ACUHO-I News Blog

Whether it is Talking Stick articles or conference presentations, ACUHO-I members know that bed bugs are a major topic of conversation and concern. It’s also one that the ACUHO-I central office fairly regularly gets phone calls about from the “mainstream” press. Recently we’ve seen stories in the USA Today newspaper, as well as the Chronicle of Higher Education.

This morning, the bed bugs hit the big time with an appearance on The Today Show.  Host Matt Lauer introduced a video — complete with the scary violin music from Psycho — on the subject. The video featured, along with concerned students, the University of Florida’s Wayne Walker who discussed treatment and preventative measures campuses can take. Lauer than interviewed Richard Cooper, co-author of Bed Bug Handbook (a popular choice at this year’s annual conference bookstore) who offered some good advice and touted Web site resources as well.

Sure, there are parts of the presentation that make the bed bugs sound like something from a 1950s science fiction movie, but hopefully what people will take away from this is that campuses have identified a potential issue and are prepared to address if, indeed, the bed bugs do begin to bite.

There’s a lot of garbage being thrown around at a political convention. No, really. Actual garbage. Fortunately, as The Chronicle of Higher Education reports, more than 450 students, faculty, and staff from Colorado State University have volunteered to help sort mountains of garbage; separating plastic from paper and the compostables from the recyclables.

It’s commitment like this that help CSU get named as one of the country’s “greenest” campuses by Newsweek magazine. And, perhaps, some aspiring political science major will be able to add this experience to his or her resume as an introduction to the dirty business of politics.