Provided you are reading this in the comfort of your own home, or in a lecture hall, and not still behind bars or nursing sore wrists, congratulations on successfully surviving Halloween 2004. That weekend was full of crazy costumes, overcrowded parties and, of course, the usual herds of police officers equipped with tear gas and riot gear. The benefit of hindsight lets us calmly look back and ask the serious question: was Halloween weekend successful, tear gas and all, or is it time for UW students to say goodbye to Halloween and hello to an October sans looting and arrests?

Statements released by city officials following Halloween weekend have made it clear that many authorities believe the only option left is to cancel Halloween weekend entirely. They believe that the scene on State Street is out of control, to say the least, and we were warned ahead of time that if chaos occurred again, the entire weekend would be in jeopardy. The first thing that pops into my mind is that Madison officials are starting to resemble the Grinch who stole, well, Halloween. The second thing that pops into my mind is that we are 30,000 strong, and Halloween will not be cancelled.

All weekend I heard people throwing around ideas about how officials could try to eliminate Halloween weekend. Some suggested they would have to close all the roadways leading into Madison to ensure that visitors, many of who seem to cause a lot of the Halloween related problems, would not be able to enter the city. Others suggested that school officials could make Halloween weekend our "fall break," similar to breaks that other schools have during October. Many just assume that police officers will continue tripling and quadrupling fines and will crack down so much next year that risking arrest and tickets will not be worth it. In the Greek system, one sorority member commented houses could be threatened with losing their charters if Halloween parties are thrown or funded by a chapter on campus. All of these ideas sound possible, but only if we weren't going to the University of Wisconsin, and only if the entire student body was not composed of diehard Halloween fans.

Each of the above ways of canceling Halloween can be defeated. First, I highly doubt that roadways will be closed to prevent revelers from entering the city. Nor do I doubt that if the authorities tried that, there would be many students from other universities crazy enough to bike and/or travel on foot to get to Madison in time for the famous Halloween celebrations. Second, if school officials were to make Halloween weekend into a fall break, this would only encourage partiers to stick around Madison even longer. Who would go through the trouble of flying or driving home when all your friends want to come to Madison for one big long party — especially with the added incentive of not having to worry about missing Friday classes in the wake of intense Thursday night partying? Third, if police officers continue to increase fines and penalties for partiers, there will still be students willing to take the chance and go out and celebrate anyway. There will always be people who are arrested, fined and injured, no matter how expensive the fines are or how many police officers are present. Lastly, the Greek system will find a way to weasel out of restrictions imposed by their chapter coordinators. Holding parties at other venues and/or promoting parties that are not affiliated to Greek houses will guarantee over the top Halloween parties for the years to come.

Concerned officials and worried parents wonder what will happen if this tradition is not put to an end. My prediction is that the situation will probably continue to be controlled better and problems will be fewer and fewer over the years. We saw less severe riots this year than in the past, as well as less looting and property damage. If those in charge realize that this tradition is something that students treasure in their college experience here at UW, their wisest course would be to continue to provide adequate police officers and other safety officials.

So, what are you going to be for Halloween?

Emily Friedman ([email protected]) is a sophomore intending to major in journalism.