It’s been a tough time for Brookdale residents lately, but the mice that plagued the main residence hall last semester seem to have finally been eradicated. When students returned after the summer break to Stern’s largest dorm building, most were startled to hear of the infestation. More information quickly followed. Notices were soon plastered on every door and hallway bulletin board, informing students of the situation. One warned against keeping open food in the dorms. “Mice eat three grams… a day,” one letter stipulated. “We do not want to feed them.” Despite conventional advice, cleanliness of the dorm room seemed of little consequence, as mice had been found in the tidiest of rooms, having passed over messier setups. Incidents of mouse-spotting seemed especially prevalent around the middle and basement areas of the building, but even mice-free rooms lived with an uncomfortable sense of foreboding.
As the situation progressed, RAs handed out plastic containers for students to safely store their food away from the rodents’ reach. Another notice was plastered on doors to further explain the situation, causing some students to wonder if visiting parents would be treated to information about the mice too. If parents were officially informed, it is hard to say what their overall impression would have been. Many New Yorkers seem to regard the occasional rodent infestation as an inevitable occurrence, a mere side effect of living in the city.
In contrast to those who would take a dismissive stance, Stern College seems to have dealt with the situation admirably well. According to Ms. Rachel Kraut of the housing office, “Yeshiva University treated the building extensively, bringing in experts to assess the problem and address the issues.” She added that “Students were also very responsible in following specific instructions.”
Since the new semester, no reports have been made about mice in Brookdale Hall. “Not lately, no,” Eleorah Sandman (’16) says when inquired. “My roommates and I have been relieved to return to our mouse-free room.” Other Brookdale residents can peek out of their rooms and breathe a sigh of relief. It seems Stern’s exterminators have eliminated the scourge.