Let democratic process decide the skateboard issue

This editorial appeared in CSUF's Daily Titan newspaper on Sept. 9.

Some words are from other editors, but most are mine.

So now the powers that be will enforce the skateboarding ban and distribute a $112.50 fine to dissenters.

Necessary? We think not.

We have consistently been brainwashed to love and fight for democracy and then when we learn we’re actually living in a republic, we’re too confused to care.

But now we’re hip on politics. Obama is running for president and the Republicans are shaking things up by throwing a woman in as a vice-presidential candidate. We get it now. It’s all just a game.

Wouldn’t the present be a spectacular time to re-stab us with the democratic dagger and force us to remember that democracy is the lesser evil of all governments?

Let the students vote.

The students are sitting in classes and gearing up to clutch the country’s reins, while you, the higher-ups in charge of rolling laws down from the mountaintops, will be pooping your pants and playing Wii bowling in order to “keep your mind young.”

The lesson communicated to us helpless students seems to be that banishing simple freedoms is right.

Fine. When we begin creating the laws, Wii games will be off-limits because we’re scared you will hurt somebody when you accidentally throw your arm from your old and tired body.

Ridiculous, huh?

Skateboarding keeps us young. It’s also a mode of transportation. We don't have access to golf carts like some people do. Also, people get hurt all of the time. Why are the people running the campus trying to save so many from bumps and bruises?

There must be other reasons. Maybe the tickets are a quick source of income or maybe there is a fear of lawsuits. But if lawsuits are the case, there’s usually more than one direction to travel on an issue.

What about the problems University Police will have enforcing this ban. If people begin to get hurt as a result of skateboarders, is it too far-fetched to think that CSUF will be sued by students who feel the university is not doing enough to enforce a skateboard ban?

Why not waste money on signs stating, “Walk at your own risk”?

Additionally, why not have skateboarders use the same paths designated for bicyclists? Seems like everyone wins that way.

We’ve even heard a few college students refer to Cal State Fullerton as “prison-like.”

Skateboarders add character to our campus. Don’t force them to conform.

If you think about it, students are the only ones that truly matter here; everyone else is working for us. With the exception of teachers, the rest of you are paid quite handsomely. We think you can afford to let the students' voices count.

Why don’t we meet somewhere and discuss your salary? We think it’s time to make some changes, but it might take us a while to arrive – we have to walk.