The GrandMarc apartments have been dealing with residents who are apathetic about fire alarms following a rash of false alarms. One of those incidents had the fire alarms sounding for two hours at 3 a.m., a stretch of patience for any resident having to live and sleep there.

According to the GrandMarc management, students cannot be forced to evacuate the GrandMarc because technically the apartments are not a part of the university. Nevertheless, common sense should compel students out of the apartments, but there have been problems over the residents knowing when alarms are warranted or not.

Steps should be taken by the university to enforce that students are following emergency protocol. The university may not operate the apartments, but it owns the property where the apartment complex sits and is leasing apartments for some of its students.

Even worse, some false fire alarms have been triggered by students pulling the fire alarms for no reason, according to the GrandMarc management. There is no room for pranks when it comes to an emergency situation, and students shouldn’t play with the possibility that one day an actual fire might threaten the lives of a desensitized residential community.

Multimedia editor Chance Welch for the editorial board.