Cockroaches, Bedbugs Spark Concerns About Housing

Dozens of students have reported unwelcome visitors in their dorm rooms recently, as bedbugs and cockroaches have been spotted in McBain and Schapiro.

Students say the Office of Housing and Dining has not responded to multiple maintenance requests and that this inaction may indicate a disregard toward the problem of pests in dorms.

“No one wants to open the garbage chute, because that’s where they [cockroaches] come out of. People just throw out their trash in the lounge,” Claytoya Tugwell, CC ’10 and Schapiro resident, said.

Tugwell said she filed three maintenance requests in September and October. According to her, housing only installed roach traps in the room after the third request.

Students also frequently see roaches in McBain. “One time I had to wear my rain boots to the bathroom, because a cockroach was running around everywhere,” Valerie Sapozhnikova, CC ’10 and McBain resident, said.

Tessa Rapaczynski and Gabriela D’Addario, both CC ’10 and roommates on the third floor of McBain, have seen roaches in their room as well, mainly by the trash can and under the couch. “The girls across the hall have roaches that have been stumbling into our room half-dead,” Rapaczynski said.

The “girls across the hall,” who were granted anonymity due to a restriction on varsity athletes speaking to Spectator, said that in late November, one of them found a live cockroach in her shower caddy.

Meanwhile, several 12th-floor Schapiro residents have found bedbugs in their rooms.

Rooms 1217 and 1218 in Schapiro were vacated earlier this year due to bedbug infestations.

“Calls that indicate suspected bedbugs ... are elevated to high priority and are responded to immediately,” Heather Tsonopoulos, director of marketing and communications for the Office of Housing’s Student Auxiliary Services, wrote in an e-mail.

“The bedbug assessment process includes an in-depth inspection, as well as bedbug monitors being placed in the living spaces for three days and checked daily,” Tsonopoulos wrote. “If bedbugs are found, Housing will communicate daily with the student and neighbors to advise them on how to treat their belongings and to work with them on living arrangements while their space is being treated.”

Still, many students said that housing does not take the problem of pests in dorms seriously enough.

“Maintenance doesn’t care about bugs in general,” Rita Morales, CC ’10 and a Schapiro resident, said. “They don’t even put screens on the windows. ... If it’s not, like, a death epidemic, they don’t care.”

But Tsonopoulos responded in an e-mail, “Housing Services takes all complaints about pest control very seriously and works closely with Facilities to respond and follow-up with any incidents concerning these issues.”

D’Addario said she and Rapaczynski filed a maintenance request about the roaches in their room, and that housing came and installed traps. “But it’s clearly not working very well, because we haven’t found any dead ones,” D’Addario said.

“There are things to do. It’s not like there are no chemical substances that can kill the cockroaches,” Sapozhnikova said. “I’d pay for it or I’m sure the floor would pay for it.”

Tsonopoulos emphasized the challenges posed by Columbia’s urban location. “When speaking on the topic of pest control, it is important to do so within the framework of Columbia University’s location in New York City,” she wrote. “We do occasionally deal with pest issues like cockroaches and bedbugs in the residence halls, like all residents of the city.”

But students rejected the notion that roaches and other pests are an inevitable part of urban life.

“My house is three blocks away and we don’t have roaches,” Rapaczynski said. “It’s clearly a building maintenance issue.”

Maggie Astor can be reached at news@columbiaspectator.com.