Oct. 5, Ald. Mike Verveer directed an amendment through the common council raising forfeiture amounts for alcohol-related offenses. Verveer and his many supporters billed the hike as a preventative measure to deter another Halloween fiasco.

The increase continues through the year and there are 361 days when a Halloween block party doesn’t take place. Nevertheless, the label “preventative measure,” as opposed to any of the other possible motives, proved an adequate maneuver as this piece of legislation drew hardly any media ire.

However, even examining the forfeiture hike as billed leaves a number of obvious questions. The main one standing out: Will this even work as a preventative measure?

The passed proposal achieves one goal effectively in taking the security cost burden off the taxpayer and dropping it squarely where it belongs, upon the perpetrators. Over the past two years, security for the event rocketed above estimates primarily due to the massive overtime paid to police officers called in to calm the riots.

The lights and speakers nested on Library Mall also, police claim, will curb the late-night revelers from taking up arms (or bike racks in this case).

The other gameday plans appear well laid out, though a true test of their effectiveness won’t arrive until that fateful weekend. Yet the logic behind the forfeiture increases acting as a preventative measure against riot remains ridiculously spurious.

There are two facets to a preventative measure: first, the threat of penalty presented to any potential troublemaker. And second, a comprehensive channel of information by which to inform said troublemaker of the raised stakes. In this case, an almost complete and utter lack of any effort to achieve the second facet spells trouble for Halloween weekend.

So far, the public relations efforts of the police department and the city include an administrative e-mail to all students, pamphlets placed in campus-area hotels and the remainder of the responsibility falls squarely upon the editorial staffs of the two student newspapers. This plan may sound grand to the police department, but it doesn’t take a great deal of public relations training to see the failure to recognize a key audience.

One of the ongoing segments of the university’s comical “What party school?” campaign rears its head every time an All-Hallows Eve bash goes awry. Actually it’s quite whimsical, like something out of Herodotus.

An industrious and fruitful city lies on an isthmus, renowned as an educational and cultural beacon in the territory. Every fall, the younger citizens throw a peaceful pagan celebration along the city’s most famous corridor. But in recent years, not all has gone well in the land.

From all around this tranquil city, foreign hoards of barbarous people swarm the streets, attacking municipal legions and destroying all in their path. Callous and violent by nature, they can be provoked into frenzied berserk merely by the exposure of breasts.

And they wreak havoc while the peaceful locals watch in disbelief.

Personally I would argue that when stressed out students and alcohol collide, there is no such thing as a community stakeholder. Surely a number of UW students participated in both melees, regardless of what the arrest numbers state, although the university does make a solid point in asserting that out-of-towners contribute a great deal to the Halloween anarchy.

However, these people just aren’t exposed to the necessary information. It’s like the Kohl Center camping fines all over again, except with a great deal more on the line. While the police prepare for a street battle, this issue could easily find partial resolution through more civilized means. In terms of public relations, the city sits on the verge of a catastrophic loss and State Street businesses are in line to take the hit.

“Mark Oct. 31 on your calendar with an anarchy sign,” Sports Illustrated on Campus declared in a Sept. 9 preview spread. “Warning: this is not standard trick-or-treating; there have been riots the last two years.”

Mayor Dave Cieslewicz lambasted the publication for hyping the chaotic aspect of the celebration, but who could blame SI for pointing out the obvious? There is, however, an unfortunate byproduct to this promotion — the exposure, particularly among college students, is massive.

Sorry Ald. Verveer, all the pamphlets and e-mails in the world won’t brace this avalanche. Print posters, film commercials, have Barry Alvarez make a statement, but for the love of Madison, do something.

If students from all over the Midwest will come to town expecting a riot, then by virtue of that fact alone, their belief will become a self-fulfilling prophecy. If these shades remain unchanged, expect the worst Halloween weekend.

Patrick Klemz ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in journalism.