Watching a mouse run out from underneath a booth and across the floor was a startling shock to Tim Elliott, studio arts senior.
The Clarke-Anderson Room in Oklahoma Memorial Union, more commonly known as the Schooner Room, is a place where many students go to study or catch a bite to eat between classes, but to the surprise of some, it is also the home of at least one mouse.
Oklahoma Memorial Union Director Laura Tontz said she hasn"t heard any reports of mice in the union, but she assured students she would act if there were.
'I have not had any reports about mice in the union,' Tontz said in an e-mail. 'We are very proactive in our approach to pests. The union has standard, monthly pest control services performed by a professional exterminator.
'Any reports or complaints we receive are dealt with immediately, by either the union staff or the exterminator.'
Elliott said he saw a mouse last semester while studying but hasn"t studied much in the union this semester, so he hasn"t seen one recently. He said he isn"t bothered by it much because he rarely eats in the union.
'I saw a mouse run between a couple of booths late at night last semester,' Elliott said. 'It"s not really gross to me. I mean, mice like food too, so that"s where they are going to be anyway.'
Carmen Clarke, an epidemiologist at the Oklahoma State Department of Health, said the only disease associated with mice in Oklahoma is the hanta virus. However, Clarke said there has never been a case of hanta virus reported in central Oklahoma; only in the Panhandle. Therefore, it is not a risk at OU, she said.
'It"s more like a cleanliness issue,' Clarke said. 'In terms of a disease [a mouse is] going to give you, there"s not a specific disease you need to be worrying about.'
Matthew Maupin, computer engineering sophomore, said he has seen mice many times last semester and this semester.
'They run across the floor and hop up in the holes at the corners of the booths,' Maupin said. 'Sometimes the janitors will go after one with a broom stick. I"m sure that"s real effective.'
Not all students who hang out in the union said they have seen a mouse.
Kat Greubel, English senior, said she hasn"t seen any mice in the union, but has heard they live in the union from other students.
Blake Laing, physics and astronomy graduate student, said he hasn"t seen any mice but is uncomfortable with the thought.
'It"s scary. I"m sitting there typing at my computer. What if a mouse were watching me with his beady eyes?' Laing said. 'I guess it would be a good place for a mouse to live because of all the food.'
Maupin said mice in the union can be unnerving.
'It"s kind of a distraction when you are trying to study and all of a sudden a mouse pops out from between your feet and runs off to eat some crumbs,' he said.
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