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volume 45 / issue 9October 26, 2011theeyeopener.comSince 1967
 A plagueupon ourhouse
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October 26, 2011The Eyeopener
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Mice scamper through the hall-ways of the Podium building.Rats roam around Esso, tunnel-ing through the fence in hopes ofsneaking in the George Vari Engi-neering and Computing Centre.Cockroaches dart through the rstoor of the Library building andsneak in cracks and crevices.According to documents ob-tained by the
Eyeopener
through afreedom of information request,persistent and escalating pestcontrol issues in several Ryerson buildings have been plaguing fac-ulty, sta and students for years.The university spends $22,000annually on campus pest controland sta from Orkin Canada PCOServices is on campus every Fri-day, checking mouse traps andlaying down rat poison but pestsstill lurk around campus.“It’s not to say it isn’t a problemor it is zero, but I would suggestthat it is by and large under con-trol, that it is not too serious,” saidRyerson President Sheldon Levy.“We should be aiming for perfec-tion — I doubt we’ll ever get per-fection but you should have that asyour goal.”Tonga Pham, director of Cam-pus Planning and Sustainabil-ity, said in an email that, althougheliminating pests is impossible, theuniversity puts“constant eort”into ghting in-festation.“In an urbanseing such asours it is nearlyimpossible to‘completelyeradicate’ pestson campus, therefore we also re-spond to concerns by taking actionas quickly as possible once an issueis reported,” she wrote.But, even with control measuresin place, some buildings on cam-pus have been experiencing pestproblems for years. The SouthBond Building [SBB] at 105 BondSt. requested pest control servicesfrom CPS several times since Au-gust 2010 because mice droppingswere found.The problem is still ongoing,according to Gabe Nespoli, re-search operations coordinator atthe psychology department, whichis housed in the SBB. He has beenworking in the building for fouryears and mice — in varying num- bers — have been present for the beer part of his time there.“It comes and goes,” he said.“I think maybewith the time ofyear.”Nespoli saidsta routinelynds mousedroppings onthe ground andsome desks inthe building. Hesaid some students are unwillingto work in one of the labs wheremouse droppings are regularlyfound.Although it doesn’t bother Ne-spoli too much to nd droppingsin the building, he is worried attimes about the cleanliness of theSBB. “I mean, it’s kind of gross,”he said.Although PCO pest controltechnicians come by the buildingwhenever sta members requesta check, he said the traps they setdo not seem to permanently deterthe mice.“They keep coming back so Idon’t know how eective (themeasures) have been,” Nespolisaid.But Pham responded that resultsare usually not immediate.“When a concern is identied by building users responsive action istaken immediately, however it cantake some time for this action tohave a positive eect.”Sta and faculty on the secondand third oors of Eric Palin Hallwere also plagued by mice lastyear and sta emailed CPS a totalof 22 times to report mice sightingsand mouse droppings between Jan. 13, 2010 andAug. 16, 2011.Lynn Reyn-olds, mechani-cal engineeringadministrativecoordinator, sentseveral emailsurging CPS tosend a pest con-trol expert to thedepartment’ssecond oor EPH oces last De-cember. Even though inspectionswere done regularly, the problempersisted.“But it was never more than oneat a time every few days or once aweek,” said Reynolds.The problem worsened duringthe university’s holiday break,when pest control was not in-specting. After Ryerson reopened,measures were taken and the micewere cleared until April, whensta reported mice sightings again,according to emails addressed toCPS. The problem was resolvedafter that, said Reynolds.“We haven’t seen another onesince then,” she said. But she stillkeeps her food in a sealed plastic bin under her desk.Even thoughpest controlsta does rou-tine checks oncea week, some buildings havehad to wait forexterminationfor more thanhalf a year. TheTheatre Schoolrst reportedsigns of termite damage to thewest wall of Room 101 in Septem- ber 2010.A pest control technician inves-tigated the problem but, in Febru-ary 2011, the school emailed CPSto say nothing had been done sincethe initial visit and termites werecontinuing to eat away the wallsof the classroom. One sta mem- ber emailed jokingly that, if actionis not taken soon, the university“might need to build a new The-atre School.”Finally, an exterminator was brought in late April 2011, whichcost the university $1,800.But Pham said the wait was be-cause the termite treatment is mosteective in the spring.‘The most eective, and leastinvasive, treatment for termitesinvolves ground injections thatare required at the exterior of the building,” she said in an email.“These treatments are less eectivein the winter, and cannot be donewhen the ground is frozen.”Levy said, although the idealscenario is no pests at all, the uni-versity is doing its best to controlthe situation on campus.“Other than bringing in the ex-perts and doing what you can, Ican’t think of anything else youcan do.”
3
October 26, 2011The Eyeopener
NEWS
Rye fighting losing battle with pests
Rye’sworstoffenders
Eric Palin Hall
Faculty and staff in the Schoolof Social Work were complain-ing that “mice [were] marchingin the third oor of EPH” sinceJanuary 2010. In November,staff continued to email CPS,saying “we continue havingmice running around our ofceand disrupting our work.” Butsome staff members were notas harsh towards the critters.One wrote an email to custodialstaff, saying there was a “cutemouse scampering around.”
Podium
Since January 2010, staff inthe basement and rst oor ofthe building was complainingabout nding mouse droppingsin ofces and seeing mice inthe staff lounge area. One staffmember even reported seeing a“pretty brave mouse run acrossthe oor during a Senate meet-ing in POD 250” on Nov. 3, 2010.Traps were set but, in July 2011,CPS was still receiving emailsabout the issue.
South Bond
Staff at the South Bond build-ing were plagued by mice April2010. By September, psychol-ogy chair and dean of arts JeanPaul Boudreau sent an emailto CPS asking for more power-ful pest control than the “smallchemical traps that seem tohave little to no impact.” In hisemail, he wrote the problem is“getting substantially wors[e]”and “the problem is becominga health hazard to many of ourpeople.”
Kerr Hall West
Kerr Hall West tops the chartsfor its diversity of pests. Staff inthe building reported spottingnumerous mice, a “foot-long”rat, and a cloud-like y infesta-tion in the men’s washroom.One complaint to CPS also saidthere was a silversh problemunder the mats and around thelockers in the Pool Ofce. An-other email said that mice wererunning around the Health Cen-tre on the ground oor of thebuilding.
It is nearly impossibleto ‘completely eradi-cate’ pests on campus.
— Tonga Pham,Campus Planningand Sustainability 
Here are someo the buildingswith the mostunwelcomecampus pets
Some buildings on campus are overrun by rodents and insects scurrying around ofces, classrooms and Senate meetings.
News Editor Mariana Ionova
investigates Ryerson’s resident critters
ILLUSTRATION: LINDSAY BOECKL
I mean, it’s kind of gross.
— Gabe Nespoli,research operationscoordinator 
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