Yue Lin used to leave the dormitory door wide open, especially as summer approached. But now he has to keep reminding himself and his roommates to close the door.
岳林(音译)过去常常让寝室的门大开着,尤其是在夏日来临时。但如今他不得不时刻提醒自己和室友随手关门了。
“Somebody lost a laptop just two dormitories down from ours,” says the 22-year-old junior at Hainan University. “We are just being cautious.”
“与我们相隔一屋的那间寝室,有人丢了台笔记本电脑,”就读于海南大学大三年级、22岁的岳林说:“我们还是要小心为好。”
He has every reason to be. According to Legal Daily, of all campus crimes reported nationwide, 80 percent are thefts. “Most thefts on campus happen in dormitories,” reported the newspaper last week. Dormitory safety becomes even more of an issue on the verge of graduation season, so students had better stay sharp.
当然他完全有理由这样做。据《法制日报》报道,在全国范围内接到的校园犯罪案报案中,有80%是盗窃。上周该报报道称,“大多数校园盗窃发生在宿舍中。”临近毕业季,寝室安全问题变得尤为突出,所以同学们最好保持警惕。
Rampant theft
盗窃猖獗
According to Haikou police, dormitory theft has been “rampant” in the last two months. In March alone, a dozen laptops were stolen at Hainan University, Hainan Medical College lost 11 laptops, and Hainan Normal University reported the loss of seven laptops and a camera.
据海口警方称,过去两个月,寝室盗窃现象十分猖獗。仅三月份,海南大学就有十二台笔记本电脑失窃、海南医学院共失窃了十一台笔记本电脑、海南师范大学则报失了七台笔记本电脑和一部相机。
Li Wei, police chief of Meilan district in Haikou, says that the concentration of valuable items in student dormitories makes them a primary target for criminal gangs.
海口市公安局美兰分局局长李伟说,学生寝室中贵重物品较为集中,因此成为犯罪团伙的主要目标。
“For thieves, students, who often let their guard down, are easy prey,” says Li.
“对于小偷来说,学生人群往往警惕性较低,十分容易得手。”李局长说。
Yue and his peers often leave their laptop on the desk and dormitory door ajar when chatting with friends in another dormitory or grabbing a snack outside. Yue says he is among a majority of students who don’t recognize the potential risk of living a “careless” life in their dormitory.
岳林和室友们常常把笔记本电脑放在桌上,门半掩着,就去别的寝室聊天或者出去吃东西了。岳林说,自己和许多大学生一样,并未意识到这样“粗心大意”的寝室生活会埋下隐患。
“We live in our dormitory as we live at home,” says Yue. “We don’t see any danger. But from now on I think we should stay alert.”
“我们在寝室里就像在家一样,”岳林说。“完全没有意识到危险。但从现在开始,我想我们都应该保持警觉了。”
According to Tong Weihua, a law professor at Hainan University, it’s not only students that should be cautious. Colleges themselves need to introduce more security measures to minimize the potential risks.
海南大学法学院教授童伟华表示,需要提高警惕的不仅仅是学生,各高校也需要进一步采取保护措施来将这些安全风险降至最低。
“Dormitory management at some colleges is chaotic – people just come and go without their identity being checked,” says Tong. “Colleges can lower the risks significantly by including safety systems in the management of dormitories.”
“一些高校的寝室管理混乱——访客无需查证身份便可自由出入,”童教授说。“各高校可以采用宿管安全系统来有效降低风险。”
Fire threat
火灾隐患
The loss of property is negligible compared to the life-threatening danger of a fire.
比起致命的火灾,财物损失简直微不足道。
Recently, Yin Jiachen, 20, a sophomore at the Beijing Institute of Technology, returned to her dormitory to smell burning plastic in the room. In the jumble of wires connecting computers, smartphones, and other electric appliances, Yin discovered that the cable for a water boiler was smoldering.
近日,北京理工大学大二学生、20岁的尹佳辰(音译)回到宿舍后便闻到了一股塑料烧焦的味道。在一堆杂乱的电脑、手机和其他电子设备的电源线中,尹佳辰发现一根电热水壶的电线正在冒烟。
“I was in shock for a minute before I realized that I had to cut off the electricity in the room,” says Yin. “If I had come back only a bit later, the room could have been on fire.”
“我吃了一惊,然后才意识到要先切断室内电源,”尹佳辰说。“我要是回来得再晚一点,没准寝室就要失火了。”
Preventing fires has been the top safety priority in dormitories for years, but it’s still the biggest hazard. Over weekend, fires erupted at dormitories in Bejiing, Ningbo and Wuhan, local newspapers reported.
尽管多年来,预防火灾一直是寝室安全问题的重中之重,但其仍是最大的寝室安全隐患。据各地报纸报道,仅仅一个周末,北京、宁波、武汉等地就发生了多起寝室火灾。
Apart from suggesting that students avoid using heaters and similar appliances in their dormitory, many colleges are increasing the electricity load to prevent short circuits from happening.
除了建议学生不要在寝室中使用电热壶这类的电器外之外,许多高校都在提高用电负荷以避免短路现象的发生。
“Colleges across Zhejiang province started upgrading dormitory facilities last year, such as installing air conditioners and heaters,” says Jin Chen from the Student Affairs Office at Zhejiang University. “This means students don’t need to buy heaters or other appliances that pose a safety risk.”
“去年,浙江各大高校开始全面改造寝室设施,比如安装空调和暖气。”来自浙江大学学生处的金辰(音译)说。“此举意味着学生无需去买电暖气等存在安全隐患的电器了。”