It’s official. Halloween is five days away. I am completely ready to hit up the bars, clubs and houses to score some free candy. I have my outfit all planned out and ready to be shown. I love it when I see people all dressed up in their costumes and enough face paint for a 14-year-old girl to drown herself in. What I can’t stand is the people who go out to celebrate Halloween and don’t even have the time to put effort into dressing up for the damn holiday. If you’re going to celebrate it, celebrate it correctly.

When I was young, dressing up was the thing to do. Children dressed up as Smurfs, genies, witches, angels, Ninja Turtles, clowns, Rainbow Bright and so many other inventive costumes. We would take time getting our outfits ready and making sure our mom or dad took us out trick-or-treating right when the sun went down. Sometimes the closest thing I see to a costume is a plain shirt that says, “This is my costume.”

Where did all the drive for creativity go? Adults have lost their sense of celebration in the holiday and are having the children of today show them up in originality.

“The more creative, the better,” said senior physical therapist major Sean Flanagan. “It just makes Halloween that much better if you’re more creative with your outfit.”

Dr. Allan Darrah, professor of Anthropology, who teaches a Magic, Witchcraft and Religion class, said many cultures in other countries are often seen in bright colors and take their celebrations seriously.

“Dressing up becomes an opportunity to be creative. In any discipline, creativity is encouraged. It makes you stand-out,” said Darrah.

So why do people conform to what others think and not take the opportunity to be imaginative?

It seems as if people between the ages of 14 and 19 think they are too cool to dress up, but not too cool to stop trick-or-treating. Putting on jeans and a T-shirt, carrying around a pillow case and calling yourself a bum for Halloween doesn’t count!

It seems that many men, especially, have gotten lazy over the years and have chosen outfits that don’t exactly add to the spirit of Halloween. A keg outfit or wearing blue jeans, a white shirt and calling yourself Danny Zuko, also doesn’t qualify as a real costume.

Don’t get me wrong, girls are not off the radar. When did underwear and a bra count as a real costume? For the record, you don’t look like a Victoria Secret’s model and that is a pathetic and unorigional costume. Skimpy clothes and a drunk girl is really old.

I’m tired of seeing girls dress like sluts and whores in order for their “costume” to win some damn contest at a bar. If you’re going to look like a prostitute, just say you’re going as a prostitute! No need to mask it with some “naughty nurse” or “sexy sewer rat” title.Nursing major junior Daryl Mallorca thinks otherwise when it comes to women and their choice of dress.

“I think it’s a great way for women to express themselves and it’s a time for me to be able to appreciate the beauty of the opposite sex-in the most respectable way,” Mallorca said.

Girls: When choosing your outfit, think classy. You can still be sexy, but remember there is a fine line between sexy and skanky.

So if you haven’t thought of a costume yet, you can either visit Evangeline’s in old Sacramento and get an idea there, or read the top ten lists that illustrate the best and worst costumes for this year. Whatever you decide to do, just please, for the love of Ichabod, be creative!

Best Costumes for 2006

1.Jack (in the Box)

2. Fandangos — love them!

3. Andy, the 40-year-old Virgin

4. Pirates of the Caribbean

5. Talk to the Hand costume

6. A gas pump

7. Condom

8. A can of Spam

9. The Operation Game

10. A recent scary movie character

Worst

1.Steve Irwin with a stingray

2. Not wearing a costume at all!

3. Famous Couples

4. Underwear and a bra

5. Going as the guy from Scream

6. Anything where you just add

the word “sexy” in front of it

7. A cheerleader

8. A school girl

9. A devil

10. An angel

Rosa Pastran can be reached at [email protected]