What to be for next Halloween.

It kinda‘ has a nice ring to it, but the question, no matter how simplistic it would appear, is actually quite difficult to answer. Costume hunters might want to begin searching for next year’s perfect costume now, to avoid the rush.

First comes a suggestion. You need to get advice from someone who knows how your costume will fit in at NIU. Arkansas is a good place to seek a suggestion.

Now remember, you get what you pay for, so be prepared to shell out about 21 grand or so.

That’s a pretty cheap price for an average costume as a favor. If you wanted a great costume and didn’t know anyone, you might have to cough up anywhere from $80,000 to $114,000.

Don’t forget to get a signed contract with the manufacturer. That way, if he finishes the product and you don’t like it, you can have him make any alterations you desire. It might also be a good idea to line up another manufacturer, just in case the one in Arkansas does a poor job, even after the alterations.

Now, we need to wait and see about the finished product. Your personal costume manufacturer makes for you a costume of Martin Luther King, Jr.

OK. We have the cheap labor through a favor from a friend, we have the idea and we pay the $7,000 up front.

Oh, I forgot to mention, you need to make sure that there is enough time for the manufacturer to produce the costume so the resembelance meets up to your specifications. One year might not be enough—you better leave about five years, just to be on the safe side.

But wait, someone got their holidays messed up. April Fool’s Day isn’t until, well, April. The costume doesn’t resemble Martin Luther King. It looks more like, like, Dizzy Gillespie? Or could it be, maybe, Mike Singletary?

Anyway, so now you have a problem, Halloween 1990 and no costume. Remember, think logically. Go to the Student Association and the NIU administration, maybe they can help.

Their suggestion might be this. Since NIU has a free speech area dedicated to King, why not cut a deal? Let’s give up the King costume idea and let NIU have it. If worse comes to worse, you can always cut a few holes in the bed sheet and resemble a ghost.

The SA and NIU can assume your seven-bill debt, and have the manufacturer make the costume into a statue. The statue can be placed in the King Memorial Commons, further honoring the legend’s accomplishments and buttressing the idea behind free speech.

Don’t worry about the five years it already took to work on the project. The statue wouldn’t be able to be placed in the commons until the renovations are completed anyway.

The SA or NIU officials could periodically check on the progress of the statue, and mandate changes when they think they are necessary.

This is one case where everyone can enjoy and appreciate something and even turn it in late without getting penalized.

But you need to make sure that the SA and NIU doesn’t scrap the statue without a back-up plan because they don’t like the slow progress.

Remember, we have all the time in the world.