Let us hope that the bells Stouffer residents have been hearing recently aren't knells that summon them to heaven or to hell. Otherwise, far too many Penn students will be headed for the afterlife.
Fire alarm woes in Stouffer continued all last week. While there is technically no such thing as a false alarm outside of one pulled by a student, all sorts of outside factors can trigger them, such as construction work or water pressure.
On one level, these alarms represent a disruptive annoyance that residents should not have to constantly deal with. Especially as finals near, a 2 a.m. wakeup call could conceivably negatively impact a students' readiness for a test the next day.
However, they also have a much more dangerous impact. Residents, long used to the disruptive reality of these alarms, have begun to ignore them. Residences have been forced to take disciplinary action because of this, and there is now the very real possibility that an early-morning alarm signalling a real fire could be ignored.
Residents must take responsibility as far as alarms are concerned, and avoid instances like the ones that set off alarms in the high rises last month. These included burning popcorn and a burned coffee pot.
But responsibility for students' safety also rests with Penn, and the solution isn't simply to tighten enforcement policies for those who refuse to leave their residences. Taking greater care to avoid the high number of alarms is the best way to keep college house residents safe and happy.
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