a shameful waste of madhouse time

Should they have jumped, why did the jump? Were they hanging off the rails of the balconies until they had no strength and just let go? Why didn’t any brave men climb up the stairs to rescue them?

Four women died after jumping off their dorm balcony, but now the debate rages on about what the problems are. Understandably, people are angry and the students are being quite vocal about the issue.

Talk of the electric heater, dubbed ‘热得快‘ has been the focus of many conversations online, as many students have said that the reason why they have to use such shoddy electronic appliances is because there is no heated water and electricity is turned off at night, so those students wanting a cup of tea, a bowl of instant noodles, or a hot shower at night have to use these appliances. There was also discussion of whether or not safety facilities, ie fire extinguishes and emergency exits, were up to par in Chinese university dorms, with many people arguing that they are not.

One post, from Aibang.com, explains these points:

最根本的问题是，学生从家里来上学，现在生活的一些设备离不开电，而学校仅仅是单纯的禁止个处罚有用么？为什么不改善宿舍的居住环境呢？如果学校有饮水机，或者将开水设备安排在每层宿舍楼，那么至少那种劣质的“热得快”那个学生还会买呢？你宿舍24小时供电，首先就会避免了因为停电而忘记关闭电源的事故发生，难道学校领导意识不到？

It’s true. Students born in the late 1980s and early 1990s–as all of the shanghai fire victims were–are used to having running, and yes, even hot water available to them at all hours of the day and night. They are used to having a bunch of appliances, be it computers or otherwise, always an arm’s width away. The poster of the above comment argues that simply banning and fining people for having such appliances doesn’t get at the root of the issue. What is being argued for, then, is an investment in safety education, facilities–that is, bringing student dorms into the modern era, equipping them so that these types of incidents won’t happen again.