The annual state fire inspections of academic buildings and residence halls at Oswego State, conducted Feb. 4 through March 8, means more strict safety checks that some students find annoying despite their necessity.
Kenneth Ayhens, the New York state fire inspector from the office of Fire Prevention and Control, will be inspecting all academic buildings and 1/3 of the occupied rooms in each residence hall as part of the safety check. During the checks, he looks for any violations that pose a fire safety hazard and immediately confiscates any he finds.
This procedure can seem more harsh than the ones conducted by Residence Life and Housing staff in the fall semester, according to Robert Grasso, a resident assistant in Onondaga Hall.
“[The state fire inspectors] have much more authority than we do,” Grasso said. “They’re typically much more serious … anything that is a prohibited item, they confiscate right away, which will not be returned.”
The fall inspections are typically scheduled ahead of time between residents and RAs, and if RAs find small infractions, they will give students a 48-hour window to remove the items and have the room checked again.
State fire inspectors, however, choose rooms at random to search, come in regardless of who is there and give students no chance to remove prohibited items before they are confiscated.
This style has bothered a few students, like junior pre-optometry major Kimberlynn Sprague, who lives in Riggs Hall.
“I guess, for safety reasons, I understand why they do them,” Sprague said. “[But] I don’t like that they can just come into your room without you being there. I really wish that they gave us set times.”
Freshman childhood education major Olivia Grecco, who lives in Seneca Hall, said she has not been very bothered by them, though she finds them a little annoying.
“I think they’re a bit of a nuisance, but I do think they’re necessary,” Grecco said. “[My friends] don’t really mind them.”
Other students, like sophomore journalism major Shyanne Reid, see them as more than just a mild nuisance. Reid’s room in Seneca and her friends’ have been checked before, and on both occurrences, items were confiscated.
“I find them really annoying, and they’re an invasion of privacy,” Reid said. “[I would rather] not have them happen or not be random. If you’re going to be in my room, I want to know.”
Brandon Ash, a junior broadcasting and communications major in Seneca Hall, said some of the items prohibited do not seem dangerous.
“[The check] keeps you safe, but then again, there’s a lot of things that they confiscate and do that definitely don’t need to be taken,” Ash said. “The only thing that makes sense is the tapestries.”
Grasso said the best way to avoid having items confiscated is to check the list of prohibited items posted in the residence halls and online and make sure all prohibited items are put away. Some of the most commonly found prohibited items include tapestries, daisy-chained extension cords and posters too close to the ceiling.
Though Grasso acknowledged the checks can be a pain for some students, he said they are necessary to ensure everyone’s safety.
“If one person has a violation, something that is a fire safety hazard, that puts everyone in the building possibly in danger of a potential fire hazard,” Grasso said. “The bottom line is that they just want to make sure that everything’s safe, that everyone is safe and doesn’t get hurt or have anything that might become a problem.”
Photo by:
William Rogers | The Oswegonian
