Asbestos is that flat-celled material that was found and thought to be a great fireproof insulator. And it's true, it is indeed a great fire-proof, insulating material but, it has a drawback. It seems that once inhaled, this flat-celled material can not be expelled from the human lungs.

Government testing has proven that asbestos is a carcinogen. It's bad stuff, yet as I sit in my art class every Tuesday and Thursday, I am exposed to the material for three breath-taking hours.

Add this to your insult, here I am, gazing upwards for divine enlightenment as I ponder the work I am faithfully creating and am distracted, first of all, by the loud pounding of construction work on the roof directly above my classroom, and secondly, by those mysterious little flakes that have found freedom and waft softly downward, finding that vacuum to my poor, pink little lungs.

They tell me that cancer isn't a fun thing to have, and from knowing a number of those who suffer its cruel and painful bout, I tend to believe that it would be a good thing not to have. So why in the hell am I paying to sit in a room with an airborne carcinogen?

I'm sure Penn State has it on agenda, I'm sure that it is probably required by federal mandate. But when?

Not this tuition check. Not tomorrow's tuition check, but there lies a good chance that when I am bald and forever tired from my radiation treatments, my children will be writing home about their classroom has been changed to a different building because a contractor is removing this funny flaky stuff on the ceilings.

Ban asbestos exposure in University classrooms, be heard!