Relieving Boston's Traffic Woes: The Urban Ring

[As usual Americans treat the symptoms not the problem; part 1 of 2]

The Aftermath of the Big Dig

It is true that Boston will soon experience the benefits of a wide swath of a plush new green space ribbon that cuts a swath down the center of the financial district and connects the North End with the downtown for the first time since the JFK expressway was elevated in the 1950s. It was not the first time that a decades-old elevated transportation system was torn down. The elevated rail service that ran over Atlantic Avenue from 1903 to 1937 cut the North End from the docks. Another elevated service cut Boston's downtown in two. Perhaps the Big Dig represents the transportation improvements for this half of the 21st century. Let’s hope not.

There are numerous examples of cities that could create relatively inexpensive light rail along EXISTING rail and automobile routes with little difficulty1. Boston has North America’s oldest existing subway line but hasn’t added a new rail line since the 1970s. Traffic keeps piling up on the highways and yet the existing T’s operations are too expensive. When do road improvements and repairs become too expensive? When does the waste of an hour during morning and evening commute become too costly? It is very clear that the existing infrastructure is over capacity. That is understated. The existing infrastructure is obsolete; even after the Big Dig.

England’s City

Boston’s streets are one of the few cities in America that do not follow a grid pattern. In the mode of an English Market town, Boston’s downtown streets form a patchwork of medieval streets that begin and end in one block. Traveling in the downtown posed no problem for those working and living within blocks of their destinations but for those going from one side to the other, there is no direct and quickest route. Subway routes alleviated some of this congestion. The 1950s elevated highway made Boston surpassable by Car.

Although the original plan never did take path, as I-95 was re-routed to travel along the existing Rt 128 “Scenic” Highway, and the I-695 inner-belt through Somerville, Cambridge and Brookline never got off the planning boards, the elevated highway that split the downtown gave commuters two options; venture into the downtown or completely around it.

Rt. 128

Today, all transit routes continue to go into the city as spokes on a wheel. This forces workers who work and live in opposite sides of the city to travel along Rt. 128. The Yankee Division Highway (named for the 26th Infantry Division which served in WWI and WWII) was built in the 1920s but was upgraded to handle traffic in subsequent years. In 1951, it became the first circumferential highway in the United States. In 1958, it was widened from 6 to 8 lanes. This influenced companies to take route on the highway route and business surged along 128. Unfortunately, traffic began to pile up from this added traffic and now the highway is over-capacity and clogged between the rush hours, especially near the major interchanges in the north and south of Boston.

While the Big Dig is already outdated and no substantial improvements are in sight for the existing highway network, (Try building an I-695 through Cambridge and Brookline now!) traffic can be alleviated on existing networks by improvements and enlargements of secondary routes. These secondary routes consist of limited access (and distance) highways, roads and rail.

The Future

Americans have always been ephemeral even when it comes to urban design. The concept of permanence, especially with regards to a city has only taken root in recent years. Years before the automobile, train tracks dotted across the Boston metro area, carrying people, goods and services to and from Boston with speed (relative to the day). When the power and appeal of the automobile crushed any alternative transportation choices, many cities destroyed existing rail lines and tore up plans for new track to spread concrete for the car. We are one of the lucky few cities in America that has track still existing and corridors that can be utilized to provide new secondary routes. There has been a suggestion(s) to eliminate roadways for pedestrian walkways, which will promote public transportation, but also create traffic nightmares. Pedestrian ways would benefit most after public transportation is upgraded.

While our public transit system should not be cherished for its inefficiencies, it should not be blamed for its inadequacy. Many people do not take the subway or commuter rail because it does not allow the passenger the freedom of destination as a car. One cannot get from points in Somerville or Malden without taking a train into Boston’s Park Street or Downtown Crossing stations before changing onto another train to go to Cambridge’s Harvard Square or Central Square stations. This is the case for every existing subway line. With the local exceptions of the Green line split in Kenmore Square (or Copley for the E line) and Red Line at UMASS-JFK, there is no link that unites all of the urban communities of Boston. This results in increased automobile traffic and unnecessary congestion in downtown stations. I have researched some different opportunities and have come up with the following plans.

The Urban Ring – 1st Strategy: Blue/Orange/Red/Green/Orange/Red

There is an easy and obvious solution. Unite the 1st tier communities (those adjacent to Boston) within the Rt 128 belt with two circumferential rapid transit/subway train service lines along existing and new service track that would connect East Boston and (in this order) Chelsea, Everett, Somerville, Cambridge and Allston with one line. Another line would start in Allston/Kenmore Square and utilize the existing Worcester-Boston commuter rail to connect Allston and Kenmore Square to the Prudential Center and then divert with a new tunnel underneath Massacusetts Avenue with underground stops at Tremont/Dartmouth Washington St./Franklin Square and New Market Square and ending at the existing Andrew Square Red Line. This would benefit communities traditionally thwarted by convenient public transportation, especially residents of Chelsea, Everett, Allston and the South End. With added transfer options, commuters from other outlying communities would be more enticed to park and ride to avoid the congestion on Rt. 128 and I-93/Rt. 3.

The Urban Ring – 2nd Strategy: The Parallel (I-95 Belt and Boston Metro)

Another strategy to reroute traffic along Rt.128 would be to use the existing corridor and lay rail directly along the path of Rt 128 and create a parallel track with stations in several communities that links commuter rail stations and rapid transit (T) stations with the hub (Downtown Boston) and the wheel (Rt.128 Railway). Several existing commuter rail stations would be modified and a few new stations would need to be built. North of Boston, the Parralel line could start with a brand new station in Danvers (along the existing junction of track) moving west to a new park and ride station in West Peabody where the interchange of I-95, Rt. 128 and Rt. 1 converge along existing track. The track runs through Lynnfield (added station) and then moves from existing track onto the Parralel high speed line. A new Reading/Wakefield park and ride stop at North Ave. interchange in Wakefield could eliminate both Reading and Wakefield commuter stops as a convenient midpoint and the Orange line could continue along its existing track and terminate at this point. Add a 3-stop busing service to both community centers to the new station during traffic periods to alleviate convenience/parking concerns.

Continuing west (southbound) along I-95/Rt. 128 is the I-93 interchange with a convenient station located in Woburn (Mishawum). A Burlington/Mall Stop could then be added with additional parking. [An offshoot of the Parralel could link Lowell with Burlington with stops in Chelmsford, Nutting Lake, and Sun Microsystems/Mitre.] The Parallel then turns south by the Hanscom Field/AFB (a future stop when the Airfield is enlarged to become Boston International?) and would stop at (the moved) Kendall Green/Brandeis Station between Weston and Waltham at the Rt. 20 Rotary. Additional parking would have to be built. Bus service to and from Brandeis would be provided by the school. The next logical station would be at the Weston station being constructed at the interchange of I-95/Rt.128 and the Mass Pike (I-90). This would be a hub and would consist of the Boston-Worcester Commuter Line and an extended Green line from the Riverside station. It would be a costly expansion through West Newton/Auburndale but would provide the key link to Rapid Transit stations with more flexibility.

Below the Mass Pike, The Parallel would add a station at Highland Ave., with another extension of the Green D Line’s track along existing track on Needham St. and ending with a Rapid Transit connection on the Newton/Needham Border. It would then run south and link with existing Dedham Corporate and Westwood’s Rt 128 Station and Amtrak connection. This would allow Amtrak riders, exiting at Rt. 128 to board Parallel trains to North and South shore destinations. The track would then jump highways from I-95 Southbound to I-95 Northbound and turn south to east. The next logical station would be the Fall River Expressway (Rt. 24) in the Blue Hills Reservation. The Parallel would end in the Five Corners on the border of Quincy, Braintree and Weymouth. The station would need a Red Line connection as well as commuter train access to the Middleborough/Plymouth and Greenbush lines.

The scope of the Parallel High speed transit line is grand. The potential benefits are enormous. Besides offering a dependable circumferential transportation option, it links numerous commuter and rapid transit (T) lines that could potentially re-route tens of thousands of commuters from inside and outside of Boston daily, provide economic revitalization to many bypassed communities and alleviate existing transportation networks drastically. Let Boston be an example of alternative transportation and stop the path of least resistance and most futility. Why do we pay such reverence to the car with needless and endless bouts in traffic, when an exciting and viable alternative could provide a world of benefits?


Enlarging the existing MBTA Light rail service (similar to Option 1 above)

The War on PBS – "A Necessary War"

I am hard-pressed to watch a moment of more emotional film than the original ending of last night’s first episode of “The War” on PBS. Ken Burns tied the desperate situation of our servicemen in the South Pacific to the release of Bing Crosby’s White Christmas in the winter of 1942. I can only imagine, but that song must have touched on their feelings of isolation on Guadalcanal being so far from their families and safety, and at the same time providing comfort and cheer with soothing lyrics reminding them of the joys of their past holidays. The hot, humid climates of the battlefield and the uncertain outcome of their personal situation must have been daunting; knowing what lay ahead was hold-at-all-costs, death or brutal captivity. And yet the song tied to them to their hometowns, a stake of hope in a place of no-end-in-sight.

Part 1 (of 7)

Exoneration for Belichick?

If there was a better way to answer the nay-sayers and those with ring-envy than the trouncing of the San Diego Chargers with a national television audience in tow, then I have lost touch. Generally considered a top echelon team, the Chargers were systematically picked apart by the larger predator, the blood-thirsty Patriots. They proved to everyone that this camera-gate incident had little or no actual effect on game play and the Patriots had accomplished their dynasty on teamwork, discipline and talent.

The media coverage on this story should disappear. Or so I thought. On the news and coverage of the Monday night ESPN telecast, again we have the experts, former players and coaches, like stone pillars on the moral high ground casting down their sanctimonious judgments to the people. What a bunch of long-winded morons. Everybody wants to look tough on crime, but it seems no one has been troubled to really understand what advantage filming opposing signals offers. If everyone in the NFL steals signals, why is Belichick chastised for doing it too?

The analogies are ridiculous. A comparison to Bonds, the biggest cheater today is over the top. The “experts” did not even take the time to explain to the fans what Belichick did that was so vile and why it was against the rules. If they had, fans would not nearly be as upset and perplexed by this scandal. It is true that Belichick broke NFL rules…but… should stealing a candy bar cost one’s hand as punishment? Let’s call a spade a spade and see the reaction to the scandal not as a proper punishment reprimand but blatant acrimony.

League comes down soft on Belichick?

In the wake of cameragate, Goodell has levied his punishments and the football audience cries foul…still. What would suffice, jail time? Yes, it was cheating. Yes, Belichick, dubbed Beli-cheat, deserves punishment. He was fined a personal $500,000! While that may not be debilitating for a millionaire football coach, it is still the maximum fine that can be given by the NFL. The loss of a draft selection from next year’s draft, likely the team’s #1 selection, would potentially cripple any team save the Patriots; they have another #1 pick from the hands of San Francisco.

And this is where the outrage starts to make sense. People are not looking to make the punishment fit the crime. Instead, there is an assessment on the Patriots’ success and a determination of what punishment will most likely affect that success. If most other teams were caught cheating in the same manner, there would likely be a smaller fine and be docked lower draft selections. Then it would be case closed, who cares. With the Patriots, and especially Belichick, there is a pervasive sense that the punishment is being determined by who is guilty, instead of what they are guilty of. It seems how to make the Patriots suffer the most is more important than having a just and universal punishment. And didn’t Mangini hire that camera guy in the first place? It's simply hard to believe that stealing signals is not happening anywhere else.

Cameragate and “Belichick the Cheater”

As an ardent Pats fan, it’s a little tough to be thoroughly unbiased about an issue that has drawn out even the most hidden resentment towards the Patriots. Anything I say to defend my team will be seen as it comes through the fan’s window pane. Of course you can expect LaDainian Tomlinson to put his two cents in. The upcoming game has a lot to say about the outcome of his statements. If the sans-camera Patriots defeat the Chargers at home on Sunday, they will appear to be partially vindicated, however, if they lose, I fear it will bring on more criticism of past victories and even taint the super bowl victories? Criticism has also come from the Steelers camp, another enclave of Patriots’ bitterness. It comes in from Carson Palmer, who’s Bengals are dealing with their own run-ins with commissioner Goodell and the player suspensions that plague their criminal players. Palmer wants the NFL to throw the book at Belichick as hard as it has befallen his Bengals. And finally, it pours in from those people who have had to listen to 5+ years of media fed propaganda about how classy Kraft’s organization is.

I have written about the Pats here and indirectly about their class as an organization and I have to admit, there is no way I can defend Belichick’s class here. His job has always been to win games and not to be some sort of messiah for moral fortitude on and off the football field. Somehow being a proponent of team play has made media and fan alike identify Belichick with the qualities of being a team player, which he is not. Belichick’s goal for team first, individual second derives from simple math. It takes eleven men on both sides of the ball for a team to be most successful. While the Patriots are comprised of many classy team players, our coach may not be one. Nonetheless, he is a supreme head football coach, and the methods by which signal calls by opposing teams are deciphered are just another gun in his tremendous arsenal. While videotaping the defensive play signals from the sideline may seem excessive (and illegal), there is a reason that the opposing team gives signals…so the other team won’t understand. Every team has their people whose job is to steal signals. That is why offensive coordinators cover their mouths when speaking. Any edge, any advantage where the endgame is victory. But illegal is illegal and victory by cheating is so cheap and it tears Belichick down from the “team first” high horse back to the pit with the rest of us…all too willing to sacrifice values for a cheap win.

The puzzling part is why he did it in the first place? What advantage did filming an opposing team’s signals give in that game. I have heard logic that by the second half, after analysis in the film room during half-time, the signals for the defense could be cracked and the offense could plan on the go but previous games don’t support that argument. The Patriots were clueless in the second half of the Pats-Colts AFC championship game last year. (By the way, nothing has come from the Colts about this incident) While Belichick is hailed as a king of the second-half adjustment, I can’t imagine how videotaping signals can be more advantageous during a game, then just having a guy watch the signals and mark them to each play. A set of binoculars and a pen is the old-fashioned way and works as well as videotape. Probably faster too. I can’t wait until this is all forgotten, the Pats get their (light) punishment and we can move on and try to win another super bowl, tainted or otherwise.

Bed Bugs: Domestic Terrorist

Bed Bugs: Why they are they back? What to do?

Introduction

Bed bugs were a thing of the past, heard only in parent’s warning to child before going to bed [“Good night, don’t let the bed bugs bite!”]. [That, by the way, is an expression that reminds us of a time before pesticides when bed bugs were extremely common] In the old days, exterminators would be called in to dose the mattress and bed material with a white powder, the infamous DDT, and bedbugs would be vanquished. With the removal of DDT as an weapon against these pests, the switch to baiting to control other interior pests and the political correct removal of the term exterminator, pest management professionals (PMPs) don’t have a quick fix for these annoying pests. Although their health significance is not alarming; Bed bug bites do not carry disease in the way mosquitoes or fleas do, bedbugs are certainly a growing problem in the hotel industry and in homes.
There probably isn’t a better alarm for a pest problem than one that originates in the Big Apple. Another significant invader entered New York City in the last years of the 90s that brought with it the crisis that would only be appropriate for the New York media. West Nile Virus, found in birds, transmitted by mosquitoes and potentially deadly in only the very young or very old, caused as much realistic scare as a horror flick such as “I know What You Did Last Summer” or one of its sequels. In the case of bed bugs, while their health significance is not large, their reemergence is widespread and interesting. I will discuss bed bug identification, biology and behavior, the background of their reemergence, the inspection process, physical techniques and treatments to prevent infestations and other issues that deal with bed bugs as a growing problem within our industry along the way.

Common Bed bug Identification

Bed bugs [Cimex lectularis] are insects that feed primarily on human blood, although they are known to target other animals like birds and rodents. The adult is a ¼” long; oval shaped and doesn’t have any wings. Bed bugs have very flat bodies covered with tiny hairs. It is brownish-tan, unless filled with blood after feeding. Because the life cycle in incomplete, or hemimetabolous in “bug-speak”, the nymphs look very similarly as the adults although they tend to be lighter in color. Normally, the adults are first to be discovered because the nymphs are very small in size. It has been said that for every adult that is spotted, there are nine nymphs that remain unseen.

Biology and Behavior

Bed bugs feed at nighttime, usually when the unsuspecting (or suspecting if the infestation is already known) host is sleeping. Feeding, called engorging, takes less than ten minutes, done in three consecutive blood meals. Like other blood-feeding insects, bedbugs salivate into the host to stop the blood from coagulating inside the wound. Therefore the blood can be sucked up through the inserted proboscis (feeding apparatus). Reactions to a bed bug bite range from none to severe. It is the saliva of the bed bug that causes the host to itch the bite. The most dangerous health risk now from bed bug bites, besides allergic reaction, is itching the wound and potential infection by bacteria. The effects of a feeding bunch of bed bugs can be impressive. With a colony raised by a colleague of mine, a white mouse was completely drained of blood and killed within ten minutes by the hungry bed bugs.
One male can impregnate several females in a day. Once gravid, a female can lay up to five-hundred eggs in a lifetime. A female lays eggs up to eight eggs at a time in rough surfaces, corners, cracks and crevices near adult harborages. They are glued by a cementing substance to the surfaces. Eggs are 1/25” long [or short], curved somewhat and hatch in six to ten days depending on environmental conditions. Under optimal conditions (~80% humidity and ~ 90 F) the life cycle takes four to five weeks from egg to egg. This time is greatly reduced when either temperature or humidity is reduced. At low enough temperatures, bed bugs stop reproducing entirely and feeding is greatly reduced, although one scientist noted populations of active bed bugs at 45 F. Life-span is nearly a year and adults and nymphs can live for several months without feeding.
Groups of bed bugs are commonly found together and use aggregation pheromones, similar to social insects, to communicate. They prefer finding harborage close to the host and make themselves quite cozy in cracks and crevices near or on bed frames, the box spring and the mattress. Wherever they can fit they will go. However, bed bugs will travel far to find harborage or new hosts. This increases the difficulty of locating and treating bed bugs. Bed bugs have found to prefer wood surfaces rather than metal and travel away from iron frames to seek adequate harborage.

Medical Un-importance

Although bedbugs are not known to transmit disease, there is some medical importance to bed bug bites. Like mosquitoes, bedbugs cannot transmit HIV. (Mosquitoes transmit a lot of other diseases though) Severe itching and inflammation are known to follow some bed bug bites. Asthmatic symptoms have been recorded with people sensitive to allergens. People who are bitten repeatedly have been known to develop a syndrome that makes them to be jumpy, lose sleep and constantly be nervous. There is no realistic risk of blood loss as a factor because it would take unheard of populations of bedbugs to suck that much blood. Often it is the embarrassment of having bed bugs in a home or a hotel that is most damaging. Compare if you will, a kid found with head lice in school. Forget friends, even enemies will avoid him/her like the plague. Back to bed bugs; who wants to stay at a hotel known for bed bug infestation at any cut rate, or stay with a friend with bed bugs in their home? What a disastrous social pest bed bugs can be!

“[Bed bugs were] once…a major pest of hotels and home” (1997)

This quote was written just nine years ago by a bed bug entomologist. Bed bugs were virtually non-existent in the mind of the pest control industry less than a decade ago. Now it seems discovery of bedbugs are shown in headline to headline in every state in the United States. This doesn’t sound like a problem that has gone away. The tourism industry has been crippled by millions in losses. The problem has by no means been limited to the United States alone. This reemergence has been seen across the globe from Canada to Australia. In Australia, estimates of $100 million annual losses have been reported in the tourist accommodation industry.
It appears that the resurgence of bed bugs is the result of a number of different reasons. An increase in travel for both business and leisure, a change in pest control practices and overall negligence in dealing with infestations as they appear have helped bed bugs become reestablished over the world. However, the bedbug story is not as simple as disappearance and now, reemergence.
Before World War Two, infestations were exceedingly common. More than four million people had problems with bed bugs in Greater London alone. Quite a remarkable discovery was made by Swiss scientist Paul Hermann Müller in 1939. A chemical called dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, or DDT, was found to kill insects. Originally used to protect against the spread of malaria and typhus, DDT worked so well against mosquitoes, fleas and lice its use was widened for many pests. Even though health and environmental concerns spearheaded by Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring (1962), eventually had DDT recalled from use (and the creation of the EPA in 1972), the effects of DDT to pests were inspiring. Malaria was dramatically reduced across the world and typhus was virtually eliminated by widespread spraying of DDT. Curiously, because of DDT sprayed indoors to kill resting mosquitoes (mosquitoes rest on walls following a bloodmeal), populations of bed bugs along with other unwanted insect pests were killed in the process.
After its recall, chemical companies realized the profits that could be made in developing suitable replacements for DDT, although it is still used in the tropics to control the problem of malaria (300 to 500 million infected annually). Many different classes of pesticides followed DDT to treat indoor pests, however all were applied to an area. Bed bugs were specifically treated with powder spread generously over mattress material, box springs and around the bed. With the development of baiting, the general pesticides that had once treated for all insects became specific for cockroaches (the primary indoor pest). Because bedbugs feed on blood, the baits would not affect them. Bed bugs peeped out from their hiding places and by one infestation at a time, have moved slowly at first, and now swiftly back into hotels and homes. Because of their tendency to get inside of luggage, clothing, bags and other travel accessories, bed bugs score free rides back with a traveler. Bed bugs also hide in furniture and bedding so spreading can occur because of the purchase of used furniture. Maybe that bed or couch that looks gorgeous on the corner of the street should not be picked up and brought home: There’s a reason it’s being thrown away. Bed bugs! With the coming of better technology for traveling over the last few decades, these hitchhiking bugs have found more frequent travel around the globe.
Note: Bed bugs are found infesting places other than those thought of as traditional. In 2005 in Italy, 3000 train cars were found infested with bedbugs. Apparently travelers catching Z’s on overnight trains in Italy were tasty meals for Italian bed bugs. Many of these train cars were destroyed because there was no way to rid them of the nuisance.

Inspecting for Bed bugs

The visual inspection for bed bugs is the only reliable method at the present time. Sticky traps and other monitoring devices have not been found to be particularly effective and there are no systems specifically designed for bed bugs available currently. Bedbug inspection is similar to inspection for German cockroaches. Bed bugs are night feeders, so specimens are unlikely to be encountered during a daytime inspection. Instead, inspectors should look for telltales. Telltales are usually cast skins and fecal smears that resemble brown or black staining underneath the surface of harborages. Upon closer inspection, egg shells and even life specimens can be spotted just like for German cockroaches. Another great indicator of bed bug blood feeding is the blood smears that are left on the mattress.
Identification of the actual pest and location of the harborages is essential for the success of a treatment program. When bed bugs first infest, it starts with just one a few individuals. These bugs remain close to the feeding sites and do not actively seek other areas to invest. Once infestations become larger, bed bugs find shelter gradually farther from hosts. Reading up on some inspections it became clear to me that knowledge of the customer’s habits are as important as locations of sleeping areas.
These examples highlight the need for knowing the client’s habits:
Inspection of the sleeping area of a child turned up very few specimens even though the child had been complaining of frequent bed bug bites. When the child’s late night TV viewing habits were considered, inspection of the couch and cushions in front of the TV uncovered hundreds of bed bugs. Another case involved an older gentleman who was complaining of frequent bed bug bites. Inspection of the beds and couches yielded nothing until a look into his closet revealed a pullover sweatshirt with hundreds in its pockets and sleeves. In some cases, the harborage is not found in the beds and couches but in items not initially inspected, such as, blankets, night garments and covers.
A sign for a heavy infestation of bed bugs is a sweet, characteristic odor. This smell comes from secretions from bed bugs’ hind legs. As the infestation grows in number and in area, the secretions become more widespread making this distinct smell.

Physical Control

Once harborages are discovered and specimens identified as bed bugs, steps to control the infestation begin. The days of spray and pray are over. There are no magic bullets in the form of pesticides available for bed bugs as there are for ants and termites (fipronil). In dealing with bedbugs, there is a strong need for customer cooperation, perhaps more so than for any pest insect. There is no all-encompassing pesticide that is registered for complete interior application. Customers of pest service are almost as responsible for a failed treatment for bed bugs as the pest control service treating them.
There are many ways to protect one-self against these annoying creatures without using pesticides. As always, prevention of infestations is the best method. The best way to prevent bed bugs infestations is to have frequent inspections for them. If items are found to have bed bugs during inspection, they should be washed, given cold/heat treatment, fumigated or disposed of. This holds true for the hotel industry or people buying used furniture. Prevention by frequent inspection and ‘de-bugging’ methods before the furniture is brought into the home or hotel could save dollars and time in the long run. A habit of hotel managers “to move the problem” to another hotel room only helps bed bugs become more established!
However, even after large infestations of bed bugs have occurred, there are ways to limit them. If bed bugs are in the mattress, there are several options. Obviously getting rid of the mattress set will help but you can also steam ALL surfaces of the mattress (220 F) being particular around folds and grooves. Check the entire bed set. Steam the bed frames headboard, box spring etc to kill bed bugs that have left the mattress. Once the complete bed set is steamed, place the posts of the bed in plastic dishes. Bed bugs cannot climb like flies because they lack the same pads on their feet and cannot climb on plastic cups. Make sure to wash sheets and linens in hot water…and don’t wait…bedbugs do wander. Bed bugs will still be present in the room but cannot climb up into the mattress. Efforts should be made to keep blankets, sheets, pillows off the floor. Still, bed bugs have been known to climb up onto walls and ceilings and drop onto the bed from above! Sites on, around, and near the bed that could potentially harbor bed bugs should be vacuumed. Sealants and caulking can be used to close cracks in walls and floors. This requires great detail…bedbug nymphs can readily use very small cracks for harborage. Limiting harborage increases the distances bed bugs will have to crawl to reach hosts. With the increase in distance comes the increase in chances it will contact pesticides used or be spotted. Another method of introduction that has recorded has been through birds and rodents. The common bedbug prefers human hosts but will not limit its feeding to humans alone. Birds and bats or mice etc can readily provide bloodmeals for bed bugs.
Ways not to physically control bedbugs include the following: as said before, moving hotel guests to another room after reports of being bitten by bed bugs. Another method that has shown no success is quarantining the room for weeks or even months. Bed bugs can wait out for more than a year without a bloodmeal. Vacating the room for weeks or months just delays the problem. Control of this pest requires cooperation from the customer. Removing harborages, such as cracks and crevices, and reducing clutter around the feeding sites are essential in controlling bed bugs. Lastly, the recycling of thrown out furniture because of previous bedbug infestations guarantees the spread of bed bugs. Perhaps furniture should be labeled with a sign that will ensure all but the blind won’t take it off the curb… “Don’t Touch, Bed bugs!”

Chemical Treatment

Pesticide treatment for bed bugs can be divided into how they are used. There are four different categories; Crack and Crevice, Indoor Surface, Indoor Space, and Fumigation. (A good chart of available pesticides labeled for use against bedbugs is listed on table 1 at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/IG083) Treatment of mattress surfaces and bedding material really should never be done. There are non-pesticide methods that can kill bed bugs on these surfaces. Remember, the best way to treat for bed bugs is with chemicals in combination with physical techniques.
Chemicals should be directed to harboring sites. This includes all the cracks and crevices, holes, BEHIND electrical outlets (never put treatments inside electrical outlets), behind pictures and paintings, in drawers and behind nightstands, underneath carpets, especially behind and under tacking strips, behind wood trim, on light fixtures and on the base of ceiling fans, in wall voids between adjacent rooms etc. It is essential that all areas of harborage are treated to eliminate populations.
Crack and Crevice application is the most effective treatment for eliminating harborage sites. Usually using a dust or spray, these treatments can reach difficult locations. This should be the treatment of choice for all harborages and potential harborages found in an infested space.
Indoor surface treatments are used to create dead-zone for bed bugs crawling to and from harborages to the host. Application of this kind relies on residual sprays applied to surfaces around the bed to give a longer lasting protection against wandering bedbugs. Indoor space treatments are used to kill insects that are spotted. When a bed bug is seen, an aerosol, most commonly, is sprayed in its direction to kill it.
If all else fails and the infestation is beyond any kind of careful treatments and physical techniques, fumigate. Fumigation is very expensive and is almost always unnecessary. However, taking infested items that cannot be cleaned by other methods, such as furniture, box springs, electrical devices etc, and placing them in a fumigation chamber is very effective at removing these unwanted guests.
After doing any kind of chemical treatment for a customer, it is always necessary for a follow up. Of course, it makes your pest control service look better, but in the specific case of bed bugs and their shy behavior, re-infestations are common. Although it is possible for a brand new infestation from an outside source, but more likely not every harborage was treated and bed bugs have made a comeback in the treated house. It is in these cases where customer cooperation and dedication to the treatment program are most important to eliminate the pests.

Sources

Bed-bug epidemic bites at Austalian tourism. 2-3-2006. http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/

Bed Bug Problem Annoys Residents. 2-12-2006. http://www.channelcincinnati.com/news/

Cimex lectularis Linnaeus: The Bed Bug. 2006 http://www.thesahara.net/bed_bug.htm

Cooper, R.A and H Harlan. 2003. Bed Bugs and Kissing Bugs in Handbook of pest control: the behavior, life history and control of household pests (Mallis A., and S. Hedges, eds.) 9th ed. GIE Media, Inc.

Jupp, P.G and Lyons S.F. 1987. Experimental assessment of bedbugs (Cimex lectularius and Cimex hemipterus) and mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti formosus) as vectors of human immunodeficiency virus. AIDS, 1(3): 171-4.

Koehler, P and J Hertz. 2005. University of Florida IFAS extension, Bed Bugs and Blood-Sucking Conenose. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/IG083

Potter, M. 2006. University of Kentucky Entomology, Bed bugs. http://www.uky.edu/Ag/Entomology/entfacts/struct/ef636.htm

American Micropolis: Monroe, NY

On the Saturday morning that I left Manhattan to travel to upstate New York, my head and body ached from the raucous night past, I stumbled into a small town off of the limited access Southern Tier Expressway Route 17. The name of the town: Monroe, NY, about an hour north of the George Washington Bridge. [And by the way, the cheapest gas I have seen in the last two months in NY, NJ, CT, VT, NH and MA is the first exit southbound over the bridge on 9W going to the Palisades Parkway.] It was a small town with the old brick and stone building façades along a typical main street. I was in the mood for a quick turnover back to the highway so BK was the restaurant I chose to pay for my noontime sustenance.

The Burger King was located on the strip mall route on the road that leads out of town. It was non-descript, no different than any other BK and the employees who I eyed walking in were interchangeable with any BK high school kids working in any fast food joint anywhere. I decided on the grilled chicken sandwich meal and a Value menu Whopper Junior after staring at the menu for a few moments waiting for the couple+1 to order. The two black men in their 30s were paired with a white woman. Both men wore service uniforms at what I guessed was a nearby facility. She seemed to be dating one of them. After ordering from a cashier that did not even look up when I was ordering I walked, receipt in hand, over to the pick-up area and now glanced with keener eyes upon the rest of the dining area. Near the soft drink serving line sat three swarthy latino workers dressed in drab t-shirts stained with grease and sweat, jeans and work boots. One of the three, sitting in a gunfighter’s posture, was intently watching others in the seating area under the cover of his furrowed hat brow, while the other two looked down biting their food quietly and meekly.

Following me into the restaurant was a latino man dressed in urban garb wearing a distinct partial-beard-type-of-facial-hair. His adorable son was running in and out of the line playing like a care-free child. A state of being that any adult with a sense of freedom would admire. “Quieres Chicken Tenders?” he asked his son. I was a little surprised that he was speaking Spanish to his son because his appearance convinced me he was Americanized. I sat down at the far part of the restaurant and the rest of the young man’s family; his wife and mother (in law?) were already sitting at the table adjacent to mine. When he and his son sat at the table, his son turned in his seat and stared at me enjoying my Grilled Chicken sandwich. I looked up and smiled back. He was unmoved. Finally, his grandmother noticed his unmoving gaze and scolded him. That stopped him for a few moments but he continued to stare a moment later. I don’t know if the young man just got promoted or won the lottery, but it seemed him and his family was genuinely content. When I got up to get more ketchup, I was tempted to ask the family (in Spanish) if the boy was being taught English along with Spanish, but decided not to interrupt and possibly ruin what appeared to be a peaceful family lunch.

When I was half-way finished, a young man with pregnant girlfriend (no ring) entered BK. The woman wore oversized faux designer glasses and the man had tattoos and showed them explicitly with a wife-beater. He was concerned about showing of his muscles and the partial-flexing did not go unnoticed as I perceived muffled giggles from the two black guys and girlfriend sitting across the restaurant peering at the man and woman. What a goon I thought to myself. Somehow in cities, losers like that go more unnoticed but in small towns, it is obvious people like that are trying to crave the attention.

When I was devouring off the last of the Whopper Junior and rescuing every last one of the fries hiding behind the wrappers on the tray (I was hungry) and dipping them in the barbecue sauce I got for my grilled chicken because I had run out of ketchup, a sleek silver Audi pulled up in the parking lot outside. A tall well-built black man got out of the driver’s seat and adjusted his straight brimmed baseball hat. It was a black man’s hat; the brow was unbent, the hat stood straight up and was worn at a distinct rakish angle. His turquoise shirt and jeans were stylish but not overstated and he strode towards the entrance with an aura of confidence. The tinted windows hid the presence of his family, which began to stir and follow him into the store. His wife was ordinary and I could not place her if seen today. However, his young son and teenage daughter were exceptional. The daughter did not enter the store, but instead walked towards a shady part of the parking lot with her small dog in hand. Even though she was probably in her late teens, she could have passed for a very beautiful young woman, but her attitude towards the rest of her family was quite adolescent. The son was an energetic kid, exploring the store with more direction than the latino man’s younger son. I was also shocked (from what I admit is ingrained stereotyping) to hear him answer his father’s question with no urban accent. It was truly a beautiful African-American family, just as the Latino-American family was also beautiful.

The union of different identities and cultures on an individual level made this stop at the BK more refreshing than the ice water I drank and more nourishing than the sandwiches I ate. It reaffirms that although we aren’t arm in arm singing “we are the world,” assimilation does occur and it occurs significantly in the most insignificant places. While the BK in Monroe, NY is no United Nations or Senate Chamber, it is one place where the melting pot begins in a time where the melting pot is needed more than ever.