by Vincent J. Narducci
Daily Lobo
The UNM Bookstore received a new addition this semester, black metal knobs, otherwise known as skatestoppers added to handrails that are meant to prevent personal injury and property damage.
"We've had a number of injuries to people," said Robert Dunnington, campus safety manager. "Skateboarders go down the rails and create little spikes, spurs and sharp edges. Then someone goes down there and cuts their hands open."
But Ryan Smith, a 21-year-old UNM student, says that the knobs are ugly and cause more of an eyesore than skateboarders.
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"The knobs are all black and the rails are white, it looks worse than it did with just the missing paint," Smith said. He also added constructing the knobs was like "leading a camel to water and not letting it drink."
According to the Pathfinder, UNM's student handbook, skateboarders are prohibited from performing acrobatic maneuvers, stunts, trick riding or any similar movements. Excessive speed, skating within 15 feet of a building and "jumping on or over steps, benches, rails, walls, fountains or other permanent or temporary fixtures" are also grounds for citation by the UNM Police Department.
This means that doing anything but using a skateboard for transportation is technically illegal.
Jason McNertney, a UNM freshman who has been skating for seven years, said that he skates on campus every day and has never been cited, although he said many of his friends have.
"The cops are cool, sometimes, but they're basically out to bust you for just about anything," McNertney said. "Luckily, I know how to hide from them."
According to an ABC news story, the popularity of skateboarding has increased dramatically over the past five years -- can now be called the new American pastime.
According to American Sports Data, a research corporation that tracks statistics and trends within the sporting industry, the number of people skateboarding has surpassed the number of people playing baseball. Currently there are 10.6 million skaters, twice as many as five years ago, compared to 8.4 million baseball players.
Skateboarding will also be featured as a demonstration sport for the first time in the 2004 Olympics.
The increase in mainstream cultural appeal to the sport -- the industry grossed $1 billion last year -- has not necessarily translated into increased acceptance of the sport. The number of areas being skate-proofed has also risen dramatically, according to skatespots.com.
Love Park, an internationally famous skate spot in Philadelphia, was recently shut down so the entire park could be modified to prevent skateboarding.
Skateboarders, who share the blame with bikers and in-line skaters, have found ways around the skatestoppers. Numerous Internet sites detail how athletes can "liberate" handrails, and suggest using blowtorches, crowbars, chisels and sledgehammers to remove the knobs.
McNertney, who says that skateboarding is an art form, good exercise and therapeutic, thinks that the sport is mostly misunderstood.
"People just need to understand, all the urban development of the past decades -- we're just making use of it all," he said. "Skaters see the world differently than normal people. Some little ledge, most people don't even pay attention to it, but skaters are walking by it thinking about what kind of trick they can do on it."
The University plans to skate proof other spots around campus.
"We're trying to look at other architectural barriers that will hopefully preclude people from using our rails for those kind of activities," he said. "That's what skateboard parks are made for."
Dunnington said that civil suits against UNM have been filed by skateboarders, bicyclists and rollerbladers in the past, although codes and regulations within the Pathfinder protect the University in those instances.
While the safety risks of skateboarding are certainly an issue, skaters at UNM realize the danger but point out that the hazards involved with the sport are less than many other mainstream activities.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, skateboarding resulted in 50,000 trips to the emergency room in the year 2000. In that same year, Basketball, Football, Baseball and Hockey each accounted for more than twice that number of emergency room visits.
According to Transworld Skateboarding Magazine, a leading industry publication, the X-Games has perpetuated the myth that skateboarding is an 'extreme' sport, and thus dangerous in the public eye.
McNertney doubts that the stoppers will deter campus skating at UNM.
"They can put the knobs up, but they won't stop us from skating," he said. "There are always new spots to be found."
