COLUMN: Too much chalk on Locust Walk

From Steve Schorr's, "Shoot First, Ask Questions Later From Steve Schorr's, "Shoot First, Ask Questions LaterThe beauty of Locust Walk is a significant factor that has attracted numerous prospective students to Penn. With its lush grass, numerous trees, a brick path and fascinating buildings such as the Castle, College Hall and the Furness building, it even makes the long walk to David Rittenhouse Labs somewhat bearable for at least part of the way. One such group is Penn's chapter of the National Organization of Women. Last Thursday they plastered the Walk with all kinds of paraphernalia as part of their celebration of the 25th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. One slogan pleaded, "Just say no to sex with pro-lifers." I guess this was the Women's Center starting to employ guerilla warfare tactics. Every pro-life male should take some time tonight to thank God for NOW's low and diminishing membership. NOW also hung hangers with the slogan "Never Again" attached on paper. The irony of this image is that it may enforce the pro-life view of abortion as murder of a baby, as they picture the hanger used to rip a fetus to shreds. Pro-lifers would certainly not advocate what they perceive as the murder of thousands of babies out of fear that some women may injure themselves while using a hanger. Given this stance one could ask what the purpose of trying to sway pro-lifers is. The answer is there probably is none. It certainly does not justify vandalizing Locust Walk. Another group which traditionally defaces Locust Walk is the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Association. During B-GLAD week each year, members similarly write inane slogans up and down the Walk. One such slogan is "Hug a Homosexual." Unfortunately, it is not always easy to know who is a homosexual, and thus who should be hugged. At least if "Wear Jeans if You're Gay Day" was renamed "Don't Wear Jeans if You're Gay Day," the choices would be narrowed. Another slogan frequently used is "One in Ten -- Even at Penn." This is not the time to fully get into the absurd study which produced that ratio -- a study that would mean with a 20,000-membered student body, there should be 2,000 homosexuals at the University. One can tell based on the LGBA's relatively low membership that to come up with a statistic such as this requires a great deal of extrapolation. The group should probably do more research before plastering unlikely statistics all over the Walk. Unfortunately a new group has joined the ranks of those desecrating Locust Walk. The Progressive Activist Network recently used chalk in its attempt to attract members. Of course, you may be wondering why we even need a Progressive Activist Network after hearing about the two groups mentioned previously. Your wonder would only increase if you knew about the Penn Environmental Group, Two Shades of Green (another environmental group), Penn's Amnesty International, the Free Burma Coalition, the United Minorities Council, the various groups formed to protest the treatment of vendors and employees, the astonishingly high number of groups associated with Penn's Women Center including Penn's Eagerly Awaited Radical Ladies and, of course, GAPSA. Nonetheless, Penn is apparently an abyss of activism and thus the Progressive Activist Network was born. Last week they called forth such slogans as, "Are you mad? Do you get angry?," and "Get angry. Get active." in order to attract new members. If only they sought a happier bunch, perhaps we all would be able to get along. Instead, potential members may have been turned off by the group's lack of care for Locust Walk. Generating publicity is not an easy thing. Many groups spend hundreds of dollars on ads in The Daily Pennsylvanian and posters. With the regular fights for attention on the kiosks, organizations can only hope some of their publicity is recognized. Chalk, however, is cheap. And when scrawled all over Locust Walk, its effects are witnessed by almost everyone. Thus, there is a genuine cause for concern that more groups will resort to chalk in order to get their message across. Seeing the Walk even more regularly covered in chalk would be disastrous. The University already regulates publicity such as by limiting the number of posters a group can place on a kiosk. It should now forbid using chalk as a form of advertisement. Locust Walk is a special place, and we should make sure it stays that way.