WINONA, Minn., April 23, 2001 -- Skateboarders caught acting dangerously or damaging property at Winona State University are asked to leave. If they return, the university gets tough and has them arrested. Typically, said campus security Director Don Walski, two or three skateboarders a year are arrested. Most recent was a pair on April 4. Although Winona State doesn't ban skateboarding, Walski said it would only take a couple incidents to change the policy. Why not ban skateboarding now? Walski said that the university's president, Darrell Krueger, doesn't want to make the campus too restrictive. "We don't want to restrict it to the point where people can't have fun," said Walski. Sidewalks, railings and elevated walls around the flower gardens attract skateboarders, said Walksi: "Unfortunately, the places they want to skateboard are not always safe and we do not want them damaging the flowerbeds or putting nicks in the stone walls. "We've had plenty of little injuries," said Walski, "but nothing serious yet." Walski said that not too many students are out at night when the high-school skateboarders are on campus. It's not Winona State students who are the problem, he said "By the time kids get to be 19 or 20, they begin to realize that if they fall they are going to get hurt."

WSU J-Board has idle year; students that well behaved?

WINONA, Minn., April 23, 2001 -- The Winona State University Judicial Board, whose job is to hear student misconduct cases, never convened this past school year. Why? The university conduct officer for off-campus residents, Shirley Mounce, said students chose instead to accept the punishment that either she or dorm directors issued as prescribed in the university's student conduct policy. In 99 percent of the cases, the punishment is clearly described in the policy, Mounce said. Students who are guilty of minor offenses, such as alcohol or theft, would rather accept sanctions from dorm directors or from Mounce than take the time to go before the J-Board, she said. Mounce said that cases that could lead to expulsion are automatically referred to the J-Board, unless the student prefers to accept the sanctions she or a dorm director recommends, which has been the case this year. The year before the J-Board heard only two cases.