College addresses allergy health issues
Laney Fouse
Editor-in-Chief
The mold growing in campus
buildings has placed an empha
sis on educating the college com
munity on allergy-related health
issues.
According to Dr. Emil J.
Bardana, the head of the Division
of Allergy and Immunology, the
presence of certain mold spores
can create an allergic reaction in
some people.
“If you have a mold allergy
that preexists this whole incident
and you happen to be allergic to
some molds that are present in the
building you could become more
symptomatic during the times you
might be exposed to high levels
of that particular mold,” said
Bardana.
Of the thousands of types of
molds, there are only a few that
cause a person to have an allergic
reaction. As many allergy and
asthma patients have probably
learned in dealing with their par
ticular allergies, mold can be
present everywhere. It can exist
anywhere there is moisture, oxy
gen and a few other chemicals.
During the fall, mold grows on
fallen leaves, grasses, weeds and
especially in houses.
Bardana cautions people
that unless they have allergies
(which is unique to about 15% of
the population) they don’t need to
be worried about becoming aller
gic to mold. For those who are
sensitive to mold it is likely they
are already being treated for their
symptoms.
Based upon the measured
levels of mold spores present in
Streeter Hall, Bardana is quick
to explain that the average,
nonallergic student using the
building three times a week would
not have to be overly concerned.
There is a small minority of
individuals who need to be cau
tious about using the facilities
where higher fungus levels are
present. This includes people who
have AIDS, cancer or leukemia.
“Those individuals are espe
cially vulnerable to the effects of
certain pathogens. Fungi can be
pathogenic to those individuals,
although not to most of us,” said
Bardana.
The majority of the popula
tion has immune defenses that
have not been weakened by treat
ments such as radiation therapy,
chemotherapy, AIDS and some
forms of cancer according to
Bardana.
He further states that the col
lege administration has the re
sponsibility to educate the gen
eral population about these con
cerns. He cautioned against seek
ing out students with weakened
immune systems because it would
be an invasion of their privacy.
To prevent such an infringement,
Bardana encourages those people
to contact their health care pro
viders if they think they might be
at risk.
Bardana says the levels of
mold spores are quite low in the
buildings. “Most people don’t
react unless they are going into
an area where it’s very moldy.
Most areas on the campus have
been abated,” he said.
Testing has shown that the
levels are consistent with the out
doors. The only area of concern
is the south wall of Streeter Hall
which does have levels exceeding
the outdoors by two or three times.
By all accounts, the fungus
will be a problem throughout the
school year. Bardana suggests that
if students or faculty have concerns
about their health they should seek
the advice of their doctor.
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Photo by Joel Coreson
A health hazard sign cautions students entering the Dye
building. At right is an inner wall which seals off the
library while it is under repair.
Russian professionals’ tour includes Strategy announced to
stop at Family Resource Center
repair water damage
Laney Fouse
Editor-in-Chief
Four Russian professionals,
participating in a U.S. Informa
tion Agency tour, focused their at
tention on CCC’s Life and Career
Options program during in ser
vice week.
The group was accompanied
by two state department interpret
ers, Sophia Koslov and Yury
Ferkelman. The discussion was
led by Department Chair Carolyn
Knutson of Family and Human
Services and Instructor Anne
Pardington.
The visitors included Lyubov
Alenicheva, Natalya Demidova,
Stanislav Pachgin and Natalya
Tagiltseva. As representatives of
the Russian nongovernmental
sector, their questions covered
some of the same social issues we
deal with in the United States.
“It is more and more difficult
for Russian women to get a new
profession because it is too expen
sive,” said Demidova, president of
the Women’s Humanitarian Fund.
Pachgin, deputy chairman of
the Council of the Center for In
dependent Living, says his orga
nization deals with disabled is
sues. Pachgin, a former engineer,
also had problems finding work
in his field.
Tagiltseva works with refu
gees from the former Soviet Union,
“like you we try to work with
people from the cradle to the
grave. At first I didn’t know how
to help them. But I studied and
learned what to do,” she said.
Alenicheva is Editor-in-
Chief for a newspaper for non
profit organizations. She also
serves as press secretary for The
Right of the Mother Foundation.
She deals with the human rights
issue within the Russian Army.
The tour opened in Wash
ington, D.C. They have traveled
to Alabama and Minnesota. The
next stop will be Texas. The tour
will end in New York City where
they will observe the presiden
tial debate.
Visitors from Russia discover they share common social concerns while visiting at
Clackamas. From left are Yury Ferkelman, CCC instructor Anne Pardington, Lyubov
Alenicheva, Sophia Koslov, Stanislav Pachgin (seated), Natalya Demidova,
Department Chair Carolyn Knutson and Natalya Tagiltseva.
Brendon Neal
Sports Editor
Preliminary plans are un
derway to repair four college
buildings damaged by water
intrusion; target date for
completion is Fall, 1997.
In an informational meet
ing for staff Sept. 17, Deans
Gary Dirrim, Dian Connett and
Liz Goulard, and Associate
Dean Carol Patterson ex
plained the current status of
buildings and plans to repair
them.
The Dye Learning Center
is currently closed, but the li
brary will be open for use. An
inner wall has been created to
separate the library from the
rest of the contaminated build
ing.
The Clackamas facility at
Wilsonville will also be closed,
except for the computer labs,
until repairs are completed. In
the meantime, the classes at
Wilsonville will be moved to
modulars.
Streeter Hall and Gregory
Forum will remain open. Ad
ministrators explained that
there is mold in these build
ings, but it is still in the walls
and not circulating in the air
system. However, the college
will continue to test the build
ings to make sure the levels in
the air do not rise.
Streeter will be covered in
a “tent” to keep off the rain, to
minimize further damage. The
college hopes to have the tent
up by sometime in October.
Streeter should stay open
through most of the tenting
process.
The college plans to start
actual repairs in February 1997
(see schedule Page 2) and have
all four buildings finished by
November, 1997. The Dye
Learning Center will be first
then the Wilsonville facility,
Gregory Forum and Streeter.
Repairs on Gregory Forum and
Streeter won’t start until the
end of spring term. Streeter
Hall will be repaired next sum
mer so that classrooms can be
utilized now.
“We don’t have places for
classes with other buildings
evacuated,” explained Dean of
Instructional Services Liz
Goulard.
The repairs costs are cur
rently approximated to be
$3,064,840. The majority of
the cost is repairs and consult
ants, primarily attorneys, ac
cording to Dirrim.
The college hopes to pay
off approximately half of the
amount through capital
projects (the buying and sell
ing of campus land) and the
general fund. However, the
other half will be financed with
Certificates of Participation
(COP). COPs are similar to
bonds, but have set interest
rates. The other advantage is
they can be issued by the col
lege without voters passing a
measure.
The college also hopes to
recoup some of the losses
through insurance and/or law
suits against the company that
made the defective materials.
However, the insurance com
pany states this problem is not
covered by the college’s policy.