The reoccurring problem of fire alarms blaring off at the wee hours of the morning has taken a big step in being prevented. A system will be implemented that will catch the culprit “blue-handed” The fire alarms can go off randomly, including the early hours of the morning, and all students must evacuate the building. But sometimes, after a long inspection by the fire department, it turns out there was no emergency, and the students will be tired and drained for class while the culprit gets away. It is now possible to bring an end to these rude awakenings. The solution: an ink trap, a small amount of ink that would be dispersed onto anyone who pulls the alarm.

     According to the Bloomsburg University CGA VP Jared Harris, the ink trap was chosen due to the ink being water-activated, that if someone tried to wash it off, it would activate and their hand would be stained blue.  A single syringe of the ink would be able to be set around 40 fire alarms. On the question if the ink traps are necessary, Harris confirmed that the dorms and apartments do indeed suffer from these events.

     As stated by Harris “In my own building of Columbia Hall, within the timeframe of this fall semester, we’ve had four separate events at various hours of the night.”

     Another strong case originates from the summer academy program, an event where future students can spend a few weeks in the summer on campus to sample the husky lifestyle. Sadly, during one of the programs, Harris stated “The summer academy group in Elwell Hall suffered three instances of false alarms in a single night, and eight overall.”

     Concerning the price for this deterrent Harris enunciated that “It’s difficult to tell because of how many fire alarms we have throughout campus, but cost of installation should not by any means exceed $1000.”

     One final notion that was brought forward was the situation in which an actual emergency would be present but the innocent individual who activated the alarm would still be covered by the ink.

     To this inquiry, Harris replied that “Unfortunately, there would be no way to avoid ink coverage, but once the actual emergency is discovered, any suspicion of criminal activity would be disregarded.”

     Student residents have been divided on the issue, some believing that a sound sleep at night would be more desirable, while others do not feel the same sentiment.

     On the side of support for the ink traps, Jill Henderson voiced to “definitely have them installed”, noting the presence of students who wander the halls at all hours.

     Meanwhile from the view of the opposed, Alyssa Lardi was concerned that “They are an unnecessary expenditure of college funds following the recent renovations and new buildings.”

     These views were shared by Jacob Delorme, journalism major, who said “I think it would be a bad idea due to the instance of an unintentional alarm being triggered, and I would hate to see someone’s clothes or belongings ruined by the ink, in addition to fines for the alarm.”