Residents of Lamson Hall have become accustomed and weary to the shrill cry of the building's fire alarms. By the end of September, the alarm had managed to go off three separate times in the span of two weeks. The first alarm went off on September 15 around 5:00 PM, set off by the second-floor kitchenette. The second alarm on September 25 was triggered in the middle of the night, near midnight, and was apparently caused by hair products being used near the smoke detectors—contrasting the belief by many students that it was from the first-floor kitchen due to its smell and the slight haze in the hallway upon returning. The final alarm went off on September 29 around 8:00 AM, and it was set off by the third-floor kitchenette.
Each time the alarm blared through the hallways of Lamson Hall, students everywhere in the building were expected to drop all of their belongings and immediately rush to the Student Center. The common areas would quickly fill with residents at varying states of disarray and annoyance. During the two alarms at night and the morning, it was not an uncommon sight to see girls wearing pajamas and slippers or with wet hair still dripping from a shower interrupted. Resident Assistants like Hope Bollin (junior, pre-physical therapy), were armed with clipboards and had the daunting task of accounting for who and who wasn’t present from their assigned wings. Bollin says, “The fire alarms were annoying because they all happened at times where I was not working and trying to study. This meant I had to work on my days off.” For those two loud weeks, everyone’s life was interrupted by these evacuations that had to be made by staff and students alike. Tyler Lee (junior, business) describes her frustration, saying, “I felt like it was a little embarrassing how frequently people were setting off the alarms? Like maybe for the freshman I can let it pass; however, I felt like sophomores and seniors shouldn’t be really setting off the alarm. It woke me and my roommate up in a horrible way and scared the heck out of my dog.” Even residents who were lucky to miss parts of the alarms still faced exhaustion from the alarms, “I’ve been out of the dorm for most of them… but it would be fantastic if I never had to hear that sound again.” says Solana Campbell (sophomore, business management).
While students staying at Lamson Hall understand that the reason for such strict guidelines is for the health and safety of everyone, the frequency of the alarms in such a short time span can not go by without some anger. Lamson Hall is an old building, much older than any of the other current residence halls such as Meier Hall or University Towers. This irritation from the steady stream of alarms in September only flames the frustration that many residents have for the other faults resulting from the aged condition of the building like painted over screws in the walls or broken sinks. But ultimately, as many students cannot renovate Lamson Hall themselves, the best solution is just making sure to be careful in the dorms and to see to it that the next time an alarm starts to ring that it’s not you who sets it off.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.