<p>Honestly, how strictly do most people follow the dorm room rules? I have a single on west. I'm not sure if I am over-stressing or if these are important concerns: </p>
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<li><p>My main concern is I want to have a stand alone microwave in my room this year (my parents already bought me one without knowing they were against the rules) but I've heard from others that they are strictly prohibited and I would get in a ton of trouble for having one. Is it too big of a risk? </p></li>
<li><p>Less important, window curtains? On the housing rules it says they are "okay" as long as they are flame resistant but they have to be labeled as such and certified (?). I was thinking about getting a tension rod to avoid nails, screws, etc.</p></li>
<li><p>Also, people always say that mini-paper wall lanterns are against the rules, but I didn't see anything about them being prohibited on the housing rules. Is this just a myth or did I miss something?</p></li>
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<p>Thanks!</p>
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<li><p>They won’t care if you have a microwave. But put it away when the fire marshal does his inspection (you’ll be notified when). And in any case there are microwaves in all of the kitchens. Having one in your room might be kind of smelly.</p></li>
<li><p>The windows all already have curtains. If you bring your own I doubt they will check, again, except for the fire inspection.</p></li>
<li><p>No clue.</p></li>
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<p>3) I have never heard of them being explicitly prohibited.
in my first two years of dorm living I covered my walls in ridiculous amounts of paper (posters, signs, etc.), and left it all in place at the time of fire inspection, so I don’t think anyone would care about that sort of thing.</p>
<p>1) I agree with swuster that it might not be that pleasant to have a microwave in such a confined space.</p>
<p>I don’t see why you would need to have a microwave in your room. The kitchen microwave is easily accessible. I would highly recommend not having one. Like swuster mentioned, anything that is against the rules will be confiscated at the time of fire inspection.</p>
<p>The kitchen microwave might not be as easily accessible as you think…in Becker, for example, there are only kitchens on every other floor, and it was kind of a pain to have to go up and down just to heat up food. I know a few people who had microwaves in their room, and they were fine.</p>
<p>Thanks for all of the replies!</p>
<p>The thing is my parents already bought the microwave towards the end of last year (its in storage at Cornell never been opened) so I don’t really know what to do with it if I don’t use it. I’m very picky about food and used the kitchen microwave freshman year constantly (which was down a flight of stairs) so it became a pain. But I didn’t think about the confined space part and I definitely don’t want my room to smell, i didn’t think about that. </p>
<p>@countryangel: That is VERY true! I stayed in becker over the summer last summer and yes, the kitchens are very spaced out. I remember having to walk to the very other end of the hall to use the microwave. I’d hate to do that for a whole year. </p>
<p>I feel like the pros kind of outweigh the cons. Mainly, I just want to know how serious of a rule violation it is. Last year when I got it my whole floor was acting like I had a time bomb in my room which is why I just put it under my bed and never used it, it was close to the end of the year anyway.</p>