Last year, then freshman Travis Sipe, now sophomore biology major, reached from his top bunk bed in North Towers Complex to turn off his alarm clock.

But he reached just a little too far. Sipe fell out of his bed, hit his head on the door knob and fell to the floor.

“I was all right, and then I went to get up and then I passed out,” Sipe said. “Apparently, according my roommate, I started seizing, too.”

Sipe was okay, though. He received no medical treatment and had no long-term effects from the early morning topple.

“I never felt like I was in danger or anything (living in the dorms),” Sipe said. “Like my dad always said, ‘Stupidity ought to hurt.’”

Sipe said adding bars on the side of the top bunks might help increase safety for those who sleep on the top bunk.

“If someone did roll over in their sleep, it would stop them from falling out,” Sipe said.

Wade Redeker, director of Residential Life, said it is not required for students to bunk their beds. He added that to his knowledge, those who choose to do so have not requested bars thus far.

“Since becoming the director of Residential Life in June, I have received no complaints about safety in our halls,” Redeker said.

There are also no ladders on the sides of the bunk beds because they are built so that the end serves as a sort of makeshift ladder, Redeker said.

But Kayla Lansing, freshman accounting major, said that she is thinking about de-bunking her and her roommate’s beds and also agreed that a bar on the side would be a “great addition.”

“I want to unbunk the beds because it’s hard to get in and out of early in the morning,” Lansing said.

Redeker said that student safety is a primary concern for Residential Life and that they ask residents to communicate any safety concerns they may have with their Resident Assistant and Complex Coordinators.

“Student safety is important and is a shared responsibility within the ESU community,” Redeker said.