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When University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa students and faculty arrived at Sakamaki Hall yesterday morning, they were greeted by signs on the doors announcing pest control treatment. At first, people grumbled at the news of a new critter on the loose, the "Malagasy Biting Cockroach," and then they took a closer look at the poster.
Faculty and janitors realized that the poster was an April Fool's Day joke - especially since the pest control contact number was the phone number of a faculty member. And to make matters worse, there is no Malagasy Biting Cockroach or insect bait "Stronten AR," which was mentioned on the poster.
"More than likely it was a prank by a history student," said UH Mānoa history department chairperson Karen Jolly, who filed the incident report with Campus Security.
Three faculty offices in the history department corridor on the fourth floor had an orange powder at the base of their doors. While faculty suspected it was part of the joke, they called security to be sure. Two Campus Security officers kept students and faculty away from the powder until it could be identified.
A personnel member from the UH M?noa Environmental Health and Safety office took a sample of the powder. After running lab tests on it, he reported half an hour later that the powder was non-hazardous.
Some faculty and students speculate that the substance, which tested as a combination of starch, dye and a salt, was powdered cheese.
"I'm glad the history department had the prudence to use university resources before calling hazmat (hazardous materials)," said UH M?noa alumnus Scott Kawakami. "I would hate for a juvenile prank to waste taxpayer money."
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