Living Wellness

Bed Bugs are ectoparisite insects which have 6 legs, antennae, and are nearly colorless until they mature. Adult bed bugs are colored mahogany to rusty brown and can grow up to a quarter of an inch long.

Habits of Bed Bugs

Bed bugs like to travel and are good hitchhikers. They will hide in suitcases, boxes and shoes to be near a food supply. They are elusive, nocturnal creatures. They can hide behind baseboards and in cracks, crevices, and folded areas of beds, bedding and adjacent furniture, especially mattresses and box springs. Bed bugs can also hide in electrical switchplates, picture frames, wallpaper and nearly anywhere inside a home, car, bus, or other shelter.

Bed bugs usually come out at night for a blood meal. However, they are opportunistic insects and can take a blood meal during the day, especially in heavily-infested areas. Bed bugs usually require 5-10 minutes to engorge with blood. After feeding, they move to secluded places and hide for 5-10 days. During this time, they do not feed but instead digest their meal, mate, and lay eggs. 

Bed Bugs like to hide in small cracks and crevices close to a human environment. They can be found behind baseboards, wallpaper, upholstery, and in furniture crevices. Beg bugs are also known to survive in temporary or alternative habitats, such as backpacks and under the seats in cars, busses and trains. Bed bugs can also withstand extreme temperatures, from nearly freezing to over 110 degrees fahrenheit.

Threats of Bed Bugs

Although bed bugs can dine on any warm-blooded animal, they primarily dine on humans. Bed bugs do not transmit diseases, but their bites can become red, itchy welts.

Information on this page is from the National Pest Management Association, Inc.

Prevention of Bed Bugs

1. Vacuum suitcases after returning from a vacation.
2. Check your bedsheets for tell-tale blood spots.
3. Consider bringing a large plastic trashbag to keep your suitcase in during hotel stays.
4. Carry a small flashlight to assist you with quick visual inspections.
5. Never bring second-hand furniture, especially mattresses and box springs, into a home without thoroughly examining for signs of a bed bug infestation. You might consider having a pest control professional inspect the furniture as it is difficult to detect an infestation if you are untrained.
6. Regularly inspect areas where pets sleep for signs of bed bugs.
7. Bed bugs are elusive creatures, so it is imperative to seek professional pest control to address an infestation.

UNF administrators are actively planning and preparing for the flu season which will involve H1N1 flu (swine flu) in addition to other influenza. Housing administrators are part of a university-wide task force monitoring this situation. All campus facilities are in full compliance with the guidelines and recommendations of the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the Duval County Health Department, the UNF Environmental Health & Safety Department (EH&S), and the UNF Student Health Services (SHS). At this time, there are no campus notices or alerts. Health care professionals encourage you to stay informed, stay healthy, and be prepared.

Tips for Preparedness

Stay Informed

• CDC Flu Preparedness Info
• CDC H1N1 Flu info
• Duval County Health Department
• UNF Student Health Services
• Watch the UNF Homepage and myWings for campus-wide alerts and notices

Stay Healthy

• Eat healthy, get 8 to 10 hours of sleep per night, and exercise.
• Influenza is thought to spread mainly person-to-person, through coughing or sneezing of infected persons.
• Take everyday actions to stay healthy:
  • Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
  • Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective.
  • Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread that way.
  • Stay home if you get sick. CDC recommends that you stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them
• Follow public health advice regarding school closures, avoiding crowds and other social distancing behaviors.
• Find healthy ways to deal with stress and anxiety.
• Vaccinations for H1N1 flu for students under 24 years of age may be available in October. Seasonal flu vaccine for all students, staff, and faculty will likely be available prior to October.

Be Prepared

• Purchase hand sanitizer for your personal use.
• Purchase air/hard surface disinfectant for your personal use.
• Include a thermometer in your personal first aid kit.

*Information from the CDC and other health agencies.

A Little On Homesickness?

It is not unusual for students to feel homesick at some point in their university experience. Beginning your experience here at the University of North Florida may generate excitement and anxiety about the move, academics, or meeting new people. Some students will quickly overcome this apprehension as they adapt to a new environment. For other students, the transition takes longer and sometimes emerges as homesickness. You miss, yearn for and grieve over the change from the familiar.

If you are homesick, you may notice an increase in depressed feelings, anxiety, obsessive thoughts, or even minor physical ailments. Some students may feel mildly depressed and anxious several weeks before leaving home, in anticipation of the impending change. Others may find themselves feeling homesick later in the academic year, even after Winter break or the start of their second year. But commonly it is the first few days or weeks after arriving at university which are the most difficult.

Vulnerability to homesickness is affected by:

• The distance from home
• A sense of anticlimax at finally arriving at college after working towards it for so long
• Whether the student was responsible for the decision to attend the college
• Unhappiness due to expectations of college being met
• Job strain (work overload and low control over it)
• Whether family members at home are well and happy
• Contrast in lifestyle

Those who are homesick often feel they have no control over their environment, and that they are not identified with it or committed to the university or their place in it.

Transition to College

There are two tasks involved in starting college:

1. Leaving familiar things, people and places,
2. Adapting to new things, people and places.

Individuals have different levels of tolerance to change and have learned different ways of coping with new situations. But what can make transition so hard? In a familiar place, people generally feel accepted and secure. Away from the familiar, they are without their usual sources of support, and in unfamiliar surroundings, their previous methods of coping and working are challenged. 

What might help?

1. Talk to someone. If you haven't yet made friends here, then try a counselor at our UNF counseling center, your RA, your roommate or a professor.
2. Maintain relationships with those you left at home. Arrange times to go back and visit, perhaps after a few weeks. But also, don’t forget to give yourself time to get involved here. Don't let looking back actually hinder moving forward.
3. Encourage friends and family to come and see you in your new setting (for example, during Parents and Family Weekend).
4. Remember that many other people will have similar feelings, although you may assume that they are doing fine! (You can't read their minds - just as they can't read yours!)
5. You are allowed to feel sad and homesick! But you are also allowed to enjoy yourself - it isn't being disloyal to those you miss!
6. Be realistic about what to expect from student life and from yourself. Establish a balance between work and leisure. You don’t have to work ALL the time; you would soon burn out. On the other hand, if you don't put in enough time on work, you can very quickly get behind, which only adds to the stresses!
7. If work is too difficult, try to improve your study skills or your organization of time and work. There may be people in your classes or in your residence hall that can help in this area. We also offer Living-Learning Community.
8. Remember to get enough food and sleep! These affect us emotionally as well as physically.
9. Make contacts and friends through shared activities such as sport or other interests. Go to programs in your residence hall and on campus. Join a club.
10. Give yourself time to adjust: you don't have to get everything right away. Give yourself some time.
11. If you stop being able to do normal social and academic things, seek professional help either from your doctor or the counseling service. Don't wait until the problems have grown impossibly large!

We hope that some of these suggestions will prove useful. There are many things you can do to help yourself, but don't hesitate in seeking out the help of others. Homesickness is not unusual, and it can be conquered!

UNF Resources and A Few Things to Do on Campus

• Take advantage of the UNF counseling center and follow them on social media
• Take a walk around campus, it is beautiful!
• Attend events created by student staff, Residence Life Coordinators and campus partners
• Apply to be in a Living-Learning Community
• Attend FreshCheckDay in the Fall
• Take a break in Osprey Clubhouse
• Go to Market Days on Wednesdays in the Student Union
• Explore campus!
• Try one of many outdoor activities at EcoAdventure!
• Go rock climbing at the Student Wellness Complex
• Join a club!
  
  
  

Always Remember to:

• Connect to things you love.
• Try something new until you find something you like.
• Take advantage of a leadership opportunity.
• Help someone else, helping someone else might help you. 

Remember to get involved around campus! Getting out of your room, exploring campus and the many things UNF has to offer as well as trying something new might help with homesickness.