Skateboarding Guide
The NWMSU campus offers a lot of places for one to skateboard, with all of the typical obstacles: stairs, ledges, boxes, clean surfaces, and some unique obstacles like "The Circle." Skateboarding around campus is also a fun way to mesh with external social groups and escape some of the alienation and loneliness that can come with spending most of one's time in Cooper Hall.
Contents
On-campus spots
Just outside Cooper
The first thing you'll probably notice is the area right outside of Cooper Hall, where you'll find a 3-stair, a downwardly-sloped ledge waxed for your boardsliding enjoyment, and (if you're lucky) a picnic table. This is a fun place to skate if you can't venture too far. The 3-stair has a low handrail with no knicks if your skill is sufficiently exquisite, but otherwise it's just a clean 3-.
Colden Hall
Colden Hall is the building where you'll take your English and Computer Science classes, so you don't want to go in there. Outside, though, you'll find a 4-stair with a long, smooth run-up, and a 5-stair that--though it must be approached from a diagonal angle--is wholly skateable. It's also joyous to ollie up the 4-stair. Another good thing about being at Colden is that the pond and trees are a stone's throw away (if you can throw stones pretty far) and it's easy to find shade on a humid day.
In the front, you'll find some high ledges to ollie off. Most have trenches, though.
The Circle (and surrounding area)
The Circle is a circularly-shaped bench that can provide for some fun skating. In addition to the challenge of getting up onto the bench, one then has to use extraordinary balance to stay on and continue riding the path of +-Sqrt[1 - x2]. Sometimes the gardenry spreads its fingers over the bench, so skating can be hard if not impossible.
Near the circle you will find a 3-stair. You have to enter at a bad angle and the landing surface is full of crags, though.
Fine Arts Building
The Fine Arts Building has an ellipse-shaped ledge about a half-meter tall, and from that ledge one can attempt to ollie onto another, more narrow ledge.
Lamkin Athletic Center (front)
The front part of the Lamkin Center contains a nice quad set of 3-stairs, which one can ollie in succession. There's also a high ledge to jump off of on foot. The Fun Box is at the bottom.
Fun Box
A concrete box that you can enter at blazing speeds.
Rec. Center
The Rec. Center has some ledges and a two 5-stairs. The 5-stairs differ in that one is long and the other is steep. The steeper one has a trench at the bottom, positioned just so that your front truck can get lodged into it and you can eat a pleasurous concoction of teeth, blood and flesh, smashed to smitherenes and mixed thoroughly by the abrasive and unforgiving concrete living at the bottom. I usually go with the non-steep one.
There are also some waxed ledges on the side, pleasantly blanketed by the shade.
The Station
The Station is the campus convenience store and at the front you will find a high box and an absurdly high ledge (Rob Haines snapped a deck ollieing off of it). In the back there's a mini dock.
The Bell Tower
The Bell Tower is this ugly, gargantuan monstrosity at the center of campus--speculated by some to be a phallic symbol--and under it there is a circle from which a few 3-stairs and some ledges extend. Mostly not worth going to.
Off-campus spots
J.C. Penney halfpipe
Some local church guy set up a small halfpipe behind the J.C. Penney on the main highway (for those not familiar with Maryville: there's basically one main road, so you can't miss it.) The hours are something like 9-5 and there are some rules (e.g., no profanity), but it could be interesting nonetheless.
Skatepark
[Apparently the City of Maryville is building a rather robust skatepark near campus. The details should be filled in as they become available.]
Miscelleaneous other things
Avoiding Campus Safety
I won't tell you what to do. Personally, I (mpn) think students in class should be respected, and if I think I might be obstructing someone's learning, I avoid the situation. If you choose not to, Campus Safety could show up (though as of Feb. 2006, I've yet to be hassled.) If you want to be forgotten (which you probably do if you don't want to accumulate their dismay with you), try to be as unmemorable as possible. Rebelliousness or smart-assedness might fuel their fires. Simply saying "I'm sorry" and agreeing to go home is probably the best option, if it's possible. Try not to get nervous, inadvertendtly telling them your life story.
About waxing ledges
I advise against waxing ledges that aren't already waxed, and actually even those that they are. Doing so is unnecessary vandalism and is both damaging to the campus aesthetics and could get you into a lot of trouble.
Meeting other people
The psychology of many skateboarders is interesting. At first approach, many may seem reserved and in favor of skating alone, but usually if you are gregarious and help them skate (often you can do this by simply respecting their paths and not getting in their way) they'll be glad to have your company.
Credits
Photographs by Ruth Herrin
