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College Roommates want a/c off and germs spread faster in heat.

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Lovely985
Regular Member
Joined : Aug 2010
Posts : 365
Posted 9/7/2011 2:26 PM (GMT -7)
I have just about had it with my roommates in college.  They want the air conditioner off. I would turn on and at about 77 degrees which is room temperature. And there they would go and turn it back off. Mind you I live in Miami, Florida. It is blazing hot outside. One of them tell me they have joint pain and with the room at that temp she needs to sleep with two comforters. At 77 degrees! Not only is it hot but germs spread faster in heat so I have been sick practically since I got here. I take Humira so with my weakened immune system that can't be good. I couldn't believe what she told me next, she pointed to a small fan I have next to my bed and says why don't you turn on your fan and stop being selfish. I think I could've killed her at that point mad  

                I don't think temp is an opinion and at 77 degrees it's definitely not cold. But she wants to be bratty. The humidity in the dorm with the a/c off is unbearable and when one person is sick everyone gets sick fairly quickly. And the windows are not allowed to be opened so it's stuffy and there is no air circulation. I said You don't see me coming in and putting the a/c as cold as it can go b/c I am aware I live with 3 other people. I called the RA and it was resolved that when I'm here the a/c must be on and "they"(mainly one and another who says whatever the other onesays) say that's being selfish. It seems everything I do is portrayed as being selfish. Do you think this was selfish of me?

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FunGuy
Veteran Member
Joined : Oct 2009
Posts : 1070
Posted 9/7/2011 2:35 PM (GMT -7)
I don't think I agree with you as far as the germs spreading at the higher temperature. Wash your hands, keep your hands away from your face and take Vitamin D to stay healthy. I don't think 77 is a very cold temperature to set your A/C on although I think the guide line is 78 for energy savings.

Doesn't sound like 78 would satisfy your roomates. In a democracy you would lose though. I hope that you will be able to change your accomodations to suit you soon. Whatever happens don't let this conflict affect your grades aka your future. It shows good character that you question yourself but it is difficult to give you advice with only your side of the story. :) IMHO
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mtgman
Veteran Member
Joined : Mar 2005
Posts : 1289
Posted 9/7/2011 5:46 PM (GMT -7)
the roommate thing is tough...there weren't many that i got along with for long periods of time...i used to love sleeping on a cold pillow so i would put it in the fridge (in a clean garbage bag) and one roommate got so pissed off we almost got into a fist fight- that would have been fun...he was a little guy so i think there was more to it...haha.
anyway maybe they could find you a single room since you have a medical consideration...or maybe you just need to find a place off campus...good luck in school!
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girlzilla
Regular Member
Joined : Oct 2010
Posts : 201
Posted 9/7/2011 5:49 PM (GMT -7)
It sounds like you're in a college dorm situation?

Try speaking with your RD about other solutions. Often, you can get a single room (if they're available) for medical reasons, and with Humira being an immunosuppressant, I would think you would have a good reason.
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Sultan
Regular Member
Joined : Jan 2006
Posts : 209
Posted 9/7/2011 5:54 PM (GMT -7)
ahhhh

We have the same issue here in my work, we are in a big room and everyone wants his temp
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nawlinscate
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Joined : Jan 2007
Posts : 656
Posted 9/7/2011 10:33 PM (GMT -7)
You definitely need either a single or a new set of roommates. I'd talk to your RA about getting a single, on the grounds that you take a powerful drug that suppresses your immune system, making you much more susceptible to illness and infection. Bring some literature with you that explains the nature of the drug and the dangers that you face. Let the RA know that you're uncomfortable and worried about the high temperature and humidity in your room. If the RA isn't responsive, go directly to a higher authority. Every college is required to have someone on their staff who deals with students with disabilities. Even if that person hasn't dealt with many students with CD, he or she should be sensitive to your issues and your situation. Again, bring literature--and let the person know that you can bring a note from your physician confirming the serious nature of your disease and of the drug you're taking.

If you don't want to go to your RA, try going directly to the person (a counselor or administrator) who serves as the college's liaison to students with disabilities. Or have one of your parents (as long as they understand how to work politically to get you what you need) get in touch with him/her. Administrators often take parents more seriously than they take students.

Good luck with this! You deserve a room in which you can be comfortable and secure about your health.
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Nanners
Elite Member
Joined : Apr 2005
Posts : 14996
Posted 9/8/2011 7:05 AM (GMT -7)
Well I think compromise is the best suggestion. You are after all in a college dorm, so life cannot be just your way, their are two other people in this room.

If you cannot get moved into a more private dorm, then I think you are going to have to try to work things out. JMHO
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nawlinscate
Veteran Member
Joined : Jan 2007
Posts : 656
Posted 9/8/2011 7:37 AM (GMT -7)
Sorry, I hadn't read your post carefully, to see that you've already been to your RA. And while I agree that compromise is usually the best solution, I had two daughters who went to two different schools. The older girl was able to work things out with her roommate, even though they never really got along well; the younger girl had such a terrible time--with roommates who sound very much like yours--and was so miserable that she was finding it difficult to function. We finally got her moved in with someone she got along with better. She and her new roommate had a wonderful time, are still friends fifteen years later, and the change made her happy, productive (as in Phi Beta Kappa), and sane. So, while I agree with Nanners about compromise, sometimes you just have to throw in the towel. Give it a little more time, and then go talk to someone in authority, if the situation doesn't improve.
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nawlinscate
Veteran Member
Joined : Jan 2007
Posts : 656
Posted 9/8/2011 7:39 AM (GMT -7)
If you ever need evidence scary enough to influence a college administrator, babeinthewoods has posted this brand-new link about the dangers of humira, among other drugs:

http://www.medpagetoday.com/Productalert/Prescriptions/28396#ayk
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Lovely985
Regular Member
Joined : Aug 2010
Posts : 365
Posted 9/8/2011 12:51 PM (GMT -7)
Hi thanks for your responses! We did reach a compromise on our own at first, I wanted it at 75 degrees and they wanted it off. So they were the ones that said it should be at 77 degrees. And I said that's fine. But after that they continued to turn it off. The A/c is also on auto so it turns off and back on. That is why I was upset because I thought we had reached a compromise. and there are actually 3 more girls other than myself. But the girl in my room is indifferent. Also the A/C is included with housing so it's not like it's a seperate cost or bill.
They even said they had to turn it off when they take a shower and they take long showers 3 times a day each and they've gotten in the habit of taking a shower at 1 in the morning. So i had grabbed my stool early in the morning and closed the air vent in the bathroom so that wouldn't be an issue but they still turned it off!
But today has gone well. We spoke to the RA and since she told them it must be on when I'm here they've left it on. They had told her that they never know when I'm here because I'm too quiet and that I should tell them I'm here. I'm sorry but I don't think I should have to report to anyone when I get to my own dorm. And I would think that you would want a quiet roommate as opposed to a loud one.So I now have a paper on the door that says I'm here and I take it off when I leave for classes or what not. I have not mentioned to them about the low immune system because I can already tell they won't respond well to the whole CD thing. One of them even told me with a snide look that I need to put the toilet seat cover down. Now why in the world would you want the cover down all the time? That just makes it harder for me when I'm in a rush, if you catch my drift. And there was only one girl really talking when the RA came b/c the other girl just agrees with everything her friend says b/c they've been friends since middle school and she just follows her around everywhere.
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Becoming undone
Veteran Member
Joined : Jul 2007
Posts : 927
Posted 9/8/2011 5:05 PM (GMT -7)
I think it might help going to the Dean of Student Services(not sure how your system works) I always had good luck with the DoSS, when I had particular situations, going to the top usually helps a bit more, and explain your situation. Try and not make it be about the issues about the roommate(ie, the things she does to irritate you, as it may come off as well), but more about your other concerns that you have explained here(immune issues, fatigue, bathroom issues), that it is a matter of your health(and it is, crohn's is a difficult situation at best, and some people have a hard time understanding that)...and they may see getting you a single room or in a better situation...honestly, that made my Dorm experience the best ever (the single room that is)...
Good luck!
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ozonehole
Veteran Member
Joined : Dec 2006
Posts : 559
Posted 9/9/2011 5:52 PM (GMT -7)
First off, I'm not totally convinced that germs spread faster in heat. Some bacteria love heat and humidity, but flu viruses (for example) survive much better in cold. The deadly SARS virus that ripped through the world in 2003 was a cold-weather phenomenon. Indeed, it only managed to spread in the tropics thanks to air-conditioning.

I realize that not everyone's body functions at the same metabolic rate, so some people prefer cool temperatures while others like it hot. That having been said, I think that air-conditioning (a very recent invention) has really spoiled people, preventing them from learning to acclimate. If you go from an air-conditioned house to an air-conditioned car to an air-conditioned shopping mall, you won't get used to the heat. I grew up without air-conditioning, and don't have it to this day.

I hate to say it, but I'm sympathetic to your roommates. I live in southern Taiwan, where the climate is very similar to southern Florida. Quite hot and sticky in summer, but I live without air-conditioning. I have a thermometer in the room I am now sitting it, and it says 26 degrees Celsius, which is 78.8 degrees Fahrenheit. I have an electric fan turned on (low speed setting) and it's very comfortable. I am wearing shorts and a T-shirt. On the hottest days of summer we sometimes hit 36 degrees Celsius (96.8 degrees Fahrenheit) which I admit is uncomfortably hot. At that point the T-shirt comes off, the fan gets turned up to maximum, I consume a great deal of icy cold drinks, and at some point in the afternoon I may take a cold shower, but I still survive without air-conditioning.

Anyway, point is, what's wrong with using the electric fan? Seems like a perfectly reasonable compromise solution to me, at least up until maybe 85 degrees Fahrenheit. If you're going to live in southern Florida, you have to accept that it's a hot, subtropical climate, and always will be. To a certain extent you can adjust to it, by wearing thin light clothing. But if you hate the heat and you're really concerned that germs spread faster in hot weather, then maybe you've living in the wrong place. Much easier to change your location rather than trying to change the climate. If you can't acclimate to southern Florida, maybe you should be looking at schools in Maine, Washington state, or Alaska.

I'm sorry Lovely985 if that's not the answer you wanted to hear. I am sympathetic to your problem. But you have to consider the others around you - they have needs too.

Post Edited (ozonehole) : 9/9/2011 7:54:58 PM (GMT-6)

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nawlinscate
Veteran Member
Joined : Jan 2007
Posts : 656
Posted 9/10/2011 8:10 AM (GMT -7)
Florida doesn't "sometimes hit 36 degrees Celsius." It hits that temperature often. My daughters went to unairconditioned public schools in Louisiana, and I wouldn't wish that experience on anybody--even if that's more environmentally sound and will allow people to "acclimate." I remember watching kindergarteners waking up from naptime, slick with sweat and having passed from flushed into deadly pale. I remember the chairs that sank into 100 years of floor wax, which solidified overnight, so that they'd have to be yanked out of deep wax-holes if you wanted to move them. I remember my kids coming home dehydrated and dazed. And many of their teachers felt that they couldn't use their electric fans--because the fans blew papers around and made it impossible for the students to hear what was being said.

All of which makes me a lot more sympathetic to Lovely's situation than you are. If her roommates' "needs" to live in an unairconditioned space conflict with her needs for comfort and peace of mind, then she should move.
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Lovely985
Regular Member
Joined : Aug 2010
Posts : 365
Posted 9/10/2011 9:34 AM (GMT -7)
@ozonehole: I am not complaining about living in Florida. I just think if there's a perfectly working a/c it should be on. Especially since I pay the same housing everyone else does, I shouldn't have to be forced to live in 90 degrees and stuffy in my dorm because the windows are not allowed to be opened. It's 77 degrees with the a/c on, not off. The RA even said the a/c should be on because the walls can get moldy. There is also no air circulation whatsoever because as I mentioned before the windows are not allowed to be opened so with the a/c off as well, it's unbearable and can't be good for me or anyone else.
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ozonehole
Veteran Member
Joined : Dec 2006
Posts : 559
Posted 9/10/2011 6:52 PM (GMT -7)
Hi Lovely,

Sorry if I didn't understand the situation. I didn't realize you couldn't open windows. In fact, that's kind of outrageous. Neither I nor anyone else would be able to survive here in Taiwan without air-con if the windows had to remain closed in summer. Ventilation is the whole key to living without air-conditioning.

You are actually correct about closed air-conditioning systems operating at high temperatures not being healthy. It was just that which caused some notorious outbreaks of deadly Legionellosis (Legionaire's disease). It caused by an air-born bacteria that thrives in warm temperatures with poor circulation. Some "modern" buildings are designed so that windows cannot even be opened - perfect environment for causing an epidemic. I guess my grandmother was right when she said that "fresh air is good for you."

Anyway, hope it all works out with the roommates.

Good luck and good health.
- Robert
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MMMNAVY
Veteran Member
Joined : Jul 2006
Posts : 6927
Posted 9/11/2011 1:02 PM (GMT -7)
Just FYI I found that using a fan constantly has two benefits constantly circulating air has a tendency to cut down on mold and such, and it helps cover up the noise of spacemates.
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ivy6
Elite Member
Joined : Sep 2005
Posts : 10404
Posted 9/11/2011 6:55 PM (GMT -7)
It sounds to me as if both your roommate with joint pain and you, yourself, have legitimate concerns and medical needs that can't be met in the one room, so it's possible that a room reassignment might be necessary.

I also think that your roommates are starting to get nasty and petty, and that this situation is likely to deteriorate, and quickly, unless some solution (nb NOT compromise) is reached, and soon. I honestly think you're in an untenable situation there, and need to be moved.

Yes, I can relate to joint pain getting worse temperatures that may still seem high to you. But I can also understand your concerns about the air conditioner.

Personally, I think I'd be more worried about it being on, as acs can be a great circulator of germs, and also harbour nasties themselves, such as Legionnaires.

Best wishes.

Ivy (who was an RA for four or five years herself).
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mtgman
Veteran Member
Joined : Mar 2005
Posts : 1289
Posted 9/11/2011 7:01 PM (GMT -7)
sorry you've got to deal with roommate issues- they can be the worst- even if you don't have something serious like crohn's to deal with
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