The Independent Student Newspaper of St. John's University

The Torch

The Independent Student Newspaper of St. John's University

The Torch

The Independent Student Newspaper of St. John's University

The Torch

Cockroaches Abound in Century Hall

The beginning of the year is an interesting time. It’s the time to settle into a new building, with new perks, and a chance to move up in the realms of dorm life from the freshman buildings to the sophomore ones; or, if you’re lucky, a chance to move from the dorms in general to the luxurious townhouses. However, it is not a time to let your guard down.

With each new building come new experiences as we move on to bigger and better things in our time at St. John’s.But, when we thought bigger, did we think about bigger problems? Did we think about facing enormous cockroaches? The sophomore residence hall, Century, has recently become home to many cockroaches of seeminly abnormal size.

This may not seem too scary for many – they are just bugs right? For others, however, these cockroaches are a living nightmare.

For Charde Lockett, encountering one of these cockroaches in her suite was terrifying. “I’ve never seen a bug bigger than this,” she said. “It was huge, with the longest antlers sticking out! I screamed at the sight of it and ran to wake my roommate for help.”

She sat, waiting impatiently, as she called Public Safety to remove the frightening threat from her room. They sent over a Public Safety officer to do what they thought would be a simple job.

The officer chased the bug around the common room, slapping and pounding various spots; the bug, nevertheless, was far too slick and dodged the hits. The battle between the Public Safety officer and the survivalist instincts of the creature lasted fifteen minutes. The uproar of disgust that has arisen in the last week throughout the building is only the beginning.

Already found in the hallways, the lounges, and in our trash eating neglected leftovers, they are, slowly but surely, finding their way into our beds and clothes.

Sophomore Kamran Daravi spent an entire night washing everything he owned in his disgust of finding two huge cockroaches in his belongings.

The cry of loathing against Century Hall and its newfound insect residents has caused the school to take a small initiative. If one is to experience a face-to-face interaction with one of these fearsome bugs, the school will quickly send over an exterminator in a short time – of two to three days.

When the exterminator came, to aid Lockett and her suitemates, he gave a serious warning to beware of the smaller cockroaches. He explained that they create nests and will spread their baby roaches throughout the building, which can cause serious damage.

The larger ones, although scary, mean no harm; they are merely escaping the wet weather outside.

Regardless, threat or not, these bugs are still disgusting, and do not belong in the building.

Now, more than ever, is the time for resident students to try their best to keep their dorms as clean as possible. Take out your trash, avoid big piles of clothes, and clean your room! There seems to be little to no explanation as to why the school has not sent out an exterminator to spray the entire building.

Students pay an arm and a leg to live in what they think is a clean environment. Yet, they are finding these hideously frightening bugs throughout the building, a place they should be able to call home.

One can only hope the University will soon realize the enormity of the rising problem of these cockroaches and take the initiative to spray the entire building and protect the residents from these dangerously foul bugs.

If you spot one of these creepybugs crawling throughout your building, call for an exterminator and avoid the spread of this threat.

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