Posted by Mariel Kennedy
Students already know that due to overcrowding in the first-year class many students were put into triples. As if three was not already enough of a crowd, many students found shocking new additions to their rooms this semester.
Though they seem happy to have discovered clean and warm refuges from the harsh Saratoga Springs' winter, students are anything but pleased. The new additions to the campus community are mice.
Several students living in the Wiecking and Howe-Rounds dorms are alarmed to come back from break and find mice living in their rooms. Though the exact number of rooms that claim to have seen mice is unknown, it sparked speculation across campus.
Gabby Carboni '14, a Wiecking Hall resident, was not surprised to find a mouse in her room on the first week back from winter break.
"Some friends and other people who live on my floor had been talking about how they saw mice run across their rooms, so I figured that my room would probably follow. A few days later, my roommates saw a mouse and went to our R.A." Carboni said.
Wiecking residents claim that The Office of Residential Life will provide students with mousetraps if students suspect mice are living in their rooms.
Another Wiecking resident who wishes to remain anonymous states that after seeing a mouse in her room, she and her roommate went to the building's facilities services who provided mousetraps from the Residential Life.
Though contacted, Residential Life did not comment on the accusations of an infestation.
When asked how she was handling the mouse situation, Carboni said that she bought a mousetrap that would neither harm nor kill her pesky fourth roommate.
A life-long vegetarian and PETA hopeful, Carboni says she understands why Res Life would be giving out traps, but wishes that an alternative, non-violent trap would be offered.
"Regular mousetraps are a lot cheaper and maybe they just did not think of offering different types," Carboni said. "I personally just wanted to get a different trap. Besides, no one is making [students who have seen mice] use it and mice in the dorms are unsanitary and dangerous to health."
Students understand the gravity of the situation and hope for a more long-term solution. Several fear that mice are not a short-term issue and will not disappear over night. If claims of mice keep coming, students hope that the college will resort to a more serious response.
Carboni warns students to take precaution with food in their rooms. After all, if you give a mouse a cookie, he will want a glass of milk.
"People need to be careful. I think part of the problem is that people left food in their dorms over vacation. If it is cold outside and food is available, of course mice are going to come in," Carboni said.
Any suspicions or sightings of mice in a room should immediately be reported and taken care of.