Fire Alarms At Lowell House

To the Editors of The Crimson:

The residents of Lowell House have been subjected to 46 false alarms so far this fall. While living in the midst of the renovations has been convenient, the smoke detector's seeming inability to distinguish between a six-alarm inferno and a cockroach breaking wind has become an intolerable imposition. It is incredible that something that disrupts the live of four hundred and fifty people has been allowed to continue this long.

The University's apparent lack of concern for the inhabitants of Lowell House is particularly distressing. We have been awakened as early as 9:30 a.m. by tests of the system and little effort has been made to communicate with us about the problem beyond warnings not to tamper with the alarms. Furthermore, every official statement we have read has intimated that somehow we are to blame for the repeated alarms. Fire Protection Engineer David Breen's comment in The Crimson on November 16 was the last straw. He was quoted as suggesting that "the situation would resolve itself once workers left the building and students became 'sensitized' and were more careful about smoking and fireplace smoke." It is hard to attribute alarms between four and six a.m. to the workmen or to someone forgetting to open his flue. How many times must we be dragged out of bed before we become "sensitized"?

Most importantly, will the University do something before exams start and the real suffering begins? David G. Rabkin '83   Daniel H. Reich '83