Opinion
Halloween’s uncertain future
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Also by Mark Baumgarder:
- ASM must work for respect of students, university (April 27, 2005)
- Halloween's uncertain future (March 16, 2005)
- Economy looks good (March 10, 2005)
- Discretionary costs at heart of budget (February 17, 2005)
- Ash Wednesday: reason to reflect (February 9, 2005)
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Mayor Dave Cieslewicz spoke on a variety of issues in his recent State of the City address to students on campus, including his progressive agenda for Madison. Besides updating students on the minimum wage, transit and other initiatives, Cieslewicz touched on his desire to make changes to the annual Halloween event in Madison.
A large percentage of students on this campus participate in the Halloween event, and those who do should start paying attention now to ongoing discussions over this issue. Dec. 15, 2004, the last day of classes for the fall semester, Madison Police Chief Noble Wray and City Attorney Michael May released a report for Cieslewicz containing options that, if implemented, would drastically change the nature of the event. Considering the radical changes proposed in the report, it received a comparatively small amount of coverage in the student press, perhaps due to its timing.
Mayor’s Office Communications Director George Twigg explained that with regard to proposed Halloween policies, “Nothing is set in set stone, but nothing is off the table.” Twigg added, “Nobody on either side wants the night to end in tear gas.”
While everyone can agree with this statement, there are reasonable and unreasonable ways of accomplishing the goal of a safe Halloween event. While the Wray and May report contains elements of common sense, several of the proposals are completely impractical and border on complete absurdity.
The report lists six options in descending order according to severity. One can briefly summarize the options as follows:
Stop Halloween by closing visitor access to Madison at all major intersections.
Close off the State Street area.
Allow a gated event, allowing only University of Wisconsin students to enter.
Allow a “reduced” event, forcing all State Street area businesses, including bars, to close by 6 p.m. and banning keg sales on the days falling on or around Halloween Saturday.
Cancel school at UW and area colleges on the days around Halloween, requiring all university housing to close during the period.
Close off access to the 500 block of State Street, where problems have occurred in the past.
Essentially, the Wray and May report blames two main factors for past Halloween problems: visitors and alcohol. Virtually everything else follows from this assumption. Perhaps the most revealing portion of the report states, “Our conclusion is that the over-consumption of alcohol is a major contributing factor to disorderly behavior associated with the Halloween event. We strongly suggest some sort of closure of businesses be considered with any Halloween option.”
This statement stands in sharp contrast to more reasonable proposals suggested by several individuals, including District 5 City Council candidate Ben Moga, who wants to push for bars to remain open until 4 a.m. on Halloween, similar to New Year’s Day, when few major incidents occur. Moga explains, “By 4 a.m., people will just party themselves out. By 4 a.m., you don’t want to riot. You just want to go home and go to sleep.”
Moga also explained anecdotally that business owners would prefer less, rather than more restrictions. “If you talk to business owners and get their perspective on this, most of them are willing to sacrifice maybe a busted window for the amount of [extra] business they do,” he said.
Wisconsin statute 125.32(3) requires that bars close 2:30 a.m.-6 a.m. Saturday and Sunday and 2 a.m.-6 a.m. on other days, with New Year’s Day being the only exception. Municipalities are free to adjust this, but only to make it more restrictive. Moga acknowledges this structural barrier, but also believes that an attitudinal barrier on the part of city officials prevents them from ever pursuing an exception for Halloween from the state.
While I do not support Moga’s stance on all issues, he deserves praise for offering common sense alternative viewpoints for Halloween. There is a marked difference between the attitudes inherent in the Wray and May report and those held by Moga and many students. As city officials will likely determine policy in the coming months after city elections wind down, concerned students should begin choosing sides and becoming involved in the process.
Mark A. Baumgardner (mbaumgardner@wisc.edu) is a senior majoring in electrical engineering.
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Mark, you of all people ought to know that the riots were caused by the ACLU and gay marriage.
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What the fuck?! Two weeks in a row now Mark. I need my weekly dose of hate and fear!!!
But seriously, we have had three years to get our act together. If we can’t control ourselves or if we can’t invite friends who can control themselves then we don’t deserve halloween. I for one will certainly miss it but it would only make sense that the city would try to take desperate messures when every year 21 year olds act like immature 13 yr olds when they get some alcohol in their system.
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MOGA IS A REPUBLICAN - ENDORSED BY THE CR’s AND BEING SHILlED FOR BY CONVICTED MALICIOUS VIEWPOINT NEUTRALITY VIOLATOR MARK BAUMGARDNER. ROBBIE WEBBER DOESN’T WANT TO SHUT DOWN HALLOWEEN, AND SHE WOULD SUPPORT THE IMPOSSIBLE PUSHING BACK OF BAR TIME AS WELL. HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE ARTICLE.
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http://moga.typepad.com/vote_moga/issues/index.html
Moga’s positions:
Minimum Wage “I support a minimum wage increase and am pleased to see Madison as a driving force behind progressive legislation. We should encourage a state-wide increase for the betterment of all and to ensure that our city does not portray an auroa of isolation.”
Transportation
“A regional rail, as proposed by County Executive Falk, is a great start to transportation issues facing both Madison and the surrounding areas. From my observations in Amsterdam, a city with very high density, citizens made excellent use of the swift light rails that ran through the streets.”
He doesn’t sound like a true red-blooded Republican to me.
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Neither did Andy Nathan back in the day, and he was a grade-A schmuck.