To the Editor:
On September 25, we, along with many other students living on campus, received an e-mail from Robert Armstrong, assistant director of Residence Life, threatening that if we were caught with halogen or torchiere lamps of any kind in our rooms, we would be subject to arbitrary and undisclosed “judicial action.” The rule for the last few years has been “No halogen torchiere lamps.” This year, the rule was deftly and underhandedly changed to include all forms of torchiere lamps, including those which use incredibly safe 60-100 watt incandescent bulbs, as well as very low wattage halogen desk lamps. These lights give off less heat than our IBM laptops and school endorsed refrigerators. We would further argue that the current fluorescent lighting is both potentially more dangerous and more harmful to one’s eyesight. Fluorescent lights are not intended for a primary light source, but are rather chosen for their low wattage and longer life in industrial settings.
RPI continues to jump on the college bandwagon of new rules and regulations because of one incident caused by one careless student on another campus. The incident at Seton Hall was no accident. It was proved arson in a court of law. Even a few incidents are not justification for universal banning of anything. Only the prevention of a specific scenario is necessary, such as a poster directly over a lamp. Rules that clarify common sense are justifiable, but blindly banning all forms of light that point upward is simply ridiculous. If a 25 watt gooseneck desk lamp is bent upward, does that make it a ‘torchiere’ lamp? Lights in lava lamps point upward. Are those illegal too?
Personally we are disgusted with the lighting conditions in our rooms, as we are sure many other students are. Both of us purchased inexpensive, non-halogen, torchiere lamps from Wal-Mart consciously concerned about the safety issues involved. The light had a plastic bowl and heavily weighted base, preventing both overheating and tipping. These features may be hard to find, but now even our efforts are unacceptable to RPI. Does Residence Life expect us to buy much more expensive and more hazardous lamps with flammable shades? We are paying almost $40,000 per year so that we can spend a few thousand more on eye doctor visits, new corrective lenses, or even surgery, and new lights for our rooms. Eyesight is an incredibly precious thing and is almost always taken for granted.
The last line in Mr. Armstrong’s e-mail states, “Thank you for your assistance in making Rensselaer a safer place to live.” We’ve already stated how dangerous the current fluorescent lighting is to our eyesight both for its flammability and overall dimness. All students that are removing quality lighting from their rooms are making their living environment unsafe for their eyesight. We hope that he, the rest of the Residence Life staff, and RPI administration will act to save our eyesight! We commend RPI for its recent commitment to student life, but, in light of this dim situation, strongly urge for upgrades to dormitory and apartment lighting for the benefit of all students. No pun intended!
Robert Savino ’05
Aaron Sorrell ’06
