Vol. 109, Iss. 15 | Tuesday, October 8, 2019
The Flat Hat The Weekly Student Newspaper
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of The College of William and Mary
Mold impacts student health Students report consistent health complications from mold exposure in campus housing LESLIE DAVIS, CARMEN HONKER / / FLAT HAT NEWS EDITOR, FLAT HAT CHIEF FEATURES WRITER
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hen Kristina Posner ’20 arrived at the College of William and Mary in August to begin her senior year, she entered her dorm room in Bryan Hall for the first time and was met by a large, looming spot of black mold speckled on the ceiling. “As soon as I walked in, I noticed there was a huge spot of black mold on the ceiling tile,” Posner said. “I was super confused why that was there, just because I was an RA for the past few years. I know that they’re supposed to go into the rooms to check all this stuff. It was super confusing because we were kind of on a time crunch, so I was like ‘Why is this here?’ I knew black mold, that is not a thing they will let you live with, so I couldn’t even move my stuff in.” Posner was only allowed to move some of her belongings into her Bryan room Aug. 26, two days before classes started. Posner and her roommate were placed in a temporary room in Richmond Hall until the first day of classes Aug. 28. Facilities personnel told Posner that the mold originated from poor insulation of pipes, which tend to get sweaty due to the extreme humidity during summer months. As a result of the mold discovered in Posner’s room, all other residents on her side of the hall were prevented from moving in until Aug. 25. Posner said she suspects that Bryan’s mold problem was larger than Facilities Management initially thought, especially because they had to access a large pipe and address insulation problems throughout the hall. Posner said that facilities was not surprised to see the mold in her room. “When we were moving my stuff into my room on Monday, there were a couple facilities people there,” Posner said. “This was very normal to them, that this happens, so I guess it happens pretty often, because they knew exactly what was wrong. They were like ‘oh yeah it’s the pipe, they get, in the basement, especially, really sweaty because of the humidity.’ And it was just kind of like, ‘Okay, if you know this is an issue, why wasn’t this fixed over the summer or why don’t you guys look out for this?’” Posner’s experiences in Bryan mirror other students’ encounters with mold around campus, and it continues to be an ongoing reported issue found in on-campus residential buildings. According to Director of Environmental Health and Safety Teresa Belback, the incidents are often reported in older facilities that were originally designed with no air conditioning. Belback said that her office has continued to receive complaints about mold in on-campus housing this year. She said that the number of mold related reports tends to increase at the beginning of semesters, after extended periods in which the buildings have been closed.
The Randolph Complex and Richmond Hall frequently receive mold complaints, and One Tribe Place closed at the end of the spring 2019 semester to undergo renovations addressing mold remediation among other structural updates. Yates Hall has suffered several closures due to widespread reports of mold a n d mildew. Cases of mold have also been found in Old Dominion Hall and DuPont Hall. Belback said in an email that her office received 136 work order requests from students to investigate mold issues in residential buildings during the 2018-19 school year. According to Belback, this is an increase from the average 108 cases reported per school year. She attributed the spike in mold service requests to the record-setting rainfall in 2018. She said that the record rainfall, consistently high temperatures and significant hurricane activity facilitated favorable conditions for mold development. Since 2015, issues of mold in on-campus dorms have been a persistent problem for the College. Mary-Beth Berg ’15 threatened to pursue legal action against the College in 2015 for injuries she thought were related to mold in her Ludwell Apartments residence. Berg asserted the College had prior knowledge about the mold in her room before move-in. Additionally, The Flat Hat reported multiple alleged incidents in fall 2014 regarding the College’s mismanagement of mold reports in basement rooms in Landrum Hall. Richmond Hall When Alondra Belford ’21 moved in early to Richmond Hall this fall, she smelled what she thought was mold in her dorm room. She tried to keep the door open as much as possible and kept a couple fans blowing in her room to air to out the smell. After 10 days of living in her room, she found out that the residents in the adjacent room were being permanently relocated to another room in Richmond Hall because of black mold found on the shared wall between their room and Belford’s. At this point Belford became aware of how serious black mold exposure is and realized that her health could be affected. Belford spent another night in the room after contacting Facilities Management but reaching them after hours. When she woke up Aug. 27, she saw the mold from the room next door had made its way into her own room. “I woke up on the morning of the 27th and I could see the mold on my wall, on the same side as that wall from the other room,” Belford said. “In addition to that, I also had an AC leak that was happening in the room above me and the water was causing the formation of mold in my ceiling on the opposite side of the room.” Belford said she was informed the evening of Aug. 27, the night before classes started, that she had to temporarily move across Richmond Hall to another room. Belford lived in an alternate room from Aug. 27 until Sept. 13, when the mold was supposedly being removed from her original room. After moving into Richmond Hall, Belford said she had a scratchy throat, a frequent cough and had headaches that could not be alleviated by ibuprofen. “It is kind of like having allergies except you just kind of feel it in your throat, you don’t really feel anything in your chest or your stomach,” Belford said. “I lost my voice for part of it. I had a really raspy voice.” Belford visited the Student Health Center Aug. 25. Belford said that she was told that she had mold-induced asthma and was subsequently prescribed an inhaler and additional allergy medication. See MOLD page 3
POLITICS
Mike Mullin discusses plans for Virginia General Assembly Democratic Delegate hosts town hall, provides platform for students to voice opinions, ask questions ALEXIS BALLANCE THE FLAT HAT
Wednesday, Oct. 2, Democratic State Delegate Mike Mullin visited the College of William and Mary to discuss not only his plans in Virginia’s General Assembly but also to reach out and answer questions from students at the College. This town hall forum was sponsored by the William and Mary Young Democrats to grant insight into Mullin’s political ideals and priorities, while also providing a venue for community members to spark conversation on a variety of issues. Mullin has been a delegate in the Virginia General Assembly for approximately three and a half years. In addition to acting as a legislator, Mullin is a criminal prosecutor, making him the only prosecutor currently serving in the Virginia General Assembly. “My particular focus is on violent crimes, gang cases and sexual assault — juvenile sexual assault in particular,” Mullin said. “I devoted my career
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to protecting our community and protecting the most vulnerable.” After introducing himself and explaining his work as a delegate, Mullin clarified his motivation behind attending the event. “This is not like a campaign event in some way,” Mullin said. “I really just want to be able to answer your questions and tell you a little bit about myself. “ Since he is up for reelection this November, Mullin faced a plethora of questions revolving around legislation he has sponsored in Richmond as well as his plans for the upcoming statewide elections. While questions ranged from criminal justice reform to partisanship, the evening had a heavy focus on gun control, with many students expressing curiosity as to how Mullin planned to reform gun laws in the wake of the recent acts of gun violence around the country. In particular, the May 31 shooting in Virginia Beach appeared to be on students’ minds, and some asked Mullin how gun laws could shift in the wake of these incidents.
“I understand that there are times when you need to carry a firearm for personal protection or for hunting or for target shooting or just because you like the hobby,” Mullin said. “I get that. But what we have right now is a culture of death that is around weapons that don’t need to be in civilian hands certainly to the degree they are right now. This is a recent phenomenon. ... We don’t have to live like this.” Even if his party does not take the majority in the November elections, Mullin is confident that gun reform and bipartisanship are possibilities and can be accomplished. He explained that unlike in Washington, D.C, Virginia’s General Assembly is not hyper-partisan and that collaboration between parties is more feasible. Mullin expressed that hyper-partisanship only seems to arise around the time of the elections. “I imagine that common sense gun reform is going to find a number of Republican supporters once we actually get passed this election cycle because everything becomes more hyper-partisan
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See MULLIN page 4
Inside Sports
Midterm season presents opportuity for self-care
Rainy High 71, Low 62
as you get closer to November fifth,” Mullin said. “We found that with Medicaid expansion.” Other issues that were discussed included the issue of cash bail, the legalization of marijuana and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s proposed family bill of rights. Concerning the issue of cash bail, Mullin emphasized that only seven states have eliminated cash bail at one point or another, and each time that is done, it had led to more people being held in jail. He also said that he felt the current cash bail system was not working because impoverished people are the ones being held just because they cannot pay. However, he also indicated that while the total elimination of cash bail would be an effective strategy, there must be an expansion of universal standards set for pretrial services. Selene Swanson ’22 said the discussion of cash bail was something she had heard much about before.
Elaine Godwin ’23 says how self-care, through healthy practices such as sleep and maintaining a positive mental health space are essential during midterms. page 5
Tribe hosts Johns Hopkins in opener, men met with success
Tribe men’s swimmers earned a 152-110 victory, while women fell 135-127 in home opener against the bluejays. page 9