What are the consequences?

    There is no lack of students on the record for saying the AC shortcomings are detrimental to their lifestyles. The Diamondback has written at least two major articles in recent years, including a heat sensor study. According to the Diamondback, reporters placed heat and humidity sensors in every dormitory building that did not have an AC system. Of these eight dorms, only Ellicott, Hagerstown, and Carroll Hall had average temperatures below 80 degrees Fahrenheit from September 6-14. However, every dorm had a heat index (according to the article, a calculation of what a room "feels" like based on both temperature and humidity) above 80 degrees. This ranged from 73 to 101 degrees. To put that into perspective, 104 degrees is the body temperature that can induce a heat stroke.

    My intent isn't to instill fear into students with regards to their temperature-related health, however this is an issue that must be addressed. There's more to the article than data, too. It's easy to record some numbers and claim it's an issue, but students also went on the record and explained how these temperature issues impact their schoolwork. If you haven't forgotten, these dorms are on the campus of one of the most renowned public academic facilities in the US. As the article reports, several students have totally given up studying in their rooms due to the cooling issues. Additionally, one student attempted to study in the Wicomico Hall lounge. However, this is not a perfect solution, because apparently the number of people in the room can make studying difficult. Based on the housing information, Wicomico can accommodate about 162 people during a typical year. There is only one lounge, based on the floor plans.

    Three of those buildings without AC weren't even intended to be in use by Fall 2021, according to a statement in Resident Life's Housing Strategic Plan. Of course, COVID has rendered most of the buildings on campus at about half capacity due to the lack of roommates, so the university needs every building available to accommodate all the on-campus students. Apparently, this number was pretty high during the housing registration period for the 2021-2022 academic year. Unlike the previous year, I heard a number of reports of students who applied for housing and just couldn't get it. As COVID winds down, it seems students are becoming more inclined to move onto campus. Unfortunately, the actual housing situation hasn't changed much, so lower priority students (which appear to generally be sophomores and juniors) must use these housing options with poor AC systems and surreally high temperatures.

     Students aren't the only people on-campus affected by the lack of AC. Housekeepers have also found work difficult in these kinds of conditions. Another article by the Diamondback reports a series of stories from housekeepers in which shutting off the AC to limit moisture development aggravated asthma symptoms. UMD had a public controversy when a student exposed to mold fell ill and died. The mold didn't cause this; she had an existing health condition and contracted adenovirus, but in order to soothe PR the university installed dehumidifiers and periodically shut off AC to prevent moisture. This is to prevent mold from developing, but also presents a serious issue for housekeepers with asthma aggravated by high temperatures.

    Considering the effects of high dorm temperatures on both students and campus employees, it's no wonder that the university intended to revitalize AC in out-of-date dorm buildings. However, they have not done so. Several new dorm buildings are under construction on campus; large ones, too. Instead of worrying about constructing new facilities for potential students, the university should prioritize the students who are already on campus. AC seems like such a menial issue, but it can have a serious impact on the health and study habits of students, which is a big deal for an academic institution whose departments tend to pride themselves on being difficult.

Sources:

“Adenovirus Death: Father Says Dorm Mold ‘Didn't Help’ Ill Daughter.” CBS News, CBS Interactive, 22 Nov. 2018, www.cbsnews.com/news/university-of-maryland-adenovirus-death-students-dorm-may-have-had-mold/.

Aubert/ABC7, Amy. “Heat Wave Brings Stifling Temperatures to Dorms without Air-           Conditioning.” WJLA, WJLA, 29 Aug. 2018, wjla.com/news/local/university-of-maryland-dorms-without-air-conditioning-ac.

“Heatstroke.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research,a 18 Aug. 2020, www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heat-stroke/symptoms-causes/syc-20353581.

“UMD Shut off AC in Many Dorms to Combat Moisture. Housekeepers Are Falling Ill without It.” The Diamondback, 27 Aug. 2020, dbknews.com/2020/07/08/umd-college-park-housekeepers-employees-are-falling-ill-after-umd-shut-off-hvac-systems-in-19-campus-buildings-mold-afscme/.

“We Placed Heat Sensors in Every UMD Dorm without A.C. Here's What We Found.” The Diamondback, 27 Aug. 2020, dbknews.com/2019/10/07/umd-dorms-air-conditioning-heat-sensor-temperature-hot/.

Where is AC a problem on the UMD campus?

    In order to approach a problem, it must first be defined. University of Maryland has few dorm buildings completely without AC, but they are still in use due to the current limitations of housing as a result of COVID. The dorm buildings without AC are: Caroline, Carrol, Cecil, Chestertown, Ellicott, Hagerstown, Wicomico, and Worcester. Many of these are in the North Hill Community, though some are much further North in the area usually occupied by Freshmen. 

    Three of these buildings were initially going to be phased out as student housing; Caroline, Carrol, and Wicomico, but this was delayed because of the limited housing situation forced by the recent COVID-19 pandemic. This is important; UMD realized there was an issue with some of these older buildings without AC and planned to stop using them as housing, but couldn't. Also, not all of these buildings totally lack AC. Some of them have partial AC, such as Hagerstown or Ellicott (again, North campus Freshmen dorms) as a result of incomplete renovation plans.

    Not all buildings are built equal, even with AC; some rooms in Caroline Hall have visible window AC units built onto the outside, and some don't. Cumberland Hall has AC units on almost every window. Yet, Denton, a building almost identical in design and only a five-minute walk from Cumberland, has a fairly new fan coil AC system. Of course, there are too many dormitories on campus to expect totally consistent infrastructure; but the discrepancies are too great between some of the buildings. In the next post I'll more thoroughly cover the actual negative impact of lack of AC, but there is a very real impact on students who live in dorms totally lacking AC systems. About 16% of students live in a dormitory lacking AC. This may sound minor, but to put this into perspective, that's nearly 3,000 students during a normal residence hall situation.

Sources:

Aubert/ABC7, Amy. “Heat Wave Brings Stifling Temperatures to Dorms without Air-           Conditioning.” WJLA, WJLA, 29 Aug. 2018, wjla.com/news/local/university-of-maryland-dorms-without-air-conditioning-ac.

Drl. “Residence Halls at a Glance.” Resident Life Offers a Number of Different Housing Options across All of Our Communities. Residents May Live in Traditional-Style, Suite-Style, or Apartment-Style Housing. In Addition, Students Can Choose from Single Gender Housing (Students Live in Rooms, Floors, Buildings, or Apartments/Suites with Students of the Same Gender); Mixed Gender Housing (Students Live in Rooms with Students of the Same Gender, but next Door to Students of a Different Gender); and Gender Inclusive Housing (Students, Regardless of Gender, Share the Same Bedroom)., reslife.umd.edu/hallsatglance/.

“Here's What Student Life Is Like At University of Maryland--College Park.” U.S. News & World Report, U.S. News & World Report, www.usnews.com/best-colleges/university-of-maryland-2103/student-life#:~:text=University%20of%20Maryland%2D%2DCollege%20Park%20has%20a%20total%20undergraduate,of%20students%20live%20off%20campus.

“We Placed Heat Sensors in Every UMD Dorm without A.C. Here's What We Found.” The Diamondback, 27 Aug. 2020, dbknews.com/2019/10/07/umd-dorms-air-conditioning-heat-sensor-temperature-hot/.

University of Maryland's AC system; a brief introduction

     Hello! This blog is intended to educate and inform about the shortcomings of how the University of Maryland handles air conditioning in some of their residence halls. Primarily, it will focus on those that lack any AC at all, but it will include some of the others retrofitted with primitive AC systems. For research, this series of posts will primarily include anecdotes, research/reports from the UMD student newspaper "The Diamondback," and some more general information on what these AC shortcomings can entail. Stay tuned!