Wake up RLSH

At 6:30 this morning, I woke up from my peaceful sleep by anannoying siren and a bright strobe light in my dorm room inCockrell-McIntosh Hall. It was our first fire drill of the schoolyear.

As I stumbled to find something to wear outside and fumbledaround looking for my keys and wallet, my roommate and I startedwhat became an hour-long cursing tirade of SMU and the firedepartment. I walked down the four flights of stairs and shuffledout the door with all my dorm mates only to be greeted by thesmiling faces of the Resident Life and Student Housing officials incharge of performing the drills for the residence halls.

We were forced to wait around for a few minutes before theygathered us together to inform us that there was no fire, that itwas only a drill, but that we had successfully evacuated thebuilding in an appropriate amount of time, and that we could returnto our rooms.

As I worked my way up the stairs back to my room, I was fuming.Who do these people think they are? There is absolutely no reasonfor these drills to happen at 6:30 in the morning. The timing of itis horrible. By the time the residents are dragged out of bed,evacuate, the building is checked, and everyone is allowed toreturn to their rooms, at least 15 minutes have gone by, probablymore.

It takes at least another 15 to 20 minutes to take off yourshoes, calm down from being mad about having been awoken and fallback asleep. So a minimum of 30 minutes of valuable sleep time iswasted. By the time everyone finally does get back to sleep, itstime to get up again for class. Its hard enough getting up forclass at 9 a.m., let alone having your sleep cycle destroyed by afire drill.

I’m sure RLSH has a list of reasons why they think theyneed to do these drills at such an obnoxious hour, but I’mhere to say that they are wrong. First off, not everyone was in thebuilding at 6:30 a.m. Cockrell-McIntosh has a large number offootball players residing in its rooms, and they had to be at thegym at 6 a.m. to lift weights. If RLSH was trying to perform thedrill when everyone was there, they failed. Strike one againstRLSH.

Next, I’d like to evaluate the likelihood of an actualfire happening at 6:30 in the morning. I maintain that if a firewere to happen in a residence hall that would require immediateevacuation of the whole building, it would not happen aftereveryone has been sleeping for some time. It’s just notplausible. RLSH and the RAs do a good job of inspecting rooms forfire hazards, and the restrictions against products that havepotential to cause fires are numerous. Even if someone were toleave an electric device on overnight, and it were going to cause afire, it would start the fire way before six in the morning. Striketwo against RLSH.

Finally, SMU residence halls are supposed to foster and promotean atmosphere conducive for studying. Waking students up at 6:30a.m. does not encourage a healthy studying environment. It is verylikely that there are students who have had to stay up latestudying for a test, finally get to sleep and then have to dealwith the annoyance of a fire drill. RLSH, you can’t say onething and do another — that’s called lying. Strikethree. RLSH, you’re out … of excuses.

At this point, I’m sure readers are thinking that I amagainst fire drills all together. This is incorrect.

I understand that fire drills are a necessary for the safety ofthe residents in the dorms, but RLSH needs to adjust the way thesedrills are executed to minimize the irritation that they bring tostudents. They can fix this problem with one easy step: performfire drills earlier in the night.

Fire drills need to be conducted somewhere around 1 or 2 in themorning on a weeknight. Almost all the students are in their roomsby this time. Some are even still awake. The ones who are asleephaven’t been sleeping for very long and could still have timeto get a decent amount of sleep after having to get up for thedrill.

Also, this is a more realistic time when a fire would happen ina residence hall. If Susie Sorority Girl’s hair straightenerwere to start a fire from overuse and being left on as she getsready to go out, chances are the fire would start way before 6:30in the morning.

I’m tired of being bugged by 6:30 a.m. fire drills. RLSH,fix your fire drill procedures and give me my valuable sleep timeback.

Austin Kilgore is a junior dance major and a photo editor forStudent Media publications. He may be reached [email protected].