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Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's, oh, wait, where the hell's the mirror?
By adamg on Wed, 10/19/2011 - 3:18pm
Outrage at Boston University after officials order floor-length mirrors removed from one dorm's hallways as potential fire hazards (that's what she said):
"I feel that taking off the mirrors was completely unnecessary," said Allie Orlando, a freshman in the College of Communication. "When you are going to class, it's convenient that the mirrors are right there by the elevators in case you to need to correct something."
Students are warning they'll show up in class looking like a meat-covered pop diva unless those mirrors are returned, pronto, buster.
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Comments
As someone who works in
As someone who works in Residential Life at a college, when the fire marshal says "take this down" you take it down.
If you fail to follow the order, then they just shut down the building. I'm sure the students in all the halls would be thrilled to have to relocate to a gym or home for a few weeks.
Yes, but...
...this would reflect poorly on the Fire Department...
College students need mirrors
College students need mirrors to perfect that 'just got out of bed' look.
Does glass burn?
how can a mirror be a fire hazard?
The flame sees itself and
The flame sees itself and becomes enraged.
My guess
If it ran fully to the floor, then the mirror could be confused for a hallway while in the smoke and chaos of a fire emergency.
Just a total guess.
hmmm....
I guess I could see that reasoning. Seems like the solution would've just been to raise them a foot or two off the floor (knee-height?), not remove them completely.
OR....
Or maybe there's sunlight directly hitting some of the mirrors, and at certain times of day, the reflections might be bouncing onto, I don't know, a paper-laden corkboard or something. Maybe they're concerned about the mirrors reflecting sunlight and causing a fire.
If that's the case, though, they should really watch that episode of Mythbusters. http://web.mit.edu/2.009/www/experiments/deathray/...
Fire hazzard?
Are these mirrors curve-shaped? I once got a penny at the MOS reallyreally hot with a parabolic mirror...
Flame war!
Flames ... reflecting ... repeating ... you know how that happens!
These dorms have been around
These dorms have been around for 30+ years. The mirrors are probably just as old. And now the fire marshal decided it's a problem? How absurd.
Bathrooms have mirrors too.
Bathrooms have mirrors too. What a bunch of spoiled brats. There was no reason for the mirrors to be there in the first place. My dorm at college didn't have full-length mirrors in the elevator lobby and I survived.
they got pissers too...
Damn kids today! When I was at school, I was beaten regularly every 30 minutes, and it never did me any harm -- except for psychological maladjustment and blurred vision. Get off my lawn!!!
I like the idea that the kids would think they were doorways and go running straight into them. Like starlings.
Poof...
You're right. Magicians only use smoke and mirrors to distract people because they PAID for the illusion. In a fire, I'm sure it's completely different.
I Blame Society...
If the Fire Marshall said to jump into a burning building, would you do it?
It's amazing to me how stupid some people can be.
I blame society. We have turned into a society that will accept anything said or done to us if it is in the name of "decreased risk." We want to believe we're completely safe all the time and we're too stupid to realize that will never be the case.
Taking down metal mirrors that have been there for years because of a fire hazard? Moronic, but not new. When I was in college 30 years ago they dictated that you had to soak and bathe your loft in fire retardant solution - I mean really bathe it - before it could go up. I think after I left they actually banned lofts. Fire hazard. Right. As opposed to the several kilos of loose green-bar paper I had strewn all over as a CS major? Uh huh.
I moved out of the dorms because I wouldn't live under such stupidity. :-( Nice to know things haven't changed.
women's college architecture
Some of the former Radcliffe dorms have 3-sided full-length mirrors in the hallways. They made a point of not removing them during renovations, along with the hooks that kept doors open the required 3 inches for when residents had male visitors.
I hope they don't remove this part of the former college's history.
I lived in Briggs and Barnard...
...during the first 3 years after the dorms became coed ones. I remember hooks on doors, but not hallway mirrors )they may have been there and I just never noticed them). ;~}
The 3-sided mirrors I know of
The 3-sided mirrors I know of are in Holmes and Comstock, now part of Pforzheimer (formerly North) House.