Kerckhoff Hall falls victim to illegal graffiti

American graffiti JANA SUMMERS Kerckhoff Hall
first floor men’s rest room, which usually has minor graffiti
inside the stalls, got some new vandalism over the weekend.

By Rachel Makabi and Sabrina
Singhapattanapong
Daily Bruin Senior Staff

Several vandals tagged their way through university property,
Westwood apartments and residents’ cars over the weekend,
leaving behind a trail of permanent damage and an expensive repair
bill.

The first incident apparently began Friday night when vandals
broke glass on the lobby of Kerckhoff Hall and sprayed graffiti on
the north patio entrance, the men’s restrooms on the first
two floors, the windows to the coffeehouse and on telephone and
garbage booths, said Jerry Mann, director of the Associated
Students of UCLA Student Union.

More incidents occurred on cars and houses throughout Westwood
over the weekend, according to university police reports.

UCPD arrested one person on campus for vandalizing a trash can,
said Lt. Johnnie Adams, but the police department did not assign a
detective to the case until Monday.

“It is really kind of painful to see it,” Mann said.
“(Kerckhoff Hall) is 80-90 years old. To us, it’s a
beautiful place and when people don’t respect that,
it’s kind of hard sometimes.”

Also on Friday night, the Cultural Affairs Commission of the
Undergraduate Students Association Council organized an exhibition
of graffiti art at the Kerckhoff Art Gallery. Officers and building
managers from Kerckhoff Hall and Ackerman Union patrolled the
event, Adams said. He did not comment on whether the vandalism and
exhibit were related.

The majority of the cleanup will involve repainting walls and
using solvent to remove markings. The university will probably have
to replace the mirrors and trash cans, Mann said. Officials have
not released estimates of clean-up costs.

ASUCLA will make sure future events are always staffed at higher
levels, without stopping them altogether, Mann said.