Editor, Daily Nexus,

The picture and caption on the front page of the Daily Nexus titled “The Daily Grind” on Friday, May 2, worries me for several reasons.

1) I feel that it is fairly obvious to anyone in the skateboarding community that Matt Cohen is not performing any trick at all. Both his feet aren’t even on the board.

2) The trick that he may be attempting to do is far from a feeble grind.

3) Skating on ledges or other obstacles on campus is considered vandalism and the campus police generally issue an expensive ticket (I’ve heard $75, although I haven’t received one myself). Will Matt receive a ticket because there is now public documentation of him committing vandalism on the UCSB campus? You may have noticed the little plastic pieces that have been placed every few feet on the planters and ledges around Campbell Hall as well as the newly renovated lecture hall in I.V. to prevent people from doing exactly what Matt is doing.

While I admit that these may seem like minor issues, this type of misinformation is bad for the Nexus’ reputation as well as perpetuating the continuing ignorance of the public concerning skateboarding as a whole. Maybe if the public was more informed, they might be more interested in working with skateboarders instead of installing these ugly little plastic pieces which only push skateboarders to find other obstacles on campus to “vandalize” such as the University Art Museum ledge in the picture.

Please be more careful with the accuracy of your information in the future.

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