Fridge / Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: A Stitch in Time

• During Garak's time at the Bamarren Institute, it is mentioned that the small area where the students store their belongings is their one guaranteed place for privacy, with both students and staff forbidden from searching it without permission from the student. Garak secretly keeps a pet in there seemingly without being discovered for his entire time, until it is revealed just before he is withdrawn from the Institute that the faculty was quite aware of the pet. If they knew he had a pet in there, why didn't they discipline him for it earlier? Because they wanted the students to accept surveillance of their lives to feel normalized without without them seeing it as a threat to be avoided, and revealing that they knew of a minor violation and did nothing because it did not threaten the State would serve their interests.