Colleges are bracing themselves for H1N1 this fall, but students and staff should remember that bed bugs are always a problem in colleges. Yes, even in commuter colleges with no student housing!
CBS2 in New York reports that students at the City University of New York’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice found out in an email Wednesday night that the first floor of the college’s North Hall has been infested with bed bugs:
The word came in a mass e-mail identifying several offices, including admissions, financial aid, health, student government, the registrar and a conference room as among those that have — not an infestation — but rather in the words of the email, a bed bug condition.
Unfortunately, having a “bed bug condition” in at least five offices and a conference room does indeed amount to a bed bug infestation.
Bed bug treatment is going to be carried out on Saturday to avoid disrupting classes.
Some students in the CBS report claimed to have been bitten already; of course, in New York, bed bugs are now so commonplace that this might also happen on a bus, in a subway seat, in a cafe or someone’s home.
We can only hope students, staff and faculty at John Jay are also getting a briefing on how to detect, identify — and respond to — bed bug infestations at home.
Watch the video and see the story: John Jay College Overrun By Bed Bugs – wcbstv.com.
Update (9/24):
As Buggedinsomerville notes in the comments below, The New York Times City Room blog now has a story on this.
City Room reports that North Hall has been closed until Tuesday for treatment, and there’s a Q&A with the college president and a pest firm in the College Theater at 2 today.
In it, Jim Grossman, a John Jay spokesman, explains the whole “bed bug condition” thing:
John Jay is calling it a bedbug “condition.” Mr. Grossman said, “Infestation is when you can see them swarming.”
[Emphasis mine.]
Oh dear!
This is terribly inaccurate and just shows an ignorance of how bed bugs act normally — they hide and they do so very well.
If you can see bed bugs swarming, you have an extremely serious bed bug infestation.
This level of infestation is very rare, though we’ve heard of a few cases.
It’s possible to have a considerable bed bug infestation and see few, if any, bed bugs.
City Room says that
Bedbugs were found on the first three floors of the four-story building, though they were concentrated mainly on the first.
[Emphasis mine.]
Three quarters of the building? That, my friends, sounds like a sizeable bed bug infestation.
Update #2 (9/24):
Don’t look now, John Jay PR folks, but NBC called this a “bed bug infestation” no less than five times in this article alone.
The New York Times did not dip into that pesky conundrum.
And Running Scared (Village Voice) blogger Chez Pazienza had a bit of fun:
We don’t need to tell you that the past few years has seen near-epidemic bedbug “conditions” in New York City…
Yes, indeed.
By any other name, a bed bug problem smells just as nasty.*
In deference to our friend Winston, I will surrender the “i” word for now.
Here’s the thing, though: you have bed bugs (plural) in multiple offices and 3/4 floors of a building?
You have a bed bug problem. A serious one.
One which appears to have been going on since at least mid-August, according to the New York Times.
(I’m not discounting the importance of getting rid of even one single male bed bug, honestly, but am trying
And remember: there’s no shame in having a bed bug problem. What matters is how swiftly, carefully, and fully you respond to it.
———————–
*Yes: bed bug infestations can smell, but no: most people don’t report noticing this most of the time. Just taking a bit of poetic license.
Similar Posts:
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- Colleges react to bed bugs: Loyola (Chicago), Boston University, Brigham Young (Hawaii)
- University of Central Missouri (and other Missouri colleges) vs. bed bugs
- Bed bugs invade New York City Department of Health offices
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This story is up on the New York Times site as well, with some choice quotes from a PR mouthpiece: http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/24/john-jay-college-closes-building-due-to-bed-bugs/#comment-527395
Apparently, this expert (/sarcasm) thinks you need “swarms” of bedbugs in order to call it an infestation. He obviously knows very little about how bedbugs work. More importantly, when mouthpieces like this downplay bedbugs to the public, the issue slides further away from getting the serious attention it needs, and that frustrates me.
Thanks, BuggedInSomerville!
Update added above:
As Buggedinsomerville notes in the comments (above), The New York Times City Room blog now has a story on this.
City Room reports that North Hall has been closed until Tuesday for treatment, and there’s a Q&A with the college president and a pest firm in the College Theater at 2 today.
In it, Jim Grossman, a John Jay spokesman, explains the whole “bed bug condition” thing:
[Emphasis mine.]
Oh dear!
This is terribly inaccurate and just shows an ignorance of how bed bugs act normally — they hide and they do so very well.
If you can see bed bugs swarming, you have an extremely serious bed bug infestation.
This level of infestation is very rare, though we’ve heard of a few cases.
It’s possible to have a considerable bed bug infestation and see few, if any, bed bugs.
City Room says that
[Emphasis mine.]
Three quarters of the building? That, my friends, sounds like a sizeable bed bug infestation.
In my world the use of the word infested might be a bit on the hyperbole side in this case. I have seen these secretive and nocturnal insects out and about during the day in situations which I would call “infested”. So infested or not a bite is a bite and they seem to be addressing the issue. Good for them! And no I am not involved.
More bedbug-speak:
The NY Times clip quotes: “The president of the college, Jeremy Travis, said no bites had been reported, only skin rashes…”
1) Aren’t the skin rashes caused by bites? What hairs is this college president trying to split by this kind of talk?
2) “No bites have been reported?” ???? The CBS newsvideo shows a John Jay student pointing out his bite to the camera. Maybe Jeremy Travis should watch the video.
News reports will soon be saying “the alleged bites,” “the alleged bedbug infestation…”
Maybe they got a different dictionary than Websters? Must be sumthing they learn in those dang state of higher edumacation schools I never went to.
Maybe if you stretch the meaning real thin #4 of condition could fit but nowhere near as well as #2 of infest.
Then again I’m just a dumm southern boy.
spideyjg,
We know you’re not dumb!
The infest #2 you provide is tricky: bed bugs live off our blood. But they don’t live “on or in” us as the definition notes.
I am willing to admit there is some disagreement in dictionary definitions.
But here’s a few more interesting ones:
Here’s the OED (online; 2nd Ed. 1989):
———————————–
[Emphasis mine.]
I like this definition of “infest”:
Yeah, that sounds about right to me.
The thing is, bed bugs can be at unpleasant and troubling levels without “swarming” as “insects which infest plants, grain, etc.” do.
Twenty grasshoppers, no big deal. A swarm of locusts: infestation.
Twenty bed bugs, on the other hand: the bed bug equivalent of a problem. You have a problem for a long, long time before any swarming is going to happen…
Here’s another question: a busyness of ferrets, a murder of crows.
What do you call a bunch of bed bugs?
Creative answers welcomed! (Hint: I am not looking for “colony.”)
Oh, and still more updates have been added to the post.
A suck of BBs.
A festin of BBs
Hello,
I just wanted to say that I work on one of the floors of the North Hall Building of John Jay College. That I know the bug issue was kept quiet for quite sometime. The investigation of the bugs was initiated on Friday, the 18th. The college community was not informed of this till Wednesday, the 23rd, which is when I was bit. My bites were actually dismissed by administration because of the craziness going on, they thought everyone would think they have been bitten. They later informed us that that night the rest of the building would be investigated. I also forgot to mention that staff members from the first floor, where the bugs were found, were relocated up stairs, without being checked for bugs or taking any precautions.
On Thursday when I woke up I found new bites on my body, I was extremely upset! I went to work because they said those who did not want to go in had to use a sick day. When I arrived at work they had relocated staff to other building. This concerned me since they were doing so with out being cautious and checking staff for bites or at least be cautious of not bringing it into another building. I was sent home after showing the bites I had received and have not returned since.
Other in my family are now showing symptoms of having bites, redness, scratching, etc. I have been told by those who I work with that my area was not affected, the dogs they sent did not show bedbugs where my desk is. This upsets me. I feel as if they are outing me because I spoke up when I needed help. They want to now say that it must of just been me, in high traffic office of over six staff members, I find it very hard to believe.
I now have to deal with the financial burden of ridding these bugs from my family’s apartment and my personal belongings. So… “condition” my ass!
Staff members have been working side by side with these bugs for months! Just because they found them Last Friday does not mean they haven’t been around before that. God knows how many haven’t noticed them at home yet.
There are those in the John Jay community who believe what the administration is telling them because maybe it makes them feel better and choose to ignore that a public institution will say anything when they are receiving bad press.
Im also asking for help, I live in a 40 apt building in Brooklyn. My apt is a two bedroom. Very cluttered and have no idea where to start. Some one I know suggested painting? I have already started the drying of the clothes I had laying around at the laundrymat. I am a bit anxious and overwhelmed. I know this will take time and I might need to take off of work (2jobs) and school in order to get this done properly. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Thanks for reading!!!
Hi Bugw,
So sorry you are going through this.
One of the articles said that staff of John Jay were complaining of rashes as early as mid-August. When I have a bit more time I will link to it here.
Even though family members may be scratching, you need to verify that you have bed bugs at home. I would recommend having a good experienced professional inspect.
Remember that it’s quite common for people to scratch when we talk about bed bugs — the idea makes people react; it’s also possible for other causes to make people itchy. I am not saying you did not bring bed bugs home with you from work, but it is not necessarily so and needs to be verified.
It’s important you verify the presence of bed bugs before you start laundering things, tossing things out, or getting treatment — you might not have them at home, and if you do, people who are going to treat need to SEE the evidence before you clean it away!
I would also talk to higher-ups at work to see what kind of support they will give you with inspections or treatment (and maybe also talk to your union, if any).
I would strongly encourage you to repost your questions on our Forums, where you will likely get even more responses, and also to read our extensive FAQs.
I have an interesting bit of information that may or may not be a connection. A lot of John Jay students live in the New Yorker Hotel on 34th and 8th, which was in the news back in 2007 for bedbug infestations on the student floors. Maybe those students brought the bugs to school…
Hi BBSurvivor,
That’s a possibility.
Of course, anyone in NYC can have bed bugs at home (quite likely without knowing about them) and bring them in. There could also be issues with infested public transportation routes, supply shipments, maintenance crews, etc. It’s impossible to say how this started.