To the Editors:

As I sit here writing this, I am fuming, red with rage, at the $100 worth of “unauthorized items” that have been removed from my apartment without my consent.

These items (mostly candles, I’m assuming, I don’t even know because no one told me) will be given to Safety and Security, where I’m sure someone will take them home and give them to their wife for Mother’s Day.

I made the poor, poor decision to live in the Firelands, and this is my piece: don’t live here!

Let me just break down the year: in September we moved in to find an air conditioner sitting in a box in our room. “Awesome!” we said. “We didn’t know we’d have air conditioning!” Oh...but we were so wrong.

That air conditioner sat uninstalled in a box in our apartment for so long that we contemplated selling it on eBay. Good thing we had our sliding door to open when it got a little warm huh?

Oh wait... but we didn’t have our sliding door much longer. We came back from break to find that it had been unceremoniously bolted shut. Why? We don’t know, because no one will tell us.

In October, I lost it with the air conditioner and kept e-mailing my “RA’s.” “Oh, we’re sorry,” they said. “Someone will be there to install it or take it out soon.” Well, it sure wouldn’t be a problem since it was still in the box.

I finally lost it and placed the air conditioner, along with a note, on the hood of my RA’s car. I figured that since he’d had such trouble getting someone to “install” it, we’d probably have a big problem with someone uninstalling it too.

Oh, we had some other appliance mishaps, too. One day, I came home to find a convection oven measuring 2’x2.5’ sitting in my kitchen which is a mere 3’ wide...if that.

The oven was unneccesary since we have a standing oven, a microwave and everything else that a young apartment dweller should have.

I tried to move it out of the way of the refrigerator, but to no avail. I had to wait for my roommate before the two of us could move it together. Once again, we had to wait weeks before it was out of our way.

The questions I ask are this: Why, in a building that has a smoking floor, are the standards for “fire-safe” materials not different?

This building was built to different fire codes than the all-wooden dorms. And why, in a building where the fire alarm is so sensitive that it literally goes off twice a week, are the codes still so strict? Why, ResLife?

Why can you trust me with a gas stove that has an open flame, but not with a candle that has never been used? Why? And why is it okay for these items to be taken?!

The combined value of all the things that were taken from my room was over $100. And we don’t really even know what’s missing. To be honest, we never even light candles; we just keep them around for the smell. And all I have to say is this to
ResLife:

If you’re gonna do something, for God’s sake, do it. If this is going to be a dorm, then put an RA on every single floor and make us go to meetings.

But if this is going to be apartment-style living, then have a little trust. Give us some warning before you take shit from our rooms. If we can be trusted with a gas stove and with a smoking floor, why the hell were my candles taken away from me?

I wonder if any lighters left out on the smoking floor were confiscated as well. If you’re going to give us air conditioners, why can’t you make sure that someone is there to install them?

If you’re going to let us have ovens, someone needs to be keeping track of who already has an oven and who doesn’t need a cumbersome appliance in their way.

Another thing I have an issue with is the privacy violations. I understand that people need to see my room now and then. However, I think the policy should be changed so that for apartment dwellers, ResLife cannot enter your room to do a simple inspection unless you are there.

This would involve more time in making appointments, etc., but I think this is a more effective policy unless, of course, there is a really damn good reason for someone to barge into my room and look around.

I’m not an 18-year-old freshman sharing a box with someone. If you let me live in an apartment where I have some semblance of privacy and order, please be consistent with that!

I am 22 years old and have well earned my privilege to live in an apartment sponsored by the College. I have been safe and I understand ResLife’s continuing concern with safety. However, the standards must be changed for apartment-style living. It simply doesn’t make sense.

This year has been a terrible living situation, and if the College had done its job before we all moved in, it wouldn’t have been that way. What with all the tuition increases and all... I would think that the little things could be taken care of.

Let it be known that I’m going to make a hell of a lot of noise until something is done about this. And maybe I’ll just buy some more candles as an act of protest...

–Nic Trovato
College senior