Mold buzzage (among other buzzages)

     Owing to the recent release of the A205 “mold report” and recent DtB posts, there was a fair amount of angry mold buzzage at the college today.
     Lots of folks dropped by to offer their two cents. “Sure,” they said, “Glenn cares about bullshit like IVC becoming an earthquake command center [he wants “employees” to “facilitate the continuity of government” post temblor] but he couldn’t care less that toxic stachybotrys mold is growing in a classroom fewer than a hundred yards from his office,” said some wag.
     “If there isn’t a photo op in it for him, Glenn doesn’t give a shit about it,” said another.
     Some expressed concern: “Hey,” they said, “should I worry about my office? I share a wall with A205.” –Stuff like that.
     I still haven’t had a chance to read the report, but I’m told that, according to the report, hideous black mold was found on A205’s “west wall.”
     The west wall? I consulted my mental map: “That would be the wall on the internal, not the external wall (i.e., the wall contiguous with other rooms in A200), right? How can that be?”
     I consulted the concrete map of the college found on the IVC website. Here’s an even better image:

There is no "west wall" of A205; rather, there is a northwest wall and a southwest wall

     The red indicates (more or less) room A205. A205 doesn’t have a “west” wall so much as a northwest and southwest wall. (See.) So which one is the “west” wall?
     Since it is nearest to the exterior, the southwest wall is the likely culprit. (No. See update below.) It is about seven feet from my (and Rebel Girl’s) office. (See blue X.) We are separated from the (southern part of the) mold wall by a court or quadrangle area that is about seven feet wide, one of IVC's inexplicable nooks (mirrored by identical pointless nookage on the other side of the building).
     Gosh.
     It looks like there’s a growing interest among A200 denizens in extending mold inspections beyond A205.
     But don’t worry. If that happens, since Glenn and Craig are in charge, no action will be taken for another two months or so.



From the recently released report

UPDATE (10/10): I finally read (some of) the report. It asserts that there were high levels of (the bad kind of) mold on the west wall "at the window." But there is no window in the west wall (i.e., the northwest or southwest walls). I shall assume, therefore, that the report is referring to the entrance of A205, which includes a window, and which is exactly at the corner of the northwest and northeast "walls." The only other windows are those along the southeast "wall," i.e., the exterior wall adjacent to the sidewalk. Those windows, and that wall, are decidedly unwestern.

Room A205: action finally taken "seven weeks after the problem was reported"

Moldy classroom (How does this “facilitate the continuity of government," Glenn?)

     Yesterday, faculty (et al.) were finally provided with the results of tests done on room A205 at IVC. I haven't had the chance to read these documents, but I gather that they indicate that A205 is hazardous.
     I have received a copy of an email, dated Oct. 9, from one of the full-time instructors that regularly teaches in room A205—Wendy Gabriella—to Faculty Association (union) official Lewis Long, regarding that room. Here it is in full:

Dean Karima Feldhus' email of October 8, 2013 partially addresses the issue and thank you for your response. However, the test results forwarded confirming high levels of mold in A205 raises further questions.

1) What compensation is available to faculty who were sick, went to the doctor and incurred co-payments as well as our share of the cost of office visits as well as prescription costs? How do we file claims for reimbursement?

The heartbreak of moldy
anthropology

2) I have been sick since July 3rd. What type of compensation is available for almost 90 days of not being able to breathe? Other faculty and students have been sick as well. How will the district address this?

3) I did not cancel classes but I know that some of my colleagues who taught in A205 in the summer of 2013 did have to cancel classes. Is there a way to make sure that their sick leave is not charged?

4) I have five students (that I know of) this semester who are sick and have been diagnosed with bronchitis and upper respiratory infections. How will the district compensate the students for their medical expenses?

5) What safeguards are in place to ensure that the other classrooms and offices in A200 are safe for faculty and students. Mold usually does not affect one room. 

They keep forgetting to lock the door.

6) Of course, the larger question is: What procedures are in place at the college to address the situation when four faculty members teaching in the same classroom are diagnosed with upper respiratory illnesses? After I found out about the related upper respiratory illnesses of four faculty members whose only common denominator was teaching in A205 in the summer of 2013, I reported the situation to Vice President of Instruction Craig Justice during the first week of instruction, August 19, 2013. He subsequently indicated that testing was being done on the HVAC system. However, and most importantly, classes remained in A205 until Thursday, October 2, 2013. That means that our faculty and our students remained in a classroom contaminated with mold for seven weeks after the problem was reported. Additionally, even though the classroom was closed on October 2, 2013 and a sign with instructions "DO NOT ENTER" was placed on the door, Dean Karima Feldhus and I witnessed classes being held in A205 on October 2, 2013. Further, on October 2, 2013, when I showed up for my 12:30 class, the "DO NOT ENTER" sign was posted on the door, the door was unlocked, the lights were on, and my students were sitting in the classroom. What procedures and lines of communication need to be established to prevent this from happening in the future? 

In conclusion, this situation directly pertains to faculty work conditions. I would like to formally request that the Faculty Association, in consultation with the District, establish procedures for protecting the health of our students and faculty with a detailed debriefing of what happened in A205. The A200 building has a long history of mold dating back to 1990 as does the A100 building. There is a documented history at the college of employees suffering as a result of mold contamination. We do not know how many of our students have been affected. It was obvious that four faculty members diagnosed with upper respiratory illnesses in the summer of 2013 was not a coincidence. Given the long history of mold, the classroom should have been immediately closed and then testing should have begun rather than allowing 7 weeks of further exposure and suffering during the testing. Given the long history of mold at the college, I would think that in order to ensure student success, there should be procedures in place to immediately address mold related illnesses which have been frequent and sustained since 1990. This is not the first incident of mold related illnesses. Students and faculty cannot learn and be successful in an environment contaminated with mold. 

Reportedly, an "unpleasant growth" in the west wall

Many thanks to Elizabeth Chambers who informed me that my symptoms were the same as another faculty member's symptoms, otherwise I would have thought that is was just me as we all did, including our students. Dr. Chamber's comment prompted me to inquire a bit further and discover that every instructor teaching in A205 during the summer of 2013 was diagnosed with upper respiratory infections. Also thank you to Dean Karima Feldhus who attempted to assist in the regulation of the temperature in A205 and was informed that the choice was an igloo or a sauna. Obviously, I should have opted for the igloo. But why is an igloo or a sauna the choice?

We're on the case, as usual!

Please forward my email to the Faculty Association and the college and district administration as necessary in resolving the issues I have raised.

On behalf of the affected faculty members and students, I am formally requesting a response from the Faculty Association regarding the issues I have raised.

Sincerely,
Wendy Gabriella

We wonder where the moola went

     IVC President Glenn Roquemore has made a big deal about getting $50,000 from Wells Fargo.
     DtB asks: where are these dollars? Where were they spent?
     Nobody seems to know. (Ask the Veterans.)