Sophia Park, Special to The Denisonian—
Every single day, I wake up with watery eyes. My nose is either extremely dry or completely stuffy, with no in-between. When I visit the doctor here, they always tell me it’s probably just allergies or some sort of virus. I believed them too, that is, until I went home. At home, I awoke each morning feeling refreshed and relaxed, and best of all, my eyes weren’t watering, and I felt like I could actually breathe – deeply, too. I wondered what made the difference between my two rooms and quickly realized what the problem could be when I heard a quiet hum in my room: an air purifier.
When I first came to Denison in the midst of COVID, I remember our school proudly announcing that each room came with a large, high-quality air purifier that had been generously donated for use in all the students’ rooms. When I returned for my sophomore year, however, all of them had mysteriously disappeared from the rooms. Where did they go? Although I have no idea where they are, I do know that everyone I have talked to about this problem wants them back.
The reality of Denison housing is that the buildings are old, and the spaces we are living in have been used since our parents were in college. There is always dust that I can’t seem to get rid of, no matter how hard I try, and I know mold is definitely lurking in the spaces we can’t see or reach. Being required to live on campus already limits housing options tremendously, and if I went to a different school, I could just choose a newer, less dusty place to live. I don’t have that option; however, and I believe that Denison should return one of the most useful items in our rooms to us. I am aware that students can request to have a purifier in their room, but why do we even need this step? Many people don’t know where to request one, and even more are unaware that they can even make this request.
Denison should help us make our rooms as clean and comfortable as possible, and I know they have the resources to do so. Air purifiers should come with the room just as our desks and beds do. Although they were initially donated to help stop the spread of Covid within our campus community, they can also be used to help curb the spread of other, less serious illnesses that affect us more often than Covid does now.
I would not be asking for air purifiers from our school if they didn’t already have them and if they had never offered them in the first place. They spoiled us, and I don’t think it’s fair to have them taken away now.
Cleaner air leads to happier and healthier students. So please, Denison, give us our air purifiers back; we all miss them.