According to Penn State's Undergraduate Admissions, there are over 46,000 undergraduate students enrolled at University Park campus alone. On top of that, according to Penn State's Office of Physical Plant, the University Park campus consists of about 19.7 million gross square feet. That is almost 453 acres! Now any student who has ever scheduled classes here knows that fifteen minutes is often times the maximum amount of time given for a student to make it to his or her next class. Penn State is constantly growing both physically in campus size and population. As a result, it makes it very difficult for students to make it to class on time by walking with congestion, distance, weather, etc. Students are then forced to look at other faster, practical ways of transportation in order to make it to campus and their classes on time. They also have to be aware of transportation that is cost efficient and environmentally friendly.

Most people will deduce to the solution of bike riding. This currently is accepted by the university as a legal means of transportation so long as riders ride along the roads and obey all traffic laws. But how many bike riders here honestly always ride on the road and obey all traffic laws? Not very many. Bike riders everyday ride on the sidewalks and through the grass causing a risk of damage to property and harm to others. People get hit by bikers all the time leaving them injured, and worse bikers will get hit by cars because of their failure to follow the rules they are supposed to. Not all those who ride bikes are guilty of this, however there is definitely a large majority of them who are on campus and the university is naive to say otherwise. This is not a direct attack at bikers on campus as there is nothing wrong with doing so as long as the rules and regulations are followed, but they simply are not and many students would agree.

Another less popular means of transportation on campus is skateboarding. This, however, is not currently allowed by the university (Policy SY16) and is strictly prohibited and enforced unlike biking regulations. Skateboarding on campus and downtown can and will result in fines and charges by citations and traffic violations from both University and State College Police departments. At a university where unfortunately there are a lot more serious crimes such as illegal drugs, alcohol violations, and sexual assault, all this is doing is wasting valuable time and capital by persecuting those for very minor offenses of skateboarding.

So long as skateboarders do not damage any property and obey all traffic rules and regulations as bikers do, there is no reason why skateboarding should not be allowed on campus as well. They do no more or less harm then bicycles do when used properly. Skateboards allow for a quicker, and more environmentally friendly way of transportation on campus. To deny the use of them when used properly is just ignorant.

Please support this cause by electronically signing and backing this petition. Even if you do not personally skateboard, your opinion matters and can greatly affect the greater good of others. Thank you for your time and support!