With many great student dances, comedians or other weekend activities comes the vandalism that can tarnish the event. Most recently, the basement in Clayton Hall was vandalized after the Campus Activity Board’s glow party. Furniture was overturned, and laundry detergent and shaving cream was spread across the floor.

“It was more of a prank than actual vandalism,” said Dave McLaughlin, director of Safety Services. “It was just more cleaning than anything, but it happens the most in residence halls because of all the students and their guests.”

McLaughlin said Safety Services has a very small role in CAB events.

“Safety’s presence depends on the event,” McLaughlin said. “We aren’t needed for the smaller events but we are usually have a detail stationed at events like dances. Concerts for the popular bands are much more involved because of the additional involvement and coordination of the police and fire departments.

McLaughlin said that Safety has the most challenges with the big-name band concerts.

“They’re the most interesting because of the density and concentration of people,” McLaughlin said. “They’re also noisier and have lots of minors, who add a whole new dynamic.”

McLaughlin said that, despite the dance’s popularity, the vandalism that occurred might not be a result of the event.

“It’s so random that it can’t be attributed to that event specifically,” McLaughlin said. “To blame the vandalism on the CAB event would be purely speculative.”

McLaughlin said that Safety Services is doing all it can to prevent crime around campus.

“We could increase patrols,” McLaughlin said. “We can’t be everywhere at once and if we move a patrol to a different area, we would still have an unpatrolled area.”

However, McLaughlin said that students could be more involved in preventing vandalism simply by reporting crimes when they see them.

“When vandalism occurs resources have to be reallocated from other funds in order to pay for the damage usually done by students,” McLaughlin said. “Unfortunately, they are really doing it to themselves.”

Safety Services encourages students to report crime to their residence assistant or to Safety themselves.