BY CHRIS GERALDS, Contributing Writer
Halfway through the spring semester, students of Piedmont College are looking forward to spring break. However, for those students who live in Purcell Hall, the ant infestation that caused so many issues in the fall and well into this semester, have yet to be resolved.
Over the course of the first semester, numerous reports were filed by students living in the Purcell dormitory, which claimed ants were repeatedly gaining access to food containers, clothing and bedding. One student, Zach Langley, woke up to ants crawling in his bed during the fall semester. “We had a bad ant problem in our room in Purcell and it affected how we live. They were in our clothes, and I woke up one morning with them on me.”
My complaints, like that of Langley’s were filed last semester.
According to a Resident Assistant in Purcell, ant repellent was to be sprayed in the building while students were away for Christmas break. However, freshman PJ DeJesus experienced the pests as soon as he returned to campus. “After my seven and a half hour car ride back to Piedmont, all I wanted to do was unpack and sleep,” he said. “I walked into my room and there were ants crawling down one side of my wall from the ceiling. I didn’t even leave food out; they came out of nowhere.”
These ants not only affect the comfort that students feel in their own dorm room, but they are also damaging students’ wallets.
The average college student will spend 40 percent of their college expenses on discretionary items such as entertainment, food and clothing, according to nationwide.com. With such a large percentage going to these items, Piedmont College students are now having to spend money on more food and clothing that has been destroyed due to the ant infestation.
Ants are a universal problem. Veronica Miravette, from the University of Girona, has documented ants and the issues that they cause once they have established an area. “Once ants establish a new region, it is very difficult to eradicate them,” she said.
Even with imminent tests and other duties, many Piedmont students are more worried about opening their dormitory room door and discovering a new wave of ants ravaging their belongings.
As the weather begins to warm up in the spring, ants are suspected to become a larger issue in Purcell unless something is done.