Heights residents host roaches
By Joseph Guberman
The occupancy limit for
Meade Heights is four students
per unit, but these days there
are a number of uninvited
guests inside the university
apartments: Bugs!
These menacing insects range
in variety from spiders to
roaches, and in size from
squishable to stampers. They
live in all the campus apart
ments, making their way across
floors and up walls, frightening
innocent students along the
way.
Pests seek refuge based on
eithedhe construction of the
dwelling, or the lack of
cleanliness inside. In the case
of Meade Heights, the bugs are
there for both reasons.
One story floating around
campus is when Meade Heights
was originally built as Air
Force quarters, the government
had a similar project underway
in Florida. The same number of
units were built, and for the
same purpose, to house Air
Force families. Only somehow
the plans were mixed up. In
stead of building summer
homes in Florida and winter
homes in Pennsylvania , the
contractors gooted. The apart
ments in Florida had
basements and fireplaces, while
the Pennsylvania units were
built on concrete slabs with
summer patio doors.
The result, an invasion of
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oriental roaches, which are
huge dark insects who thrive on
dampness. They made their
way up through the sewers and
drains, eventually settling down
into the concrete slabbed
quarters.
Another roach species living
in the Heights is smaller and
lighter in color. They move in
because of unsanitary condi
tions: Dirty dishes stacked up
in the sink, trash lying around,
and empty beer cans gathering
dust. Some apartments have
more problems with this than
others.
In two random inquiries, the
first,apartment didn’t have a
small roach problem: The
students living there kept it
clean, washed the dishes daily,
and even scrubbed the kitchen
floor occasionally. In the other
apartment, the roaehes were a
problem: The students admit
ted they’ve never scrubbed the
floor, tne dishes were piled up
in both sinks, and the smell of
grease was apparent
throughout the dwelling.
And, according to Mrs.
Chrismer, of the Susquehanna
Valley Pest Control, “those con
ditions cause a continual pro
blem, because this type of
roach lives off of grease and
then they lay their eggs around
the stove and refrigerator.”
The Meade Heights campus
official, Frank Williams, says
he’s aware of the problems. He
feels the best solution is to,
“keep the floors scrubbed and
the stoves cleaned.” He added,
RALE/<ZH’
“anyone with a serious problem
should see me and we’ll take
care of it. But, residents should
expect some bugs because of
the way the apartments are
built.”
Students in Meade Heights
have varied opinions on the bug >
dilemma. One student who lives
in a very neat apartment says,
“sometimes they aren’t so bad,
but occasionally they’re all over
the place.”
Another student living in a
very messy apartment said, “I
hate them, and I hate taxes,
too, and there’s nothing you can
do about either one.”
For bug control spraying is
done annually by maintenance.
And, in extreme cases a profes
sional exterminator is called in.
Bug expert Chrismer believes,
“of the different types of
roaches, the small grease-
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eating ones are easier to control
than the large oriental roaches,
who'll continue to multiply
underneath the home.”
Williams agrees that every unit
will have some bugs, but insists
‘‘students will be charged if
their uncleanliness leads to ex
cess bugs.”
In spite of all the precautions
taken, students should expect to
be bugged. The other day, while
munching on a Big-Mac, I saw
an oriental roach. I was caught
so off guard by the size of this
miniature armored personnel
carrier, making its way across
the floor, that I choked on my
burger. One of my roommates
is also having problems. He
keep running across the street
in the middle of the night at
tacking spiders, after receiving
hysterical phone calls from his
girlfriend.
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