Opinion

A sigh of relief

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Whew, it worked.

The city of Madison successfully executed Mayor Dave Cieslewicz's plan for Halloween 2006, and despite some reservations about the new system, the night went off without a hitch.

We applaud all of the law enforcement officials involved for handling the two disturbances that arose on the 500 block. Their calm efforts dissolved what could have been the beginnings of another riot, and it is refreshing to see that not all chanting revelers need to be subdued chemically in order to keep everyone safe.

We also extend our appreciation to UW students, their friends from out of town and everyone else on State Street for keeping things respectful and within reasonable expectations of rowdy crowd behavior. No matter what plan the city decides to implement, on Halloween night it all comes down to the people involved to make sure things go smoothly.

This year's success, however, should by no means keep students or city officials from scrutinizing plans for the future. The ticketing system kept numbers down on State Street, but as people grow more comfortable with the idea of paying a cover charge for Halloween, the numbers will return to the riotous levels they reached in years past. Just because the plan worked with 35,000 revelers doesn't mean 60,000 would react the same way to long lines, a limited number of access points and overwhelming police presence.

As long as Mayor Cieslewicz, the city of Madison and the law enforcement personnel involved remain vigilant while staying flexible and adaptive, we look forward to keeping an annual tradition alive — sans the pepper spray.