so... ghetto.

<p>Agreed. Bedbugs are not fun. I was actually empathetic to the problem described by viirgo, but was a bit offended by the tone and her blaming Fordham for it. Fordham didnt put the bugs there. </p>

<p>Its a big problem all over New York, in all of the five boroughs. Its a HUGE problem in the midwest, notably in Ohio, from news reports.</p>

<p>Bed bugs can be on the trains, subways, park benches, movie theatres, even in POSH five star hotels (and they are.) </p>

<p>It has nothing to do with being “ghetto.” </p>

<p>I do however hope that Fordham addressed Viirgo’s problem and she was able to either find suitable on campus housing or they successfully resolved the problem by spraying and removing the bugs in her off campus apartment.</p>

<p>What are their natural enemies? Spiders? Bats?</p>

<p>Haha, sylvan, if spiders and bats were their natural enemies, we probably wouldn’t want those in our houses either! : – D</p>

<p>Ghostbuster, I did not mean I thought Fordham had bedbugs crawling all over the place! But sandkmom is correct, if they are in the off campus housing, it is only a matter of time before they join the rest of the university, hiking in on students’ jackets, backpacks, and what have you. </p>

<p>I, too, saw the OP’s complaints abt Fordham being “ghetto” – with which I completely disagree. She sounded to me like she had some other issues, ones she brought with her, and the bedbugs were her last straw. </p>

<p>As a Mom of a 12th grader, I am entitled to have my concerns about the things she will face next year, whether it is bugs, having to learn street smarts, dealing with the dumb things that happen in dorms & frats, etc, and all the other things that rightly concern parents. We don’t raise them for 18 years to throw them at the college’s door and forget about them. </p>

<p>I was recommending the mattress pad because a quilted kind feels much better than sleeping on the plastic mattress.</p>

<p>JRZ
agreed. I am a parent of two college kids and another in high school. Its daunting and scary for everyone, whether they be at college at home or away at college. The things I know now really make me angry. There were a few wild kids when I was in college, but the vast majority of them were not like the kind of things I am hearing today, and certainly not as spoiled or demanding. </p>

<p>I have been anything but a “drop off parent”. If you have not been through this process before, just wait and see
its a learning experience for both parents and students.</p>

<p>Yes–I’ve been through it too. That is why I am relatively relaxed with this one. Although she is our baby, so I am pulled in the other direction!</p>

<p>We see the spoiled & demanding kids in our h.s. too. At least this kid laughs at them. </p>

<p>Do you work at Fordham? I have a question to ask.</p>

<p>No
I don’t work there. My D1 is a senior at Fordham. But you are free to ask me any question. If you prefer, you can pm me. I will do my best to answer it.</p>

<p>

ghostbuster, can you expound on or summarize some of the things that make you angry? Is the situation really that different from when WE were that age (pondering sylvan’s misspent youth
)</p>

<p>Well
I was no angel either sylvan
I drank my share of beer and smoked my share of cigarettes. But that was all. Today’s crowd, from what I can gather is another kettle of fish. Not all kids, mind you, but seemingly more of them. Its the “hooking up” generation and they do it without guilt or compunction or concern for their health or the feelings of another human being. There were only a handful of those types in my day and they almost universally came from dysfunctional families of one stripe or another. </p>

<p>I am not just talking about Fordham. We have friends with kids just about every where: public flagships, elite privates, Ivy league and its very disconcerting the “stories” their kids relay to them about dorm life and frat/sorority life. </p>

<p>At least at Fordham, for the most part, the best and brightest seem to spend their free time studying and behaving. There will always be exceptions, of course. </p>

<p>And I am also referring to articles I have read in major newspapers or magazines about kids doing horrific things to finance graduate and professional school. Very very sad. </p>

<p>I dont want to turn this thread into a moral play again
that never works out too well. I just wish kids would be more protective of their health and their immortal souls, and not be in such a hurry to grow up (i.e. doing adult things at a tender age). Loss of innocence. </p>

<p>As for what makes me angry, its the sort of stuff (most of which happened Freshman Year) that makes your skin crawl. (TMI). And subjecting roomies to that sort of crap. My view is if you are bound and determined to misbehave, then for goodness sakes, have a little common decency and take it somewhere else, instead of putting your roomies at risk for all sorts of “issues”. </p>

<p>Upperclassmen at Fordham can pick their own roomies and thus, they can “weed out” the bad actors quickly and live with/near people with similar values and study habits. </p>

<p>Kids that age will make mistakes. We all did. I am not a prude nor tea totaler. And Fordham is really no worse than any other school. </p>

<p>Just the other day, a friend of mine, whose kid is very sheltered, was explaining the “freshmen follies” to me about her experience. And children of well to do and well mannered parents were doing shocking things, apparently, in this state flagship dorm and the parents are completely unaware of what is really going on. Its very sad.</p>