Wisconsin combats Big Ten Halloween parties

Students making the trip north to the University of Wisconsin-Madison for the Halloween weekend festivities might want to think twice about putting on that French maid or Mario costume. A recent letter from the Dean of Students office at Wisconsin to all the Big Ten schools states the implementation of two policies that will be carried out this weekend in an effort to discourage out-of-town students from attending the annual bash.\nThe first policy states that if a student is arrested by the Madison Police Department or the University of Wisconsin Police Department, the crime, along with the student's name, will be reported back to their respective university. \nThis policy will allow for individual universities to apply their Student Code of Conduct to the situation in Madison and possibly take disciplinary action against the student.\nThe second policy will prevent Wisconsin students from housing out-of-town guests in any of the residence halls, forcing guests to find a hotel or stay with someone who does not live on campus.\nIU Dean of Students Richard McKaig said it is unlikely this will become an active policy across the Big Ten and IU's Code limits the University's authority over events that take place off campus. \n"Any information we receive about students arrested will have to be reviewed on a case-by-case basis," he said.\nIf IU takes any action against IU students who are arrested in Madison this weekend, it might cause a dispute between McKaig and IU Student Association President Alex Shortle. Shortle said if any action is taken against arrested students, his administration would be proactive and lobby on the students' behalf. \nDuring Halloween weekend, State Street in Madison becomes the town's own version of Bourbon Street during Mardi Gras. The number of people rocking their costumes on the stretch of pavement can reach into the thousands. \nMcKaig said he understands the problems Wisconsin is facing because IU had similar problems in the early 1990s with the popularity of Little 500, but said IU hasn't taken measures similar to Wisconsin's new policy.\nIUPD arrests are regularly reported to the dean of students, while BPD arrests are occasionally reported, McKaig said. The only exception to this is during Little 500 week when all arrests made by either organization are reported to McKaig's office.\nSenior Brian Mehler has attended Madison's Halloween weekend for the last three years and is planning to go to Madison this weekend despite the policies. \n"It's probably one of the biggest party weekends you've ever seen," he said. "It's crazy. You see a lot of police at 2:30 (a.m.) or so when they tear gas the crowd. It never really gets too out of control." \nElton Crim, interim associate dean of students at Wisconsin sent the letter and said these policies have been used in the past. \n"What we really want to do is discourage out-of-town visitors," he said. "From the data set we have from past Halloween instances, almost all the major problems we've had in the past around Halloween were exhibited by out-of-town guests."\nIUPD Lt. Jerry Minger said this reminds him of an incident that happened at Michigan State University during their run for the Men's Basketball NCAA Championships because students at other schools were held accountable by their universities. Several people took photos of the various acts of rioting and vandalism and posted them on a Web site. The purpose of this Web site was for people to visit it and identify those participating in illegal activity so the police could charge them with a crime.