APSU finds more mold

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APSU finds more mold

Students in Hand Village's Building 700 must evacuate

By NATE KARLIN

The Leaf-Chronicle, sville,TN,USA

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

AID=/20070227/NEWS01/702270325

Austin Peay State University senior Creel can add packing

her belongings and moving to another building to her list of things

to do this week. This is in addition to studying for two midterm

exams and finalizing plans for spring break.

Creel, along with the 25 other students living in Hand Village's

Building 700, were notified via e-mail Monday that they must move

out by March 11 — first day of classes post spring break — because

of potentially hazardous air quality caused by mold.

" It's good they're going to fix it, " she said. " (It's bad) it has to

be in the middle of the semester instead of the summer when we're

gone. "

The news of mold came after the Tennessee Board of Regents officials

have been investigating water leakage for the past few months.

Officials discovered mold in the crawl space beneath the building.

However, mold was not found in any of the rooms.

TBR then brought in external environmental agency Terracon to test

the building's air quality.

Though the agency determined the air quality to be " acceptable, "

APSU officials decided to vacate the building as a precaution, said

Mitch , APSU Vice President for Finance and Administration.

" Even though the (mold was) not health threatening, if indeed those

levels rose to be of concern we wouldn't have any students in harm's

way, " said.

Other buildings throughout campus that pose similar problems,

said, will be addressed either this summer or next.

" We're constantly monitoring the other buildings, " he said. " There

are some issues with the other buildings, but not as pervasive as

what we have in building 700, " said.

For Building 700, said TBR will continue working during the

next several weeks to determine the most significant problems

causing water intrusion.

Hand Village opened in 2003.

According to an APSU news release, the building's architect,

and Associates Architects Inc., and the R.G. Construction

company are working closely with APSU and TBR to investigate and fix

the problems.

APSU will help students move

Students have until Wednesday to notify the Housing/Residence Life

and Dining Services of where they would like to move. Students can

choose anywhere on campus, said director Joe Mills. Selection is on

a first come, first serve basis.

Though Creel's e-mail told students they can request help if needed,

Mills said APSU personnel will be responsible for moving each

student's belongings.

" It's just the right thing to do, " Mills said.

Nate Karlin covers county government and the School Board. He can be

reached at 245-0276 or by e-mail at natekarlin@...