When the state's new international standard fire code goes into effect in October, University housing will already be safely in line.
Since move-in, members of the residence staff have been educating on-Ground residents on the new rules, which include a decoration policy banning paper lanterns, combustible wall hangings and decorative items suspended from the ceiling.
"We started informing residents when they moved in, so, instead of them getting fined in October when the fire chief comes around, they know beforehand," said Tricia Amberly, a fourth-year College student and Alderman Road co-chair of residence staff.
According to Amberly and third-year senior resident Barrie Moorman, opposition to the restrictions has been minimal among new students.
"In the first year area it's easier to enforce because they don't have anything to compare it to," Moorman said. "But a lot of upperclassmen are frustrated because they know what they were able to have last year."
One such upperclassman is Lambeth resident and second-year College student Tim Lalonde.
Last year, Lalonde created a magazine collage across the wall of his first-year dorm. This year, however, he said he will not be going overboard.
Although Lalonde is not too worried about being found in violation of the new code, he said he is not pleased with the limitations it has placed on his decorating abilities.
"This half of the room is my home for the year, I want it to be something I can change and evolve and not this sterile white room with brown furniture like everyone else," Lalonde said. "You put a cupcake on the porch and it's a fire hazard. All these regulations put together make for a pretty dull atmosphere."
One section of the decoration policy that Lalonde said he takes particular issue with is the limit on wall space decoration.
In the Resident Staff manual, decorative items are allowed to be displayed on the walls of individual rooms "as long as such items do not exceed 10 percent of the available wall space."
Lalonde called the number "arbitrary" and Moorman said many of her residents have come to her wondering how much space this requirement allows.
"I think that people so far have been pretty understanding and seem to be complying," Moorman said. "There's the potential for there to be a lot more violations, especially when people don't understand it, but since it was spelled out early in the year, people have been understanding about it."
University Fire Marshal Gerald Drumheller could not be reached for comment.
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