Fright Fest offers new choices

This year, UTC organizations have come up with a few events for students to participate in to ensure a safe and happy Halloween.One event, Fright Fest 2009, is sponsored by the Association of Campus Entertainment.

"Fright Fest's purpose is to provide fun, substance-free activities for our student body on Halloween night," Porscha Boyd, a senior from Memphis and ACE president, said.

"We want to emphasize as much as we can about making wise choices during this Halloween weekend," she said.

Boyd said students should refrain from drinking excessive amounts of alcohol during the Halloween season in order to avoid dangerous repercussions of drinking and driving.

Friday, Oct. 30, ACE will be showing a scary movie titled "The Orphan" at 8 p.m. in the UC auditorium, Boyd said.

Saturday, Oct. 31, is the Fright Fest scavenger hunt.

"We will have a campus-wide scavenger hunt starting at 10 p.m. at the Benwood Auditorium," Boyd said. "Students will get in teams of four to complete a campus-wide scavenger hunt. The students must follow the clues to find the stations at the assigned locations and complete the task to move on to the next clue and activity. Prizes will include: Nintendo Wiis, gift baskets, Wal-Mart gift cards, iPod home entertainment stereo system and much more."

Another event on campus during Halloween was Halloween in the Halls, sponsored by the Residence Hall Association.

According to Ryan Hall, RHA adviser, the children of faculty and staff members, Brown Academy and anyone in the area were invited to come and have a safe place to celebrate Halloween in the UC foundation courtyard on south campus. There were games and prizes, just like a fall festival.

Hall said after the festival, the kids were taken on a tour through the residence halls of the Walker complex to trick-or-treat through the dorms.

"Not everywhere downtown is safe for trick-or-treating," Hall said. "We wanted to give an opportunity for children here in the local area to come and trick-or-treat safely."

There was also an event Monday called Pimp My Pumpkin that was held in Lockmiller. This was a pumpkin decorating and carving contest.