Vandalism strikes again! And Mike Tyson’s to blame!

Yes, you heard me right. Recently there have been a slew of Mike Tyson graffiti tags in various places on campus including, but not limited to, Mountainview College, Newing College and the New University Union. These tags differ from other acts of vandalism in two key ways.

1. These acts of vandalism all follow a theme, and are not just random acts of disobedience.

2. Many of the tags were done in easy-to-clean chalk, a rare occurrence when it comes to building vandalism in Binghamton. However, there was also a chalk crime spree last year, with graffitied smiley faces, not champion heavy-weights.

Unlike many of the other occurrences of drunk students drawing graffiti or destroying campus property, these Mike Tyson tags will hopefully show any future potential campus vandals that there are ways to deface things that don’t belong to you without causing actual damage to the property itself.

I am in no way endorsing or supporting vandalism of any sort on the Binghamton campus, or anywhere else for that matter. However, it would sure be a nice change if future graffiti artists in Binghamton committed their crimes with the people who have to clean up after them in mind. So many students take little or no responsibility for their actions while in college, which can only inhibit them later in life.

To see someone who may have actually thought about his or her actions prior to doing them, even if he or she still decided to go through with the childish act, is a breath of fresh air.

I know it is a strange idea to see someone who is a vandal as a role model, but I have to say, Binghamton’s Mike Tyson could definitely provide students with some guidance when it comes to non-malicious rule breaking.

Nobody is impressed by a random drawing or dirty word on the outside of his or her building. It is childish and makes the building look crappy, and worst of all, it’s just plain boring. Some effort or wit would go a long way in turning your act of random disregard for your peers and community into something that could one day resemble art, humor or even a critique of our everyday life.

If you have to see graffiti, it could at least be entertaining, or make me think about something. Seriously, how entertaining is it to see a giant penis drawn in marker on a wall?

Okay, bad example I suppose, but trust me, after the first three or four times, it gets old. I want something with a message, something that doesn’t revolve around crude images, and most importantly, something that the artist actually had to think about.

So I commend you Mike Tyson, whoever you are, for being among the first. Maybe if all acts of graffiti were as memorable or easy to clean up as yours, graffiti as a whole could become a more acceptable medium of communication. Until then, I guess I shall have to be content with whatever poorly drawn phalluses or scribbled lines I come across, and just continue to dream of a better, more clearly illustrated future.