The Memorial Union Gallery displayed their latest installment Thursday evening, with the hopes of helping students and other members of the North Dakota State community reflect upon the power of their words.

The installment, Shouting Range, was an exercise designed to commemorate Banned Books Month.

The month celebrates freedom to read and publicizes books that are banned around the U.S. and libraries due to their use of “offensive words.”

The project invited the community to put a voice to their opinions and place a red sticker on words that they felt were offensive, and a green sticker on words that they felt were acceptable.

The night the project began, individuals who had come across the art decided to cover up the opinion stickers of others with whose ideas they didn’t agree.

Anthony Faris, Memorial Union Gallery coordinator, said when the individuals took this action they “took away the voice” of those who not only took the time to participate in the project but also voiced their rights to an opinion.

Kyle Blank, a senior studying civil engineering, took time to read about the project and felt as though people taking advantage of it was sad. One word in particular that made Blank uncomfortable was “retard.” He said it was nice to see that word covered in all red dots.

When asked how he would feel if it was covered in green dots, indicating the NDSU community felt that it was not an offensive word, Blank said it, “made him feel very uncomfortable.” Blank would be sure to take action and place his red dot among the green, and voice his opinion.

This attempt to “take away the power from others” has not gone unnoticed Faris said.

The project gained more publicity and also attracted the attention of two NDSU campus police officers, who took the time to stop and read about the intervention.

In an attempt to undo the damage to the project, the gallery came up with a “creative response that would allow the community to fix the problem themselves.”

Instead of taking down the project, Faris wanted students to take time, “to learn from this experience… (and to) create another important conversation on campus.”

The student community is encouraged to come to the union and take off the stickers and place them on a new addition to the intervention, the wheel.

The hole you fill with each sticker is symbolic of filling the void created when their stickers were covered up and their ideas erased.

“Once all of the stickers have been removed the project will be restarted, hopefully without the inconsiderate acts of others,” Faris said.

Faris hopes that people will take away how important it is to be thoughtful and considerate; not only when we are using these words, but of a public space and the NDSU student voice.

“I am encouraged by the response that we have received, and I hope that through these (interventions) we will be able to do more, ” Faris said.