Students: Do not assume alarms are drills

January 19, 2000 is a day that the Seton Hall community will never forget. As students slept, a senseless prank led to a deadly campus fire. It also claimed the lives of three fellow students and left several with serious injuries.

Following this tragedy, Seton Hall made it a mission to improve fire safety measures. Seton Hall installed state-of-the-art fire suppression systems. The University also sought to educate current and prospective students and their fami­lies about the fire in Boland in order to prevent a similar tragedy from happening again.

At times, it seems that students take fire drills and information about fire safety for granted. Everyone needs to remember paying attention to fire drills and warnings given has the potential to save lives.

Students need to remember the importance of fire drills. Yes, we know, they can be extremely inconvenient and disturb us while we are sleep­ing or in the mist of other activities. These drills are essential for the safety of all students. When a true emergency occurs, students will be prepared and aware of all the necessary procedures.

Although there have been an abundance of fire drills lately and students feel that they are not war­ranted, remember that each drill is a chance for students to become familiar with escape routes and practice for a real emergency. Whether someone be­lieves that the alarm is signaling a drill or there is an actual emergency, it should not matter. Everyone should respond the same way, no matter the situa­tion.

Seton Hall takes fire safety seriously and so should each one of us. We never know when or where an actual emergency will take place. Do not joke around during drills or act like this is a time to meet up with friends and chat about the day's activities. We all should be glad and extremely grateful that we attend a university that puts a great emphasis on keeping all safe and wants to educate students about fire safety.