Inching towards the spring and summer months, insects and pests are coming alive, and University of Rhode Island students have not been spared. Typical for this time of year, wasps are beginning to wake up and are finding their way into student dorms.
Madison Carrion, second-year, has dealt with wasp-related issues over the past few weeks. A new nest was forming on the outside brick of the fourth floor on C tower of Aldrich Hall, where she lives, according to Carrion. As the wasps returned, new regulations came.
“We weren’t allowed to open our windows,” Carrion said. “We were scared the wasps were going to come in. One of the girls next door to us had a wasp come inside her room.”
When the nest was discovered, she reported it to her resident assistant. After this, it felt like there was no support, according to Carrion.
“We let our RA know,” Carrion said. “We sent a picture to her. We called [housing] and complained multiple times and we were told that they couldn’t do anything about it because they don’t have exterminators on campus.”
The lack of support could lead to larger issues, according to Carrion.
“[Housing] was pretty much like you guys have to deal with it,” Carrion said. “I’m like ‘well, there’s people that could be allergic, this seems like a bigger issue than you think it is.’”
The university could do some more work to ensure the wasps do not enter the dorms, according to second-year Brian Putney.
“Invest in better screens and locks,” Putney said. “If they are broken, fix them. The buildings are old, so I get it, but they could definitely allocate some money to make it a little bit better overall.”
There has been an uptick in pest related issues in the past couple weeks, according to Associate Director of Facilities Tim Valton. In certain situations, there is not much students can do.
“There are some times where students can’t really control it,” Valton said. “Wasp nests might be forming on the exterior wall of a building and then obviously they go dormant during the winter. Once the weather warms up, they get a lot more active again.”
In order to limit issues, students should perform routine checks of their dorm, according to Valton.
“It’s really important that they are checking their screens and for holes around their windows,” Valton said. “I would say that we do see a larger number of these issues in our older buildings just because the exterior shelves in those buildings are older so there’s a lot more penetration opportunities for wasps to get in. As long as you report it, we have someone here Monday, Wednesday and Friday to be able to help assist with that.”
HRL urges students to follow their pest control guidelines available online, according to Valton. The guide offers daily, weekly and monthly maintenance suggestions to prevent any pests from entering dorms. If these measures do not work, putting a request through MyApps is the best way to ensure that the incident is seen and attended to in a timely manner.
