By Liz Riegel
The residents of Old West were thrown into a panic yesterday morning when their building's fire alarm, which had been sounding continuously since move-in day, suddenly stopped ringing.
Students on the first and second floors were awoken by a mysterious, deafening silence at around 4:30 a.m., and began frantically rushing through the building trying to determine the reason for the unusual peace and quiet.
"It was really, really disturbing," said Jenny Creedy, a sophomore student majoring in Advanced Cutlery. "We all know that when the Old West fire alarm is going off, there's no fire, so when it stopped, of course we all freaked out."
Other students agreed with Creedy's assessment, especially the abnormally skittish Frederico Estevez, a recent transfer student from somewhere in Mexico.
"I overheard some people saying that the alarm system's wiring had shorted out and gone up in flames. How am I supposed to sleep without all that racket?"
Campus firemen, who had been posted outside of Old West around the clock since students began to arrive in late August, speculated that the alarm may have stopped due to an inexplicable lack of students cooking or microwaving popcorn. These are usually common activities for Old West residents early in the morning, and they are required by law to burn at least half of the food they cook.
"I guess that new Ramshead Dining Hall really was what those kids needed," said Jim Barnum, who has been working with the Chapel Hill Fire Department for years. "They don't need junk food now that the new grill station is open on the weekends."
Fellow firefighter Daniel Melkins has his own hypothesis about the cause.
"Jim's only half right," said Melkins.. "The real reason is that the students are desperately trying to lose weight after that stupendous kegger in Old East last week."
While the heroic men and women of the fire crew took the rare opportunity to go home and get some sleep, a student-led effort to find the reason for the alarm's silence inadvertently brought it back to life. One member of a group of Old West residents who had gathered around an alarm sensor happened to sneeze on it, which brought the alarm back to life instantly.
"There we go," Creedy said as the shrill ringing and flashing light returned.