Mold Causes Some Departments to Relocate Once Again

At the end of March, the theology, psychology and philosophy departments, who recently moved out of Campion Hall due to renovations, were asked to vacate their offices again, but this time due to the presence of mold within the partitioning office walls.

During the renovation of Campion Hall, the theology, psychology and philosophy departments were moved into portable buildings, serving as both classrooms and offices on Welch Field. The departments moved into their temporary spaces in mid- January.

The Rev. James T. Bretzke, S.J., theology chair, said that Facilities Management asked the departments to evacuate immediately taking only essentials. Glenn Loomis, the assistant vice president of Facilities Management, reported that the mold was discovered after Environmental Safety sent a sample of one of the portables’ walls to an independent lab for analysis.

Within the same day of testing, Facilities Management contacted the departments who were using the portables as offices to vacate their offices. Fortunately for the psychology department, only one of their two portables tested positive for mold. However, the theology and philosophy departments found themselves temporarily homeless.

The test that confirmed the presence of mold was the last of three tests that were performed over a two-week period. Bretzke reported that he and the theology department program assistant had been having “bad sinus headaches” and other health related issues after spending extended amounts of time in their offices. Bretzke addressed his concerns to Facilities who performed an air quality test that came out negative. However, the headaches and health problems persisted, and Facilities performed another test on the moisture in the walls. This test also suggested that everything was fine.

Bretzke said that after the testing, Facilities told him that perhaps the headaches “were an allergic reaction from the trees outside or they were stress related and that [I] should work out more.” However, after the walls were peeled back revealing black mold within, and it was evident that Bretzke’s complaints were not psychosomatic.

Facilities immediately hired movers to store all of the office equipment in the Maraschi room by April 5.

The mold outbreak most likely resulted from the installation of wet lumber when partition walls were installed into the portables. Loomis reported that when the portable building company, Mobile Modular, built office walls into the portables they had left their lumber out in the rain and had not allowed the wood to dry before installation. Loomis also said that Mobile Modular would be charged with fixing the mold problem and with the cost of hiring movers for removing all the office equipment.

For now, most of the faculty from the theology and philosophy departments are still without personal office space. However, program information and faculty members can still be reached through the program assistants on the fourth floor of Gleeson Library or by email.

Journalism and Social Justice Forum Calls All Writers With a Cause

The media often gets a bad rap for being exploitive and shallow in its reporting of important issues. Negative criticism of the media as a whole often overshadows the dedicated work of journalists who fight for social justice through their reporting.

Teresa Moore, media studies professor and faculty advisor for the Foghorn said, “The media is talked about as one general thing. But, it is so much richer and more complex than people realize.”

Next Monday, two highly accomplished investigative reporters will be visiting USF to discuss their experiences as social justice journalists. Scheduled to speak at the forum are A.C. Thompson and Nell Bernstein.

The “Write for Right: Social Justice Journalism” forum is the first event in a discussion series organized to promote awareness about the journalism minor. “We wanted to provide a venue for students to talk to real reporters. where they feel comfortable asking them anything,” said Moore.

Referring to Bernstein and Thompson, Moore said, “They go to the places that most can’t and won’t go to and show us things that people really need to see.” Striving to give a voice to the voiceless, “their advocacy is based on solid reporting,” said Moore.

Th ompson is a senior writer at the San Francisco Bay Guardian. He received the highly prestigious 2005 George Polk Award for “Forgotten City.”

“[Thompson] is a one-man staff . The Polk award committee knew that he was working with a lot less than the bigger newsrooms, but he is still able to do important work,” said Moore.

His reporting in “Forgotten City” exposed the dire straits of public housing in San Francisco and led to legislation to reverse the city’s negligence.

Bernstein has dedicated the last six years of her work to reporting about the lives of the children of prisoners. Bernstein said, “I wanted to answer the question as to how such a large number of kids could become so invisible.” Her work has been featured in many publications including Salon.com, the Washington Post and Glamour.

Bernstein’s reporting on this subject is compiled in her book, “All Alone in the World: Children of Incarcerated Parents.” Her exposure of the issue has also led to a resolution by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors calling for a Bill of Rights for Children of Incarcerated Parents.

Instead of simply quoting politicians, Bernstein said, “Journalists should be in the habit of making the person who is aff ected by a policy their primary source.”

The “Write for Right: Social Justice Journalism” forum will be free and open to all on April 24 from 4-5:30pm in the University Center Faculty Lounge room 222.