Lower Plaza’s Halloween Extravaganza will offer many treats to Small Group residents looking to participate in holiday activities tonight.

Residents will have the opportunity to bob for apples, decorate pumpkins and compete in root beer pong from 8 to 11 p.m. in the Lower Plaza.

The program aims to promote an alcohol-free weekend and student safety, said Andy Smith, Metcalf Hall resident adviser and senior Latin major.

“Last year there was a large amount of drinking in Small Group,” he said. “This will hopefully provide something other than drinking for residents to do.”

The program will also offer games, music, a costume contest, food and hot apple cider, Smith said.

Smith worked with hall council and the Kent Daily Jolt, a student-run Web site, to plan the event.

Ryan Reichert, editor of the Kent Daily Jolt and senior business administration major, said he is glad to participate.

“We are gearing (the program) towards having a safer, non-drinking Halloween since most of the residents are underage,” he said. “We thought (the Kent Daily Jolt) could help with this idea.”

Smith agrees he thinks it’s important to decrease the focus on drinking since freshman are underage.

“I decided that there needed to be a safe alternative to partying downtown for freshman, many of whom simply do not know what else there is to do,” he said.

To increase safety in the residence halls tomorrow, Smith said more RAs will be on duty than usual.

“This holiday generally has more write-ups than any other individual night,” he said.

If residents go out Saturday night, Smith said he hopes they stay safe.

“I wouldn’t tell my residents not to go out or have fun,” he said. “But I would tell them not to go places they have not been before and not to do anything illegal such as using a fake ID or sneaking into a bar … It is often unrealistic to tell them simply not to drink.”

Contact room and board reporter Stephanie Park at [email protected].