The Red and Black

Issue date: 2/20/09 Section: Opinions

MARC MCAFEE

Who doesn't love a good denial? There are all different kinds, no matter what your taste. You can study them like a dinner menu.

There's the smooth but foolish denial: President Bill Clinton used it when he argued the definition of "is" to deny getting his jollies at the Oval Office desk.

There's the "stick to it and hope it's believed" denial. We saw this in the Illinois governor impeachment trial, and more clearly in the 2000 Shaggy song "It Wasn't Me." You remember - that song probably single-handedly started the decline of our society when it had seventh graders everywhere singing about "bangin' on the bathroom floor."

My favorite type is a particularly rare form of denial: the smooth and cool variety.

I saw this in an old John Wayne movie, "The Flying Tigers," in which he plays a World War II fighter pilot. When it's pointed out he has holes in his plane from Japanese bullets, he takes one look and says, "Termites."

Now that's cool.

The opposite of this suave method is the simple and boring one offered last week by Residence Hall Director Rick Gibson.

When The Red & Black reported Mell Hall has a bit of a mold problem, Gibson claimed the only issue was a "steam leak." Never mind the pictures of mold growth on walls. They sprayed some Febreze in the air and scrubbed the walls down.

They put a Band-Aid on a broken arm.

Now after a week, I wanted an update. So I decided to hop from horse to horse on the merry-go-round that is a University phone inquiry. They keep you on the phone, transferring you from department to department, probably in the hopes you'll give up and print "the University had no response."

I was lucky this week, and I spoke with Director of Housing Gerard Kowalski. He helpfully explained through an e-mail that they are in the process of obtaining an indoor air quality analysis for Mell Hall.

He said they will find the source of the moisture causing the mold, and do their best to eliminate it.

But I think the root of the issue is the state of a building that housed its first residents in 1961. Sure, old buildings that are well built and maintained can last forever. I live in a house that dates to the 1920s, and I don't have any mold problems on my walls.

So what's wrong with Mell Hall? Obviously something was neglected in this building, and I think the University is in denial about it.

I think University officials need to get their priorities straight. Why are we expanding Tate and ripping up intramural fields to build new parking garages when kids are possibly inhaling mold spores as they sleep?

I understand housing is supported only by student fees, and Parking Services is also separate.

But I think there are goals in the master plan that need to be streamlined because it's not just Mell Hall. The Women's Studies program finally was moved after The Red & Black reported on rats running wild in the Benson Building like little kids on a McDonald's playground.

I say, take care of the buildings and the students who are already here. Prospective students will be happy to move in to a dorm just as shiny as the new buildings that impressed them on the campus tour. Moving into a residence hall that was brand new when the Beatles were brand new is quite a letdown.

And let's face it, if you move a kid into a room with green walls, and it isn't exactly the wallpaper's natural color, you're asking for trouble.

In this litigation-happy society, where someone can win a lawsuit by spilling hot coffee on themselves, you better believe Mell Hall could grow a lawsuit as fast as it grows mold spores.

So I hope the University stops holding its breath, like a Mell Hall resident waiting for the stench to pass, and develops a plan of action.

After all, you don't just paint your nails if your fingers have gangrene.

- Marc McAfee is a senior from Kennesaw majoring in broadcast news.

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