Here at UCF there is a major issue going on. This issue has to do with skateboarding on campus. Many people use skateboarding for transportation around campus, and some use them just for fun. You wouldn't think this is a big problem, but if you were a UCF student for a day you would understand. Walking to and from classes can be a complete nightmare, due to having to watch out for skateboarders the whole time. Not only people who walk to class are getting hurt, the skateboarders are too. I witnessed this first-hand on my first day here at UCF by breaking my elbow skateboarding. Obviously this is a severe problem that needs to be addressed, but there are some disagreements over whether skateboarding should be only regulated somehow, or completely abolished.
From the perspective of a pedestrian, it is very nerve-wracking getting to class. One constantly has to watch out for skateboarders. While walking to class, people walking will hear the sound of the impending doom of a skateboarder rolling over the cracks in the sidewalk behind them. Then the person has to decide to move over or stay in the same place and hope for the best. Then once the skateboarder, hopefully, passes him or her, one can take a sigh of relief because they survived that one. After that, the person has to go through that over and over until they reach their destination. This can cause one to take more time to get to class and possibly be late. Also, if the skateboarder collides with the pedestrian, it can cause major injuries. The skateboarder can fall and hurt themselves, or the pedestrian can get hit and both of them can possibly get hurt. I personally experienced this on the first day, when I moved on campus. I was riding down a small incline that had a curb on the side, when there were too many people on campus to do it safely. I was going too fast to stop and was rolling directly towards a woman coming up the hill. At that point I had to make a quick decision and I decided to go between the woman and the curb. There was not enough space, and I hit the curb. It was literally downhill from there. I landed on my left arm and snapped a bone in my elbow by landing on the curb. Without skateboarders on campus, we would be without a lot of injuries. People wouldn't go through so much stress doing as little as walking from one place to another. All in all, campus would be a lot more safe and peaceful.
Although, from the eyes of a skateboarder, it is a completely different story. As told by many students I have talked to, skateboarding is a great way of transportation. One can get to class ten times quicker than walking. Not only is it time efficient, but it is very fun and exhilarating. The feeling of going fast, with little effort, and the wind blowing through your hair is great, says a UCF student that skateboards to class. The thing that walkers don't understand though, is that if they hear or see a skateboarder coming at them, the best thing to do is stay where you are at. The skateboarder already has the route that they are going to use to get around the next crowd laid out in their mind, so moving would mess that up and cause a collision. A lot of times when there is an accident that involves a skateboarder and a pedestrian, it is partly the pedestrian's fault just as much as it is the skateboarder's fault. Skateboarding is not that big of a problem from the skateboarder's eyes. If a skateboarder is being smart about riding and not being irresponsible about it, that person will have less of a chance of getting injured or injuring someone else. If skateboarding is eradicated, the only ones that will be punished are the responsible ones.
With all of that said, there are some possible ways that this can be resolved. Some ways could make one group happy and the other group not, while some could be a happy medium that both groups would be happy with. One idea that could well be a possibility is the school could ban skateboarding altogether. This would cease almost all skateboard related injuries, but make the skateboarding group very unhappy. Another idea I got from skateboarders that I talked to was to not allow skateboarding on the narrow sidewalks, but split the wider sidewalks into two separate lanes, one being for skateboards and the other for pedestrians. This would be a good happy medium for both skateboarders and non-skateboarders. Another idea I came across was not allowing skateboarders to ride during peak times of the day, or in certain areas in campus in which wrecks happen often.
Furthermore, both skateboarders and pedestrians have their own valid opinions about this issue and how it can possibly be resolved. These possible resolutions can either help or hurt one side or the other. This is done by eradicating skateboarding or establishing a compromise between both sides. Either way, the issue of allowing or denying skateboarding on campus is an issue that needs to be addressed and resolved as soon as possible, before any other major incidents occur such as injuries due to collisions or skateboarders falling on their own.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
First Paragraph
Here at UCF there is a major issue going on. This issue has to do with skateboarding on campus. Many people use skateboarding for transportation around campus, and some use them just for fun. You wouldn't think this is a big problem, but if you were a UCF student for a day you would understand. Walking to and from classes can be a complete nightmare, due to having to watch out for skateboarders the whole time. Not only people who walk to class are getting hurt, the skateboarders are too. I witnessed this first-hand on my first day here at UCF by breaking my elbow when I avoided a woman and hit a curb. Obviously this is a severe problem that needs to be addressed, but there are some disagreements over whether skateboarding should be only regulated somehow, or completely abolished.
Monday, October 12, 2009
I.Skateboarding issue on campus at UCF.
1. Introduction.
-Describe issue.
-Describe how serious the issue is.
-Thesis of commentary.
2.Main body of commentary.
a) Explain the issue through the eyes of people walking on campus.
-Time it takes to get to class.
-Injuries.
-Having to watch out for skateboarders.
-How it would be without the skateboarders.
b) Explain through the eyes of skateboarders.
-Time it takes to get to class.
-How injuries could be avoided.
-Reasons for not eradicating skateboarding.
c) Explain possible resolutions for the issue.
-Eradicating skateboarding altogether.
-Making separate lanes for skateboards.
-Restraints on times and places for skateboarding.
-How these changes would effect the outcome.
3. Conclusion
-Conclude the opinions of both sides.
-Conclude possible resolutions.
-Conclude thesis.
1. Introduction.
-Describe issue.
-Describe how serious the issue is.
-Thesis of commentary.
2.Main body of commentary.
a) Explain the issue through the eyes of people walking on campus.
-Time it takes to get to class.
-Injuries.
-Having to watch out for skateboarders.
-How it would be without the skateboarders.
b) Explain through the eyes of skateboarders.
-Time it takes to get to class.
-How injuries could be avoided.
-Reasons for not eradicating skateboarding.
c) Explain possible resolutions for the issue.
-Eradicating skateboarding altogether.
-Making separate lanes for skateboards.
-Restraints on times and places for skateboarding.
-How these changes would effect the outcome.
3. Conclusion
-Conclude the opinions of both sides.
-Conclude possible resolutions.
-Conclude thesis.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Commentary: Q & A
1. How do you know what you know?
He has friends that skateboard and hears about the problems they encounter.
2. Who are you to the subject?
He doesn't skateboard, but his roommate and some friends do.
3. How is this event connected with other events?
It effects how much time it takes to get to class.
4. What if things were different?
Less injuries and conflict between people using different modes of transportation.
5. Why is it important?
Because it is related to courtesy and safety.
6. What are the general views on skateboarding?
Generally they are seen as a nuisance, and not very respected in society.
7. How serious is the issue of skateboarding on campus?
The issue is pretty serious. Many people get hurt or get close to getting hurt every day from it.
8. Why is it a serious issue?
Because it's difficult to maneuver a skateboard around the massive amounts of foot traffic at UCF.
9. Have students attempted to address this issue with SGA or any other associations?
Not sure, but you could definitely find out.
10. How many people notice the problem with skateboarding?
Pretty much anyone who walks anywhere on campus has come in contact with this issue.
He has friends that skateboard and hears about the problems they encounter.
2. Who are you to the subject?
He doesn't skateboard, but his roommate and some friends do.
3. How is this event connected with other events?
It effects how much time it takes to get to class.
4. What if things were different?
Less injuries and conflict between people using different modes of transportation.
5. Why is it important?
Because it is related to courtesy and safety.
6. What are the general views on skateboarding?
Generally they are seen as a nuisance, and not very respected in society.
7. How serious is the issue of skateboarding on campus?
The issue is pretty serious. Many people get hurt or get close to getting hurt every day from it.
8. Why is it a serious issue?
Because it's difficult to maneuver a skateboard around the massive amounts of foot traffic at UCF.
9. Have students attempted to address this issue with SGA or any other associations?
Not sure, but you could definitely find out.
10. How many people notice the problem with skateboarding?
Pretty much anyone who walks anywhere on campus has come in contact with this issue.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Commentary: Letter to a friend
Dear Nicole,
Here at UCF there is a big issue going on about skate boarding on campus. Students here use skate boarding as a form of transportation, but most are very inconsiderate about their peers who walk to class. People are getting injured very often, be the people walking and being hit by skate boarders or people falling off their skate boards. I experienced this first-hand, in which I narrowly avoided someone, but instead hit a curb and broke my elbow the first day of college. And even at the health center, when I was being seen about my injuries, there was another person that fell off her skateboard there too. The doctors acted like it was routine, because this kind of thing happens literally all the time. This is why I feel strongly about the issue of skate boarding. I am unsure though about how it should be addressed. Either skate boarding needs to be eradicated altogether, or there needs to be certain areas/times in which skate boarding is not allowed. These areas being locations where there is a lot of foot traffic, and times being when there are a multitude of classes releasing or starting. Other than the suggestions I listed, are there any others you can think of?
I was also discussing with fellow skate boarders about ways this can be resolved and we came to a very good conclusion. We decided that it would be a great idea to separate the sidewalks into two lanes. One being for skate boarders or bikers, and the other for people walking. Although this would increase foot traffic, it would decrease the amount of injuries greatly. The sidewalks would be perfect for this because most of them are very wide to allow service vehicles to move around campus with ease. Sure, it would take a little extra time to get to class, but cutting down on injuries would be very worth the extra few minutes it would take to get there. Another idea would be to restrict certain areas to skate boarders and some to walkers. Both of these, in theory, should work, but there is only one way to find out, take action!
I think this would be a great issue to discuss with the student government or school officials. Changes related to skate boarding on campus are definitely needed and I am sure that many people are behind me on this. I even skate board and I am for doing this. It endangers people's safety. Even though they are fun to ride, I am sure some fellow skate boarders would back me up on this issue. One would have to be very oblivious not to notice the obvious dangers that come along when people are moving at more than three times the speed of a walker, while they have no way to stop very quickly. Now that you have read all my reasoning as to why this problem should be a high priority in getting changed?
Sincerely,
Adam Stern
Here at UCF there is a big issue going on about skate boarding on campus. Students here use skate boarding as a form of transportation, but most are very inconsiderate about their peers who walk to class. People are getting injured very often, be the people walking and being hit by skate boarders or people falling off their skate boards. I experienced this first-hand, in which I narrowly avoided someone, but instead hit a curb and broke my elbow the first day of college. And even at the health center, when I was being seen about my injuries, there was another person that fell off her skateboard there too. The doctors acted like it was routine, because this kind of thing happens literally all the time. This is why I feel strongly about the issue of skate boarding. I am unsure though about how it should be addressed. Either skate boarding needs to be eradicated altogether, or there needs to be certain areas/times in which skate boarding is not allowed. These areas being locations where there is a lot of foot traffic, and times being when there are a multitude of classes releasing or starting. Other than the suggestions I listed, are there any others you can think of?
I was also discussing with fellow skate boarders about ways this can be resolved and we came to a very good conclusion. We decided that it would be a great idea to separate the sidewalks into two lanes. One being for skate boarders or bikers, and the other for people walking. Although this would increase foot traffic, it would decrease the amount of injuries greatly. The sidewalks would be perfect for this because most of them are very wide to allow service vehicles to move around campus with ease. Sure, it would take a little extra time to get to class, but cutting down on injuries would be very worth the extra few minutes it would take to get there. Another idea would be to restrict certain areas to skate boarders and some to walkers. Both of these, in theory, should work, but there is only one way to find out, take action!
I think this would be a great issue to discuss with the student government or school officials. Changes related to skate boarding on campus are definitely needed and I am sure that many people are behind me on this. I even skate board and I am for doing this. It endangers people's safety. Even though they are fun to ride, I am sure some fellow skate boarders would back me up on this issue. One would have to be very oblivious not to notice the obvious dangers that come along when people are moving at more than three times the speed of a walker, while they have no way to stop very quickly. Now that you have read all my reasoning as to why this problem should be a high priority in getting changed?
Sincerely,
Adam Stern
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