Bed Bugs Found in North Campus

Illustration by Jeremy Nakamura.

Shannon Brady ’14 woke up Tuesday morning with strange bites on her leg and ankle. She assumed they were spider bites until she spoke with another friend in Wright who had the same symptoms earlier in the semester. After researching, she concluded the bites came from bed bugs.

Very little is known about bed bugs. Few entomologists, or insect researchers, devote time to studying the bugs, mainly because they don’t carry diseases. They are small (one-eighth of an inch long), reddish brown bugs that spread by clinging on to the clothing and suitcases of unsuspecting travelers.

The bugs have not been a menace since WWII, when pesticides like DDT wiped them out. Their recent resurgence was widely publicized as they plagued expensive New York hotels and department stores. The bugs often hide in cracks and crevices, but mostly in mattresses. They are nocturnal animals and feed on blood. Once discovered, the mattress and all bedding must be thrown away to prevent their spread.

Brady met with Student Health Services last week. They dismissed the bed bug theory because of Conn’s plastic mattresses, and she walked away with anti-itch cream. She didn’t think much again about the possibility of bed bugs until her neighbor found one in her bed.

“I am 100% positive that the bug she found was a bed bug,” said Brady. “We looked up pictures online and it matched perfectly and when we brought the bug to the health center, they said they couldn’t be positive, but they did think it was one.”

Wright residents received an e-mail that night from the North Campus Area Coordinator, Sarah Lecius-Autieri, saying the College exterminator would confirm or disconfirm the rumor upon inspection, but that students should be on the lookout for red, itchy bites in clusters.

Brady and her roommate didn’t hear much from the Office of Residential Education and Living (REAL) after that. After dinner, they returned to their rooms to find a staff member removing their mattresses, without their prior permission.

“I had no idea someone was going to be going into my room without me being there,” said Brady. “Plus, bed bugs live most often in mattresses so I don’t understand why the College threw out a major source of evidence before an exterminator checked out the room. Of course the exterminator didn’t find any evidence of bugs when he came the next day. The mattresses were already long gone,” Brady said.

Having not heard any further instructions from the administration, Brady called REAL, Student Life and Campus Safety, eventually getting in contact with the administrator on call who told the girls to first bag up their bedding, then their bedding and clothes, and eventually called back with the instructions to bag up everything in their room.

“I can’t blame anyone for the poor communication because it is obvious the College doesn’t have frequent bed bug outbreaks, but my neighbor and I were so confused during this whole process and found it hard to get answers from anyone,” Brady said.

Brady decided to go home instead of relocating to a new room in Wright while awaiting the verdict on her room. As far as she knows, the two rooms have been treated, although she doesn’t know “what they used to treat it or how toxic it is.”

The girls can return to their rooms today but cannot open their belongings until Saturday, at which point they must wash everything.

Meanwhile, Wright residents received another e-mail, this time from Assistant Director of Residential Education and Living Marie Lalor, denying the bed bug rumor. Brady attributes this to the fact that the girls threw away the bed bug they found, thinking that showing health services was sufficient. Lalor was unavailable for comment on the issue.

“Since we didn’t have the bug they couldn’t ‘confirm’ our complaint,” Brady said. •