Haunted Hillsborough Hike a must

The days of Franklin Street and Greenville are no more -- welcome Haunted Hillsborough Hike. Tonight students and others will have the opportunity to forget our rivals and celebrate our own way by staying on Hillsborough Street for entertainment and celebrating Halloween.

We already have the traditional end-of-semester Hillsborough Hikes, which are great times for students to gather and enjoy the close of another semester. Now, we need to celebrate Halloween and add a third hike to the mix.

At the fall and spring hikes, there are about 2,000 to 3,000 students out and about on N.C. State's street. As of last night there were just under 1,600 students confirmed to attend via Facebook. That is a solid number if they all show up.

Businesses on Hillsborough Street are taking this new Hike seriously by supporting it with deals and contests. The Hillsborough Street Merchants Association has been promoting the event by putting up banners on Hillsborough Street and beginning the initial push to bring Halloween to N.C. State. East Village, along with other businesses, are sponsoring a Halloween costume contest for the Haunted Hike with a grand prize of $500.

Students, if businesses are willing to go out on a limb and throw their support behind a relatively unknown event, then it's up to us to show up and stay home for Halloween and support Hillsborough Street.

The Haunted Hillsborough Hike has the potential to turn into a great tradition at State -- one the administration has not self proclaimed. But for it to become a tradition it needs people to participate and show up. With Hillsborough being in our own backyard, it would take an effort not to come out.

This year, Student Body President Bobby Mills and Student Government are supporting the Haunted Hillsborough Hike by providing transportation to apartment complexes that aren't covered by the nightly Werewolf bus service. These complexes include Village Green, University House, University Suites and University Village. There's no excuse for not being able to display your costume on Hillsborough tonight.

So why drive or think about transportation to Franklin Street or Greenville when you don't have to worry about getting to and from Hillsborough Street?