Faculty, staff, and students are reminded that the bluff area on campus is perhaps the world’s most efficient breeding ground for poison oak, an innocent-looking plant that causes intense itching, swelling, and oozing blisters on the skin of those unfortunate enough to brush against it, or to pet a dog which has recently rolled in a big juicy patch, or any number of surreptitious poison-oak-delivery systems. The resulting misery will not soon be forgotten.
The best way to avoid poison oak is to stay away from the sloping sides of the campus bluff altogether. If your job makes it necessary to climb down the bluff, it would be best to learn to identify the plant (“leaves of three, leave it be”), which typically has shiny green leaves and white berries— but not always. For more information, contact campus horticultural whiz Jim Haines, physical plant, at 7306 or haines@up.edu.