9ad judgment by the college could cost student lives

Well, I don't even know where to begin, but something has been really bothering me this past week. On Wednesday March 22, there was a fire alarm that went off in Xavier around 1:45 in the morning. My roommate and I slept right through it.

The thing that I do not understand is why, with all the ijres that have been happening at other colleges, public safety and the RA's of the building would not check all rooms. It's not like this would be asking them to do something extra it is a part of their job._They are supposed to check all rooms during a fire alarm, even if the doors are Jocked and no one is answering the door. They have to key in the room to make sure everyone is out of the building. The outrageous thing about this whole mess is that this fire alarm was not set to go off. The alarm went off and all anybody could see was smoke from a fire extinguisher. Everyone in the whole building thought it was a real fire. So if it were a real fire then wouldn't you be smart enough to make sure every one was out of the building and no one was hurt, but no, not Cabrini College.

What bothers me is about a month ago there was a stage fire alarm in Xavier to check residents' rooms for furniture missing from the Great Room. And you can bet public safety and the RA's made sure to check every single room in Xavier that night. They were so prepared for this so-called fire alarm that one of the RA's even had a camera so she could takes pictures of the residents' rooms with the missing furniture in it. They fined each student in the room $200 for each piece of missing furniture in their room. I think this shows poor characteristics of the people who are in being in danger then they did not care about anything but themselves and the building that would house more people next year. I could see if during this fire alarm, I just stayed in my room and did not go out because it was cold or any other excuse then I would never write this commentary. But the thing is that I did nothing wrong except go to sleep before two in the morning. And if this is your argument then save it because I had early classes the next day and if going to bed at a decent time is wrong then you can go to my early classes from now on. I don't understand how if the RAs and public safety thought it could have been a real fire, they manage to overlook two girls asleep in theirs beds. If it were a real fire then my roommate and I would be dead. I think it shows bad judgment on the actions of public safety and the RAs that night. Melissa Lepouski is a staff writer for Loquitur. Besides fire alarms, she also sleeps through all of Dr. Zurek's classes. charge of our safety here on campus. What it does.---------------------------, show me is that when it came down to being able to get more money from students, then let's check all rooms, but when it came down to residents' lives

Letters to the editor

Check your own rudeness before pointing fingers

submitted by Jennifer Smith

I normally don't do this. However, I was inspired by an article in last week's Loquitur to write a letter to the editor.

After reading the Viewpoint article "Learning how to "Keep it Real" I suddenly realized how hypocritical people can be. This article discusses the actions of a person standing up for the fellow man and confronting rude behavior by others. I agree. This action is noble and much needed. My problem is that the heroine was just as guilty of the crime of which she was boldly pointing out to the accused, rudeness and insensitivity.

If you want to prove to someone that they are acting rudely and causing someone who is powerless to feel humiliated the best way to do it is NOT to condone the same actions yourself. To call someone "a fat tub of lard" is extremely rude and also quite embarrassing. Just as it was "not the cashier's fault the machinery was not working," it was not the fact that the complaining patron was "puffy fisted" that was causing her to be rude. It would be so wonderful if everyone in the world fit a perfect body type or image, but that is not so. Criticizing someone's appearance can be construed as shallow and insensitive. And, after all, isn't that what the heroine was trying to point out to the accused, that she was being insensitive?

The issue was that the person in line was acting rudely. This had nothing to do with her weight. While the heroine felt that she was showing characteristics of "standing up for your fellow person;• she was also insulting a whole class of people. It would have sufficed to explain that she was acting rudely and should show a bit of patience without having to insult her physical appearance.

I think that the heroine ought to consider her own rudeness in judging people by the way they look. She started with criticism of the paying customer's "bad, red dye job," and moved on to the "ball of pudge," at the back of the line. I'm not saying we don't think such things, but these opinions were as loudly expressed as the rude person calling the cashier a moron.

All I'm suggesting is that before we put ourselves on a pedestal for being considerate of other people's feelings, we should be sure we belong there. Instead of worrying about showing backbone, perhaps we should worry about showing compassion and tolerance to ALL people.