The Reporter

.i '-■■ "\ "j. SI Z-y ft \.^i*»*' *■;■ -* \i'"*\ A- ?..- \^*°\ i__ " s- r\ ■y£ - ■> ©• '- ft !«[' H f^Tii^ ■*#' ^ 1 v\ ^. s e e k i n *? ii I I* U il A. t S t s o ii U n iversity Valume CXIX Issue B f"J?V^v "r<.; ,,;'Vj'"'f. ^*w ,yf; r Wf^T* •"jar; '«v t". wi "W^ . ■> .? ~ ,few;: vW,<:: 11:$Vlfc-.'' -*^;*;-5"; j ,; fn-.mi-.- 'V-, :* i*?r*i> ■ £"•£*"■*■£;> * * r •"". *-"--- •$-•"", < if I^^Bfe?^' J-J to,*-.*' »f»**"'^ -^ ^ CAMILLE BILLY / THE REPORTER Home of the Zeta Tau Alpha sorority shown out of commision while students reside at the University Inn, awaiting further notice. Sorority House Vacated Dee To Mold f4 By TORI GIBBS At the beginning of every school year, the university Facilities Management inspects each of the buildings on campus to ensure its safely and cleanliness for the incoming students. Recently, however, a problem was discovered in sorority house six, belonging to Zeta Tau Alpha. After "several women in the sorority house began suffering from allergy-like . symptoms and respiratory problems, one woman's father hired a company to rein- spect the house for possible causes. ■ Upon thorough scouring of the residence, the air inside the house's Chapter room was found to contain an elevated concentration of one classification of mold. Other findings include fan coil units with dirty intake and discharge grills, elevated levels of moisture in wall finishes, and a range of relative humility conducive to mold growth. Upon these findings, the sorority women requested to vacate the house while the issue was taken care of, and opted to relocate to the University Inn so the Chapter could stay together. Duane Knecht, the Associate Vice President of Facilities Management, said that there was no visible mold on the walls or ceilings of the house; the only place in the house with visible mold growth was in a storage area under some steps which had no means of ventilation. The biggest problem was due to furniture placed on or against air units, which prevented air from filtering and thus produced moist, stagnant air. The university has since gone in to check that the air systems are functioning properly. They have relocated and cleaned the offending furniture and advised occupants on temperature settings to control the moisture levels inside. They are replacing ceiling tiles, cleaning grid work, doing a small amount of repainting, and installing ventilation grills in affected areas. The sorority chapter will also continue with their plan for replacing the carpeting that was suggested before the incident, and is considering replacing some of the furniture, as well. Additional air samples taken after these modifications were reported to be well *"' "" __ . within . accept- ... i a b 1 e WWltf py\i is JD (Sfc -fM -fibnf or fret- doors, (MhH ff$€ $Icl£ dcDrcs ajy 01B Qo WfetBDlWS. Ckfw Set j u u .; " We don't play , down the , signifi- ' c an c e. : The uni- • versity takes these issues very seriously. My staff within Fa- ci 1 iti e s Management are very aware of what to look for with mold growing anywhere, and because of that, we take a proactive approach to control everything," said Knecht. The university has now launched a full-scale inspection of all Greek houses in hopes of preventing further sickness among other students. The buildings on campus which have been inspected so far have revealed no actual mold growth, and Facilities Management has "contracted to have air samples taken at all sororities and fraternities. "We can control the interior environment by ensuring proper air flow and preventing blockage," said Knecht. "In most cases the spore count inside was less than that outside, and our systems can react at different levels of spore count." Knecht said that the university is diligent in making sure air filters in buildings are clean, and that they are trying to stay on top of it. This is not the university's first encounter with air quality dilemmas such as this: similar situations have occurred in recent years with both Stetson and Emily halls, where unconditioned common rooms, lobbies, and hallways contributed to the lack of ventilation. However, after the installation of retrofit air conditioning units, there has been a vast improvement. "There is a tremendous difference between the state of those halls last year and this year," said Dean of Students Michelle Espinosa. Also, in Gordis, Smith, Nemec, and Carson-Hollis, a collection of air conditioning renovations were made from 1999 to 2001 which quickly resolved the ventilation issues in those locations. When asked whether this might have an effect on the amount of students wishing to join sorority or fraternity, and the amount wishing to live in chapter houses, Espinosa said, "I think it's too soon to tell. We'll know more in the spring semester. It is not preventing the women in Zeta Tau Alpha now from returning to their house, and it is important to them that they stay together." "In Florida, we're going to see problems with mold, mildew, and humidity," said Espinosa. "We appreciate the cooperation of the students affected by this." Contact Tori Gibbs at tgibbs@stetson. edu. Thursday, October 12,2006 Writer Mattison To Give Public Reading At Stetson By MICHAEL RAYMOND Alice Mattison—the author of four novels, three previous short story collections, and a vol-' time of poetry—will offer a public reading at 7:30 p.m. on October 12 at Stetson University, announced the Director of the Sullivan Creative Writing Program. "We are honored that a writer with Alice Mattison's reputation in such a variety of genres is coming to Stetson University," said Dr. Terri Witek. Open to the public without charge, the reading will be held in the Stetson Room on the second floor of the Carlton Student Union building on t h e DeLand campus. Following the reading, a reception will honor Alice Mattison and the current Tim Sullivan scholarship winners in the Faculty Lounge of the Carlton Student Union building. Mattison's collection of connected stories, In Case We're Separated, published by William Morrow in 2005, was a New York Times Notable Book, and was named as one of the year's best books of stories by the Boston Globe. Her novel The Wedding of the Two-Headed Woman, also published by Morrow, came out in 2004. Her previous novels are The Book Borrower (William Morrow, 1999), which was a New York Times Notable Book, Hilda and Pearl (Morrow, 1995), and Field of Stars (Morrow, 1992). Mattison's collection of intersecting stories, Men Giving Money, Women Yelling (Morrow, 1997), was a New York Times Notable Book of 1997. She is the author of two earlier collections of stories, Great Wits (Morrow, 1988) and The Flight Of Andy Burns harpercollins com (Morrow, 1993), and a collection of poems, Animals (Alice James Books, 1980). She is co-editor of As I Sat On the Green: Living Without a Home in New Haven, which was published by Columbus House, New Haven in 2000. pen-ne.org Her stories, poems, and essays have appeared in The New Yorker, Ms. Magazine, Glimmer Train, The Threepenny Review, Ploughshares, Michigan Quarterly Review, Agni, and elsewhere, and have been reprinted in The Pushcart Prize and Best American Short Stories. She holds a bachelor's degree from Queens College and a Ph.D. in English literature from Harvard. She lives in New Haven, Connecticut. The Sullivan Creative Writing Program is a part of Stetson University's English Department. It offers an undergraduate program in creative writing in poetry, fiction, dramatic writing, and creative nonfiction. Stetson's program is a member of I Mark your | 1 calendar^ for the ■ I 1 I public reading j October. 12th at I 7:30 p_.m. I The Associated Writing Programs (AWP). With the support of the Tim Sullivan Endowment for Writing, it offers five courses per year in creative writing, public readings, creative writing contests, and scholarships in creative writing for undergraduates. For more information, contact Mike Raymond, English Department, Stetson University. He may be reached at (386) 822-7730 or mraymond@stetson. edu. IGA Passes 24/7 Visitation Resolution By MIKE RIGGS On Wednesday, September 27, the senators of the Student Government Association unanimously voted in favor of resolution S. 4, which the creation of a 24/7 visitation policy for the campus' fraternity and sorority houses. The resolution recommends that the current visitation hours policy of Sunday through Thursday 10 a.m. to 12:30 a.m.; Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. to 2 a.m., be changed to 24 hours a day seven days a week. Senators Heather Albright and Kyle Dungan authored and introduced the resolution in an effort to equalize Greek housing with other upper classman residences and to make the houses more attractive to potential residents. "The Greek community is very grateful that the students in SGA were unanimously willing to help out with this policy, but drafting and passing the resolution were only the first steps. The biggest mountain to climb will be making sure that the administration attends to this resolution so that we can see results" said student senator and president of Phi Sigma Kappa, Kyle Dungan. Dean of Students Michelle Espinosa, who advises the Student Government Association, said that "it's a pleasure to see IFC [Inter Fraternity Council, ed.] taking some initiatives...I think that IFC working with SGA is a good thing; it connects Greek life with the campus." Espinosa, during a meeting with chapter presidents in September, suggested that IFC and Pan-Hellenic would have better luck changing residential policy if both organizations were to ally themselves with the SGA. - Some senators feel that the resolution is too much to hope for. "A lot of us are suspect of the administration's willingness to follow up on this. It's going to take a lot of pressure from student groups to make sure that this resolution doesn't sit on an administrator's desk for the rest of the year" said one senator who wished to remain anonymous. Espinosa acknowledges that there is a lengthy process to convert a resolution into written policy. "We have to get the rest of the university ready for changes like this" said Espinosa. "When we first tried ■ the 24/7 policy it was with Stetson Hall back in the early 90's. It took a lot of work on the part of students to make that happen." Students in favor of the immediate adoption of this policy, however, wil have to work very closely with the IFC, Dean Espinosa, the SGA, as wel as the Deans' Council and Vice President Jim Beasley. "We have to anticipate what the consequences of this policy would be, What plan can we come up with to manage non-residents, who are typically less concerned with the welfare of the houses? We don't have someone on duty in every house ever} night; what could we do to provide that kind of coverage?" said Espinosa The resolution states that: "...Greek organizations hold a positive record for self-regulation, [and] therefore deserve more freedom within the respective houses. [They] hold ver> specific Risk Management policies [whereas] the other upperclassmer residence halls on campus do hot." It also contains excerpts from the student handbook: "Residential Life's relationship with students is based or the assumption that residents are adults, capable of initiating reasonable decision to ensure their own rights anc to respect the rights of other. Freedom, self-direction, and responsibility are emphasized." Contact Mike Rigss ai [email protected]. Thursday's Forecast: o Partly Sunny . High SS Low 68 " .- ..,„,.<-' ^gtt&W' Weekend Forecast: Friday: Partly Cloudy Saturday: Scattered Showers Sunday: Partly Cloudy Hi's: Upper 80s Low's: Mid 60s Lise Mike Riggs gives suggestions for sticking around our area. PAGE C1 Opinions Sean Barth reports from Hong Kong. PAGE B1 Sports Katherine St. Clair spotlights Brian Heisler in Hatter Profile. PAGE D1