If you have any questions about what to do during a fire drill, ask the residents of Bursley Residence Hall. Alarms have forced them out of their rooms a total of seven times since September, but only one drill was planned.

The slew of false alarms has desensitized some students to the blaring sirens and flashing lights, prompting them to remain in their rooms, which could be a problem in the event of a real fire.

Ian Steinman, the University's fire marshal and an associate director of the Department of Public Safety, said six of the seven false alarms were caused by malfunctions in the system. But housing officials said a fix they made last week will solve the problem.

The first alarm that drove Bursley residents onto surrounding sidewalks happened Sept. 17 at about 8 p.m. Declan Lugin, the housing security fire inspector, said it was caused by an electrical glitch in the sprinkler system.

But the sprinkler system turned out to be the least of the Bursley residents' problems.

In August, the University finished installing a new state-of-the-art fire alarm system, but the new technology proved to be a little too sensitive.

Three days after the first alarm, Bursley residents evacuated the building again at about 1 p.m., this time because a smoke detector in a custodial closet malfunctioned.

At 9:48 p.m. the next day, Bursley had its only planned fire drill exercise. Each dorm on campus is required to have one practice fire drill per semester.

The next four alarms were caused by glitches in the new system. Oversensitive smoke detectors went off in Bursley's kitchen four times, again forcing residents to flee their rooms.

Bursley residents are less than thrilled with the unplanned drills.

"The alarms are really inconvenient because you can't do your homework," LSA freshman Ayumi Ueda said. "They go off all the time, so it's hard to get things done."

Most of the alarms have gone off in the evening, which is when most students say they are studying.

Others, like School of Music freshman John Beresford, woke from their sleep to the sound of what Lugin described as a "piercing whistle" when the alarms went off.

"Most of the time I've been sleeping, but I know people who have been in the shower," Beresford said.

Inconvenience is not the only issue. Some residents are so jaded by the alarms that they are considering ignoring them in the future.

"Ridiculous is a good word for the alarms," said LSA freshman Austin Jenkins. "Pretty soon when the fire alarms go off, people are just going to keep sleeping."

Although there is no set punishment for failing to evacuate, it is dangerous to ignore the alarms, University Housing spokesman Alan Levy said.

"Every year, campuses around the country experience real fires, so it is critical that residents evacuate in every instance where an alarm goes off," Levy said in an e-mail interview.

Last week, housing officials sent out an e-mail to all Bursley residents, saying they should treat every fire alarm as real until the problem was solved. Technicians have since fixed the problem, Steinman said.

"We're confident we have it resolved," he said.

The problem, Steinman said, was related to a malfunction in a control module in the kitchen. When food was being cooked in the kitchen, temperature changes of only a few degrees had been setting off the alarms, Lugin said.

School of Music freshman Michael Michelon said he is happy that he will no longer be disturbed.

"I feel relieved knowing that I will be able to sleep, take a shower or watch 'Grey's Anatomy' without anticipating a fire alarm going off," he said.