UVA's Bicentennial Stories initiative from WTJU 91.1 FM tells our collective story. It helps us understand our shared history and make meaning in the University today. And as we look ahead, these stories help us shape the future of the University and our role in a democratic society.
Joanne Chaplin, Lab Coordinator and Preparator for Introductory Biology Labs
“Well I can remember when I first came here, probably within the first year, one of the labs I was setting up for was using humongous cockroaches.
“And the company where I bought them used to send them in a large box, but inside the large box were these little white, round ice cream boxes, and in each of the ice cream boxes would probably be twenty or so of these large roaches. And that was very handleable, I was very used to that.
“Right up until the day where I opened the large box and whoever had packed that box had not put them inside little boxes inside, they were all loose. So at the time I had three work-study students, myself, and about 300 cockroaches pouring out of large box in my office. To this day, I occasionally see a descendent coming out of a drain in Gilmer Hall.”
