Volume 44, Issue 4

Page 1

The Point student newspaper of point loma nazarene university

monday, october 5, 2015

Features, page 4

volume 44 | issue 4

A&E, page 7

Sports, page 9

Opinion, page 12

More on Loma Beat!

PHOTO BY JONATHAN SOCH One of the emergency call boxes has already been installed in the parking lot of Young Hall. The location for the other call boxes has not been determined.

Emergency phones Campus Facilities tackles to be installed mold outbreak in Library BY SHAKIA COLLINS

STAFF WRITER

Emergency call boxes are set to be installed on the PLNU campus. One emergency call box has already been installed outside of Young Hall, according to Public Safety and the placement of other emergency call boxes are yet to be determined. The purpose of emergency call boxes on college campuses is to quickly contact emergency responders in case of an emergency. Contra Costa Community College in San Francisco and the University of Vermont have removed or are in the process of removing their call boxes. The average, annual upkeep costs for emergency call boxes are $50,000 to $75,000 according to NowForce, a global business that offers comprehensive emergency response solutions. University of California, Davis is in the process of removing most of its emergency call boxes, because most students do not use it for emergency purposes. With most students having

BY JAKE HENRY

access to cell phones, many campuses feel it is unnecessary to keep the call boxes around according to UC Davis Police Chief, Annette Spicuzza. PLNU sophomore and education major Autumn Ingrassia said that although this could create a sense of security, it might be a needless cost considering most students carry cell phones with them on a regular basis. “The money they are using to install these call boxes could be used to increase safety in a more efficient way”, said Ingrassia. In the past year other college campuses in San Diego, specifically SDSU, has experienced 24 sexual assaults and 18 rapes according to SDSU’s 2015 Safety and Security Report. In the last year SDSU and UCSD have both discussed and implemented sexual assault and prevention programs to lessen the amount of sexual assault on their campuses. SEE CALL BOXES, PAGE 3

STAFF WRITER

An outbreak of mold is taking place in the reference book section of the Ryan Library. Right after the HVAC system broke, Associate Professor of Library Science Beryl Pagan sent an email On Sept. 9, notifying Campus Facilities that the humidity level in the reference book section of the library had about a 20 percent increase. On Sept. 16, Assistant Professor of Library Science Doug Fruehling was checking for any signs of mold on the books and noticed that the books were “fuzzy like a peach”. He notified Associate Professor & Instructional Services Librarian Denise Nelson about his findings. Nelson, who was working in the library when the last mold outbreak took place, knew it was mold on the books and grew concerned because the books in the reference section are worth approximately $1 million. In 2003, a little less than 100 books had to have

their book spines cut off to remove the mold. Nelson then notified Director of the Ryan Library Frank Quinn. “I had extreme concern and was hoping we weren’t seeing a repeat of that [mold outbreak], “Quinn said. Quinn sent an email that same day to Environmental Health and Safety officer Dias Leonardo addressing the mold in the library. In 2003, a mold breakout in the reference book section of the Ryan Library took place and a contributing factor was the inadequate air conditioning at the time. As a result, a dangerous mold was found on the books, which shut down and quarantined sections of the Ryan Library for a couple of weeks. So when the air conditioning stopped working, Quinn contacted Campus Facilities to avoid the same problem that took place in 2003 “It’s my unhappy duty to report to you that we believe we do have mold on books in our Reference collec-

tion,” Quinn wrote. “You may know the 2003 outbreak; involving this same collection [of books] resulted in the closing of our Reference Department for the entire fall semester.” Campus Facilities checked the reference books and confirmed that there was mold on the books. According to Quinn, Aspergillus and Penicillium mold, dangerous for people with a mold allergy or who have extreme sensitivity to environmental allergens, was found on the books with a low reading for stachybotrys—a toxic black mold. Quinn said a specialist in mold was called on Sept. 18 to check the ventilation and air ducts to make sure mold didn’t get there. It was confirmed that there was no mold in the ventilation and air ducts.

SEE MOLD, PAGE 3


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