2008 Woodie Awards
Rat-race runs through Taft
Upperclassmen living with uninvited guests
Rachel Yarmosh
Issue date: 2/9/06 Section: News
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These both unexpected and uninvited visitors have been the source of numerous complaints over the past couple of years and students feel the problem is getting worse.
Nicole Guilbert, senior, Narragansett, R.I., lived at Taft as a junior. "We saw a mouse in our apartment last year run through the living room and the girls that live in that apartment now have seen one recently too. Also, last year the boys that lived upstairs had a squirrel come into their apartment."
However, residents living there now, still feel it is very much a problem.
Taft resident, Jessica DiBenedetto, junior, Bronx, N.Y., said, "Unfortunately, I have come in contact with one of the mice that lives in Taft. I was about to do the dishes and it ran across the counter. I almost died."
"It was the first time I've ever seen a mouse and it was not a nice experience at all. We have told the RA about it more than once and even called buildings and grounds and no one has done anything about it."
However, the security officer on duty feels that it is partly the students to blame. Officer Robert Johnston is the primary security officer on guard at the door from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Taft and he says that much of the problem can be attributed to the food that students leave lying around during holidays and breaks.
"When the kids here go home, most of the time they leave food in there rooms. That attracts all kinds of animals looking for food, mostly mice and squirrels," said Officer Johnston. "It's like a picnic in here for them."
In defense of Buildings and Grounds, he said that the exterminators had been by four separate times in the last month to take care of the situation.
"They have done all kinds of things to take care of the problem. They have laid traps, baits, poisons both indoors and outdoors all along the premises," said Johnston.
Some students feel the problem began before they even moved in.
Ashley Coppola, junior, Holmdel, N.J., said, "The mice problem started this summer before we even moved into the building. When we were moving in we noticed droppings, but hoped that with having people back in the building they would choose somewhere else to live. I didn't notice anything till around winter-break time when we physically saw a mouse at dinner time one night. Then we started to notice the droppings."