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Monday, Jan. 12
The Indiana Daily Student

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School of Public and Environmental Affairs Professor Marc Lame has developed a model to help eliminate the use of toxic pesticides in schools, according to a press release.\nLame's integrated pest management model "utilizes what well-managed schools are already doing and integrates those procedures with best practices in pest management," the release said.\nAccording to the release, his model has led to a decrease in the use of harmful pesticides in schools in Indiana, Alabama, Arizona, California and Nevada.\nSeveral Monroe County schools served as pilot sites to test his model.\nThey said yes because they were sensitive to these kinds of problems," Lame said in the release. "Schools are already doing sanitation in order to look good and to prevent disease and sickness. Well-managed schools already have energy management programs to keep hot air in and cold air out. They already have security management regarding two-legged invaders. And, of course, schools are already doing education -- that's what schools are about."\nLame said good pest management is pro-active and preventive.\n"The best thing you can do is to not have bugs in the first place. The second-best thing is to recognize if they are really a problem you have to deal with," Lame said in the release. "The occasional beetle that flies in from the outside can be viewed as a pest, but it is nothing you would ever want to spray chemicals for -- not just one pest."\nAccording to the release, Lame's model educates officials about how they should act when reactive measures are needed and the alternatives available. He found that in many instances, less toxic and low-impact pesticides are more effective than many of the harmful substances used on insects in schools.

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