spot-cleaning in other units in the bathrooms, kitchens, and linen closets following our normal mold-removal protocols. This work will be completed by Monday evening. These types of issues can recur during the semester. We ask the residents to report any suspected mold growth to the Residence Life staff or Physical Plant(240-895-4287) as soon as it is seen.
As always, the safety of our students is our highest priority. We are closely monitoring this situation and will keep you apprised as needed. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Joanne Goldwater (jagoldwater@smcm.edu or240-895-4207), Derek Thornton (assistant VP of Campus Operations at dkthornton@smcm.edu or 240-895-4287), or Chip Jackson (ccjackson@smcm.edu or 240-895-4412).
Email is not entirely correct, via some students that were supposed to move into Homer (information based on a trusted source) two three days ago were forced to move elsewhere. But that wasn't included in the email. Not a big deal really.
Actually not a lot to say really. Mold sucks etc. Did yall like the title of this post, it was a Star Wars reference. So that was 'cool'.
Also I have hired an intern for the coming year! The intern will be putting up flyers and blogging at the intern's leisure.
-Tommy Seahawk
It's a rotating schedule of "finding" mold. Next year they'll look at LQ, then WC, then the Crescents, and then back to the dorms. Maybe they'll get fancy and throw Schaefer too.
ReplyDeleteThis is crazy! You are going to find mold in every buidling on campus and every home in St. Mary's County. The mold counts last year were not even remotely a health hazard unless you have serious immune deficiencies. Does the college have a no sneeze policy? Didn't anyone really understand the fundamental issues last year? The college is in panic mode and is going to waste valuable resources that it cannot afford to lose this year. Last year's weather was not the problem. Learn how to operate your buidlings in a humid environment and educate students and parents on mold. Mold is ubiquitious. Unless you are in a dungeon for ten years you will survive. Wait, it took me ten years to graduate!
ReplyDeleteMaybe you've forgotten the people on the Greens who were hospitalized with respiratory illnesses because of years of ignoring the mold problem, partially based on the reasons you're outlining?
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