Arbi Pedrossian, a first-year psychology student, looked
surprised as he passed by one of UCLA’s many construction
sites Tuesday. There was a new addition to the site, added during
the night.
Scrawled across the green construction fence in white paint were
the words, “If the government wants war, let’s give it
to them ““ revolution!”
“You can argue that it doesn’t look nice,”
Pedrossian said, glancing at the words. “But I think it adds
life to the campus.”
On Tuesday morning, students awoke to find numerous anti-war
messages written across campus. Most slogans were written in chalk,
but several spray-painted messages covered fences surrounding
construction sites around campus.
The words are part of a larger trend. Amid marches, teach-ins,
demonstrations and walkouts, some have found a new method of
protest ““ graffiti.
Stop signs in Westwood now say “Stop Bush.” Students
on Bruin Walk are met by chalked anti-war slogans. Even the cash
that passes through the hands of UCLA’s community members is
sometimes marked with words condemning war.
The sudden crop of graffiti comes amid growing opposition to a
war with Iraq. But especially on campus, the written slogans appear
to be linked to other social justice issues and more public forms
of protest.
One slogan near the men’s gym said, “We want schools
not tanks.” Similarly, student groups at recent peace rallies
have called for a reallocation of military funding to social
concerns such as workers compensation and education, noting the
United States has ““ by far ““ the largest military
budget in the world.
As for the graffiti, university officials seemed mostly
unconcerned about recent incidents. Nancy Greenstein, director of
community services for UCPD, said the police department rarely
investigates chalkings or graffiti unless it shows a pattern or is
directed against specific groups or individuals.
“We work with the center for student programming …
Typically, folks on campus are exercising free speech rights in
ways that are appropriate and respectful,” Greenstein
said.
Graffiti is technically vandalism, but it is usually hard to
investigate because “realistically most graffiti is done when
no one is looking,” Greenstein said.
It is a fairly minor crime. So long as the damage costs less
than $250 to repair, graffiti is considered an infraction with
penalties ranging up to a maximum fine of $1,000 and 200 hours of
community service.
A second offense, however, can be considered a misdemeanor with
penalties ranging up to six months in jail or a $2,000 fine.
On campus, students appeared to have mixed reactions to the
graffiti as several slowed down to read the slogans.
Pedrossian, for one, seemed to support the graffiti.
“It’s good because I like to see people oppose the
system,” he said.
But second-year electrical engineering student Jay Herwitz
disagreed with the methodology involved.
“I don’t know if it’s the right way to do it
… Going around defacing property is not a good way to spread a
message,” he said.
Physics department Chairman Claudio Pelligrini, who has helped
sponsor recent anti-war advertisements in the Daily Bruin, did not
see the graffiti on the construction site of the new physics
building but said the anti-war movement is important.
“It’s in the hands of the people to discuss this
issue,” he said. ” … But it’s important to do
it in a peaceful and civilized way.”
By 2 p.m., Tuesday maintenance workers had cleaned almost all
the spray-painted graffiti while leaving the chalkings to wear away
on their own.
If current trends continue, however, there will be more to do in
the future.