When I first read that the U was renamed the “Ivy of Utah” when thieves removed letters from the U’s sign at Presidents’ Circle, I found it to be rather clever and even comical8212;until I found out how much it would cost to replace the sign. It is estimated that it will cost roughly $5,000 to get new letters and anchor them to the wall. Even more detrimental than the cost is that this historic sign is going to have to be completely replaced with new aluminum letters instead of its original brass ones; the U and metalworkers are unable to identify the old font, thus making it impossible to replace the missing letters.
The U has had its fair share of college pranks.
In 1980, it cost more than $20,000 to repair the Marriott Library fountain after someone poured bubbles into it. In 2005, the U Police Department answered 400 calls from the blue emergency telephones around campus but only six were for real emergencies. The other 394 were for things such as trying to order a pizza or calling just to say “hi.”
The media presents pulling a college prank as a rite of passage for our collegiate experience. Popular television shows such as MTV’s “High School Stories: Scandals, Pranks, and Controversies” glorify school pranks and make the individuals who pull them off look like heroes. Even though at the end of the show, special attention is paid to the consequences that ensue post-prank, most episodes end with the individuals saying “it was all worth it.”
Although it might have been worth the laugh for the pranksters, it’s no laughing matter for those who have to clean up the mess and pay for the damage. Consequences are often the last thing to come to mind in the middle of a practical joke that seems hilarious at the time. But that doesn’t change the fact that the actions will often take law enforcement away from dealing with real emergencies or costing the school thousands of dollars that could have been better spent elsewhere, especially during steep budget cuts.
In addition to wasting time and funds, college pranks can result in some harsh legal consequences. In 2004, eight U baseball players were each charged with second-degree felony mischief for painting red U’s on BYU’s mountainside Y. If the U letter thieves are discovered, they could receive the same charge because the damage estimate was more than $1,000, which is the dividing line between a misdemeanor and a felony. Not only will a felony charge haunt a person’s life on paper, but it also carries a maximum sentence of up to 15 years in prison and a $5,000 fine8212;quite the price to pay for a good laugh.
Although the U’s insurance policy is covering the cost to replace the sign, this doesn’t mean that students aren’t going to pay the price in the end. Ongoing vandalism of university property will inadvertently result in an increase in insurance prices, which U students will ultimately have to cover. Look around in any overcrowded classroom, and you will see that the U is already hard-pressed for funds. The $5,000 required to replace the sign could go to more important things, such as covering a year’s worth of tuition for a deserving student. Whether this act was pulled in a light-hearted, comical spirit does not take away from the fact that it is vandalism8212;vandalism that is going to cost the U a significant chunk of change to repair. During these difficult economic times, every penny counts and it shouldn’t have to be spent on mindless crime.
