University begins cleanup, prepares damage estimate

The waters of Showalter Fountain were a dingy green as crew workers spent Monday morning surveying the damage left behind from Sunday's mass student protest. \nFish had been ripped from one of IU's most treasured spots and nearby lampposts hung low. \nIt wasn't the only area of campus damaged. Patches of graffiti were visible throughout campus. Near President Myles Brand's home, the lawn was beaten down and flower bunches had been torn from their roots. \nClean-up crews began working to restore the campus early Monday and have estimated that the remaining mess will be cleaned soon. \nAssistant physical plant director Hank Hewetson couldn't give an estimation on how much repairs would cost the University.\n"It's too early to tell," he said. "A lot of the stuff is superficial. Graffiti removal takes a day or so. The fountain is the biggest ticket item. The way the fish connect in the fountain was damaged. We've repaired the fountain so many times, it's second nature. Fish get yanked out so many times, just not all at once." \nDean of Students Richard McKaig was at the site of the rally and saw most of the damage occur. Students have protested before, and he said he wasn't surprised students gathered for one of the biggest decisions in school history. \n"There were individuals who agree strongly with the decision and individuals who disagree strongly with the decision," McKaig said. "I suppose what I was most anxious about was that no one would get hurt in the process … but I was still disappointed any property was damaged."\nLt. Jerry Minger of the IU Police Department said that while they are still tallying up the damage, most of it is minor. Lightposts were broken, and some people were having trouble with their cars, he said. Costs are still undetermined, he said. It was estimated 2,000 students were present at the rally and 10 students were arrested.\n"Overall, the group was fairly ruly," he said. "With any group like this, there's always a few that don't comply. Largely that wasn't the rule of this group. By and large, it wasn't the basic sentiment of the group."\nMinger said IUPD wouldn't put any additional officers on duty. More than two dozen campus police officers were on duty Sunday. \n"There's no reason to assign officers to any more work than they do," he said. "We don't have any additional people here at this time. In my estimation, they had a common sentiment over what had happened with coach Knight. As soon as they were talked to by coach Knight, minutes later the group broke up."\n"I've seen students gather for a variety of reasons," he said. "Whenever anything happens, they seem to want to affiliate. I think that's just a common psychology trait. We were aware people would probably be gathering as soon as the news was released." \nTen people were arrested in connection to the Knight protest. McKaig said the University handles cases like that on an individual basis. \n"It just happened last evening. In terms of anything that happens, it would happen through the due process. The campus judicial system would indeed be called upon. The way our judicial code is there's not an automatic punishment," McKaig said. "It depends on the severity of the action. It's a case by case analysis."\nVice President for Public Affairs and Government Relations Christopher Simpson said situations like Sunday are paradoxical for the University because officials want to encourage free thought, but discourage vandalism.\n"I think it's important not to overreact from what happened last night," he said. "The media has characterized this as a student riot. When students have those strong opinions, we encourage them to vocalize them." \nBloomington Police Department Capt. Michael Diekhoff, who was on duty Sunday, said it could have been worse.\n"If you compare it to the Varsity Villa riots as far as size wise, this crowd tended to be not as destructive," he said. "As far as damage, most of it was contained to the campus area. As far as I know, there was no damage outside of the campus except for Fifth and Indiana"