Spring Break
Mold is alive at Cherry Street
Mohammad Al-Kassim
Issue date: 10/9/06 Section: News
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The mold problem is not new for the 50-year-old Cherry Hall, said Carol Kariotis, director of Residential Life.
"Last year we had 13 rooms with mold problems that had to be evicted," said Kariotis.
Ashley Daugherty, a freshman and a member of the cross country team, moved into Cherry this fall.
She suffered sickness only a week after she had moved in. She chose Cherry over Oak Street because of the more upbeat social life.
"They are pretty nice here; everybody knows each other and its more social here than Oak. That's why I spend more time here," she said.
She moved in the week before school started, and had to miss practice because of her illness. Daugherty said she didn't know why she was getting sick.
"I didn't make much of it; you know when you come to the university, I thought I caught cold," she said.
Daugherty was sick for a week and had to miss practice for two weeks because of the mold. The symptoms consisted of cold-like sinus symptoms, coughing and headaches and a very sore throat. She went to the health center. However, she had to go home to St. Louis when her symptoms kept getting worse.
Her father called Teddy Abdalmalek, resident manager at Cherry, and asked to have a test done on Daugherty's room. As soon the test results came back, Daugherty and her father knew why she has been sick. The cause of her illness was mold.
Ashley went to see her family doctor in St. Louis, who confirmed her sickness had to do with the mold problem in her dormitory room. She did not have to go to the hospital, though she suffered a fairly severe asthma attack at one point.
Now Ashley and her roommate live at Oak Street. She will not go back to Cherry this semester.
"My dad advises me to stay out of Cherry as much as I can; after being there for a couple of hours I start to cough," she said.
The problem is not confined to one floor.
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