University of Virginia Library

About Ants

Waking up in the morning with ants in
your bed can be a rather creepy experience if
you were not brought up in a jungle. Many
dormitory dwellers are experiencing just such
an adventure, and are legitimately concerned.
Naturally, the tyrant behind this ant
infestation is Ralph E. Main...or is he?

Mr. Main and his Housing Office are the
villains behind some of the complaints we
hear almost daily, and we are not hesitant to
point the finger of blame at him when he has
earned it. But it would be stretching his
culpability a little to say that his office is the
source of the ant problem.

Instead, the problem lies in the nature of
the little red beasts. One is crawling over the
paper upon which we inscribe this column,
and we are located in Newcomb Hall, not a
dormitory. So we must look to ourselves for
immediate remedies to the ant problem.

Ants are attracted to food. Students have
food in their rooms. As a first step toward
alleviating the problem, students should make
a concerted effort to keep all food that can be
refrigerated in their refrigerators, and any
other food in sealed containers.

If you are still plagued by ants or other
vermin, get in touch with the Housing
Maintenance Department who will expedite
the extermination of the pests.

The Housing Office has assured us that it
will attack the problem seriously whenever a
report of insects in a specific location is
brought to its attention. A continuing pest
control program is underway, and the dorms
are fumigated during the summer. The last
resort would be the fumigation of the
dormitories once again during Christmas
vacation, an endeavor that could hopefully be
avoided.

If your efforts to keep ants out are futile,
and if you find that Housing is not responsive
to the problem should it continue, let us
know.

The responsibility, though, lies with you,
and the residents. Try keeping the dormitories
clean, first. Then, if the nasty critters persist,
Housing will be glad to take drastic measures.