With costs rising and students losing patience, the Office of Residence Life is taking the initiative to reduce the number of false fire alarms on campus, specifically in Brevard Hall.

ResLife is offering a $1000 reward ‘for information leading to the identification of the person or persons responsible for the campus false fire alarms.’ Considered the best way for residents to assist, it is hoped that this new incentive will help find those responsible for the string of fire alarms pulled in Brevard over the past few weeks.

Information can also be given anonymously, either by notifying Campus Safety and Security or simply by letting the Residence Life staff know that a report wishes to be anonymous. Any residence hall incident, as well, can be reported through an e-mail to commondamage@ut.edu, which will be completely anonymous if indicated so in the e-mail.

But even if residents have no information to give, there are other ways to help guard against false fire alarms. ResLife lists multiple suggestions for students, taken from ideas that surfaced through several meetings of the Brevard Council of Residents (BCOR) and the Residence Hall Association (RHA).

These suggestions include: do not allow individuals into your residence hall who do not reside there; report information about common hall damage to your resident assistant, head resident, or area coordinator; do not attempt to confront any individual you may suspect of causing common damage; simply contact Campus Safety and Security at x3333 immediately. (From a cell phone, the number is 813-251-5133).

If these precautions are taken, the odds of severely lessening the number of false fire alarms increase dramatically. Coupled with the $1000 reward for information, ResLife is confident that the false fire alarms can be stopped, along with the serious security risks that accompany them.

‘We know with the assistance of the residents, we can stop these alarms,’ the Office of Residence Life said in a statement about the reward. Please help them do so by spreading this information around to all residents with an interest in stopping false fire alarms.