Drue Sokol, Photo Editor
In all of my years here at UR, I have thoroughly enjoyed passing through the tunnels to see the latest of what is happening on campus. The tunnel paintings used to be beautifully crafted, creative ways of advertising events people actually cared about that were respected by other groups.
Those days seem to be sadly over now. I took a little stroll through the previously immaculate tunnels on Wednesday to find that a group of students had decided to paint over advertisements for an event that was not over. Now, I have several issues with this action, considering that this group was not advertising any upcoming campus event. Instead, they were proclaiming their unconditional and never-ending love for the “sister” and best friend they had met two months before. I love my little sister and am happy to tell the world that “she is the best little ever,” but I have 18 years of proof.
Since there is no obvious system in place for campus groups to reserve the tunnels, I understand that they are up for grabs. However, it is unacceptable for groups to paint over other organizations’ advertisements unless their events are over. Only on very rare occasions is the entire tunnel filled with upcoming events. In those instances, it is most appropriate to either hold off the paint job or contact a group directly about the desire to paint over less important information posted.
If you are going to paint the tunnels to advertise for an event, it is also appropriate to consider the amount of space and quality of the design that you are using. The tunnels are long and can therefore fit plenty of various advertisements. One group taking over the entire tunnel or even half of the tunnel is rarely necessary, especially in prime event time — also known as the month of April. In addition, the quality of your tunnel painting reflects the quality of your group and to have a sloppy paint job informing the campus of nothing important on top of well-designed publicity is rude.
Most importantly, why must the tunnels be used as message boards to proclaim your love about your newfound sorority sister? Doesn’t a simple handwritten letter or fake Facebook page do? The rest of the campus does not care about how great your big is and that you are the best, so why not save us the trouble of looking at your bad paint job and inhaling the toxic fumes of unnecessary spray paint.
I humbly propose that these disrespectful antics cease in order to have more aesthetically pleasing and informative tunnel painting in the future.
Hart is a member of the class of 2012.
