Halloween
Continued from Page 1A
events will be very fun.”
McCrae stressed that many of
these events have been planned
regardless of what happened in
the past.
In 1996, what was supposed to
be a small party turned into a
nightmare for its hosts.
“We were just having a small
Halloween party with some of
our close friends,” said party host
Nygil Murrell (ODE, Nov. 4,
1996). “Then more people came
and more people came — we did
n’t invite that many.”
Murrell said they tried to shut
the party down early, but then
more people were physically try
ing to break into their house.
Eugene Police Sgt. Dave
Poppe said after the people out
side the party were asked to dis
perse, a few complied. But about
20 others shouted insults and
threw bottles and rocks at the of
ficers.
After police requested rein
forcements, the crowd finally
dispersed.
In 1997, police were forced to
use tear gas to break up a crowd
of about 300 people on Alder
Street. On Nov. 3, 1997, the
Emerald reported drunken party
goers throwing bottles, tearing
down light poles and ripping out
stop signs in a riot.
West University resident and
student Daniel Smyth said he
saw several fights take place, cars
being rocked back and forth and
people firing gunshots into the
air.
The problem began when the
party hosts prevented more peo
ple from entering their house.
The crowd outside grew larger
and proceeded to move north on
Alder Street as a total of 40 offi
cers used tear gas to disperse the
crowd.
Neighborhood resident Ryan
Nelson, who witnessed the clash,
said police should accept part of
the blame for the evening. He
said police used “general bully
ing” and an “abuse of power” in
order to control the situation.
“I think it could have been
handled a hell of a lot better,”
Nelson said.
Last year, another unruly
crowd gathered after the Eugene
Fire Department responded to a
fire at Campus Quads on 16th
Avenue and Alder Street. Police
later responded to an illegal par
ty on 15th Avenue and proceed
ed to issue a handful of citations
to intoxicated minors.
The crowd on Alder Street
swelled to approximately 100
people. Soon after, people began
to throw rocks and bottles at the
police officers. Twelve people
were arrested, but only four were
identified as University students.
Some blamed the police.
In a letter to the editor (ODE
Nov. 4, 1998), University junior
Matthew Rutman wrote: “In my
opinion, a lot of the violent acts
were in response to the presence
and manner of the police at the
scene.”
Others blamed the media.
In an Emerald article follow
ing the riot (ODE Nov. 2, 1998),
University Senate President
Matt Olsen expressed his dis
gust with the presence of televi
sion crews before anything hap
pened.
“They’re just looking for sensa
tional, cost-effective news,”
Olsen said.
But ultimately, members of the
community blamed the volatile
mix of alcohol and irresponsibili
ty
In a message to the irresponsi
ble partygoers (ODE Nov.
13,1998), sociology major Arwen
Maas-DeSpain expressed her
anger as a mother and student.
“You had the choice to be re
sponsible,” Maas-DeSpain
wrote. “Your actions precipitat
ed the tear gas. That tear gas
caused pain and suffering to
people who didn’t choose to be
involved.”
During the evening’s rampage,
Maas-DeSpain was walking
home from Safeway with her
Scott Barnett Emerald
Students enjoy their evening across the street from the Campbell Club co-op moments before last year’s Halloween riot broke.
baby on her back, downwind of
the tear gas.
“With my eyes, nose and
throat burning, I ran in the oppo
site direction,” Maas-DeSpain
said. “Any moment I expected
my baby to burst out screaming
in pain.”
Late-night clashes between stu
dents and police are nothing new
to college campuses across the
country. In fact, when compared
with other college towns, Eugene
has escaped relatively unscathed.
In 1998 at Ohio University, ap
proximately 2,000 people
clashed with police. In the same
year at the University of Con
necticut, 2,000 people turned a
“Spring Weekend” party into a
fight with police, and again at
Michigan State University, a
peaceful protest turned into a
3,GOO-person brawl between po
lice and protesters. All of this
happened within the span of two
months.
“This is not fun for anyone —
students, the University, police,”
Sgt. Gilliam said. “If something
happens again, it’s a black eye on
the University and the city of Eu
gene.”
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