Volume 124 Issue 111
kansan.com
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, MARCH 5, 2012
PAGE 19
HEALTH SAFETY
Mold poses threat to tenants' health
MICHAEL CLARK
mclark@kansan.com
Many students find their nascent independence exhilarating, but one University student was less than impressed after management and maintenance failed to rid his apartment of mold growing on the walls.
"I discovered the mold a couple of weeks after I moved in," Rossville senior Patrick Salsbury said. "I called the maintenance people and of course management a few times and they never really permanently took care of it at all. They just sprayed some toilet bowl cleaner on it and tried to brush it off."
Excessive mold can cause symptoms very similar to a cold in people with a mold allergy, according to board certified asthma and allergy specialist Dr. Ronald Weiner.
He said an allergic reaction to mold would be nasal symptoms, including itchy, running, congested, post nasal drainage and sinus congestion. The lower respiratory symptom is basically asthma, and that would be coughing, mucous in the chest, shortness of breath and wheezing.
Salsbury lived with his symptoms because he could not afford to violate the terms of his
lease.
"I started coughing a little bit; it felt like a head cold. I lived with the mold for a year, then I moved out of that place," he said.
Mold remediation specialist and owner of All-Pro Services Rodney Eisenbarger recommends tenants and homeowners immediately repair leaky faucets and pipes to
"I started coughing a little bit; it felt like a head cold. I lived with the mold for a year, then I moved out of that place."
Patrick Salsbury Roseville, senior
prevent and contain mold.
"If people have water damage and they don't take care of the water damage correctly, any building material, save wood, with over 15 percent moisture content will support mold growth," he said. "The key is to make sure everything is dry."
If mold is already present, bleach or
commercial products, such as Lysol and Clorox, can be used to kill the spores.
Mold can also be caused by circumstances beyond a tenant's control, such as holes in the roof or damaged pipes. If a landlord refuses to fix the problem, apartment tenants have limited options, because the EPA and the city of Lawrence currently have no regulations on mold. A renter may choose to purchase mold testing kits, which can run from $30 to $200 or hire professionals, which can run over $200 and possibly up to thousands of dollars to have the mold tested in a lab, and do not guarantee the owner's liability.
"We have calls where tenants are in bad environments and they can't get their landlord to do anything." Eisenbarger said. "We recommend they call the health department or the city. Quite frankly, the best thing they can do is have testing done out of pocket to have proof that there are issues in the home."
Salsbury's mold problem was never fixed, but he recommends that students living in offcampus apartments keep calling management if they encounter any health hazards.
"Stay on top of the management. I know you can make a request but if they don't actually do anything about it, keep bugging them," he said. "The best way to get someone's
attention is to get on their case and keep on them until they actually do the job."
- Edited by Amanda Gage
SIGNS OF A MOLD ALLERGY
— Sneezing
Runny or stuffy nose
Cough and postnasal drip
— Itchy eyes, nose and throat
Watery eyes
— If you have asthma you may experience tightness of chest
Contact a doctor if symptoms don't go away
Source mayoclinic.com
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that making a friend to someone or family member who is gay positively affects a person's views about people who are gay.
Advocates have been optimistic about the trend and the possible reduction of prejudice, but Egan explored several problems with the hypothesis and its conclusion. Data gathered in polls and studies does not fully examine the factors that might make a person more likely to have a relationship with a gay person, which can produce biased data.
But the biggest problem is disclosure. Most research on the contact hypothesis doesn't consider whether or not the gay friend, co-worker or family member actually said they were gay or if it was assumed.
Egan pointed out that straight people can fairly accurately deter-
arise to vengeance
CHRIS BRONSON/KANSAN
"My guess is that when students first come to college, it's often the first time they encounter a gay or lesbian person who acknowledges their identity." Egan said. "By every indication, that should be a pretty powerful predictor and change of attitudes."
Jake Longraker, a graduate student in political science from DeSoto, said Egan's research was very current and showed the dramatic attitude shifts regarding gays and lesbians. It's a topic that he explores in his own research of LGBT communities in Latin America.
Research also shows that in the time between freshman and senior year, students generally become more tolerant of gays and lesbians, Egan said.
Patrick J. Egan, Assistant Professor of Politics and Public Policy at New York University, delivers a lecture called, "Frontiers in Research on Attitudes Among and About Gay People," at Watson Library Tuesday afternoon. The lecture was part of the Clifford P. Ketzel Speaker Series for the Expression of Minority Opinions.
are of people, and how you can improve the situation so that you can make those positive changes and you can make changes in laws, is important," Longraker said.
"Knowing what the attitudes
Donald Haider-Markel, chair of the Political Science department, said Egan's presentation was part of a lecture series featuring controversial speakers. Egan's presentation was controversial not only because it discussed gays and lesbians, but also because it challenged the common understanding of how the contact hypothesis applies to the LGBT community. Although the lecture series hasn't been going on in recent years, he hopes to make it an annual event.
Edited by Christine Curtin
public broadcasting network. The Colbert Report also ran a clip about it, according to C. J. Janovy, director of communications at KU Medical Center. "This is obviously a topic of wide interest." Janovy said.
For over a decade, Tash and collaborators developed a compound that blocks sperm production and was originally part of a cancer treatment. The side effects from this included infertility.
The term "infertility" may seem scary, but if men are taking the pill and decide they want to conceive, they just stop taking the pill.
"It's not only 100 percent effective, but 100 percent reversible, which is the holy grail of a contraceptive," Tash said.
The drug has seen effectiveness and safety for testing in mice, rabbits and most recently, primates. The animal testing has also shown the offspring produced by former users
H LEE/KANSAN
flev a computer
for ted
earing for its FDA to begin a will begin in The length of oval is unclear, non-hormonal
al and without
be paving new DA," Tash said. a graduate stu Camaroon, is rating research on disrupting sperm development as another form of non- hormonal male contraceptive. While Agbor's work is still preparing for animal testing, Agbor sees the importance of increased options for male contraceptives.
"By producing more male birth control, it's going to help males contribute to family planning." Agbor said.
The development of these drugs could potentially impact the world, said Tash. Tash cited that half of all pregnancies are unplanned and in the US, half of those unplanned pregnancies occurred while under supposed use of contraceptives. Tash recently presented to the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation as an expert in contraception.
"The simpler a contraceptive is to use, the more desirable and easy it is to distribute and use." Tash said.
CLASSIFIEDS 7
CROSSWORD 4
CRYPTOQUIPS 4
OPINION 5
Edited by Bre Roach
All contents, unless stated otherwise. © 2012 The University Daily Kansan
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