THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2002
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 3A
Roach relief for towers this fall
New pest control method stops roach problems
Zach Straus/Kansas
A sign in Jayhawker Towers informs residents that exterminators will visit the building. Exterminators visit one of the towers each week in a new plan implemented by the Department of Student Housing to help control roach problems in the apartment buildings.
By Matt Stumpff
mstumpff@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Cockroaches have had to find a new home this fall.
Problems with the insect at the Jayhawk Towers, 1603 W. 15th St., prompted the Department of Student Housing to change its extermination policy for the buildings last July. Residents have noticed a marked improvement.
Junyi Sun, Shanghai, China graduate student, said roaches were an everyday problem last year. He hadn't noticed any cockroaches this fall.
Previously, exterminators sprayed for cockroaches when students came forward to complain.
Exterminators now use bait that mother cockroaches take back to their nests. The bait kills younger cockroaches who wouldn't come into contact with a spray.
Pete Haley, owner of Haley Pest Control of Lawrence, said he used bait to kill cockroaches.
used but to kill cockroaches. "I've killed hundreds of thousands of cockroaches," Haley said. "Baiting is by far the best method."
But Haley said students needed to take initiative to keep their apartments clean and take out the trash regularly to stop the problem.
As part of the new extermination policy, the housing department can punish tower residents for not keeping their apartments
reasonably clean.
Exterminators inspect rooms in the towers each month to look for signs of cockroaches and watch out for too much food waste.
The department issues warnings first and can put students on probation for violations.
In extreme cases, the towers can remove a student from a building for repeated failure to comply.
Eric Grospitch, assistant director of student housing, said the buildings hadn't had to resort to disciplinary means since the new policy went into effect.
Grospitch said the housing department still received the occasional complaint about roaches, but the problem had
"We're definitely not anywhere near the problem we had last."
year."
Eric Grospitch Assistant director of student housing
tapered off.
"We're definitely not anywhere near the problem we had last year." Grospitch said.
Some students new to the towers this fall couldn't tell the apartments ever had a problem.
Dustin Duryee, Great Bend senior, said he had never seen any cockroaches at his apartment.
tion of a roach problem was the monthly visits from the exterminator.
He started living in the towers this fall and said the only indica-
The new initiative to eradicate the problem began last spring after Sue Lyn Johnson, Shreveport, Louisiana, graduate student, surveyed the apartment buildings about the cockroaches and notified the housing department of the problem.
Johnson, who was a resident in Tower A last year, said she was satisfied with the changes from the housing department.
the housing department "I think they've gone to the maximum lengths possible to address the problem." Johnson said.
Edited by Erin Ohm
Chancellor hosts social event for minority students
By Katie Nelson
knelson@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
With the sound of the piano playing, minority students from a variety of backgrounds got a chance to hobnob with Chancellor Robert Hemenway at his house yesterday.
At the Chancellor's Reception for Students of Color, Gabe Rowland, Kansas City, Kan., senior, played the piano informally entertaining the more than 100 students and faculty who attended the annual event.
Robert Page, director of Multicultural Affairs, welcomed the guests and encouraged the student organizations to network among themselves.
C'nea Hatches, Merrillville, Ill., sophomore, and Black Student Union vice president said she agreed that the student groups should network with each other.
"There aren't a lot of people of color at KU," she said. "We need to join together in order to work together and let it be known that we are here."
known that we are Students from the Asian American Student Union, First Nations Student Association, Black Student Union, Diversity Peer Education Team, and
"There aren't a lot of people of color at KU. We need to join together in order to work together and let it be known that we are here."
C'nea Hatches
Black Student Union vice president and
Merrillville, Ill., sophomore
the Multicultural Resource Center, among other organizations, were present for the event.
"I want the University to be a place where people of all colors feel comfortable," Hemenway said.
He invited students to visit him in his office and home, but not too late at night, he said.
"Around 2 or 3 in the morning, we might not be so good at this hospitality thing," he said laughing.
"This home is as much a part of the University as Strong Hall," he said. "I don't want anyone to graduate from KU without having visited the chancellor's house."
—Edited by Christina Neff
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