It’s around 40 degrees outside … is your air conditioning on? It’s likely – especially if you live in Stevenson – considering it was in the 80s Wednesday.

In the lovely state of Illinois, next week might be in the 80s again, though www.weather.com says we should expect to reach only the 60 degree mark. The potential for crazy Illinois weather might be reason enough for the air conditioning to stay on in Stevenson.

Until it is time to turn on the heaters, the AC is the best option to keep the mold at bay. Stevenson needs the dehumidifier function of the air conditioners to keep the mold from spreading and becoming any more of an issue.

During the summer and fall semesters, the AC was killed in Stevenson, according to the Tuesday’s “Mold School” story in the Northern Star, to keep up with the budget issues, or to prevent larger problems with said budget. Such a move would normally be very smart, and even admirable, but in the couple weeks between semesters, the in-building humidity levels soared and mold formed and spread creating a real issue.

Also, according to the aforementioned Star story, students have been advised to keep air conditioning on and have been made aware of the mold issue.

This is not a “story” made up by your favorite campus-based newspaper.

It seems the chilled-water system, that saves millions of dollars, could be a player in the matter, but right now we don’t think anyone is going to say the residence halls should get rid of these systems. Saving millions is definitely a good thing on a campus experiencing budget issues, unless it is potentially putting students with mold allergies at risk.

This mold needs to be cleaned up quickly. Making plans to save money is a step in the right direction as we have said in past editorials, but it looks like the money saved might have to be spent after all.

It almost seems counterproductive, but no one was really expecting this mold issue when the AC was turned off. Still, the issue needs to be handled.

Bob Albanese, associate vice president of Finance and Facilities, is quoted as saying, “Certainly we don’t want any of our students, faculty and staff to be in an environment that is unhealthy,” in the Star article.

Right now it seems the situation is looking like students with mold allergies are in an unhealthy place, despite all attempts to keep mold from continuing to grow in Stevenson.

Real action needs to be taken immediately to clean up the mold and prevent the matter from escalating to the level of St. Charles High School’s 2001, $29 million problem. If that happens, the budget problems we currently know might look like an ant hill in a mountain range.

Agree? Disagree? Contact us at

www.northernstar.info.