See subject, is it allowed?

Well....its not supposed to be allowed in your room. You can bring one and use it in the common room - but i know lots of people who used it in their rooms. As long as it doesn't set off your room's smoke alarm and your CA's dont find out - or are amazing CA's who don't care - then you can get away with it in your room. I've used one in my room - and will probably use it again this year (shhh)

Things like a hot plate or microwave though are DEFINATELY NOT ALLOWED!!

The kettle is technically against the rules, but I did it and a lot of people do. If you're going to do it be careful, although if your CA see's it they might tell you to take it home.

Just make sure you put it in your closet or whatever when you leave for Christmas break. In my building at least, and I'm assuming all buildings, the Res Manager went through all of the rooms after move out to make sure that everything was unplugged, etc. If you leave 'illegal' stuff out in the open when the RM comes, you'll probably have it confiscated//need to take it home.

Also, there was a kettle provided in the kitchenette of the floor, but you may want to have your own as well.

Originally Posted by Sarah13

Just make sure you put it in your closet or whatever when you leave for Christmas break. In my building at least, and I'm assuming all buildings, the Res Manager went through all of the rooms after move out to make sure that everything was unplugged, etc. If you leave 'illegal' stuff out in the open when the RM comes, you'll probably have it confiscated//need to take it home.

Also, there was a kettle provided in the kitchenette of the floor, but you may want to have your own as well.

Really!? Are the RM even allowed to DO that?

They are allowed to do it and they do do it in every res. They just look at the open area of the room, they don't look in any drawers or closets. They're just checking to make sure that things are unplugged and that the windows are closed. Just general things like that.

Yup, what Alyssa said. Usually someone from Facilities comes around with them, too - it's mostly just a safety check.

And as an aside, legally I think RMs may actually have the right to search through any university-owned property - as in, drawers in the desk, the closet, etc., but not inside a box that you brought. I know this is definitely the case in some places, but I'm actually not sure about Ontario. Not that they would ever do that without a good reason if they were entitled to, but it's actually something that I wondered about when I was a CA and never got a definitive answer on.

Hey Sabrina, maybe you could ask around the Security office, it's got me wondering again :p

So, safest bet would be to put the said item in a box or suitcase you brought?

I had an electric kettle and I just kept it in a drawer and nobody ever told me to get rid of it. So I'm pretty sure that they'll only look in a drawer or closet if they have a really good reason to, but if you want to be super safe than that probably would be your best bet.
I also had a blender in one of my drawers which nobody said anything about either.

how big were your drawers, or how small were your appliances?

The drawers were pretty big. The kettle was a small one but the blender was a normal sized blender.

is bringing an electric kettle necessary? I mean for things like coffee..can't you just use tap water?? I heard that Hamilton tap water is safe...not sure though

I don't think it's necessary, but I'll be sneaking one in so I can eat cup noodles late at night when everything's closed.

Haha, people aren't boiling the water to make it safe for drinking, they're probably boiling it to make tea

Hamilton tap water is actually really good - a few years ago the newspaper here did a blind taste-test of the municipal water of something like 5 of the big Ontario cities, and Hamilton won. So don't worry about that!

Ya you can use the sink water but it won't be a hot coffee. The traditional reses have electric kettles in the common rooms, so you don't have to bring your own.