UTSA dorm emptied for mold danger

[Guest guest]

http://www.hearstnp.com/san_antonio/bea/news/stories/san/storypage.cfm?xla=s

aen & xlb=180 & xlc=231279 & xld=180

Express-News: Metro and State

UTSA dorm emptied for mold danger

By Huddleston

Express-News Staff Writer

Hundreds of students were being evacuated late Thursday from a 15-year-old

dorm at the University of Texas at San after officials uncovered

high levels of a mold known to cause a variety of respiratory problems.

Up to 486 students, the number registered at Chisholm Hall on the west end

of the Loop 1604 campus, will be staying in hotel rooms that the university

has reserved, UTSA spokesman Gabler said.

" We've got 300 hotel rooms reserved already, and we'll reserve more if we

need to, " he said.

Some, but not all, of the rooms were at the Hampton Inn and the Westin La

Cantera Resort, near campus. Others were at less expensive hotels and

motels, Gabler said. Because final exams are next week and spring

commencement is May 12, the students only will need the hotel rooms for a

short period, Gabler said.

About 2,000 students live on the North Side campus. Combined total

enrollment there and at UTSA's downtown campus is about 18,600.

The cause of the evacuation was stachybotrys (pronounced stacky botris), a

greenish-black, slimy mold that thrives on water and construction materials.

Along with minor symptoms attributed to most molds, such as runny noses,

sneezing and allergy-like symptoms, stachybotrys also is believed to produce

toxins that can cause memory or mood changes, or flulike reactions such as

fatigue, sore throats and headaches.

While some researchers have been skeptical, others have linked stachybotrys

to asthma, as well as sick-building and chronic-fatigue syndromes. The mold

began getting national attention in 1997 after researchers in Cleveland

linked it to serious and occasionally fatal lung bleeding in 21 infants who

lived in inner-city homes with water damage from flooding or plumbing leaks.

UTSA administrators began receiving complaints from students at the co-ed

dormitory in February about allergy-like symptoms, Gabler said. The dorm's

management firm was told about the problem, but when complaints continued to

come in without an apparent resolution, UTSA opted to do its own testing.

Argus-King Environmental of San took air samples from the building

Thursday and found high concentrations of stachybotrys in several " isolated

areas " in the building, he said.

" We assume it's related to the heating and air-conditioning system, "

although the root cause of the mold has not been determined, Gabler said.

The university plans to conduct more tests, then hire a contractor to remove

the mold so the hall can reopen by the fall.

" By the time we're done with it, it will be better than brand new, " Gabler

said. " Right now, our main concern is the health and safety of our

students. "

The cost of housing students at motels may be borne by the company hired to

manage and maintain Chisholm Hall, Gabler said.

Century Campus Housing Management of Houston, which has had a contract with

UTSA since 1994 to manage the hall, keeps an office at the dormitory. But

company spokesman Jim Short said he hadn't heard about any complaints from

students about health problems.

" One of the first things we'll want to do is see the (environmental

assessment) report, " Short said by phone Thursday night. " I've never heard

of anything like this. We just want to be sure we do the right thing for the

students. "

The university is providing transportation services for the students, and

was asking them Thursday to take only a few days worth of clothes and other

possessions to their motel rooms.

" Security will be tight around Chisholm Hall " as UTSA police monitor the

building continuously, Gabler said.

shuddleston@...

05/04/2001