6A = THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NEWS
TUESDAY,APRIL2,2002
Student surveys roach problem
By Caroline Boyer Kansan staff writer
As Sue Lyn Johnson began to pour tea into a tea cup last week, she stopped in surprise and watched a cockroach crawl out.
Johnson, a Lawrence graduate student, lives at Tower A in Jayhawker Towers and said she has had problems with roaches since she moved in.
"I tolerated it at first, with the understanding that that's just the way it is." Johnson said.
Johnson sent out about 75 surveys to Tower A residents last weekend asking them if they had cockroaches in their apartments.
She has received eight responses so far, with seven of them indicating they have seen cockroaches in their apartments.
Johnson said the roach in the tea cup was the last straw.
"When there are roaches in my food and roaches where I prepare my food.
Earlier last month, she wrote a letter to Eric Grospitch, assistant director of Student Housing, and Seth Fishman, complex director for the Towers, about getting rid of the cockroaches.
"I'm at a point now where yes, this is unacceptable," Johnson said. "When there are roaches in my food and roaches where I prepare my food, that is unacceptable."
Grospitch said cockroaches in the Towers have been a problem for the past few years.
that is unacceptable."
Sue Lyn Johnson Lawrence graduate student
AARON SHOWALTER/KANSAN
Apartments are sprayed individually, allowing the cockroaches to migrate to neighboring apartments.
Grospitch said it wasn't possible to spray the whole building at once because the Towers never fully close and residents aren't always willing to do the necessary preparations for spraying.
He said last year's pest problems prompted the department of student housing to look for solutions.
It created a proposal for routine health and safety inspections to ensure that students kept their apartments up to certain standards of cleanliness.
this year have indicated that Tower A residents have not kept their apartments as clean as residents in other towers.
The department has put the proposal into action this year, and members of the maintenance staff have entered each apartment on two occasions, rating different areas as clean, average, dirty or poor.
In Delore Burmini's Tower A apartment, infestation was so heavy inside the kitchen cabinets that the Tirana, Albania, graduate student was forced to move all dishes and food to the living room table and cover them in plastic.
Fishman said the inspections
"I think in A Tower, with the international students, they just aren't as clean," Fishman said. "They have different standards of cleanliness within their cultural differences."
Dolore Burmini, Tirana, Albania, graduate student, lives in Tower A and has had problems with roaches even though she passed her health and safety inspections.
She agreed that cultural differences among international students may be the cause of the roaches.
"I think it may depends on the country they came from, and for them it's not a problem, but for me it's a big problem," Burmini said.
Burmilin said the problem had become so bad in her apartment that she had to put all her food and dishes on a table and cover them with plastic. She even requested that student housing give her an apartment in Stouffer Place.
"I'm really happy today because they moved me to another apartment," Burmini said.
Grospitch said he wasn't sure of any health codes concerning cockroaches in the apartments.
point of wanting everyone's experience to be a good one, we don't think this happening," Grospitch said. "Our goal is to eradicate that problem."
Eradicating the problem hasn't been easy, even with the new cleanliness inspections. Johnson said she has had her apartment sprayed twice since she
"I know that just from a stand-
has lived there, though it hasn't helped get rid of the cockroaches.
"There was a slight decrease, but they never were fully gone," Johnson said. "The second spray elicited even more interesting species that I had never seen before."
Grospitch said that may be
because the chemicals that are used when spraying don't kill the roach, they only shut down the reproductive systems, so the roaches may still be seen after the spraying.
Contact Boyer at
cboyer@kansan.com. This story was edited by Kyle Ramsey.
FORMS
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1A
Some students also needed to print a "graduation calculator" before meeting with an adviser. Some schools will require the graduation calculator at advising. A graduation calculator is used to figure how many hours the student needs to graduate.
In the past, the process was done by mail. The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences estimates
saving $5,000 with the new process.
Abby Koch, Wichita junior, said the process was difficult because she didn't have a KU email account to download her ARTS form and needed to register for an exchange account.
"It just got really confusing." Koch said.
Students can use accounts like Hotmail and Yaho0, but need to have an exchange account to download their ARTS form. Registering for an exchange account
can be done www.ku.edu/computing.
Ryan Desch, Topeka senior, said he thought the process was too long and didn't give enough explanation.
"The enrollment process is giving me a headache because things weren't explained very well." Desch said.
Richard Morrell, University registrar, said most students enjoyed the new process because they don't have to worry about the permit getting mailed to the
wrong address or losing it when it arrives.
Morrell also said the biggest problem he heard of came from students with little to no computer accessibility.
Koch agreed that overall, the process was better.
"I think it's a lot easier to get your passport online instead of picking it up in Strong or having it mailed to your parents," Koch said.
Heidi Henderson, Wichita junior, said she thought the new
process was relatively easy.
"I think the new way is better, and the only problem I've found is getting the class I want at the time I want it," Henderson said.
Cindy Derritt, associate registrar for enrollment services, said the biggest complaint she heard was from less than 10 students who thought the course selection form wasn't available online.
Derritt also said this process would make students more Internet-savvy with this introduction toward a future of online enrollment.
Obtaining an e-passport
Download ARTS form at www.cls.ku.edu/us and then request the form to be e-mailed to your account within 24 hours.
Contact Carr at mcarr@kansan.com. This story was edited by Anne Mergenmeier.