LETTER: Vandalism a part of street painting

To the Editor:

I would like to start by thanking our grounds maintenance crew for the tireless efforts they contribute to our beautiful campus. This is the third campus I have attended, and I have visited countless others; without a doubt, Utah State tops the list for impeccable grounds maintenance and landscaping.

Maybe it’s the manicured beauty I have come to expect that amplified my disgust upon walking through the area where the street painting event was held, Monday night. I want to make it clear that this disgust was in no way influenced by the paintings themselves, which are beautiful and a great way to exhibit school spirit. Instead, I was appalled by what I saw in the immediate vicinity. A once spotless area representative of campus as a whole, now resembles a preschool classroom where the children were left unsupervised with finger paint. How did an event aimed at increasing school pride turn into a vandalism party? What possessed my peers to desecrate such a beautiful campus?

I just wanted to let the parties involved in the painting escapade know that not only do your actions reflect poorly upon yourselves but also upon the student organizations you were painting for, as well as the student body, faculty and staff, and the university as a whole. What did the alumni think when they visited over the weekend and found a scene akin to a preschool art room where hand prints and spills littered the walkway, buildings and signs?

Tyler Baird