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Page 9 • Friday, October 30, 1998
he Joys of Fear
"Tightening films provide Aggies opportunity for stress relief
Present-day Halloween
differs from original holiday
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LISA
FOOX
■gs open to
iehl a dark,
Mowed hall-
fay. As the girl
liters, the
eepy music
blonder and every member of
(eaudience feels goosebumps
Iheir arms.
iorror films are unmistak-
|e. Although they are associat-
with tension and gallons of
IHtaline, they provide an ex
ile:)! stress reliever.
Balloween provides the perfect
fCU.H for Aggies to take a break
om studying this weekend and
Jee some good scary movies.
,|cary films serve many pur
ls for students who are
sed beyond recognition,
a thousand different as
cents, classes and meetings
eking up valuable yet non-ex
it free time, there is no bet-
I'ay to relax than a screening
latest fright film,
fbr the average Aggie with a
ating amount of work to do,
Concept is particularly true. It is
onsidered good form, or psy-
[ogically stable, for someone to
jnereal violence is occurring
reen. However, it can be an
ional release to envision every
punch or kick as tearing into
Isolid 60-page paper or next
p math test covering seven
ters of differential equations,
is important to understand the
|y different types of movies and
ifyagood scary film,
he first kind of scary movie is
vie like the original Psycho,
h keeps viewers sitting on
dge of their seats, eyes shut,
|ing for the ensuing terror,
e films have only one serious
— viewers are in serious
er of asphyxiation from hold-
heir breath for too long,
ut this category excludes a
le other genre of fantastic scary
ies. These are the “schlock”
ies that tiptoe quite dose to the
[ay-too-amusing-to-be-scary”
ie. In this Tittle arena of scari-
lies the true horror film.
JOHN
LEMONS
The films are stories about
people coming back from the
dead, people being possessed and
bodies being dismembered. These
movies are meant to be far
fetched, but through a variety of
camera tricks, they are still able to
scare the living daylights out of
audience members.
Versions of these movies that do
well at the box-office virtually beg
to be remade again and again.
Another purpose these movies
serve is a great way to get closer
to a date.
Now, guys, this is for you.
In today’s society, almost every
woman has learned self-defense
and the art of kick-boxing.
So although people often imag
ine a girl clutching her date’s arm
in fear as she covers her eyes and
screams, this stereotype no longer
holds true.
Many women today who watch
these films know the attack drill.
“Pull out your Mace, you
dumb cow,” they are heard shout
ing across the movie theater.
“Shh,” the boys whisper, as they
cower in the seat next to their
dates’ buff physiques.
Perhaps the boys are getting in
touch with their feminine sides.
Either way, there is no reason
to be afraid of scary movies. Any
one who is courageous enough to
brave the spine-tingling music
will find some of his or her ten
sions gone when the closing cred
its roll.
College is certainly stressful,
and there is nothing like mon
sters, suspense and horror to ush
er in the weekend.
Lisa Foox is a senior
journalism major.
J ack-o-
lanterns are
everywhere.
Kids are dream
ing of the
mounds of candy
that soon will be
all theirs. Haunt
ed houses are
popping up all
over town. It is
Halloween again.
Bah-humbug.
Okay, so this may be the
wrong holiday, but the senti
ment is correct. Halloween just
is not much of a holiday any
more. Kids dressed up like
ghosts and witches just are not
that scary. Moreover, the way it
is celebrated does little justice to
Halloween’s true nature. It is
time to put the evil back in Hal
loween or abandon it altogether.
Now, most of you readers are
thinking, “What, change Hal
loween? Never!”
Halloween brings back a lot of
good memories. Dressing up like a
pirate or Dracula, or if you were re
ally lucky, Mr. T, was loads of fun.
And who can forget being show
ered with all that free candy? It was
the high point of the year.
But costumers and candy-mak
ers have made Halloween a shell
of its true self. They have shifted
the focus off of Halloween’s true
meaning — evil.
The watered-down Halloween
celebrated by kids everywhere is
not the full story. Halloween, itself,
is a pretty scary celebration. Scarier
still, are its gruesome origins.
Halloween originated as the ob
servation of the Celtic festival
Samhain. During Samhain, Celts
built huge bonfires on hilltops to
frighten away evil spirits. OK, that
might be attractive to some Aggies,
but the holiday gets worse.
The souls of the dead were
supposed to visit their homes on
Samhain. At the same time,witch
es, ghost, devils and fairies were
thought to roam the land.
While those beliefs may sound
a bit more silly than wicked, con
sider this description of the origi
nal Halloween from a May 1997
National Geographic article on
the Celts.
“On October 31, black-cloaked
Druids bearing torches would go
door to door to select humans for
their New Year’s sacrifice to the
Lord of the Dead. In return for the
child or infant, they would leave a
hollowed turnip with a candle light
shining through the carved face.
The children selected for sacrifice
were tossed into a bonfire. ”
Yikes, sounds a wee bit differ
ent from the Halloween of today.
No mother would send her kids
out trick or treating for that kind
of Halloween. How about a child
sacrifice with those Milk Duds?
So the original Halloween was
not child’s play. Today’s Hal
loween still retains some pretty
wicked characteristics.
Apparently Halloween is a fa
vorite time of year for everyone’s
favorite group, Satanists. Anton
Levey, the world’s most famous
Satanist, writes in his book. The
Satanic Bible, “After one’s own
birthday, the two major Satanic
holidays are Walpurgisnacht (May
1) and Halloween.”
Halloween just is not living
up to its evil potential these day.
Kids are busy collecting candy
when they could be worshiping
the devil.
Even on campus, Halloween is
not really taken seriously.
Consider Hotard from Hell,
easily the best haunted house in
town. Although some people
might find Hotard unpleasant and
although Hotard may be home to
some scary individuals, compar
ing it to hell is pretty unfair.
For one thing, there is no fire
and brimstone in Hotard Hall.
And although community bath
rooms are not necessarily ideal,
surely they beat the toilet facili
ties in hell.
No, there is not much evil left
in Halloween these days, which is
odd considering it is a celebration
of evil. Even the string of cheesy
Halloween movies do little to get
the adrenaline pumping.
Society is trying to ignore the
dark side of Halloween to cele
brate its fun side, but it will not
work. Even Hitler had good
qualities. However, nobody ad
mires Hitler for his good table
manners, because his evil side
cannot be ignored.
Either put the evil back in Hal
loween or give it up, but quit try
ing to take half the package. It
will not work.
John Lemons is an electrical
engineering graduate student. ■
Welcome
jgie Fait
t Local to
19 W. Hwy. 21
Caldwell
09) 567-4000
cademic performance reflects instructors’ abilities, dedication
CORRIE
CAULEY
s AB
ectorf
f
itudents are
I getting a
'bad rap. Of-
the blame
[poor grades
pongfully
Jned on the
[es scribbling
notes, mem-
:ing the book
I taking the
l-term exams.
nfortunately, the grade re
fed is not always the grade
ed. Every student dreads the
line call midway through the se-
jster from the ever-anxious par-
pjust calling to check up. Then
yask the famous little question:
[ow are classes, honey?”
ble
larijuana provides
ifer drug option
jresponse to Elizabeth Strait’s
128 column:
'The facts (as studied by the
Health Organization and
ny medical and non-profit so-
I organizations) are that mari-
you ordered & |na does not cause cancer,
rested delivery^ P de f ect;s - memory problems,
he next few dal* long-term men-
or physical side effects.
The reason marijuana is illegal
because the tobacco and alco-
I companies do not want to
Impete with this substitute. Mar
iana also provides politicians
id others a scapegoat to rile up
le masses who prefer to be told
at the solutions are to society’s
rather than seek the roots of
ie problems themselves.
Do the research yourself,
ok at many studies, not just
aones that tell you the infor-
ation you have been spoon-fed
other uniformed people,
lake an intelligent personal
mpus Directorial
hem up at Ob
t copy. (Pi
part number, f‘j
name.billin;
ne number wl^l
ed.)
inistmton,
The truth is, no matter how
hard one may study, no matter
how many hours a student
might spend preparing for an
exam, the grade will only be as
good as the quality of teaching a
student has received.
Of course, some students man
age to flunk solely on their own
merit. By asking, “Will this be on
the test?” many students prove
they are not at all interested in
learning, but rather interested
only in temporarily absorbing ma
terial pertinent to their grade.
This being the case, both teachers
and students fail to be effective.
However, even students with a
desire to learn often must overcome
the obstacle of their instructor.
MAIL CALL
choice based on facts
Uninformed rhetoric prevents
people who are suffering from
receiving the care they need
(from medicinal marijuana) and
severely penalizes those people
who are engaging in a personal
recreational pursuit.
David McCormack
Class of ’98
Other substances
safer than alcohol
In response to Elizabeth Strait’s
Oct. 28 column:
Elizabeth Strait’s column gives
marijuana a bad name when it is
actually on the same level as alco
hol — if not less of a risk.
Alcohol is legal. Marijuana is
less mind-altering, and the ef
fects on the body in relation to
function are considerably less
than than those caused by drink
ing alcohol. Loss of coordination
and decision-making skills while
smoking are nothing compared
to those lost while drinking.
In short, the trick to teaching is
not to terrify students into a lonely
life of logic and Longfellow at the
library, nor is it to abuse power by
making class impossibly hard. In
stead instructors should teach in a
way students might actually retain
the information blasted at them
throughout the semester.
It takes more than a lecturer to
spark an individual’s desire to
learn. And it is not enough to
merely give an hour-long lesson
and expect a student to retain all
the material. A student must un
derstand why the material is im
portant and why it should matter
to them.
Many professors are more con
cerned with their power to ma-
Marijuana does not, through
the experience of myself and oth
ers I know, inhibit learning, and
you can be successful as a mari
juana user. Moderation is the key
— as with any other drug.
In short, the effects of marijua
na are less severe and much
more pleasant than those of alco
hol. Alcohol use is legal with cer
tain regulations, why then should
marijuana be illegal?
Carrie R. Givens
Class of ’01
nipulate a student through the
gradebook, than with their ability
to play a key role in the student’s
life. Instead of filling hungry
minds, many professors end up
drowning what little interest stu
dents may have.
Anyone can stand before a
class and lecture, but not every
one can teach. A good professor
is not necessarily one with a his
tory of difficult course work. He
or she does not have to establish
a reputation for being impossible.
And certainly, a good professor
does not teach a class of failures.
So why all the F’s?
Too often an instructor wel
comes students to class promising
it will be a semester of hell. The
encouragement they extend is
only sufficient to lead students to
Q-drop forms.
Whether they spend class
time intimidating students or al
low their reputations to speak
for themselves, many instructors
fail to fill their role. They often
seem less concerned with using
their ability to produce scholars
and more concerned with pre
serving their reputation for with
holding mercy.
Not all professors are like this,
of course. But too many are. And
it is time to acknowledge intelli
gence is not measured alone by
the hand of an oppressive teacher.
Rather than pawning failure off
on the student, it should be recog
nized that classroom success is a
two-way street. Grades serve as a
measurement not only of a stu
dent’s knowledge of a particular
subject but also of the teacher’s
ability to present material in a
way beneficial to the students.
Teaching is a talent. Learning
is a discipline. Both require dedi
cation, but one relies on the oth
er. Education lies in the hands of
those who are willing to make a
difference in the lives of others.
The quality of that impact will
be reflected in the grades earned
by their students. Bad grades only
reflect poor teaching.
Corrie Cauley is a senior
journalism major.
NOW WE CVESTtON
IS, HCW)5 AL GORE
FEEL N3O0T THIS ?
The Battalion encourages letters to the ed
itor. Letters must be 300 words or less and in
clude the author’s name, class and phone
number.
The opinion editor reserves the right to edit
letters for length, style, and accuracy. Letters
may be submitted in person at 013 Reed Mc
Donald with a valid student ID. Letters may also
be mailed to:
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Fax: (409) 845-2647