Students struggle with moldy dorms

by Dezmond Remington

Pink, yellow, black and blue—these aren’t the colors of the rainbow, but they are the colors of bathrooms, kitchens and showers in dorms all over campus as residents attempt to deal with the mold that almost inevitably springs up in Arcata’s damp climate.

Experiences vary; when Environmental Science major Elizabeth Lachman moved into her dorm in Campus Apartments last year, she noticed what looked to her like spores in her ceiling that eventually made bubbles in the plaster.

“The ceiling was kind of rotting,” Lachman said. “It came from a leak above me, and it took a while for the school to come out and actually fix and make repairs to it.”

The side of Campus Apartments that faces the library, where Lachman lived, is particularly susceptible to being moldy. The only windows that allow the sun to get into the rooms are the sliding glass doors that only offer privacy when the blinds are shut. The small amount of sun that does make it to that side is often shut out by the blinds.

Lachman also struggled with food molding after only a few days in her kitchen, a problem she blames on the room.

“In no other occurrences have I gotten groceries and they’ve gone bad so fast,” Lachman said. “Not only [did] I feel like I was breathing gross air, but I felt like I was wasting money because I kept buying food and it kept getting all moldy and gross.”

Shower mold was also a problem for Lachman as well as many people in the dorms. Another student, Robyn Pedersen, lives in Creekview and often brawls with mold in the vents in the

Timelymd

FROM PAGE 1

Other than the objection to university dollars going into Texas, the likelihood of being paired with a non Queer-affirming therapist is too high for many students’ comfort. Even in the relative haven of trans rights that is California, many therapists are transphobic, according to trans students.

“There are other telehealth organizations out there,” White said. “We need accessible mental health services that don’t come at the cost of forcing Queer and BIPOC students to play roulette.” ceiling of the bathroom, as well as on the walls. No matter what product he uses, whether it’s the university-provided mold killer, vinegar, bleach, or any other chemical concoction, nothing gets rid of it entirely.

The ERC advocates for the university to employ more CAPS counselors, especially those familiar with Queer and BIPOC issues. That would take competitive pay, job security, and outreach, said White. They also point out that the accessibility of telehealth is definitely a good thing, but don’t think that TimelyCare is a good option.

The use of online therapy services as replacement for in-person treatment by CAPS forces students into a situation that many are not comfortable with, should they need mental healthcare.

“It’s a daily task,” Pedersen said. “You get in there and you see different types of mold growing around the bathtub, so you have to get down on your hands and knees and scrub, but the stuff that grows in the tile and on the ground is a lot harder to get into, so you really got to really spray it down and get in there with a scrub brush. It takes a lot of elbow grease, but even that doesn’t get rid of it all.”

Mold in the lockers in shower rooms is also widespread. Business major Gino Grier, who lived in Tan Oak last year, said there was a lot of gray mold growing behind the paint in every locker in the shower room on his floor. It smelled like spoiled milk and despite his best efforts, as well as the toils of everyone else on his floor, it never went away. He also had to clean out mold in his bedroom, but that went away with some vinegar.

Almost universally, every student that has had to deal with mold has done it alone. Despite pleas to the Housing or Maintenance departments, students are left to their own devices when it comes to dealing with mold. When Pedersen,

An open letter to the Associated Students, signed by campus groups including the Students for Quality Education (SQE), Queer Student Union, Black Student Union, and clubs such as the Mycology Club and Critical Race, Gender, and Sexuality (CRGS) Club, took a direct stance against TimelyMD. They asked AS to support the campaign against the service, something the body has not yet done.

Student Allison Miranda also feels uncomfortable going to TimelyCare for mental health support due to her and her family’s Queer identities.

“I need support. My tuition is paying for Timely,” Miranda said. “But I know that… LGBT+ students haven’t felt supported by them.”

Miranda is a transfer student from College of the Redwoods, and said that she feels comparatively unsupported at Humboldt.

“They had three different people, licensed therapists, who were trained in addiction counseling and all this stuff,” Miranda said. “Coming to HSU I expected an equivalent, if not better, experience. [Not having therapy] has impacted my studies.” his roommates and even residents in other dorms in Creekview complained to the school, the only help they were offered was a flyer about mold prevention that Pedersen said was completely unhelpful.

“It’s really disappointing,” Pedersen said, “because you really wouldn’t expect this from college living when you’re paying so much to live in these dorms.”

Lachman had a similar experience. The only assistance she was given was a list of cleaning products that she would have to buy herself.

“I just felt like they didn’t real- ly care,” Lachman said. “[They said] ‘these are the things you can do to help yourself,’ but it’s literally you investing into products to clean their room. I’m not going to get any of that money back. I just wish they would have supplied me with more help.”

Grier feels the same—cheated.

“I’d prefer it if they gave a shit,” Grier said. “I wish they weren’t seeing students as dollar signs. Mold isn’t very expensive to fix in the [beginning], but once it gets bad, it’s incredibly costly. And the fact that they ignore that problem and just let it do whatever is kind of concerning.”

Film Fest

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The QTBIPOC Film Festival showcased films ranging in length from less than two minutes to thirty minutes, and included experimental dual projections as well as longer films including documentaries and narratives.

Garcia collaborated with filmmaker and computer science major David Yaranon to write “What a Waste,” a thirty minute narrative critique of misogyny that follows a stalker. Production took place over the span of a week, and involved many of Yaranon and Garcia’s close friends both in front of and behind the camera.

“I would love to make more films with these guys,” Yaranon said. “This idea was kind of locked in, but it would be great to hear from other people, different ideas and talk about how we can make something meaningful and with a message behind it.”

Garcia screened their short “i am chicano,” which they produced for Professor M. Cartier’s Fall 2022 class Representation in Film Matters. Among other films that had been produced for the class and screened at the QTBIPOC Film Festival was Lake McLeod’s “I AM,” an experimental short in which the filmmaker reads an original poem. Also in the experimental category, Mason showed his 2022 production “Woman in Gold,” starring McLeod and Raelynn Davis, in which a mysterious protagonist follows a woman through a dark forest, and is in turn pursued by a masked stranger.

Mason welcomes the opportunity to show his work outside of the class it was produced for, because he values the outside viewpoint that the audience brings.

“Everyone has a different reaction and takeaway from it,” Mason said. “People can see the same thing but take away infinitely different meanings.”

The QTBIPOC Film Festival encapsulated art created in a pivotal moment for rights and representation of QTBIPOC people.