A bullet hole through an instructor’s office window was among several incidents of vandalism the university has dealt with recently.A fire was reported behind Monroe Hall, and the university had to have several broken windows replaced in the Communications/Music Complex. “It (the broken windows) apparently happened at night, because no one saw it happen,” Honora said.Crasto Glass company replaced two windows in the building on Feb. 15. A company employee said the hole in communications instructor Liz Scott’s second-story window was due to gunfire.He said that the broken window was too high for someone to have thrown something at it.It was not determined whether a student or an outsider broke the windows.In the past, the city has had problems with New Year’s Eve celebrators shooting guns in the air.Someone reported a trash can fire Feb. 10 about 11 p.m., said Roger Pinac, captain of University Police.The fire occurred in a recycling bin on Loyola Street, near Monroe Hall, he said.”I don’t think there was any intention to hurt or destroy the building,” Pinac said. “Someone probably threw a cigarette in the bin, not realizing what they were doing.”Lieutenant Angela Honora, crime prevention officer for University Police, agreed.”People do not realize how easy a fire like that can start,” Honora said. “Once the plastic bin heats up, it keeps the fire going.”The New Orleans Fire Department classified the incident as a trash can fire, not arson, Honora said.”Some plants also burned in the fire, but no serious damage was done,” Honora said.Pinac said that trash can fires happen once or twice a year on campus at different locations.”Many times I just think it is accidental,” Pinac said.The only preventative measures being taken for the fire is discussion of moving the bins to a different location. Both Pinac and Honora said that there is always some type of vandalism occurring on campus.”Whether it be graffiti or broken windows, vandalism is going to occur in a closed environment like this,” Pinac said.Honora said that last semester there were vandalism problems at Biever Hall.”The students in one of the wings were doing crazy stuff,” Honora said. “They put sticky stuff on the doors, and they were setting tissue paper on fire in the bathrooms.”Last semester there were also some graffiti problems in the West Road Parking garage.”Although we have students doing crazy things on campus, we can never definitely say if the vandalism is a direct result of the students,” Honora said.”I just want students to keep their eyes out and encourage people not to be careless,” Pinac said.

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