MADISON, Wis. -- The UW is doing what it can to crack down on security this Halloween weekend.

Many of the measures are unprecedented but warranted due to recent years of Halloween rioting and violence.

Rule #1

Absolutely no guests in dorms on Friday or Saturday night.

This rule is meant to discourage out-of-town troublemakers.

"I think it's going to be effective because it's an area in which we can actually control," said UW interim dean of students Lori Berquam.

Police statistics over the past three years show, by and large, out-of-town guests are the ones who are the drunken partiers setting fires on the street and smashing windows.

"We want the UW Madison students to take back Halloween for our students," said Berquam.

"I don't think it's going to help at all," said student Amy Dahlin. "People are going to stay out all night and I think that is more dangerous than having no guests."

Dahlin is a UW freshman whose guests had to cancel their visit after learning of the new rules.

Students heard about the no-guests policy at a sparsely attended Halloween forum earlier this month.

The forum was followed by meetings, in all the dorms, where students, mainly freshmen, were briefed on what to expect.

"They're going to lock up all the dorms except one door," said Dahlin. "Then they're going to have computers and you have to have your identification and your key and everything. It's like high security."

"They don't really know what happened last year in the residence halls," said Berquam. "They missed out on the damage, vandalism and vomit."

But damage, vandalism and vomit were not the experience of every dorm dweller.

"I don't drink," said Sellery Hall sophomore John Rayho. "This is something that hurts those people who don't drink, that are responsible. The ones who realize that they're responsible for the guests they bring in."

But many of the partiers have other places to stay.

The university says in that case, it's Madison students' responsibility to stop the trouble before it begins.

Rule #2

Restricted weekend parking to prevent partiers from gathering on State Street.

Student newspapers on other campuses including Green Bay, Oshkosh and Eau Claire are running articles saying out-of-town partiers are not wanted on State Street.