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 it’s 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 don’t come to cause damage.

“They think out-of-towners trash the city, but most of us don’t have any intention of trashing Isla Vista or breaking laws,” he said.

—Daily Bruin