As on so many other U.S. campuses, and following on the heels of a bedbug infestation at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, the tiny, mattress loving pests have now made it to the University of Nebraska at Kearney campus -- or at least to one dorm room there.

UNK's Director of Residence Life, Dr. Tony Earls, says they have procedures in place, and have taken swift action: "Friday one of our students thought that perhaps -- maybe -- they had bedbugs.
We immediately responded, followed our protocol, contacted the people we contact, and I got the professional into the room within an hour."

Given the recent attack of what scientists call "Cimex Lectalarius" on the grounds of so many other schools and even hotels, one might assume that students would already be well schooled in how to fight the pesky pests, but those lessons have only just begun.

Dr. Tony Earls: "We're going to use this as an occasion to...educate our students on this perennial problem across the country, and so I would imagine in the next few weeks we will have probably an educational campaign just letting them know how they can protect themselves and detect any kind of problems."

While the prospect of dorm room bedbugs is at best unsavory to most UNK students, they say the practical attitude to take is to stay calm.

UNK student Kyle Coleman summed up the basic rules for dorm cleanliness: "Be mindful of your room, keep it clean, keep trash off the floor, you know, that way you don't get anything else, bedbugs or not. Just continuously make sure you have good hygiene within your room."