The editorial is the opinion of the editorial board of The Daily Eastern News.

Residence halls are students’ home away from home for nine months out of the year. During these nine months, they deserve to live in a place that is clean, comfortable and safe.

At Carman Hall, an increase in vandalism in the past two months is compromising all three for the residents. Fire extinguishers have been stolen, exit signs broken and even water fountains have been ripped from the wall. The fire extinguishers, which are behind glass cases, especially pose a safety risk for students, university police officers said.

The exit signs have been stolen or broken so many times that Facilities Planning and Management does not even have all the parts needed to repair the broken signs.

All residence halls experience some vandalism throughout the year. Floor fines exist to help curb the vandals from ruining their halls and buildings. The idea is that the cost of damages from vandalism are split up among the residents of the floor or the building.

Detective Sgt. Ron Miller of UPD said the vandalism at Carman is not significantly different than the vandalism that occurs all over campus. The difference is the amount of vandalism. Miller said there has been considerably more vandalism in Carman this year than in past years.

Obviously the floor fines are not enough of a deterrent against vandalism for those that are doing the damage in Carman.

Perhaps heftier fines should be levied. Perhaps harsher punishments should be handed out. Perhaps both. But something definitely needs to be done to protect the 95 percent of the students in Carman that are being endangered by the silly antics of a few.

Police reports have been filed in some cases, but in many cases there are no suspects. The housing staff at Carman Hall now is aware of the problem and should work to find new ways to deter the vandalism in the residence hall.

While it’s true that 18 and 19-year-old students should not need round-the-clock babysitters to prevent this kind of damage, the evidence from the last few months shows they do.

In most situations, it’s a handful of students who are causing the problems while the rest of the building is made to suffer. The housing staff should find a way to eliminate the vandalism and make Carman a safe place to live.