Community relishes fun and prizes at Halloween Festival

The pumpkin carving contest, best horror scream, slimy-worm contest, and costume contest were some of the events held at the 2008 Halloween Festival."This event was a combined effort, and because we are a large commuter campus, we try to provide events that bring students together," said Miguel Treviño, Associate Director of Student Activities. Various booths provided information, food, or fun activities. Among the many organizations that held a booth were Sigma Nu Delta, Student Health Services, CAMPOS, Newman Club, Anime Club, Sigma Delta Lambda, and the Psychology club.One, however, outshined the others and received a $150 budget transfer: M.E.N.C, a club for Music Education majors.There were also three winners for the pumpkin carving contest. The first place prize was a digital camera, and it was awarded to Danny Flores for having the scariest pumpkin; the second place prize (an iPod shuffle) was given to Miriam Alaniz for having the most original pumpkin, and third place (a $20 Target gift card) was given to the Psychology Club for having made the funniest pumpkin. "It (pumpkin carving) was made by a team effort," said President of the Psychology Club Clarissa Moreno. Many wished they had won because the prizes were outstanding."The prizes are funded through student fees, and it serves as an avenue to having a more interesting and fun event," said Treviño. Defending slimy-worm champion, Danny Rocha, a sophomore Psychology major, upgraded from winning a portable DVD player with a couple of DVD's last year to an iPod shuffle. The slimy-worm contest consisted of digging your face into a bowl full of punch, marshmallows, and gummy worms. The object of the game was to grab, with your mouth only, as many worms as possible and dump them outside of your bowl. Whoever grabbed the most in a minute won the contest."The trick is to suck in everything, regardless of whether there are worms or not, because you waste less time," said Rocha.Other winners included Christina Rubio for the best horror scream (a $20 Target gift card), and Alejandro Miranda for riding the mechanical bull the longest (a Nintendo DS). The highlight of the night, however, was the costume contest. Three winners were chosen for the adult competition and three for the children's competition.After a long session of cheering and clapping, Zorro ended up winning $100 for 1st in the adult contest. Albert Charles, dressed as a penguin, won a $50 second prize, and Lara Gillicuddy, who played an Oscar (the award), won $25.The children winners were Sebastian Juarez, who was a Hot Wheels car and won a Gyro Ball, Cruella Deville, who received a $30 gift card for Toys R Us, and Javier Angel Montes, a little Superman who won a kids compilation prize.The event finished soon after the costume contest and left many students satisfied and with happy memories."This is a great, fun tradition that has grown over the years," said Ysenia Ubaldo, a senior Criminal Justice major and member of Sigma Nu Delta.