Vandalism on HCC campus
By Matt Stambaugh
Staff Writer

As the glass splinters, gives way to the force of gravity and the shards sprinkle to the ground, the adrenaline of a youngster peaks to a pleasure unmatched by just about anything else he or she has ever experienced.  Luckily, at Hutchinson Community College there is little vandalism, but that doesn’t mean that the little that goes on doesn’t cost the school thousands of dollars. 

In the past few years, vandalism has been on the rise, but remains relatively low compared to many schools the size of HCC. 

“I was really surprised when I came here 17 years ago,” Gene Allton, facilities director said. “I expected vandalism to be quite a problem, but saw next to none for the first few years.”

Last year, Rimmer Learning Resource Center was assaulted by two youngsters, but they didn’t get too far before the HCC security force caught them in the act and turned them in to the Hutchinson Police Department.  Shortly after that incident, the YMCA suffered a brick through a window and glass got into the pool filtration system, causing several HCC classes to be canceled as well as the time and money it took to re-fill the pool. Already this year, a van had its windows shot out with a pellet gun and a student’s Chevy Silverado had two tires flattened.  There were also a few much smaller acts of vandalism in the dorms, but they required minimal repairs.  These kinds of random acts result in higher insurance premiums, which directly affect the cost of education to the students.

But what causes people to lash out and senselessly destroy someone else’s property? 

“It’s all about the rush of doing something bad and not being bored,” said an anonymous student who admitted to taking part in the acts of destruction in the past.  “The chance that you might get caught is half of it, but the sound of breaking glass is cool too, not to mention, that if you do it right, a lot of people will see it.”

Gene Allton has a different hypothesis for why students take the time out of their lives to destroy and not construct. 

“I think it stems from low self- esteem and lack of positive parental influence,” Allton said.