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SAC fright night turns fight night
By Levi Russell
Whalesong Contributor
The Halloween
dance at the Student Activity Center Saturday night had all the
necessary elements for a great party. There was the appropriately
spooky décor, a killer music and video DJ, great prizes,
plenty of food and drinks, and more than 130 partygoers whose imaginations
and creativity saw them garbed as everything from flight attendants
to orange dinosaurs to a Bullwinkle’s Pizza delivery boy. With
such a great recipe, why did this sweet time turn sour?
Saturday night, the hostile Halloween spirit got the
better of some. Late into the night, a fight involving some 20 students
erupted into the SAC parking lot, with fists, kicks, and threats
being traded like post trick-or-treat Halloween candy. The brawl
was centered around three individuals, but involved many others
that were either looking on in fear of their mortal lives, or actually
attempting to contain the fight.
Juneau’s boys in blue galloped in with their usual
daring only after the real trouble had stopped and the fighters
had retired to their separate corners. Everyone has a different
story on how it was started, but testosterone-fueled insults were
definitely a main ingredient in this dirty pie. Funny how all fights
start the same way, “I saw my friend get hit, so I ran to help
him out!” Of course no one actually started it – they
were all just helping a friend! Police Officer Joel Hinz reports
that no one was seriously injured and no arrests were made, although
one UAS student was cited for minor consuming.
When SAC Manager Dave Klein was asked for comments on
the event he said, “I’ve always thought there would be
something like this. At the first Halloween dance we had, a big
group of students rushed outside into the parking lot, and I assumed
a fight had started. It turned out that they were rushing outside
to see the Northern Lights.”
Klein indicated that alcohol was definitely a factor
in the fighting, and was a topic that would come under review for
future SAC dances and parties. The issue of allowing non-UAS students
to attend parties is also up for review, although the majority of
those involved in the fight are attending UAS. Klein stressed that
it was very unfortunate that the Halloween dance ended the way it
did – with just a few people ruining an otherwise enjoyable
time.
So what do the students think about all this? Dave Klein said, “Tons
of students stayed in the building during the fight, and were really
bummed that the night ended so badly.”
An anonymous UAS junior said, “My night ended suddenly when
I was confronted by an overly aggressive transsexual leopard man.”
We’ll just leave that one up to your imagination. In general,
students aren’t happy, and you wouldn’t be either. Nobody
likes a good party to be cut short. Until the trouble started, everyone
was having a great time…even the big blue dancing whale!
Dean of Students Paul Kraft said he wants UAS to have
activities that are enjoyable and safe for everyone, and said he
will not cancel or decrease the number of future dances. “I’m
not willing to pull the plug on any [events]… students own
these activities. It’s your show.” Kraft said that safety
was the most important issue at UAS events, and steps would be taken
to ensure that students could feel secure. Kraft further stressed
that he would like to gather student input and suggestions on how
to keep events like this one from reoccurring. “I’d like
to get students together for a discussion on what they feel is the
best solution.” Kraft said that he would work with Klein and
all students interested in coming up with the best possible solution
for everyone.
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