By Travis Saunders
Arizona Daily Wildcat
March 4, 1998

Let's get the skateboarders

To the Editor:

I am writing in response to the opposing viewpoints editorial about skateboarding ("Skateboarding: Good times or bad news?," Feb. 25). I have to agree with the Mr. Eric [Clingan] that those poor misled children need to have their feet removed and incinerated. Of all the things leading to the demise of America, skateboarding has to be the top contributor. Damn the swine! We must rid ourselves of these juvenile delinquents at once! Call out the National Guard! The Marines! The Air Force! . . . Hang on a second, I know of some skateboarders in the Air Force, and they might sabotage the mission - orders or not.

Eric, this looks like a job that only we can accomplish together, I'm depending on you. If you want, we can organize a tour for those interested in joining our movement, to show them just how destructive these skateboarders can be. Like you said, we could start at Harvill then move on to the library, then take lunch in the derelict fountain and wind up at the Memorial Student Union. Think of how much money we could raise. I want to work with you on this one, cowboy, because your editorial showed me you are clearly up to date and well-informed on the whole skateboarding scene.

Here's the serious part though: once we have crushed the skateboarding scene, why don't we tackle the football, soccer, baseball, Aussie rules football and basketball, too? It seems to me that if one sport seems juvenile, then they all should seem that way. I mean, really! What's so mature about people throwing around a dead pig and trying to get the damn thing into a white rectangle? Oh, sorry, I forgot, one sport is socially acceptable, and the other is not . . . maybe that's why you see all those "Skateboarding Is Not a Crime" stickers about. Do you think?

Travis Saunders
Graphic Design senior