One of the first warnings our CA gave us at our first hall meeting-even before telling us not to drink-was to "beware of the sprinklers." I was a bit puzzled, wondering how much damage those little sprinklers could really do. Our CA went on to tell us horror stories of firehose caliber pressure flooding the floor with hundreds of gallons of water. Why on Earth would anyone make such an excessive sprinkler system, one that can be set off at the slightest touch and probably do more damage than the fires it puts out? And why would anyone put them in the dorms of wild, drunken college students living on their own for the first time?

When I heard about the incident in East, I was angry. When I found out that this has happened an average of once per semester since the sprinklers were installed, I was livid. I was enraged not just for the people in East and their damaged belongings, or for the two poor guys responisble for this; I was angry because the same disaster could happen on my floor in Massell at any moment, causing the same miserable living conditions as those in East are experiencing right now, and destroying all my belongings, some of which are not so easily replaced. And I was enraged that the administration was quite OK with this arrangement. After all, isn't it a bad sign when I would prefer a fire to the sprinklers going off?

An article about me being pissed off at the sprinklers would not be very informative, however. So I trekked on over to East to get its residents' perspective on the whole situation, to see how they felt, if they were angry, and if so, who they blamed for the mess. But after sitting down and talking with several flood victims, I was surprised. I told them my feelings about the excessiveness of the sprinkler system, and asked how they felt about it. They said they actually felt safer knowing that any fire would be doused under two feet of water in minutes. In fact, they refused to put any blame on Brandeis: "They handled the situation as best they could. There are maintenance guys in here every day testing the air and taking down lists of our stuff," said Jessica Panu '08.

If not Brandeis, I questioned, who is responsible for this mess? What about the two guys playing football? To my surprise again, their hallmates were largely sympathetic. Ari Tessler '08 summed up: "They feel terrible about what happened. Their stuff got ruined too, as well as all their friends' stuff ... the hall is closer than it ever was." Apparently, the only punishment residents thought would be fitting was a slap on the wrist, and this support may be quite valuable when it comes time for Brandeis to decide their fate.

The general feeling, they said, was that Brandeis should bear the financial burden, but not because of any negligence on the part of the school. "We aren't pissed at anybody. The situation just sucks, that's all," said Avraham Wachs-Cashman '08. This was uplifting to hear, especially because one of the students I was speaking to had been hit by the a blast of water and so strong that she needed to be checked for a concussion.

It gives me much-needed faith in the school to know that, in the face of disaster, Brandeisians eschew the litigious American way and come together more than ever.

Even so, I'll always be wary of those metal demons that rest on the ceiling, ready to spew down watery hell at the slightest touch.