The following appeared as a letter to the editor from a Central Plaza store owner."Over the past two years, the number of shoppers in Central Plaza has been steadily decreasing while the popularity of skateboarding has increased dramatically. Many Central

While the owner presented a convincing argument to prohibit skateboarding in Central Plaza, the case would need to have more conclusive evidence for the recommendation to go through. Judging the evidence provided by the owner, it may not seem that banning skateboarding will increase the amount of customers in Central Plaza.

First, would the prohibition of skateboarding decrease the amount of vandalism and litter that has been happening? The owner did not provide any evidence linking the skateboarders to the vandalism and litter. Who is to say the skateboarders are responsible for these illegal acts.The vandalism and litter could occur at anytime, even after closing hours, anybody could've been littering and vandalizing in the area. Even if the owner saw one of the skateboarder littering or vandalizing in the area, it is still not enough to explain where the majority of the vandalism comes from. Unless, the owner has video footage of the skateboarders continually doing these acts, relying on the owner's statement alone isnfor not enough.

Second, why are there vandalism and litter at Central Plaza? The owner have to include the area where Central Plaza is located in, not just the Plaza itself. If the area around Central Plaza also have increasing acts of vandalism and litter, it would probably explain why the Plaza is also receiving these illegal acts. If the area is full of vandalism and litter, customers from outside the area may not feel safe going to the plaza therefore business starts to go down.

Third, who is responsible for catching these acts of vandalism? The owner mentioned the increasing amount of vandalism and littering but nobody has been caught in the act yet. Security may be an issue in the plaza. Why hasn't anyone been caught when there's so much going on? There has to be some type of security to catch and prevent the crimes. If there's nobody enforcing the law, people are going to keep doing it. The role of security including police patrol and security cameras is crucial to catch and prevent crimes. If there were no security to start with, it would explain why illegal acts keeps increasing.

Finally, the owner may want to increase business in the plaza a number of factors would have to be considered in order to ban skateboarders in the area. Examining all the various angles and factors related to vandalism and littering would be needed. While the owner's proposal does highlight a possibility to improving business to Central Plaza, more information is required to warrant any action.