Is sidewalk chalk dying?

The1calledTKE · #1 10-30-2002, 11:32 AM

More and more campuses are banning it. What do you think?

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/nation/1639015

Kevin · #2 10-30-2002, 11:33 AM

We just passed a bill through the student government that governed sidewalk chalking.

It's not dieing but you must get a permit for it from the campus life office. Pretty simple to do really.

UF56 · #3 10-30-2002, 11:37 AM

people chalk UF"s sidewalks like they are going out of style

33girl · #4 10-30-2002, 12:12 PM

I hope so. I find it incredibly tacky.

lifesaver · #5 10-30-2002, 12:31 PM

We have never been able to do chalking at my univ. They are super conservative for a large state school.

dzrose93 · #6 10-30-2002, 12:58 PM

I honestly don't see a problem with chalking. At my alma mater, the sororities were really the only ones to chalk except during Homecoming and Student Government election time when everyone advertised their candidates on the sidewalks. A lot of the designs and pictures were very creative and people enjoyed seeing the messages.

I don't really see the point of having to get permission to chalk. The stuff washes off so easily that it wouldn't take anyone long to get rid of any inappropriate messages. Plus, the groups who chalk regularly (at least on my campus) never write anything hateful anyway. Those idiots who do want to spread hate through chalked messages certainly don't care about getting a permit for it -- they'll just do it in the dead of night like they always do. Having to get permits is, to me, sort of preaching to the choir in this case.

PM_Mama00 · #7 10-30-2002, 04:02 PM

Our panhel got in a lil trouble for chalking for recruitment, but I guess we got okayed to do it. Then a fraternity on campus did it for their recruitment, and it got outa hand. I was there, but didn't participate.

If it is respectable, then I think we should be allowed to do it.

LeslieAGD · #8 10-30-2002, 10:28 PM

I don't know...on my campus it seems to me that they "discourage" Greeks from doing it, but I often see sidewalk chalk done by other groups on campus.

KappaTarzan · #9 10-31-2002, 12:12 AM

okay.. why are these universities being stupid.. its CHALK.. washes off with a lil splash of water..

SATX*APhi · #10 10-31-2002, 12:15 AM

In a way I agree with KappaTarzan, but I personally think that it does look rather tacky. On my campus, the way to let everyone know about your event is to tape flyers to the ground -- no chalk. It took a while to get used to, but I think that definitely looks better than chalk.

phimusugar · #11 10-31-2002, 12:50 AM

Personally I think chalk is better-

with fliers taped to the ground people walk around, riping it up, kicking it around, it contributes to litter.. plus the people most likely don't go aorund after the event to collect these fliers to its probably just a bunch of unnecessary paper flying around campus..

chalk is washed away sooo easy, doesn't damage a thing..

SATX*APhi · #12 10-31-2002, 12:55 AM

Generally the flyers remain taped to the ground and don't cause any problems. Our campus is pretty small, so usually all you need is about 25 flyers disbursed throughout the campus. Of course flyers are also put in the caf and in other buildings, but we're not talking about that.

DeltAlum · #13 10-31-2002, 12:56 AM

When I was in school, everywhere a sidewalk crossed on the Campus Green, circles with notices of upcoming events were painted (yes, painted) on the sidewalks. These became known as "kissing circles" for reasons which shouldn't be too hard to figure out.

Until last year, there was also a huge wall at the top of a bridge leading to the main campus known as the "Grafiti Wall" which was painted fairly often by Greek or other student organizations. An adjacent classroom building is being expanded, and the wall was torn down, but I think the university is going to replace it so the tradition can survive.

There was also chalking on other walks.

Seems like a nice tradition, providing it is used in good spirits, because, as someone else said, it's only chalk and will wash off.

sugar and spice · #14 10-31-2002, 03:02 AM

Sidewalk chalking is alive and well at Wisconsin. It surprised me at first because at the University of Minnesota (I transferred from there) there was almost no chalking at all. But tons of groups here do it, and as far as I've seen it hasn't been abused, and it's a great way to spread information, so . . . why not?

#15 10-31-2002, 07:05 AM

Univ of Arkansas use to chalk a lot but that was back 7 yrs ago. I don't see it much on campus here at home in So. Calif. I see what Sax mentioned.... taped flyers to the ground more then i see chalk.

Laura