Civil engineering junior Brandon Kinter got an early wake-up call around 9 a.m. Monday, courtesy of the Shaw Hall fire alarm.

The alarm system was activated when steam started leaking in the mechanical room.

"I'd rather have them working than not working," he said. "But it didn't help my hangover."

This is the second time this year the fire alarm has gone off because of leaking steam, Shaw Hall officials said.

Some dorm residents said the alarm system goes off frequently for various reasons, and has become a nuisance.

"I've never lived in a dorm where the fire alarm goes off this much," finance senior Scott Harris said. "I love Shaw, I'm just angry by the fire alarm going off twice a week."

But Shaw Hall Assistant Manager Ken Hoffman said beside the steam leaks, students are the ones responsible for setting off the alarm in the past.

"If they're complaining, they're complaining about themselves," Hoffman said.

Residents said they are annoyed by the fact they are never informed of what's going on, even after the problem has been found.

And when the building is evacuated for the false alarms, it can take a while before residents are allowed to re-enter.

"One time it took a half hour," advertising sophomore Christina Kothari said. "They don't tell us anything."

Kothari said the management should send out an e-mail so residents can know what the problem is.

But Hoffman maintains there is no problem with Shaw Hall's fire alarm system.

"You'll find this everywhere," he said.

Hoffman emphasized the new computerized system, which was part of the $12 million renovation, can pick up incidents such as people tampering with the alarm horns in their rooms.

"It's constantly monitoring itself," he said.

"It picks up a lot, which is for their safety."

But some residents said it takes officials a long time to figure out what the problem is and turn off the blaring alarm system.

"It's really scary when you hear it," Kothari said, gesturing to the horn above her loft.

Hoffman said Monday's alarm only went off for five minutes, after staff was able to locate and confirm where the problem was and silence the system.

"We acknowledged the alarm and shut it off," he said. "The fire alarm system is state of the art.

"We keep learning more and more how it works each time something happens."