First off: congratulations to all those involved in the various Halloween activities across campus! I only heard good things of the parties, haunted houses, and festivities. It was yet another year of successful UNH haunting.

Now, as some of you may know, Halloween is my favorite holiday. I absolutely love being scared: scary movies, haunted hayrides, and a huge full moon. I love witches, ghouls, and the occasional ghosts. While my roommates and I had a very laid back Halloween full of tarot cards, Ouija boards, brownies, and The Shining, I still managed to travel across campus in the rain to experience most of the creepiness. And, while I was proud of groups like SCOPE and PIRO, I was slightly disgusted by what I saw.

Remember back to when you were little, and imagine your favorite Halloween costumes. Remember putting on all the pieces of those costumes, grabbing your candy bags, and heading out to trick or treat with your family or friends. Now…what were those costumes? I remember my favorites: I was a 50’s girl, a hippie, Esmeralda, and a witch. Staff writer and SCOPE Co-Chair Glenn Altshuler was Robin Hood and a security officer and USGA Treasurer Heather Brown loved dressing up like Tigger and a homemade lady bug.

Now fast forward. What exactly happened to the hippies, ladybugs, and ninjas of yesteryear? As we grew up, it seemed as if the fabric in our Halloween costumes slowly but surely withered away. Halloween night you saw the occasional creative costume, yes, but the majority of the sidewalks of UNH were filled with provocative bumble bees, Alice in Wonderlands, and school girls. Now I understand the desire to be “sexy” or “attractive” on Halloween, the one day of the year where you are expected to dress outlandishly, but that doesn’t mean the regular passerby wants to see your butt hanging out from beneath a skirt. Yes, Alice in Wonderland was one of my favorite movies…but the Mad Hatter wore a suit jacket: and a long shirt. Batman was NEVER attractive and…hello…never wore cleavage baring tops. No, I don’t care what your abs (or lack thereof) look like: they might be scary, but they probably aren’t Halloween scary. When did Halloween stop being about scary mummies and start being about floozies?

I understand that we’ve grown up and not everyone wants to be seen in the super covered outfits we had as children. But growing up doesn’t mean you have to become provocative and bear it all for the world to see on Halloween.  A good friend of mine from home was a kissing booth: she was completely covered, but still had that “adult” edge to her costume. A perfect combination of grown up and sexy Halloween fun: and yet I didn’t have to see any bit of her that I didn’t want to. No exposed butts in her Facebook pictures: and yet everyone still loved her costume.

I may seem to be focusing on the women of this campus (and on every college campus) and yes, that may seem a bit unfair. But I honestly did not see any guys looking like fools: one or two were shirtless, but they actually fit into the theme of the costume. This year, and every year since I’ve been here, the male population of UNH has outdone the females both in creativity and general acceptance.

Again: this message doesn’t go out to everyone. I saw a girl dressed up in the best Peter Pan costume I’ve ever seen, a keg stand, and a fashionable Michael Jackson. But for the countless amount of people that wore short skirts, tiny tops, and fishnets: come on now. Let’s try to be a little bit innovative instead of just showing a ton of skin. I promise, you will get more notice (and brownie points with guys, if that’s what you’re looking for) for being original instead of sexy.