The University of Maryland SGA Wednesday passed two bills that aim to educate students on the effects and causes of mold growth in residential areas.

Quentin Hoglund, a sophomore government and politics major who serves as the Student Government Association’s Ellicott Community representative, sponsored one of the bills and co-sponsored the other. Hoglund said that mold is a prevalent issue on campus and needs to be addressed so students can live in the best possible environment.

“I think it’s something that we still need to have conversations about, and it shouldn’t be a scary topic,” Hoglund said. “It’s something that we need to keep educating our residents on, to make sure that they know what to do if there’s mold in their room.”

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The two bills focus on educating students through flyers in residence halls and academic buildings.

Joslyn Kim, a freshman enrolled in letters and sciences and the SGA’s South Hill representative, was the other sponsor and co-sponsor of the two bills. Both Kim and Hoglund are hoping for more action to be taken in the future.

Hoglund said that along with educating students on what to do if mold is found in their residence, the bills also will put into place methods of educating students on preventive measures they can take.

“In the South Hill community, mold is a really big problem,” Kim said. “Especially in the communal bathrooms and in some of the residence hall rooms there’s mold, so I found it to be a big problem for my constituency.”

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Sarah Cobau, a junior history and philosophy, politics, and economics major also worked on the bill. She said she thinks educating students on their living conditions is extremely important.

“I think the most important thing is awareness,” Cobau said. “If you think that mold is a concern, that you can contact someone and a change will be made.”

Moving forward, Kim said she plans to work more closely with the university’s Department of Resident Life to enforce and update their moisture control plan, which was released in 2018. Hoglund hopes to work with the public health school to expand existing workshops, where they create air purifiers for people with allergens or health risks.