UMaine prepares for Halloween weekend

Haunted hayrides, bright costumes, make-up and trick-or-treating are all images that come to mind during this time of the year. Halloween is less than one week away and it seems everywhere you turn, students are gearing up for this festive holiday that lets you transform into something you're not. However, most college students aren't preparing to hand out candy; they're planning for an alcohol-laden weekend involving their friends. Event invitations to parties are crawling all over Facebook, often with hundreds of guests invited. It's not the general idea of a party that is going to be a problem for students on Halloween; it's the party with alcohol and minors under the age of 21 that will cause problems.

Rachel Boudreau is a sophomore journalism student at UMaine. She is planning on having an alcohol-free Saturday evening with friends at Curva (formerly known as 103 Ultra Lounge) where the fraternity FIJI is holding a Halloween party. "Im not worried about the police busting down Curva," Boudreau admits. "I'm under 21 so I will have a bracelet telling everyone else my age. Im not drinking. I find I have more fun when I'm alert." Last year she went to the same club where a different fraternity was having a party. "I totally get what could happen if I were to get caught with alcohol since Im a minor. But it honestly doesn't affect me."

Boudreau is most likely in the minority of students that will not be drinking for Halloween. Sgt. Bob Norman of the University of Maine police department says that every year he is surprised by students at UMaine with the creativity of the student costumes as well as their belief they won't get caught drinking illegally. Every year the UMaine police work alongside other police departments to prevent drunk driving and shut down parties that are becoming out of control or involve minors. Sgt. Norman is confident is his departments ability to keep students safe this upcoming weekend, "

The UMaine Police aren't the only organization trying to prevent excessive alcohol consumption and drunk driving. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has an entire section of its' website dedicated to materials for officers and other law enforcement officials to use in promoting a safe Halloween. Also included are statistics that are worthy of making anyone jump in fright. Last year alone, there were 73 deaths on Halloween night alone between the hours of 6pm October 31-5:59am November 1. Of those, forty-eight percent were found to have a blood alcohol content of 0.08 or above.

Rich Murphy, distribution and sale manager of Burby & Bates in downtown Orono, notices students buying an excess of alcohol not just on holidays, but every weekend. He says the most difficult part of Halloween is that people are wearing masks and that makes it difficult to ID people when it comes to purchasing beer or liquor. "One time I had a kid come in with a pumpkin on the top of his head," Murphy recalls, "[It] makes it a little bit difficult to identify people."

Whether you're planning on heading out this Halloween or staying in with some candy and a movie, Sgt. Norman puts the overall goal of holidays like Halloween the best, " [...] that everyone number one: has a good time and number two: stays safe."