by Jihad Yarber
Oswego, NY- Tapestries, curtains, and flags are just a few of the items prohibited from the residence halls in Oswego State. The items are promptly confiscated if they are discovered in any of the dorms. Onondaga Assistant Hall Director Chris Lewand says wall decorations are a risk to fire safety.
“Tapestries, curtains, and flags lead to more fire hazards than your typical poster would,” he said. “However we do have restrictions on posters, they’re only allowed to be on 10 percent of the wall they’re not allowed to be within two feet of the ceilings. So there are restrictions in place, but overall it comes down to what the fire marshall has deemed to be more flammable.”
While posters are considered to be safe for students to have in their possession, some disagree with the claim that one is more hazardous than the other.
“I feel like they take up about the same amount of space on the wall and they’re made of similar flammable materials,” student Cooper Lee said. “I just don’t see how one person can specifically say how a poster is that much more safe than a tapestry,”
Other students are accepting of the rule, but also think a change in policy may lead to a better solution, feeling there needs to be more trust in the on-campus residents.
“I understand why tapestries would be not allowed in rooms,” student Julia Gaudio said. “However I think that there are many flammable things that people don’t focus on and most kids have tapestries anyway,”
“I think there’s a lot of tapestries that are hung up and there hasn’t been a fire started yet,” student Lilia Grucza said. “I feel like they just need to give us a little more credit for knowing to be safe with fire safety instead of just banning anything that could potentially start a fire.”
For more information on what items are prohibited in the dorms, visit Oswego State’s website or contact Residence Life and Housing at 315-312-2246.