Students who skate to class might want to think twice, as new signs forbidding skateboarding on campus allow police to cite them now.
Signs that read “No Skating or Skateboarding” were put in Bruin Plaza on March 15 by the UCLA Facilities Management Department. Violators can be cited by police, and more signs will show up in Dickson Court this week.
The signs were put up to enhance pedestrian safety and prevent property damage on campus, said Leroy Sisneros, an assistant manager of Facilities Management. There has been much damage done to university property due to skating and skateboarding over the last five years, especially in Bruin and Dickson Plazas, he said.
Black marks are left on steps and bricks, and handrails are scratched. Skateboarders sometimes smooth surfaces with wax before doing tricks. Bricks will crack if wax is not washed off, and it takes a few hours to pressure-wash the wax off the bricks.
Damage done to handrails can also inconvenience people.
“These exit path handrails are for the elderly and disabled people, and it really defeats the purpose when they are broken.” said Sisneros, pointing to a broken handrail of the disabled exit path outside Schoenberg Music Hall. He said pedestrians can get hurt when they rub their hands against scratched handrails.
Much of university funds goes to repairing damage done by skateboarders, according to records kept by Facilities Management. One case in which a bench on Janss Steps had to be replaced cost $2,000 for design, manufacture and installation.
Skateboard blocks – metal strips anchored on the edges of bricks to prevent people from skating over them – were installed in certain locations two-and-a-half years ago. Sisneros said the blocks are not effective enough in preventing skateboarding, as skateboarders shift places around the campus.
The rules forbidding skateboarding apply to every situation, but some students say they feel skateboarding for daily transport should not be stopped.
“I was frustrated when I first saw the sign. Skateboarding not only saves me time in the morning, but it’s also an enjoyable part of my routine,” said Andrew Wenzlaff, a fourth-year Spanish student who skates to class everyday.
While Facilities Management has no plans to build a skating area on campus, some suggest the school should offer places for skating. Others, like Wenzlaff, say skateboarders should be allowed to skate or even do tricks in public places on campus as long as they do not hurt others.
“It’s a kind of urban ballet,” he said, describing people doing skateboarding tricks in Bruin Plaza. “It’s beautiful for the body and motion that skating shows. It takes so much skill and training to be a skateboarder. It’s a kind of free performance.”
Wenzlaff added that the school should not target all skateboarders and that the police should only give out citations when they see skaters putting pedestrians in danger.
Some who skate on campus do not always do tricks. Andrew Dorn, a third-year microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics student who skates to class, said, “It’s understandable that they put (signs) up. But if people use it for daily transport, it’s not a problem.”