University students walk over colorful sidewalk advertisements throughout campus on any given day without noticing, but the University is paying attention.Sidewalk chalking is considered vandalism at the University, said Sarah Latiolais, Union building services manager.If the University can identify the people who wrote in chalk, they are notified and given a warning, Latiolais said.If the chalking continues, the University will charge the individuals a $25 maintenance fee, which covers the labor for Facility Services to power wash the sidewalks, she said. Joshua Duke, business management and construction management senior, chose to advertise his new Web site, EverythingLSU.com, to University students on the sidewalks around campus.He and a few friends wrote ads in chalk for the site on various high-traffic areas like in front of the Union and in the Quad, he said.”You see something on the ground in front of you — it’s natural to look down at it. It was cheap and easy,” he said.He received several e-mails the morning after from University officials stating chalking was not allowed anywhere on campus for any means, he said.”We try to enforce the policy without being too overbearing,” Latiolais said. “In three years, we have only [charged] once.”Chalking around campus is a larger problem at the beginning of semesters when there are turnovers in organizations, but campus organizations are educated about different forms of advertising, said Ashley Territo, Finance and Administrative Services coordinator.Passing out flyers on campus without prior permission from the University is also against University policy because the flyers can cause litter, Territo said.Flyers are nuisances on campus especially when met with rain or mowers, and taped flyers can cause damage to paint, said Paul Favaloro, Facility Services director. Restrictions against chalking and flyers are not to prohibit students from advertising organizations, but to protect the aesthetics of the University, Latiolais said.Students can advertise free of charge in the Union by requesting spots on multiple TVs inside the Union, and they can request table space in Free Speech Alley. Organizations are allowed to pass out flyers with requested table space, Latiolais said.Students can also advertise through departments on designated bulletin boards with permission from the department, Favaloro said.Business advertisers must make requests through the Office of Finance and Administrative Services and must be approved by the University, Territo said.Ann Smith, communication studies senior, said she does not think chalking is a large problem on campus.”It washes away with the rain,” she said. “If it is done tastefully, it could add to the beauty of campus.”Lisa Palacio, communication studies senior, said she thinks the chalk adds to the University’s atmosphere.”We just see it as decoration because we don’t really read it,” she said.- – – -Contact Kristen M’lissa Rowlett at [email protected]