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Beth Ramsey | The
Appalachain
Signs in White Residence Hall
advise residents not to exit the building through alarm-activated
doors following last week's vandalism. |
by Jennifer Schneider
Staff Writer
Students could be held financially responsible for damages after
White Residence Hall was vandalized last Wednesday.
An alarm wire was cut and the alarm bell was stolen after someone
engaged a door alarmed from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., Residence Life Area
Coordinator Kayla M. Hamilton said.
At the time the alarm sounded, there were no staff members in the
building to manually turn off the alarm, so it continued to sound.
Hamilton said someone went up into the ceiling, cut the wire to
the alarm and stole the bell.
Students living in White Residence Hall may now have to pay for
the damages. Each student who lives in a residence hall signs a
housing contract before move-in.
According to the contract, students are responsible for damaged
equipment in the residence halls. Students will be billed for the
replacement or repair of any university property damaged.
Many students are angry about the possible fee.
“I don’t think we should all be punished for someone’s
childish prank,” freshman business major Lauren D. Matthes
said.
“We won’t be charging the students at the moment. It
is not a tactic student affairs likes to take,” Hamilton said.
Decisions are still being made as to how to handle these kinds of
situations.
The vandalism came after a history of problems of students propping
doors open.
“For legal reasons, the fire doors need to stay shut,”
Hamilton said.
“It is important to keep students safe,” freshman early
education major Christine K. Layton said. “The policy with
the doors is not that big of a deal. I don’t understand why
people have such a problem with it.”
White Residence Hall RAs and RD met last Monday and received approval
to have the door continuously alarmed.
“I think stealing the bell was kind of extreme,” Layton
said. “I mean come on, how big of a deal is it to go out another
door?”
Another meeting was held between the RA’s and RD and it was
decided that the door will continue to be alarmed between 9 p.m.
and 5 a.m.
If the door continues to be propped open, the alarm hours will be
increased by one each time. For example, the next time the alarm
goes off it will be set from 8 p.m. until 5 a.m. and so on, Hamilton
said.
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