DSU says poor design to blame for black mold

[Guest guest]

By JAMES MERRIWEATHER, The News Journal

Posted Saturday, September 16, 2006

The News Journal - Wilmington,DE

The News Journal/BOB HERBERT

http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?

AID=/20060916/NEWS/609160337/1006/NEWS

DOVER — The C. Library-Learning Center at Delaware

State University is riddled with black mold, the result of water

that pours into the building during moderate to heavy rainfall.

According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,

black mold may cause stuffy nose, irritated eyes, wheezing or skin

irritation. People allergic to mold may experience breathing

difficulties, and those with weak immune systems and chronic lung

diseases may develop infections.

DSU officials insisted Thursday they do the best they can with a

poorly designed structure that has been a problem since it was

opened in 1975.

Few students use the library, DSU President L. Sessoms said,

and, for that reason, it's on a far backburner on the school's

capital-improvements list. Attractions such as artificial turf on

the football field, a wellness-center/sports arena and a new student

center are the top priorities in a 10-year, $300 million campus

master plan adopted by the board in January.

Typically, the strategy when water pours into the library is to

replace tiles and clean up damage to whatever extent is possible,

then brace to do the same when the next big shower rolls around.

" When we ask the state for capital improvement funds to do things

like that, " Sessoms said of library improvements, " we just don't get

it. "

In the state's capital improvements budget for the fiscal year that

began July 1, DSU is budgeted to get $4.5 million for minor capital

improvements and repairs.

Claiborne D. , chairman of DSU's board of trustees, agreed,

contending that spiffy new athletic and recreational facilities

attract students to the campus. Libraries don't, he said, contending

that the Internet had outstripped libraries as the primary research

tool for college students.

" We can't print money, " he said. " The library has been that way for

20 years. The state is not stepping up to the plate, and we got lots

of other things we need to do. "

Lee Streetman, president of DSU's Faculty Senate, took issue with

's remarks.

He said that a study had identified quality of education and DSU's

legacy as a historically black institution as the top two generators

of new enrollees. He accused the board and the administration of

undercutting both by skimping on faculty members and de-emphasizing

DSU's traditional role in educating black students.

" Libraries should be the centerpiece of every university, "

Streetman, a professor of sociology and criminal justice who has

been at DSU since 1991, said in an interview, noting that he was

expressing a personal opinion embraced by other faculty members.

" This is embarrassing, and it's also a safety hazard. "

Philip Sadler, a spokesman for the DSU Alumni Association and a 1962

DSU graduate, agreed.

" I think the situation is that the library has been neglected, "

Sadler said, stressing that he was not speaking for the alumni

association. " It's probably one of the busiest buildings on campus,

and I think maintaining the library should be given higher priority. "

The latest damage came as tropical depression Ernesto moved through

Delaware on Sept. 1.

Five days later, Streetman took photographs inside the library to

buttress complaints that he's been lodging for three years or so.

The photos depicted, among other things, walls splotched with black

mold, fallen tiles, corroded window frames that allowed water inside

the six-story building and, in one case, a burn mark on a door that

apparently was caused when water infiltrated a closet containing

high-voltage power lines.

" The whole building could have burned down, " he said.

When asked about the leaks last Friday, DSU spokesman Holmes

blamed them on Ernesto, saying the storm had knocked holes in the

roof and loosened window frames. He said water had leaked into

several group study rooms on the fifth floor of the building, and

that, because of mold, " at least one, maybe two " remained out of

service.

A visit to the library last week found six offices and study rooms

on floors 5, 4, and 3 locked and out of service, including Room 501,

which featured black splotches on a wall that were visible through a

window. Stained, broken tiles littered most of the rooms, and more

than 50 handwritten notes posted by library staffers marked spots

where leaks or excess water was detected.

" Excessive leaking, " read many of the notes. " Do not use. "

The offices and study rooms were at the east end of areas housing

general circulation volumes, and there were no signs to warn of

potential toxicity. Sessoms said the university " is on top of " the

problems at the library, but did not respond directly when asked if

air-quality sampling had been performed inside the building.

Earlier in the week, DSU's dean of libraries, Vivian Royster,

declined to comment on the library's condition, referring questions

to Holmes. She signed up Thursday to speak at the board of trustees

meeting, but did not respond when the floor was offered.

Streetman said Royster offered a proposal a couple of years ago to

build a new $72 million library, but Sessoms said that, even as the

state signed off on the wellness center/sports complex, the Delaware

General Assembly was not likely to buy into it.

During Thursday's meeting, trustee Norman Oliver asked about plans

for library improvements. The chairman of the development and

investments committee, Marvin E. Lawrence, responded that $400,000

had been set aside, but Sessoms essentially dismissed that figure as

a drop in the bucket.

" That's a multimillion-dollar issue, " he said. " It's in the tens of

millions of dollars, and we'll just have to deal with it over time. "

Reach Merriweather at 678-4273 or

jmerriweather@....