After an abatement testing the presence of asbestos several years ago in North Quad, a small piece was recovered two weeks ago in Michael Stern's '06 room on the first floor of Cable, according to Director of Facilities, Mark Collins. The tests came back negative for airborne asbestos, which is known to cause lung cancer and death. "My parents came up to visit two Saturdays ago and my dad noticed that the wall by the pipes for the heater was crumbled away and he thought it was the type of insulation that would contain asbestos," Stern said.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Web site, asbestos is a crystal used in insulation containing natural properties of thermal insulation. Asbestos is made up of microscopic fibers that, if airborne, may be inhaled into the lungs causing significant health problems.

The EPA has not yet determined a safe level for asbestos, but says the longer a person is exposed to any level of asbestos, the greater their chances of getting an asbestos-related disease.

Preliminary symptoms include coughing and shortness of breath. If a person has an asbestos-related disease, continued symptoms include damage to the respiratory system and ultimately death.

Because of the serious health risks stemming from the possibility of asbestos, Stern contacted facilities and Maggie Balch, the director of residence life, Maggie Balch, who in turn talked to North Quad Director Rusmir Music.

"Maggie talked to me because it is obviously a huge concern," Music said.

"Last Wednesday someone from facilities came and took a sample from the wall," Stern said. "He didn't think it was asbestos, but he said they would test it anyway."

The same day Facilities tested Stern's room, they also covered up the hole that allowed the insulation to poke through. The next day Stern was told it was asbestos, but the air quality needed to be checked, since asbestos is only dangerous if it is airborne.

"They said I couldn't go back into my room until it was tested, but residence life was very helpful and put me into Shapiro basement," Stern said.

That weekend, Stern went home and when he came back he was told the tests were negative for airborne asbestos.

"They did a special vacuum cleaning just as a precautionary and I returned to my room because they said nothing could be breathed in," Stern said.

According to Music, the rest of the hallway on the first floor of Cable was also checked to make sure there was no asbestos in the air.

"These buildings are old and (this type of insulation) is part of the structure," Music said. "This was exposed (in Stern's room) because of wear and tear."

According to Balch, over the winter break testing for airborne asbestos will occur throughout all the residence halls.