Thank you for the article on the MSU Skate Club (“Skate, Rattle and Roll: On board with ‘U’ skaters,” SN 10/3). I sincerely hope the article and accompanying picture will result in police action against the individuals responsible for destroying the stone edging in front of the Kresge Art Center. When I entered MSU as a freshman in 1992, the stone in front of Kresge was clean and smooth, with a sharp edge.

Now when I walk in front of Kresge every day on my way to and from my office, I am faced with nothing but scarred, waxy, scratched stone. The picture of the Okemos High School student further damaging the stone facing made me extremely angry. I am sick and tired of the lack of respect for public property I am faced with on campus.

All summer I had to navigate my way past the construction crew repairing the steps behind the Auditorium. The very day the job was finished, a group of skaters began diligently destroying the efforts and tax dollars wasted by the university.

In a way, this campus belongs to each of us and we’re all equally responsible for keeping it in good shape. If The State News published a photo of me breaking down part of a landscaping wall with a sledgehammer, I would be arrested for it. We shouldn’t allow anyone else to get away with the same crime.

Destruction of public property is against the law, and those who ruin our campus in the name of fun damage our university as well as the reputation of responsible skaters.

Joshua Nixon
zoology graduate student