Today in the building right next to mine, out an open window I heard, yelling, 3 fights, and 3 smoke alarms going off. This was all the same suite, and it all happened within a span of 2 hours.
I live in a new apartment style dorm. These buildings were built by the lowest bidder, at the lowest cost possible. The floors are not solid, they transmit any sound, even tip-toeing. Same with the walls, there is no sound proofing at all. They were too cheap to put a firewall, or any type of guard in between the gas stove and the wall, so there is a definite fire hazard. One of the heating units caught fire in my building this past fall; the resulting fire alarm failed to wake me up, nor did the RA bother to wake me up, and I finally heard about it from a friend who lived across the street and had seen the fire trucks.
Don't bitch to me about dorm life. When there is a real threat of injury and/or death as there was in my case, problems enter a whole new level.