Since the late 1980s, when skateboarding was prohibited on campus and in the borough, skateboarders have sought alternative locations to ride their boards.

Some have driven far to skating parks while others have found hidden locations around town that have the essentials for skateboarding -- ledges, stairs and smooth surfaces.

But now that gas prices are higher and skateboarders don't want to waste their time driving, most local skateboarders have ditched the idea of driving to designated areas, the nearest being The Centre Community Skate Park at Tussey Mountain, and have gotten creative with places to ride.

In an empty drainage ditch off of Hastings Road, skateboarder Adam Osborn (junior-environmental resource management) waits for his turn to jump on his newfound skating pipe.

"It kind of blew up in the past month," Osborn said.

He added that his skateboarding friends are always looking for new places ride their boards, where they have less chance of getting a citation or ticket than on campus or downtown.

Penn State University Police officer Dwight Smith said a regulation prohibiting skateboarding on campus was passed around 1987 because university officials were receiving many complaints about damaged property, especially in the residence halls.

Alex Grigor, associate director for special projects in Housing and Food Services, said skateboarding not only damages property; it is also a safety hazard.

"[Skateboarding is] not an activity that is appropriate in residence areas where there are pedestrians," Grigor said.

Scott Muroski (junior-finance) said he thinks riding bikes on campus is more dangerous than skateboarding.

"Maybe it's one thing if they catch you defacing property but I don't understand why you can't ride to class," he said.

Fellow skateboarder Rick Hall (junior-agriculture and biology engineering) said that although that drainage ditch is one of his favorite places to ride his board, he wishes the university would provide skaters with a skateboarding area.

Osborn said that the university has an area for almost every sporting activity except skateboarding.

"They even have a street hockey rink; who the hell plays street hockey?" he said.

State College Mayor Bill Welch said that since skateboarding is banned in the borough, local officials built a skating park at Tussey Mountain.

"They prohibited it because ... risk of skateboarding injury colliding into someone and damage caused to stairs, walls and ledges," Welch said.

Because most places skateboarders use to ride are not designated skateboarding pipes or ramps, they have to be creative with the tricks or type of jumps they do, Muroski said.

"It's basically left up to the imagination for some crazy s--- ... you just can't do 360s or 540s like Tony Hawk," he said, referring to turning in the air.

He added that in the drainage ditch they use, most people do basic "grinds," which happen when skateboarders ride to the top part of the pipe, where there is a rail and slide back to the rail on the other side.

Because they have noticed an increase in skateboarding interest, Osborn said some local skateboarders are trying to organize an official skateboarding club.

He added that they first need a professor who is willing to serve as an adviser and then try to get university funding.

"We want to try to get our own place [to skateboard] so we don't get harassed and bring people with a common interest together," Osborn said.

Hall said he still skateboards on campus every once in a while but is tired of getting threatened with citations by Penn State University Police.

"They just make up a random number ... last week they threatened me with a $150 citation," he said.

University police officer Sam Ricciotti said students who are caught skateboarding are usually given a warning, but if they are damaging an area they could be cited for criminal mischief. He said that fines range from $5 to $300.

"A lot of times [students skateboard] in front of the [Palmer] Museum of Art or Old Main steps ... anywhere that there are walls and stairs because that's what they like to use," Ricciotti said.

Every place is good for something different, Muroski said. One of his favorite places is the three steps in front of Old Main, but added that the drainage ditch is good for "grinding" while another place off East College Avenue is good for jumps.

"Once you have it down, it feels so free to be on your board," Muroski said.