tuesday, january 27, 2004
news
the university daily kansan 7A
ROACH: Insects terrorize Malott
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Multiple students have found the roaches in their water bottles or soda cans and snack foods. Val Smith, professor of ecology, said he once got a mouthful of roach when he drank from a soda bottle he had left on his desk for just a few minutes.
While some students have grown used to finding dead roaches in their desk drawers and scanners, others can't seem to get used to live roaches making appearances in their personal belongings.
"I came in here the other weekend, and they were everywhere," said Erin Questad, ecology graduate student. "They were all over my books, all over my papers, just everywhere."
Not everybody thinks the roaches are a problem. Young, who has worked in the pest control business for eight years, said Haworth doesn't have what he would call an infestation. "To tell you the truth, Haworth doesn't even have a problem," he said.
Although Smith, Miller, and others are used to being around insects in their lab work. they disagree.
"We're loaded with roaches here," Smith said, referring to her third floor lab. Miller, who works on the sixth floor, said that while the problem varies between labs overall it was awful.
But apart from the "gross out" factor, working in close quarters with cockroaches can pose potential health risks as well, causing asthma or allergy attacks or spreading harmful bacteria and viruses. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the chief problem caused by high numbers of roaches is that roach carcasses and droppings, called "frass", can trigger asthma attacks and allergies.
Bryan Foster, assistant professor of ecology, is a potential sufferer of cockroach-related allergies. When he first moved into his Haworth office, there were dead roaches and frass everywhere. After he cleaned up hundreds of roach carcasses, his allergies worsened.
Foster said he has numerous allergies, but they seem to be aggravated by the presence of roaches. "I've always suspected that roaches might be involved, and I wouldn't be surprised if the problems I had in the past were amplified by them," he said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, roaches can carry 50 known pathogens, including salmonella, staph or strep viruses, and hepatitis B.
But Smith said that the common perception that roaches spread disease is largely untrue. Unlike mosquitoes that transmit diseases by biting or flies that spread diseases by contact with contaminated wastes, roaches don't bite, and they don't bring in new bacteria.
"I think largely they get a bad reputation—an undeserved reputation—for being disease-spreaders," Smith said. "I think people just don't care to have them around."
Most students and faculty feel that the problem is "bothersome" or "gross," but don't have serious complaints. However, a few express concern that the roaches may inadvertently come home with them. Young confirmed that roaches can travel along with people.
"Cockroaches will even hitch a ride with you on your shoe," he said.
Dzialowski once left a gym bag in his office that roaches quickly invaded. Rather than bringing the bag- and its stowaways -home, he
"Cockroaches will even hitch a ride with you on your shoe."
professor of ecology
Val Smith
had to leave it outside in the winter cold for weeks,to kill them.
Dickson had a similar experience; he accidentally brought a roach home in his backpack. He worried that it would lead to an infestation in his home.
"That really bothered me," he said. "I can deal with roaches around the office, in my books and papers, but not where I sleep."
But like Dickson and Dzialowski, most students put up with the roach problem as best they can. Although they are dissatisfied with the number of roaches, solving the problem probably won't happen anytime soon.
The places in Haworth that the hired exterminators can spray remain limited. A number of the biology professors in the building run carefully controlled experiments involving plants, rodents or other insects. Sprayed insecticide could potentially ruin or destroy years of work.
But when the roaches seem to get too concentrated, Young responds to problem calls.
Since he can't spray insecticides, Young treats the roach problem with a gel bait called MaxForce, whose active ingredient is a chemical called fipronil. Once the roaches consume fipronil, it hyperexcites their muscles by disrupting their nervous systems.
"It's a food source. The roaches eat it, and then go back to the nest and die; and, of course, roaches are cannibalistic. So some of them will eat the dead roaches and die, too," he said.
Another component of the problem is general housekeeping of the building's human inhabitants. Since roaches are cannibalistic, dead roaches only provide more food for those that remain alive. Carcasses must be cleaned up after extermination - a step that's often missed, said Young.
The main key to it, Young said, is "sanitation, sanitation, sanitation."
"Roaches need food, shelter and water just like you and I do" he said, so good ways to control roaches are to limit water sources like leaky faucets or drains, and to keep food out of reach.
"When you have any big multi-user building, whether its apartments or building like this, it's hard to control absolutely all the conditions everywhere in the building," Smith said. "We've been trying to keep our food wastes in a trash can with a lid. But I know there are leaky faucets, food crumbs people leave around. The roaches manage to find plenty to eat."
Because of the difficulty of getting rid of the pests, the Haworth roaches are probably there to stay. Students and faculty will have to be satisfied with controlling the problem, rather than eradicating it—and that means learning to live with the roaches.
When Dzialowski graduates next year, he will have to thoroughly clean his desk and lab. This means he faces the possibility of uncovering more hidden families of roaches in other pieces of office equipment. He may even experience allergies from stirring up high amounts of built-up cockroach frass. But the worst part of it, Dzialowski said, was simply the fact that he has had to work among roaches everyday for the past six years.
He's leaving the printer when he goes.
—Edited by Ashley Arnold
he was all right.
PROFESSOR: Services Thursday
at Danforth Chapel. Galina said she chose this day not just so students and faculty could attend, but because it is 40 days after his death. In Slavic tradition, the soul leaves Earth on the 40th day.
Even now, Russian folklore is still part of Conrad's legacy — and his legacy will live on. The Slavic department is establishing a fund in Conrad's memory to benefit students who share his academic interests. His memorial service is at 6 p.m. Thursday
-Edited by Cindy Yeo
Galina said she thought Joseph still sent her signs. One afternoon, she said, the light coming in created the letters "C" and "J" on the wall. Though living without him is difficult, she said this was a way for him to let her know
United States was just as important for him. His house became a home, and he blossomed in Galina's presence, she said. Now
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HELP WANTED: Elections Commissioner
The elections commission of the University of Kansas Student Senate is seeking a grad student to be the spring elections commissioner. This person will be in charge of overseeing the Student Senate elections of the spring semester. This is a paid position. Applications are available in the Dean of Students Office, Room 113 of Strong Hall or by requesting an electronic application from dholiday@ku.edu. Applications are due by January 30 at 5pm to the Dean of Students Office.
Are Your pockets EMPTY?
Attend the
Student Employment Job Fair
Wed. Jan 28, 2004
10 am to 3 pm
Kansas Union 4th Floor Lobby
Apply for on-campus and off-campus jobs!
Sponsored by UCES university career and employment services 864.3624,110 Burge Union,www.ku.edu/~uces