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Opening Arguments

Where the sidewalk ends

You know the old "give 'em inch and they'll take a mile" warning. University officials in Indianapolis have discovered the "give 'em the sidewalk and they'll take the buildings" corollary:

Students at a downtown Indianapolis university are encouraged to use chalk to express their political views, but when those messages move from the sidewalks to the sides of buildings, that constitutes vandalism, school officials said.

Some John McCain supporters at Indiana University Purdue University-Indianapolis said their right to free speech was infringed upon over the weekend when they were stopped by campus police after writing political messages on the sides of several buildings, 6News' Jennifer Carmack reported.

"The police came out and took our names as well, even though writing on the sidewalk is OK by IUPUI policy and they said they were going to wash it down, which is a violation of our rights and free speech," said student Max Engling.

You'd think university students would know that their rights end where somebody else's property begins. Maybe they should have to write it a thousand times on the sidewalk.

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