Vandalism

By: Cody Schug

 As I walk down the dark stairway, I have to watch my head for falling ceiling tiles.  Oh, and the exit sign that is hanging by wires and rapidly flashing scares me a little.  The hall carpet is covered in sheet plastic and Fruit Loops.  You have to admit, “dirty” is the perfect word.  It even smells like a place you would call the “Dirty South.” 

A typical Wednesday or Friday night in basement Pierce (or the “Dirty South” as it has been dubbed) is as I have described it, dirty.  But isn’t this just due to the normal wear and tear of typical college living?  I mean, the building has been around for millions of years.  In any case, stereotyping has lead some people to believe the destruction is the result of vandalism not wear and tear.  But is it really? 

Let’s have a little look-see into the old Merriam-Webster dictionary.  Now, I know what you’re thinking, “Whoa, a dictionary?  What the hell is that?”  Just try and think back to the days before your nerd box that spells everything for you correctly.  Remember that one really fat book that sat on the tall shelf behind the fat librarian and collected lots of fat dust?  That’s right, that one book that had definitions of words in it?  Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about.  Vandalism is defined as “a willful or malicious destruction or defacement of public or private property.”  Now looking at that definition, some would say that the Dirty South gets vandalized each and every weekend.  But does it really? 

Defacement:  to mar (or spoil) the external appearance of some object, or thing.  Now if you take that definition into consideration, defacement happens even in Liberty Hall……well, actually, to tell the truth it happens quite routinely and regularly.  Just ask Grace, the cleaning lady.  The appearance of the TV lounge is quite marred:  couches everywhere, macaroni in the drinking fountain, popcorn seeds, cans, and bottles scattered the floor.  Sometimes there are even tables missing.  These missing tables sometimes end up just having been moved into various rooms, but most of the time they’re in the elevator. 

But do you ever hear talk of vandalism occurring in Liberty?  Nope.  Then why would people say it’s happening in basement Pierce?  These are generalizations and stereotypes.  Yes, there are more than just a few cans on the floor, but we’re looking at the big picture here.  The type of kids who are thought to be living in Liberty are not seen as the type who would vandalize anything, while the boys in the “Dirty South” are not to be trusted.  Says who?

Hypothetical situation:  a couple of students are seen pelting a door with half a box of Cheerios.  They are caught because the person on the other side of the door was watching out the peep-hole.  They are then forced to clean up the scattered cereal.  Where did this occur? 

While the basement Pierce boys regularly do much more than this, if you guessed the Dirty South, you are one hundred percent absolutely ……wrong.  It happened in Liberty Hall.  George Bernlohr, Criminology professor at Buena Vista, was the victim of the “Cheerioing.”  He lives in the apartment on the first floor of Liberty hall.  Kids will be kids no matter where you place them.  Because the “Dirty South” is notorious for drinking and…well, being dirty; people assume that there’s vandalism going on.  On the other side of the coin, Liberty has a rep of no alcohol, drugs or tobacco.  So people think that this is a boring place where nothing happens and *gasp* (imagine me gasping) heaven forbid that they would do ANYTHING not according to the rules.  We shun stereotypes and discrimination everywhere else…why is it ok in this situation?