Spiders, roaches, ants and bedbugs are creatures that students moving into a dorm or college apartment have to plan ahead to avoid.
Students staying in dorm rooms have the small luxury of having their bathrooms cleaned for them; however, it is still their responsibility to keep their half of the room clean.
Since the dorms have Resident Assistants, or RAs, to assist in checking rooms for cleanliness, there are consequences to having a dirty room. The Village Phases, Grove Apartments and the University Courts are also routinely checked for cleanliness
Ryan Martin, UTM Housing assistant director of Residence Life gave several helpful tips for preventing the four-legged creatures from entering living spaces. He also gave tips on keeping living spaces clean.
“We encourage all of our residents to keep a sanitary living environment. This can be accomplished by routinely taking out the trash, keeping your dishes clean and cleaning your personal and common areas on a regular basis,” Martin said. “We encourage everyone in the halls to share in the chores, so that it is not one person who is responsible. This will, in turn, help cut down on possible roommate conflicts.”
“Also, if there are problems with your windows or exterior doors, residents can turn in work orders online at www.utm.edu/housing<http://www.utm.edu/housing> or to the front desks,” Martin said.
“Making sure your doors are sealed properly and window screens are intact can help unwanted pests from coming into your living areas. The Office of Housing has also contracted a pest control service to routinely spray out our buildings; however, if a resident has a room needing additional spraying, they can submit a work order to have this done.”
Students staying in the Phases, Grove Apartments and the University Courts are responsible for keeping their entire living space clean. This space could include: a bathroom, kitchen, living area, bedroom and a porch space.
Anthony Prewitt, hall director of the University Village Phase II, and Lindee McCurley, community leader of the University Village Phase I, explained the consequences of not keeping the living area clean.
“Residence Life staff will conduct room checks once a month looking for safety hazards and unsanitary living conditions. If a resident has left a violation notification they will have five business days to correct the problem. As long as the resident corrects the problem in that time period, there is no penalty. If the violation is not corrected, they will have a disciplinary meeting with their Hall Director. Subsequent violations will be referred to the Office of Student Conduct where the penalty will be at the discretion of the Student Conduct Officer. Our goal is not to penalize the residents, but to help them learn positive habits that will help the community,” McCurley and Prewitt said in an email.
For those students that are moving into college apartments, it is also important to have knowledge about bedbugs.
“Bed bugs probably received their common name from their habit of feeding on humans while they sleep in their beds. Bed bugs have also been called ‘red coates,’ ‘mahogany flats’ and ‘wall-lice’,” according to Pestworld.org.
It’s important to check for bedbugs before bringing any mattress into the living space. To continue to stay bedbug free, wash the sheets and comforter once-a-week.
Before moving any items into the apartment check and clean any spider webs found in the space. While performing that task, dust and buy a product to spray around the house to prevent insect infestation, especially in closest and cabinets.
Also, if furniture has been stored, make sure to inspect for any type of bugs before it is moved into the apartment; this will prevent the early stages of insects and the reproduction of the insects.
Once the prep work has been completed, it is up to the student to keep up his or her living space. To avoid roaches make sure that crumbs or any kind of food is not left out on the counter or dropped on the floor without being cleaned.
When cooking, clean as you go and wash dishes immediately; don’t let them sit in the sink. This will also help to avoid a take-over of ants.
Now that the semester has started students are constantly busy, but the consequences of not keeping living spaces clean interrupts daily routines even more. If students spend at least thirty minutes each day cleaning they can prevent any unwanted four-legged friends.
