4A
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NEWS
THURSDAY, MARCH 13, 2008
HEALTH
Don't let the bedbugs bite Spring break travelers could bring bugs home; KU takes precautions
BY CALEB SOMMERVILLE
csmerville@kansan.com
Spring break travellers could bring home tiny hitchhikers that could cause big problems: bedbugs.
spring break.
Diana Robertson, director of student housing, said that the University of Kansas was urging students to keep on the lookout for bedbugs when traveling during breaks.
Bedbugs are flat, brown, oval-shaped insects that feed primarily on human blood. Their bites don't transmit diseases, but they can cause itchy red welts.
They often live in locations with warm weather. Exterminator Ravi Sachdeva, employee of American Pest Management and an entomologist, said that bedbugs were "frequently found in hotels and living quarters with international travel associated with them."
"This is not something you can get rid of on your own."
Sachdeva and his company inspect University housing every other month.
springs, walls and base boards.
Sachdeva said bedbugs were thought to be entirely eradicated in the 1960s, but started coming back in 1998.
When students return to the University they should keep rooms clean and tidy, since bedbugs like to hide in cracks and crevices. If students suspect they may have brought bedbugs back with them, they should call the Department of Student Housing at 864-4560 as soon as possible.
"This is not something you can
get rid of on your own," Robertson said.
The University hasn't had a bedbug problem yet, and Robertson said she wanted it to stay that way. Robertson and Sachdeva said the best way to prevent a bedbug infestation was to inspect hotel rooms and look either for the actual bedbugs or for blood spots. Students should also check mattresses, box
If a bedbug infestation happens at the University, Robertson said action would be taken immediately.
DIANA ROBERTSON Director of student housing
"The goals will be to isolate and treat," Robertson said.
Student housing residents would be relocated by the University for five to seven days while the rooms were treated.
Sachdeva said the treatment process began by positively identifying the bugs as bedbugs. The actual treatments can range from liquid insecticide or fumigation to a heat treatment. Bedbugs cannot live in an environment hotter than 120 or 130 degrees.
The whole process, from identifying the bedbugs to doing follow-up checks, can last up to a month, and cost anywhere from $100 to $300, depending on the severity of the infestation.
Edited by Patrick De Oliveira
One in four teenage girls infected
HEALTH
BY MARY SORRICK msorrick@kansan.com
Sexually transmitted infections afflict one in four girls between the ages of 14 and 19, according to a study released Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
That translates to 25 percent of freshmen and sophomore girls at the University of Kansas.
Ken Sarber, health educator at the Wellness Resource Center, said the statistic did not surprise him.
"I would say it's probably right on the money," he said.
The prevalence of STIs in freshmen and sophomore women is reflected across campus, where one fourth of all sexually active University students have an STI, Sarber said.
A 2006 study from Columbia University Health Services reported that 20 to 25 percent of all college students have either contracted an STI or passed one on to someone else.
But that number is not unique to the University.
Additionally, another CDC study estimates that among the 19
by the numbers
- Almost half of the 19 million new STI infections each year occur in people ages 15-24
- 6.2 million new cases of HPV occur in the U.S.each year
- 50 percent of sexually active students will have had an STI by the age of 25
- 2.8 million new cases of chlamydia occur in the U.S. each year
- $14.7 billion is spent annually on medical costs associated with STIs
million new STIs each year, almost half occur in people between the ages of 15 and 24.
from the CDC and Watkins Memorial Health Center and Columbia University Health Services
Sarber said those statistics could come as a surprise to many students.
"I think people are just blind a little bit," he said. "They don't want to think about how common it is. They think 'Oh, it won't happen to
"They're continuing to have unsafe sex and spread it from partner to partner."
it won't happen to me."
KEN SARBER Health Educator
echoed that sentiment.
She said many students assumed they wouldn't catch an STI or were unaware that they already had one.
That is a danger with chlamydia in particular, use 75 percent
Sarber said, because 75 percent
of infected individuals might not experience any symptoms.
"They're continuing to have unsafe sex and spread it from partner to partner," Sarber said.
Chlamydia is one of the most common STIs on campus, second only to human papilloma virus, or HPV, Guth said.
Sarber said the exact number of STI's among students was impossible to pinpoint because students don't always go to Watkins for their STI tests. He also said many STIs on campus went unreported.
Despite this, there are a number of ways students can protect themselves against STIs.
The CDC recommends people always use a condom during intercourse to reduce the risk of transmitting an infection. Sexually active people should also get tested regularly for STIs and make sure they know their partner's sexual history.
Guth encouraged students to visit or call Watkins at 864-9500 to schedule an STI test or get more information about STIs.
SPACE
—Edited by Samuel Lamb
No damage sustained to Endeavour
BY LIZ AUSTIN PETERSON ASSOCIATED PRESS
HOUSTON — The seven-man crew of the shuttle Endeavour maneuvered toward the international space station early Wednesday, with the astronauts spending their first full day in orbit carefully examining the ship for any launch damage.
Endeavour was set to dock with
In this image from NASA TV, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Takao Doi, right, is on the flight deck of shuttle Endeavour with pilot Gregory Johnson, Tuesday.
5:30 PM Thurs, March 13
Spencer Museum of Art 1301 Mississippi Street Lawrence, Kansas www.spencerart.ku.edu
Spencer Museum of Art Auditorium
"About Face: WWI, Plastic Surgery, and the American Beauty Revolution, 1915-30"
the station late Wednesday to deliver a giant robot and the first piece of a new Japanese lab.
7 PM Friday, March 14
A reception follows in the Central Court.
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art Auditorium
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Murphy Lecture Series is sponsored by the Spencer Museum of Art, the Kress Foundation Department of Art History at the University of Kansas and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. The lectureship was established in 1979 through the Kansas University Endowment Association in honor of former chancellor Dr. Franklin D. Murphy.
"Mobilizing Art : The Visual Culture of U.S. Intervention in the First World War"
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art 4525 Oak Street Kansas City, Missouri www.nelson-atkins.org
As the shuttle closed in on the orbiting outpost, the crew used a 100-foot laser-tipped boom to inspect its wings and nose for any sign of launch damage. The inspection has been standard procedure ever since the 2003 Columbia disaster, in which seven astronauts died.
He said it was too early to tell whether the material came off the ship and whether or not it actually struck the shuttle. Engineers will analyze video captured during
Flight director Mike Moses said a quick look at the images the astronauts beamed down to Earth revealed no signs of trouble, but engineers will spend Wednesday poring over the data.
Cameras captured a possible strike to Endeavour's nose 10 seconds after liftoff, but Moses said he wasn't worried because the ship wasn't traveling fast enough at that time to sustain serious damage.
launch to try to answer those questions.
gathered the tools they'll need for the rendezvous.
Additionally,
a significant piece of
foam or other
debris came off
Endeavour's
tank just over
into the flight.
It appeared to miss
the right wing.
"We've been waiting for this moment for a long time, so this is a great honor for us to work with you."
In addition to performing the inspection, the astronauts also prepared their spacesuits for the five spacewalks they plan to perform and
Japanese Mission Control
"It was a really good day," Endeavour commander Dominic Gorie said as the crew prepared to go to sleep.
Endeavour's crew and the three space station residents face a grueling schedule once their spacecraft docks. They will perform five spacewalks, the most ever planned during a shuttle visit.
The spacewalking teams must
assemble Canada's robot, Dextre, which was packed aboard Endeavour in nine pieces, and attach a Japanese storage compartment to the space station. It is the first installment of Japan's massive Kibo lab, which means Hope.
The main part of the Kibo lab will fly on the next shuttle mission in May, with the final installment, a porch for outdoor experiments, going up next year.
"We've been waiting for this moment for a long time, so this is a great honor for us to work with you," Japanese Mission Control radioed space station commander Peggy Whitson early Wednesday.
"We're glad to have you on board," she replied.