The annual UCSD Bookstore Halloween Costume Contest took place as planned in the Price Center on Oct. 31, with one contestant being escorted off the premises by campus police. Jonathan Mariano, a UCSD student, entered the costume contest as the biblical figure Adam wearing no clothing and holding only an apple in his hand.
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“”I wanted to be something really different,”” Mariano said. “”I was kind of looking around my house the night before and all I had was a bunch of apples, so I thought, ‘apples, apples … Adam.'””
Mariano said he decided to dispense with the traditional image of Adam with a fig leaf covering his genitals.
“”In reality that was only human intervention,”” Mariano said. “”Ideally, I was to come up on stage in full nudity, proud and naive. I would take a bite from the apple, let its effects take over, and be overcome with embarrassment and self-consciousness.””
Mariano never got the chance to perform his act. A bystander phoned the UCSD police to report his costume as offensive.
Cliff McEnery, a junior at Thurgood Marshall College, said he felt Mariano’s actions did not warrant a police response.
“”Why is it such a big deal?”” McEnery said. “”None of the students cared. He wasn’t offending anyone; he was just standing there. He wasn’t smiling, he wasn’t acting mischievous.””
Mariano echoed McEnery’s feelings.
“”I don’t think it was indecent exposure; I wasn’t acting sexual,”” Mariano said. “”As long as it does no harm to anyone physically, we should be able to dress up … as whoever … we want to be on Halloween.””
California Penal Code 314 defines indecent exposure as, “”Every person who willfully and lewdly … exposes his person, or the private parts thereof, in any public place, or in any place where there are present other persons to be offended or annoyed.””
The law states that violation of code 314 is punishable as a misdemeanor.
Mariano was not arrested, but he was asked to put his clothes back on in the restroom and was then escorted to the campus police station so that the police could obtain his identification information and campus affiliation.
Campus police were unavailable for comment.
