by Joshua Curtis
Daily Lobo
Many students don't know about campus skateboarding rules, said Lt. Pat Davis, UNM Police spokesman.
Because of that, officers usually don't penalize people who disobey the University's skateboarding policies, he said.
According to the UNM Business Policies and Procedures Manual, skateboarding is allowed but with several conditions.
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Skateboarders can be cited for skating on handicap ramps, skating within 15 feet of a building or jumping their skateboards.
Student Leonard Leyba, who is not a skateboarder, said the rules are not clearly understood.
"I think it would be good if those rules were posted around," Leyba said.
The skateboarding policies are fair, Davis said.
"Generally, the policies are pretty liberal," he said. "If somebody is not a danger to other people and not a serious danger to themselves, generally we don't hear about it, and we try not to be heavy-handed about it."
The rules are in place for safety, but skateboarders also increase campus maintenance costs, said Joel Straquadine, manager of facilities maintenance for the Physical Plant.
There were $15,000 of damages from skateboarding last year, he said.
"The biggest damage skateboards are doing is on handrails," he said. "When skateboards hit the side of buildings, they also put holes in the walls."
Straquadine said UNM's administration might be partly to blame for the damage.
"We don't have enough recreational space for students," he said. "No one wants to bite the bullet for a skate park."
Student Carli Yonemoto, who does not skateboard, said the rules aren't clear enough.
"I don't think anyone should get in trouble," she said. "Let them (skateboarders) know the rules. That's fair to them."
Student Justin Dorwart said he doesn't think about policies when he's skateboarding.
"Unless you're heavily destroying property, it's not a big deal," he said.
Davis said officers are lenient about a skateboarder's first offense.
"Basically what we do is, the first time we run across somebody, is give them a warning and advise them of the policy," he said. "We know everyone doesn't know. It's not something people think about."
Officers first warn a student who is violating the rules and note the violation in logs. If a student is caught a second time, they are given a citation to appear in court, Davis said.
UNM Police issued two citations for skateboarding in the 2005-06 school year, he said.
Officers issued 112 warnings for skateboarding during the same year, he said.
The police get about 10 calls a day from people complaining about skateboarders, he said. Davis said many of the calls are from the staff of the Cornell Parking Structure who are concerned about skateboarders hurting themselves.
Student and skateboarder Ryan Garcia said it is futile to try to stop people from skateboarding in the structure.
"There are going to be people who go and ruin it for everyone else," he said. "People are going to do it no matter what, especially skateboarders."
Student Trang Vu, who does not skateboard, said the policies should be more strict to protect people walking near skateboarders.
"I think it should be expanded a little more, for pedestrian safety," she said.
According to a UNM Police
report, two skateboarders were arrested in September 2005 while skateboarding in the parking structure.
The skateboarders did not follow the officer's commands to stop and were charged with evading arrest and misuse of public property, according to the report.
They were the only skateboarders arrested during the 2005-06 school year, Davis said.
He said the rules are meant to keep people safe, not to prevent them from having fun.
"Sometimes people doing stunts hurt themselves," he said. "A lot of times we are talking about kids who are just looking for something fun to do, and that's not a problem. This is a good place to do it."
Leyba said police shouldn't interfere with skateboarders.
"Sometimes you see tricks that might hurt somebody," he said. "For the most part, I don't like the idea of people getting hassled for having fun."
Davis said if a student wants to change the skateboarding rules, talking to ASUNM is the best method. Student government has more power than an individual student, he said.
Lane Glover, one of the skateboarders arrested in September, said students should skate elsewhere.
"You don't want to spend the night in jail," he said. "I would tell people to go skate
the ditch."
