OUR OPINION: The Free Expression Tunnel is a unique feature of our campus, and we should use it appropriately through art and self-expression – not through abuse.

There are few places you can take cans of spray paint and draw or write whatever you want on a public structure, within law and reason, and get away with it.

However, on campus, we have this luxury in the Free Expression Tunnel and should utilize it to the fullest extent.

Advertisements for sororities and fraternities with the occasional “happy birthday so-and-so” message don’t cut it. We have a design school and many other programs on campus that are meant to foster creativity, but we don’t illustrate that in the tunnel.

Give fellow students something to marvel at as they make the dreadful journey to Harrelson Hall and its extremely uncomfortable seating accommodations.

Besides the fact there is a lack of artsy expression in the Free Expression Tunnel, there are also a few people who consciously disregard rules and policies set forth for expressing themselves.

There are blatant red signs all over the entrance of the tunnel and we all know what they say: do not paint on the brick. Yet, people still insist on doing so for no useful reason – nothing shows up on bricks very well, and it is an eyesore more than anything.

It is also expensive to power wash, even with the special coating the bricks have to make cleanup easier. Just don’t do it – there is plenty of space to paint on within the tunnel.

People also like to paint on the lights spanning the length of the tunnel. This complicates a few things for students, especially because the lights are there for a reason: vision and safety. You can’t see the artwork on the sides of the tunnel, and at night it makes for a dark crevice on campus where predators can thrive.

Whoever is in charge of the regulations encompassing the tunnel needs to start enforcing them. Painted brick is ugly, and it isn’t safe to walk through the tunnel in the dark – devise a way to prevent irresponsible people from painting where they shouldn’t.

Both students and the University should do their part to make our tunnel better. Fraternities and sororities: incorporate designs with your advertisements. Students: if you want to wish someone a happy birthday, paint a goofy portrait of them.

But stop painting on the bricks and lights – it is taking away from one of the biggest landmark impressions visitors have of our overly lackluster campus.