There is much to be said for the "writing on the wall." People sometimes come up with some interesting philosophy about life and love and themselves, and they use common places that everyone sees every day to write their feelings on. That's pretty clever, when the writing is worth reading. But not much of it is.

It's too bad the "wall writers" here at Maine aren't very creative; then the matrons who have to clean those walls regularly would have something to read while they clean other people's messes. What's the use of repeating words that everyone has heard; it doesn't shock people anymore, besides, dirty words are stronger in speech than in writing. But what are worse are the personal attacks on named teachers and students. Students who write these are like anonymous letter writers (cowards is a better word) only worse, because everyone reads it.

Unfortunately the walls are not the big problem at Maine. Thousands of dollars are spent yearly on damages done to the campus‑dollars which come from state funds, which come from taxes, which come from your parents. This money can be traced all the way to taking food out of some starving child's mouth. But seriously thousands of dollars is a lot of money to waste on such senseless acts.

Shelves and mirrors had finally been put in some of the washrooms which didn't have them, and they have been damaged and destroyed. The towels have been pulled out; some even have been burned. The ceiling tile in the halls has been broken by students jumping up and punching it. Some break the safety glasses on the fire alarms; some break hall and gym lockers, wrecking them for the unfortunate soul who has to use them next year. The braces of the safety support lighting in E‑wing are broken because of this vandalism. Some students use the doors for their "victims," a good example at the end of E‑wing. Some pick on cars, your cars. This is just a slice of the damages done to the building and grounds.

Why? Mr. Bencriscutto feels that a student destroys school property because "in most cases the student is not happy with himself or his situation. He feels it is easier to lash out at things than at people." Whether for kicks, for status, for revenge, or whatever, the penalty for damaging school property is in most cases immediate suspension for one to five days and payment for the damages by the student. Think about five days, if you're planning on graduating with your class.

And, Mary Q, if you love John X., why don't you tell him?