With not even a full semester of servicing students, the new Humanities Building is already showing signs of vandalism.

Just three weeks into the semester, the south side stairwell of the building had graffiti on it.

Some instructors have even caught students writing on desks in class.

It is an outrage to have these criminals vandalizing the place that is providing them with a higher education.

Acts of vandalism should be treated in a serious manner and not be dismissed as an isolated incident.

Treating them as insignificant incidents is only going to make the problem grow and get worse.

Instructors should report any student they find vandalizing school property to the police department. It’s not enough for professors to just ask them to stop and not do it again.

Strict punishments for these criminals are needed so they can serve as a possible deterrent to such behavior.

This is a community college. Most students are 18-years old and considered adults.

They should be prosecuted as adults.

There is no justification for writing on stairwells and desks.

If students don’t have the common sense to not vandalize their own campus, then they shouldn’t be allowed on any college campus.

Millions of dollars were invested in this new building.

Local residents approved a bond measure all in the name of providing a better place to learn.

It took months of hard work along with many inconveniences to the staff, faculty and student body to get the building into operation.

Neighborhoods which are filled with graffiti look hideous, and these acts of vandalism make the campus look bad. Communities plagued by graffiti suffer declines in property value. The effects of these acts are no different for EC.

It costs the campus large sums of money to clean up after these acts of vandalism have been commited and they give the campus a bad reputation.

EC has students from local high schools, middle schools and foreign students visit the campus to see if they want attend.

If the walls and desks are filled with graffiti, this will give potential students a bad image of the campus and it can potentially discourage them from attending.

EC is an institution of higher learning. Students expect a safe and clean environment while attending class. The majority of the student body is mature and respectful enough not deface the campus.

They come to class, take notes, do their homework and graduate or transfer.

It is not fair for dedicated students to have to put up with negative consequences of vandalism because a small group of criminals disguised as students can’t behave.

Those who are so fascinated with writing on walls should stay home.

They need to take their immature criminal activities elsewhere.

There is no justification for this behavior and no reason the student body should put up with it. There is no room at EC to deal with this type of idiocy.