By Omer Sanchez

Cedar Hall has been dealing with excessive moisture and humidity due to the amount of rain during September 2018, which has lead to mold. It is currently affecting first and second floors according to Director of Housing and Food Services Erin E. McConnell, during a first floor meeting Tuesday Sept. 25, 2018 in Cedar.

Contractor Mellon Restoration has begun cleaning affected rooms. On Friday, Sept. 28, 2018, students were told they would need to either relocate to the Wingate Hotel 909 Chestnut Ave, which Penn State has provided for so no student has to worry about paying for any rooms, at downtown Altoona or they could choose to live anywhere else such as a friend’s apartment.

Students were also told that they may be expected to be off campus for seven to 10 days, while the cleaning will be expected to last 17 days. Residents living second floor of Cedar will start relocating on Tuesday Oct. 2, 2018.

Penn State Altoona has provided students with boxes for them to pack any supplies, clothing, electronics or anything they desire to bring. Students have expressed their annoyance on the issue. Tyler Stauss, junior at Penn State Altoona, said

“Yeah why did they wait so long before making us leave? Apparently the problem has been growing the past few weeks.”

Brandon Hilton, another junior at Penn State Altoona said

“It’s ridiculous. If they knew about it over the summer, why would they wait until now to do something about it? It makes no sense.”

When asking further questions about their statements, they both claimed that they heard of possible mold build up during the summer and both agreed that the reason why it couldn’t been fixed was because of the renovations of both freshmen’s residence halls, Maple and Oak.