SKATING THE ISSUE STUDENTS TRAVEL VIA BOARDS DESPITE RULES.

Byline: Lisa M. Sodders Staff Writer

Cal State Northridge student Nikhil Ahuja makes his way to class on a skateboard along a busy campus walkway, weaving through pedestrians as though he were on a downhill ski run.

Technically, he's breaking the law - as the ``No Skateboarding'' signs attest.

But sympathetic campus police are turning a blind eye to Ahuja and other skateboarders as they navigate the 350-acre campus, trying to get to class on time.

``Skateboarding is just a faster way to get from here to there when you're running late for class,'' said Ahuja, a 21-year-old pre-dental major from Valencia. ``Sometimes parking is really hard to find, and that uses up a lot of your time.''

Police say that as long as students are just traveling to class - and not terrorizing others by riding handrails, jumping benches or doing other tricks - they'll be left alone.

``The actual policy is that there is no skateboarding allowed on campus,'' said Lt. Fred Fernandez, commander of police operations. ``But the campus has taken the view that if the person using the skateboard is a student and is using it to travel from point A to point B in a safe manner, then we will not enforce those types of incidents.''

So far, no major injuries have occurred on campus, either to skateboarders or pedestrians, Fernandez said.

Scarce parking is a major reason for the growing popularity of not only skateboards, but many other types of wheeled travel on campus. With 33,000 students, CSUN has about 11,000 parking spaces. Although a new parking garage will add 1,350 spaces in fall 2005, students complain it is not enough for a university in Southern California, where most people drive cars.

So students are breaking out their wheels to get from far-off parking spaces to class.

Well-worn skateboards, bikes and electric scooters are everywhere. Bicycles and nonmotorized scooters are permitted by law throughout campus as long as riders travel in a ``safe and courteous manner,'' Fernandez said. Handheld motorized scooters, which can be folded up and carried, must stay off walking paths because they are governed by the same rules of the road as cars and motorcycles.

The wheels aren't limited to modes of transportation. So many students drag wheeled backpacks behind them that the campus has come to look like a massive outdoor airport terminal.

Police say the campus has always been bicycle-friendly and that the growing popularity of skateboards has so far not created many problems.

If campus police see someone using a skateboard in a way that would damage university property or might jeopardize their safety and the safety of others, they will issue a citation, Fernandez said.

But citations are rare, with just a handful being given out last year. And 95 percent of the offenders were under-age daredevils who consider the campus a skateboarder's paradise - with a seemingly endless supply of handrails, stairs, walls and concrete pathways.

``For the most part, from what I've seen, (CSUN student skateboarders) tend to be courteous and considerate of the people around them,'' Fernandez said. He added that virtually all complaints from the public concern under-age skateboarders and that the ``No Skateboarding'' signs are left up to discourage them from coming to the campus.

CSUN student skateboarders say they're seldom stopped by campus officials.

Ahuja said he was told by one campus official that deaf students couldn't hear him coming. But he got off for the offense after asking how his skateboard was any different from a scooter or a bicycle.

Wanatham Wanpiegulwatana, 28, of Granada Hills neatly executed a sweeping left turn in front of the library on his brand-new electric scooter one recent day.

``The parking is so far,'' he said. ``(The scooter) saves energy a lot and it's fairly environmental because it's electric.

``It's 19 pounds - I just fold it up and carry it into class,'' Wanpiegulwatana said proudly, noting that it gets 10 miles to the charge. ``Bikes you have to park outside.''

Lisa M. Sodders, [phone]

lisa.sodders(at)dailynews.com

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- 2 -- color) Wanatham Wanpiegulwatana, above, cuts his commuting time at CSUN with an electric scooter. Left, Chris Buzzini, a CSUN junior, uses his skateboard on campus to get to class on time.

John McCoy/Staff Photographer