A few weeks ago, I received an invitation to write an "S&B professor column." The possible topics ran through my head: Why every Grinnell student should take CS; the wonder of Grinnell's faculty governance (even more complicated than self-governance); comments on Wikipedia (including my vision of a future in which everyone will have his or her own Wikipedia entry, and the disambiguation page for "John Smith" will be huge); why I regularly refuse interviews from the S&B (although it's always fun to predict whether I will be (a) misquoted or (b) quoted out of context); even another rant about drinking on campus.

Then things started happening on campus that made me want to scream. (No, I take that back, I did scream; I felt like putting my fist through a wall, but managed to avoid doing that.)

So I wanted to write about the Grinnell I love--the Grinnell filled with people who are not just talented, creative, intelligent, but also (and more importantly) open, caring, supportive, inclusive, and respectful--and how I hoped we could preserve that Grinnell.

But I must admit that there are a huge number of people who can write better about such things, many of whom have already written. A week or so before break, as I walked into Noyce, I noticed that someone had drawn a red heart on the North door, in red magic marker. I thought to myself "Even if that was intended as a nice gesture, someone is going to have to work pretty hard to get that ink off the door." And it became clear to me that I could and should write about the importance of respect, not just of your peers, but also of the spaces around you and of the people responsible for those spaces. (Of course, here I am more than halfway through my column, and I'm just getting to the topic. Oh well, let's hope for editorial leniency on column length.) As I walk through our new, wonderful, science building, I am stunned by the many ways that people have thoughtlessly treated it.

There are brand-new walls that have been ruined by students taping things up. (Sorry, but most kinds of tape do damage paint and drywall. You should always ask first.)

For much of first semester, people would regularly walk out an alarmed door, sometimes repeatedly, disrupting both classes and experiments. (I am happy to report that this disruption has stopped). Stupid posters are stuck in difficult-to-reach places. Draft directional signs that ask for feedback are filled with snide comments, making it hard to tell which suggestions are serious and which are facetious. And, as I mentioned earlier, people draw on doors (and other places).

When you don't treat the space around you with respect, you affect not only the spaces, but also the people around you. Broadly, these actions make the building a less pleasant place to be in. More particularly, someone has to spend the time cleaning marker off of doors and finding ways to take down posters hung in difficult-to-reach places.

I don't know our Custodial and FM staff nearly well enough, but I do know that they work very hard and that their regular responsibilities already fill their work time. They should not have to spend extra work on these unnecessary messes.

I'm probably out of space. I've certainly rambled on more than I'd permit from my Tutorial students. What do I want you to take out of this column? First, think more carefully about the consequences of your actions--even things that may seem small to you can make a lot of work for someone else. Second, remember that Grinnell benefits from a large number of dedicated and hard-working staff members (FM, custodial, academic support, dining services, and many more that I've missed) and take the time to thank them for the hard work they do. (Yes, I know that I haven't argued the second point in this column. Do it anyway.) Be supportive of a wide community of people!