by Michael Stollenwerk
November 19, 2007

The bedbugs may be gone, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any other little creatures to be worried about on campus. During the opening week of the fall play, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, an e-mail was sent to cast and crew members informing all involved that a cast member had been infected with head lice.

Head lice are tiny insects found in a person’s hair that feed on blood. This particular type of lice is spread through head-to-head contact or through the sharing of clothing or bedding such as hats, pillows and blankets, according to Wellness Center Nurse Practitioner Rita Koett.

There have been two different stories of how the lice got spread; neither has been confirmed. Both contend the lice spread through the shawls worn during the play. Cast members were told that the shawls were purchased at a local thrift store; they already contained the lice and were never washed before the were distributed to the students. Students were later told that a fellow cast member had gotten lice during a trip to Mexico and brought it back with her; the lice spread as the shawls were shared. 

“We had all been wearing the shawls for a long time before anybody had gotten the lice,” said Katie Dupont, an actress in the play. “It’s more likely that it was spread from the student who went to Mexico because we would have heard something much sooner if the lice were in the shawls the whole time we were wearing them during rehearsals.”

Dupont felt as though not much was done to prevent the spread of the lice during the week of the play. 

After cast members received the e-mail telling them another member had lice, no follow-up e-mails or updates were sent describing what was being done about the situation. The shawls and costumes continued to be kept together in the same boxes, giving the lice the opportunity to spread.

The total number of cast members who got lice has not been confirmed, and many went to the Wellness Center to get checked, but a minimum of three members did get lice by the end of the week of the play. 

Cast members weren’t the only ones affected by the lice. The outbreak also reached some of the roommates of students in the play and continued to spread among students after that.

“It ruined my weekend,” said one student who wished to remain anonymous for fear of discrimination. “I spent my time by going to the store to get the correct medical items, vacuuming my room and car and by doing endless loads of laundry. Not only did it steal my studying and homework time, but it also cost me an unexpected $65. That’s a lot for a college student. I think it was really irresponsible of the theater department not to jump all over it when they knew a cast member had lice.”

The lice have even traveled outside the PLNU campus. Before realizing she had received the bugs from a roommate, the student unknowingly passed it to a few of her friends who attend San Diego State University.  Since then, those students have been informed about the lice and have also done what they could to get rid of them.   

Measures to minimize the spread of the head lice were only taken after the play finished on Saturday, Nov. 3. 

It wasn’t until last Tuesday that the set and costumes were cleaned, when Director of Salomon Theatre Paul Bassett and his students dedicated a class period to try to disinfect the place.

“I hope everything will be clean for our very last show,” said junior Jessica Painter last week. “The lice problem has caused a lot of trouble for some students, and I don’t want to be worrying about something like that when we’re trying to put on a good production.”

The set and costumes were not professionally cleaned until after the show closed last weekend.