Annoying alarms and false fires

Victoria Alarcon
Sports & Health Editor
Let me be the first to say what’s been on everyone’s mind: This fucking fire sucked.
I had to study all week for an exam that was supposed to take place on Dec. 14, and all of a sudden it got scrapped and rescheduled for the day before Christmas Eve. How lovely.
The chain of unfortunate events began on Dec. 13, when a fire broke out in the Central Utilities Building, causing the university’s entire heating system to shut down. This resulted in a York-wide evacuation, and a campus shutdown that lasted until Dec. 15.
The fire was followed by two false bomb threats that also caused massive evacuations and postponed even more weekend exams.
If you were one of the unlucky ones who had an exam on those days, you were probably in the same boat as me.
Perhaps you were one of the really unfortunate ones who had an exam rescheduled for the following Sunday after the fire mishap, but got screwed in the very last second by the false bomb threat that postponed your test yet again, pushing it back until God-knows-when.
And that’s not even the sad part.
The simple fact is these are just a small sample of the bomb threats and fire warnings that have plagued York in the past few years. It’s almost become a recurring ritual that takes place every semester.
York has always used the same solution: cancel and postpone the exam to a later date, and issue an apology to disgruntled students and staff.
This quick-and-sloppy fix got me wondering: why hasn’t York done anything drastic to deal with this?
Back in April 2010, the University Task Force released a review of how they would go about preventing bomb threats and false fire alarms. Suggestions included holding exams in secure places where they can easily go on during disruptions, as well as raising awareness about the harsh penalties that come with reporting false emergencies.
Yet as far as I know, no spot for relocated exams has been set, never mind a space with enough rooms for an exam to take place on the day following a cancellation. No signs around campus explain the penalties for calling in a false alarm; these warnings could act as a deterrent for future situations.
If York wants to really change and reduce the amount of preventable mishaps, they must be 100 percent committed.
Honestly, it’s in their best interest to start as soon as possible. York is easily becoming “that” school, the one that fails to strictly address an ongoing problem that inconveniences both students and staff from successfully finishing an exam.
Universities have a job: not only to ensure our safety when on campus, but also to make sure we’re getting the best education possible. The current wave of problems does nothing to help students perform to the best of their abilities.
As for you false terrorists and bogus arsonists who keep pushing back my exams: I hope the sky opens up and smites you a thousand times over for ruining my study plans. I hate you with the rage of a hundred rabid monkeys.