“It’s easy to get microwaves and that stuff out of the Towers because they can use the elevators,” he said.

But Losier said that the violation of his privacy bothered him more than the loss of his microwave.

“You sort of start to take for granted that you have a degree of privacy in the place you live,” he said. “This really brings home the fact that anyone, if they have the right access, can come into the rooms.”

Hegarty said that he was authorized to open closets, but not to search under beds or in drawers.

“I don’t feel comfortable taking personal items from the students’ rooms,” he said. “But I believe in the fire policy because I don’t want a fatality on my conscience.”

Losier said he did not blame Hegarty for following the fire safety violations because he was simply doing his job.

But Losier criticized the fire safety code in a reply to Shue’s e-mail to the House open-list.

“I’ve been wondering as to the wisdom of transferring potentially flammable coffeemakers, microwaves and halogen lamps to a deserving charity,” he wrote. “Aren’t we handing those in need a ticking time bomb?”

He facetiously suggested sharing other Leverett resources with charities, including access to the House’s cable TV.

Ross M. Audet ’06, who lives across from Shue on the first floor of one of the Leverett Towers, lost the microwave sitting on the table of his common room.

But Audet said he was even more surprised to see the rest of his cooking appliances remaining.

“Strange that they didn’t take our hot pot, which was sitting right out in the open next to the microwave,” he said.

Hegarty said he didn’t see that hot pot.

Lamont J. Barlow ’05 returned to his room in Leverett Towers just as Hegarty was making the inspection.

“He knocked on the door and asked if the room was clean,” Barlow said. “He spotted the microwave, picked it up and walked out.”