Thursday,
November 1, 2001
Campus
Briefs
Santa
Barbara tries to fix Halloween party image
LOS
ANGELES (U-WIRE) Officials in Isla Vista, a perennial
Halloween hotspot for both the UC Santa Barbara community
and its visitors, are taking strides this holiday to discourage
out-of-town travelers and to eliminate the party atmosphere
associated with the school for more than a decade.
In
addition to the presence of more than 60 police officers in
the square-mile land area, many local streets will be blocked
off, and alcohol and noise policies will be strictly enforced
throughout the week, police said.
Officer
Ronald Rodriguez of the Isla Vista Foot Patrol said in recent
years, beatings, rapes, robberies and vandalism were regular
occurrences on Halloween. He said his department will work
to limit the number of injuries sustained.
We
want to knock down the party atmosphere so there are not so
many intoxicated people in such a congested area, Rodriguez
said.
Richard
Jenkins, advisor in the Office of Student Life at UCSB, said
the Isla Vista community is discouraging outside visitors
because about 80 percent of the people arrested on Halloween
in recent years have not been residents.
Sean
Conaty, a second-year undeclared student at UC San Diego,
is making his first Halloween trip to Isla Vista, excited
by the experiences of his brother Patrick.
I
want to go because its popular and big, Conaty
said. Everyone here really gets into it.
He
said that he recognizes why law enforcement is so visible,
but most visitors dont come to cause damage.
They
think out-of-towners trash the city, but most of us dont
have any intention of trashing Isla Vista or breaking laws,
he said.
Daily
Bruin
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