With apologies for the inconvenience, Goucher College has asked its students living off campus in Dulaney Valley Apartments to vacate their quarters immediately because of reports of bedbugs.

"It is a precautionary measure," according to the e-mail sent by Dean of Students Gail Neverdon on Sept. 27 to 94 students, referring to the fact that the three apartments that prompted complaints by students July 14 and Sept. 11 and 19 have been treated. "We don't want to take a chance on a potentially troublesome problem," she said.

Whether the students introduced the bedbugs to the apartments or the apartments introduced the bedbugs to the students is unknown -- and moot at this point as far as Goucher is concerned.

Bedbugs are small nocturnal insects that live by feeding on the blood of humans and other warm-blooded hosts. Though they typically don't spread disease, bedbug infestations can cause stress and anxiety, and itchy bedbug bites have been known to generate skin infections and scars from scratching.

Bedbugs have popped up on a number of college campuses recently, said Goucher spokeswoman Kristen Keener, who noted the pesticide DDT was thought to have wiped them out years ago before its use became controversial.

"One of the misconceptions is that bedbugs are caused by dirt or filth," she said, "but that is not the case. They can get on a person's clothing and be transmitted that way. That's why we are moving all the students out."

Lane Management LLC, the subsidiary of Lane Northeast which owns the 13-acre apartment complex, issued a statement Oct. 1 indicating pest control companies have certified that the affected apartments are now pest-free and that several other occupied apartments were inspected and found to have no problem.

In fact, Lane said it has instituted a new policy to have a pest control expert inspect every vacant apartment and certify it as pest-free before allowing residents to move in.

Goucher's goal is to have all students living on campus, according to Wendy Belzer Litzke, assistant to Goucher President Sanford Ungar, but this year's student body of 1,550 exceeded the anticipated numbers.

Dulaney Valley Apartments' location -- at the intersection of Dulaney Valley Road and Fairmount Avenue -- and its proximity to Goucher, just across Dulaney Valley Road and up the hill, made it ideal to house students for which Goucher had no on-campus dormitory space despite the 200-bed dorm completed in 2005.

Lane Northeast is in the midst of razing and replacing the 59 two-story stone buildings with a $170 million luxury condominium and apartment complex called The Quarter.

The plan was to move the students into The Quarter's luxury apartments by the end of August, but they haven't been able to move out of the old apartments that were supposed to be very temporary housing.

Neverdon told students that the college now has to operate under the assumption that the new apartments won't be ready until January when students return from winter break.

At a meeting Oct. 1 Goucher officials presented options for new living arrangements to the students for the remainder of the semester.

Because of limited availability, only a few could choose dormitory space on campus or space in Dulaney Crescent Apartments. The majority will move into the Sheraton North hotel next to the college on Southerly Drive.

Acknowledging the move will be "challenging and disruptive for the students," Neverdon said Goucher will reimburse them for storage costs, reduce their room rate for the entire year, provide meals, money for laundry expenses and use of a washer/dryer in one of the residence halls on campus and assist them when they can finally move into The Quarter.

Goucher is offering incentives to students who change their minds and choose to move back on campus -- instead of having to move again when The Quarter is ready. Incentives include "Goucher Gopher Bucks" for on-campus spending, free parking and priority room draw for the fall 2009 semester.

Goucher will have all the students moved by Oct. 12, Keener said.

However, students will not be welcomed back to campus until they have their bed linens and clothing thoroughly laundered, Kenner said, and the college is strongly encouraging the same measures for students moving elsewhere.

In both cases, "Goucher will pay for that," she said.

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