Upon being told that students living in Newton Place at the University of Alberta would be getting free laundry Luis Vasquez gleefully said, “whoa, that’s good.”
Upon being told that students living in Newton Place at the University of Alberta would be getting free laundry Luis Vasquez gleefully said, “whoa, that’s good.”
Little did Vasquez know that the free laundry was not a new perk, but rather a way for the university to encourage the students to clean all their clothes, because, well, the residence is being fumigated for blood sucking bed bugs that were spotted over a month ago.
Students are also required to scrub and move their furniture, and will be required to stay out of their room for four hours after fumigation. And in a sweeping display of institutional compassion, students who don’t comply with the cleanup will be fined $150!
Interestingly, this is the second time in the last few years that the U of A has had to deal with bed bugs.
Terrible living conditions is of course common for students. In Kingston for example, the Queen’s University Alma Matar Society presents the Golden Cockroach award to area landlords who have the worst living accommodations.
It’s too bad that the University of Alberta Students’ Union doesn’t doesn’t have a similar award. University residences, although often cramped and soaked with the smell of sex and whiskey, don’t come close to many of the worst privately owned rental houses and apartments students often find themselves in. But I think in the case of the U of A, an exception could have been made.