Briana Szpilka has been living in South Lake Village for over a year and still can’t find a permanent solution to her apartment’s spider infestation.
Many South Lake Village residents have consistently seen spiders in their apartments. The residents put work orders in to address the problem, but have been told conflicting information from maintenance and Campus Living regarding a permanent fix.
Szpilka, a senior pharmacy major, and her suitemates tried to address the problem last fall when one of them started finding spider bites all over her body, but it has continued into this year.
“Obviously [with] our roommate it wasn't like really bad bites, but as soon as I saw one in my room this year, I put in the work order,” Szpilka said. “The exterminator came the next day, which was really good.”
Szpilka said since they’ve put down spider traps, she’s noticed a slight improvement.
“They put a spider trap in my room which has nothing in it, so that's good,” Szpilka said.
Szplika’s suitemate, Hannah Mechanic, a junior health and human services major, is unhappy with the situation in their appartment. She said they began seeing spiders in their apartment two weeks after she moved in.
“[The spiders are] pretty disgusting and scary,” Mechanic said. “[Maintenance] put spider traps in the kitchen and bathrooms and said if it's not fixed or better in a week, we should call again. I haven’t noticed a difference yet.”
Another South Lake Village resident, who wished to remain anonymous due to an affiliation with Campus Living, felt that maintenance didn’t treat the problem well.
“I put in two work orders last year for the window because there is not only moisture, but black mold growing in there,” the resident said. “I was told that they will not replace it until all the windows are doing the same thing, regardless of how bad it is.”
Albert Mirzakandov, a junior electrical engineering major, noticed some spiders when he first moved into his apartment, but said he isn’t bothered enough to address the problem yet.
“I have noticed a couple of spiders by the windows, but they aren’t a problem,” Mirzakandov said. “I also found one in the bathroom about a week ago, which really scared me; it was big.”
Mirzakandov hasn’t submitted a work order for the spiders, but says that if the situation gets any worse he would take action.
“At the moment I don’t think [I’d submit a work order],” Mirzakandov said. “But if it becomes a bigger problem, I may.”
Ethan Dicken, a junior electrical engineering major, has also seen spiders but isn’t bothered.
“If I was being bitten then it would be a problem, but it’s not often enough where it’s a problem,” Dicken said. “I just kill the spider and move on with my day.”
Michael Yates, the assistant director for University Apartments, said in an email that there was no bug or pest problem in South Lake Village.
“With the rise in temperatures outside we have seen a small increase of students that have submitted work orders requesting support for common household pests.” Yates said. “Campus Living works directly with professional exterminators for prevention and treatment of problems.”
Logan Bennett, a senior theatre major, lived in the complex last year, and said she never had a problem with spiders or any other pests but wasn’t surprised to hear about the problem.
The South Lake Village complex was completed in August 2000 at which time it was opened to students.
“Some of the buildings are pretty old, and definitely need to be updated,” Bennett said. “I got lucky and was in a newer building, so I didn’t really have any issues.”
South Lake residents were told by maintenance that the main issue lies in the windows but were also told that the window wouldn’t be repared until the issue was more widespread.
“We had the exterminator come and he said that our front window is totally rotted away with a big crack in the wall and that is how they are getting in,” the resident who wished to stay anonymous said.
Mechanic said maintenance said they can’t replace the window until all of the windows in South Lake Village are rotting.
Yates said in an email that this was not the case.
“We will and do repair and replace windows if there is deterioration,” Yates said. “We do encourage students to alert Campus Living of any maintenance concerns within their apartments so they can be addressed.”
Work orders can be submitted online or in-person through Campus Living at any time, or maintenance can be contacted for immediate assistance 24 hours a day at (716) 645-2025.
Lindsay Gilder is an assistant features editor and can be reached at lindsay.gilder@ubspectrum.com
