The infestation plaguing Wofford’s campus
Long before I got to college, or had even chosen Wofford as the place where I would spend the next four years, I had been warned by friends and family about the dangers of the hall bathrooms. They spoke of the complete and total lack of privacy, offered by hall bath’s, and their notoriously unclean toilets. However, I was surprised that, upon my arrival at Wofford, my main complaint was not the lack of privary or the questionable cleanliness of the hall bathrooms. Rather, it was the stinkbugs.
On my second day at Wofford, it was with horror that I watched the paper towel dispenser decided to dispense upon me a cascade of several small brown insects, referred to commonly as “stink bugs”. While there are a number of different varieties of stink bugs, the kind that most Wofford students are used to seeing is likely the brown marmorated stink bug, known in the scientific community as Halyomorpha halys Stal, which belongs to the order Hemiptera (true bugs) and family Pentatomidae (stink bugs). These critters are not only originally foreign to South Carolina, but to the U.S. entirely, having been thought to have stowed away in packing crates. The first reported sighting was in Allentown, Pennsylvania in 1998. Since then they have spread considerably, as the residents of both Greene and Marsh residence halls can testify.
Freshman Jacorie McCall, who lives on the third floor of Greene, had an incident of numerous stink bugs crawling in through his poorly sealed window. McCall said, “They had made a nest in my blinds and they were all up there and when I discovered them they had…started moving up.” When questioned as to the approximate number he replied, “There were about seventy.” The bugs seem to make a habit out of nesting together in large numbers.
Even those who students who have not encountered them in their room have definitely seen the issue firsthand in the communal bathrooms. Another Greene resident, Julian Williamson, relived a traumatic experience, “I saw eight of them in a nest behind the stall doors.” However, the infestation is by no means limited to Greene. Freshman Bennett Joyce, who lives in Marsh, said “The stink bugs and other insects are everywhere. You will find them in the hall, the shower and even in your pillows.” He even mentioned finding some in his air vent.
So, what is the solution to this problem? Despite the valiant efforts of the janitorial staff in “freshmen-land”, the stink bug infestation remains an issue. Wofford students should not be afraid to take matters into their own hands, disposing of the pests in a reasonable and safe way. As tempting as utilizing a can of aerosol and a lighter may sound, this would likely cause an even greater issue with the dorm fire alarms. Instead, wikiHow has a few safer, but less aesthetically pleasing options. In addition to sprinkling catnip around the areas containing many of the bugs, the website suggests using a spray-bottle mixture containing water with either garlic powder, mint oil or simply soapy water. With these tactics in mind, hopefully Wofford students can begin to fight back against this invasion of our dorms.
Written by Chalmers Rogland
