Besides the cold weather that comes with the winter season, some campus residents receive unpleasant visitors this time of year - rodents and insects.
The Department of Environmental Health and Safety, located on the second floor of Hudson Health Center, handles bug-related problems.
During the winter months, there are frequent reports of roaches, ants and mice, said Sam Hanson, environmental health coordinator.
Hanson said there are complaints of mice almost all the time in the winter. Reports of ants and roaches are a recurring problem every year.
Ohio University sophomore Jennifer Watson, who lives in Jefferson Hall, said she saw roaches crawl out of a vent and was terrified. She called the department, and since they came out, she has not seen any more.
Two days after receiving a complaint, Hanson will go out to the location and evaluate and deal with the problem.
In some instances, pesticides are used. They are sprayed around the perimeter of the room to create a barrier. Any insect that goes through it will pick it up and digest it, Hanson said.
While the chemicals used are odorless and not harmful to breathe, they should not be ingested. To prevent ingestion, anyone in contact with the pesticides should wash their hands.
While students have to deal with bugs in their rooms, other university buildings also can have problems, including the library and lecture halls, as well as some dining halls.
Bromley Dining Hall does have occasional roaches, said Jason Schroer, production manager at Bromley Dining Hall. No matter how much a building is cleaned, bugs will exist.
Schroer said any building as large as Bromley will have an issue with bugs, because of the amount of people living in the building and the colder weather.
As soon as we see one bug we take care of it - we don't wait for a second and a third
he said.
Schroer said sanitation checks are done every morning in the dining hall, and if an employee finds a bug, it is immediately reported to the health and safety department. The dining hall has been given a sanitation award the last two years.
We have one of the cleanest dining halls Schroer said.
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