Students say dorms infested with mold

[Guest guest]

Modified: Oct 16, 2006 03:33 PM

Students say dorms infested with mold

The News & Observer Mon, 16 Oct 2006 1:38 PM PDT

About 200 students from St. Augustine's College marched from their

campus to downtown Raleigh today to protest what they say is the

poor condition of their dormitories and a lack of security on

campus.

Staff photo by Takaaki Iwabu

http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/499284.html

By i Mc, staff writer

RALEIGH — About 125 St. Augustine's College students marched to the

State Capitol on today to protest what they described as mold in

their dorm rooms, invasions of their privacy and an unsafe campus

environment.

School officials said today that the dorms have not been infested

with mold. But one student leader said several students complained

of illness because of black mold in their rooms.

The demonstration occurred one day after the historically black

college kicked off its homecoming week celebrations on campus.

The students, clad in black as a symbol of solidarity, began

marching off campus near the Emery Gymnasium at about 10:30 a.m.

They gathered on a sidewalk on the 1300 block of Oakwood Avenue

before marching downtown to the State Capitol.

The students were silent while assembling on the sidewalk, save for

several leaders who said they were speaking on behalf of the entire

student body. Affarenee, a sophomore, said there is mold and

mildew on the dormitory walls inside Western and Baker halls. A

third dorm, Boyer Hall, is infested with cockroaches and waterbugs,

Affarenee said.

" They just paint over all the mold and mildew, " he said. " Some kids

have gotten sick. "

Affarenee said students have written college President Dianne B.

Suber and filed petitions asking the administration to look into the

unsafe conditions at the dorms.

" Dr. Suber don't care, " said Philip Ativie, a junior business

administration major from andria, Va.

But Suber, who watched the demonstrations from the windows of her

office at the Boyer Building, said she does care.

" There's a little piece of me that's proud and pleased, " Suber said

about the demonstration. " I am a product of the '60s, and I value

being heard. "

Suber said, however, that the " mold " that has students so concerned

is " mostly mildew, " citing a 2005 report from General Engineering

and Environmental of North Carolina, a Research Triangle Park-based

firm that Suber said the school hired to conduct a study in response

to complaints.

" We have old buildings. They do get damp, " Suber said.

Students also said they were concerned about campus safety,

especially after what they described as a gang-related brawl last

year between students and about 20 members of the Bloods street gang.

" Nothing was done about it, " Afarenee said.

Marc Newman, the college's vice president of institutional

advancement and development, said there's no gang problem at St.

Aug's.

Students complained as well about privacy issues, saying campus

police and administrators routinely check their rooms for campus

violations, mainly drugs.

" They are doing drug checks five days a week, three times a day,

morning, noon and night, " Ativie said.

Staff writer i Mc can be reached at 829-4533 or

tmcdonal@....