Moldy Dorms at SRSU

By Maya Tinajero, Skyline Reporters

Illustration By Alyn Covington, Skyline Cartoonist

ALPINE – Walking through Lobo Village two dormitory lately requires residents to dodge areas blocked by paper sheets and tape where there used to be walls. 

The reason: new construction to mitigate an outbreak of potentially dangerous mold. 

University officials say the mold, caused by a water leak early in the summer, is not the dangerous black variety that can lead to such fatal lung diseases as Mycosis.  

“There was a significant leak that emanated from the third floor of Lobo Two and affected various units all the way down to the first floor,” said Ben Telesca, vice president for Student Affairs. 

Even though it’s been almost half a year, Telesca said the university has still not finalized repairs with a contractor. Lobo Two Resident Advisor Brenda Quarles said she and other RAs have been instructed not to promise when the repairs would be complete, but Telesca predicted early spring. 

The hallways of the surrounding dorms were affected as well, Telesca told the Skyline, due to the leak spreading so easily from one floor to another and construction on the dining hall preventing foot traffic and pedestrians noticing it. 

Quarles said the situation has negatively impacted students and forced them to cram three or four students into rooms intended for two. 

“We have people that are quadrupled up right now,” she told the Skyline. “There’s three in quite a few.”  

And parents are losing patience, she said, with some mothers “complaining, screaming.”