College students across the country will have a difficult time ever forgetting the horrific events that happened at Virginia Tech this past April. A lone gunman killed 32 people and wounded 25 more, before committing suicide, making the incident the deadliest school shooting in modern U.S. history.

After this catastrophe, supportive Facebook groups were formed, midnight candle vigils were held, and most importantly, things started to change. Student Senate and University officials wrestled with ideas on how to prevent a similar event from ever occurring at the University of Illinois. Once again, another tragedy has occurred at Virginia Tech that the University should learn from and hope to prevent.

Last week, 23 Virginia Tech students were hospitalized for carbon monoxide poisoning. Luckily, no one died but five people were placed in critical condition and three others were put in stable condition. The other 18 were treated for less serious amounts of poisoning. These 25 students all lived in apartments on campus. The VT campus has an apartment rental system similar to our own. They even have a tenant union much like ours. The students were injured because there were either no carbon monoxide detectors installed in their apartments or bad batteries in the residences that did have them.

Unlike Virginia, the state of Illinois has laws which require smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in every home. But much like our landlords on campus, Virginia Tech’s landlords only fixed the problem after the damage was done. Our University should take the necessary steps to prevent tragedies like this from occurring on our campus.

After hearing about this event, I immediately checked my own carbon monoxide and smoke detector, only to find that my detector didn’t work. I then took it off the wall and opened the battery cover and saw there weren’t even batteries in it. The device even had a safety switch built into it which didn’t allow the cover to close without a battery. This meant someone had to consciously close the cover knowing there was no battery in it.

Throughout the apartment there were other things that were dilapidated and unsafe. My pilot light to my stove was out, the sink didn’t drain, the carpets were stained, the walls had holes in them and I even had a small bug infestation.

According to other people on campus, the poor condition of my apartment seems to be the norm. Jeff Seredynski, who rents with JSM Management, said, “When I first moved in the doors jammed, the handles on the door would stick and the carpets were horrible.” Sid Srivastava, his roommate, agrees stating, “Even after we renewed our lease (and moved back into our old apartment) our air conditioner still messes up and our bathroom sink still has draining issues.” But JSM Management isn’t the only company not fully restoring its apartments. Mark Padolina, who rents with Campus Property Management, states that when he first moved into his new apartment “it seemed as if no one had cleaned anything … there were still food wrappers on the floor.” But Jeff, Sid, and Mark all attest that their problems were eventually fixed when they brought them to the attention of their landlords.

After alerting Bankier Apartments of my problems, I had my smoke detector fixed, my carpets shampooed and the holes in my walls are scheduled to be mended some time this week. The fact that these problems are eventually being addressed is commendable, but these companies’ retroactive approach to maintenance in their buildings does not prevent dangerous occurrences, like carbon monoxide poisoning or a balcony collapse, from happening.

Though dirty carpets and jamming doors are not life-threatening matters, the lack of restoration can lead to bigger problems. Virginia Tech has taught us that the poor condition of apartments can be more than just an inconvenience, but a threat to lives. Without taking preventative measures now, Illinois students could be victims of an avoidable disaster due to their neglectful apartment landlords.

I understand that most landlords get new tenants for most of their apartments every year. In addition, most of these apartment companies only have a week to clean between the time old tenants move out and the new tenants move in. I understand everything isn’t going to be perfect, but I am expecting to be safe in the apartment that I am living in. I shouldn’t have to wait for the roof to collapse before my ceiling finally gets fixed.