Rostrum the
Around the World
Safety Tips Horror Stories Celebrations
In the Spread Page 4&5
Illustration by Claire Berger
OCTOBER 29, 2010 VOLUME IVISSUE 2 DEXTER HIGH SCHOOL 2200 N. PARKER ROAD DEXTER, MI 48130
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Friday, October 29, 2010
Halloween around the world France Halloween is less celebrated in France than in the U.S. It’s mostly thought of as an American holiday, but it’s been catching on. Some people are anti-Halloween because it’s not part of France’s history, according to French teacher Amy Olmstead. Trick-or-treating and pumpkincarving are both becoming more of an event as well. She said most of the celebrations are similar to ones in the U.S., but they’re practiced in smaller numbers. Costume-wise, scary things such as mummies and ghosts are more popular than fairies and princesses. Parties are more prevalent than other kinds of celebration, French teacher Kim Lund said.
Ireland Halloween actually started in Ireland, so it’s very popular. Originating around 100 A.D., Halloween was first a pagan holiday called Samhain. In the 8th century, the Catholic Church named the day “All Saints Day”, the basis of Halloween today. Besides the typical American festivities, a special bread called the Barnbrack is popular. It’s a plain old fruit bread with special treats like coins and rings baked in. There’s also the traditional Irish bonfire, where the participants cut off locks of their hair in hopes of attracting their future spouses.
copy editor
Ray Carpenter
Japan Halloween isn’t as important in Japan as it is in the U.S., but celebration is still prevalent. The holiday was adopted after World War II, when the Allies spread their influence. Anime characters, movie and video game stars are popular as costumes, as are samurai and ninjas. It’s a very lowkey affair. Haunted houses are popular even during the summer.
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An Untold Nightmare the horrifying Halloween story of junior Bryce Walls as told to a Squall reporter staff writer
Toliver Rogers
Junior Bryce Walls was 7 years old when one Halloween night, he was walking down McGuiness Road trick-or-treating. He was with his older sister. She was dressed as a cat, and he was an Indian. There was a house on the corner of the road with two dogs, one a German Shepard and the other a pit-bull, each tied to separate ropes across the yard. It was getting dark, and they were walking by a dark house. As Walls turned around, a light in the house flickered. The two then went to the front door of the house and rang the bell. No one answered. They rang it again and heard a noise coming from the inside. Not knowing their friends who had previously lived in the house had already moved out, Walls and his sister opened the door and entered the house. As Walls turned the lights on, his sister ran out of
the house scared. But Walls saw a bowl of candy. When he reached for the treats, somebody grabbed his wrist. He looked up, and it was an old, wrinkly man wearing overall jeans and a flannel jacket. As he looked through the corner of his eye, he thought he saw the man’s wife. The man said, “What are you doing here?” Walls answered, “I’m just trying to get some candy, I didn’t know you lived here.” So Walls tried to run out of the house as he said, “Sorry I will leave now.” The man said, “Not so fast. I think we need to tell your parents about this.” Walls replied, “Not if I tell them first,” as he ran out of the house. As he was running, Walls turned and saw kids in the upstairs window of the house banging on the windows crying for help. Walls ran as far as he could, until he could no longer see the house. Walls tried to tell his parents, but they didn’t believe him because he had numerous nightmares that he thought were actually real.
What students do to celebrate staff writer
Taylor Schmidt
Mexico Spanish teacher Kristi Shaffer said while Halloween isn’t celebrated that much in Spain, in Mexico the holiday is starting to catch on. It’s mostly affluent, educated people who are aware of and celebrating Halloween, while the majority of people celebrate el Dia de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead, which occurs on Nov. 2. People dress up for Day of the Dead, but mostly as skeletons or zombies. It’s a celebration of relatives’ lives and a mockery of death, Shaffer said.
Germany Witches are important to German culture and pagan history. trick-or-treating is widely practiced, as well as making Jacko’-lanterns. Merve Öztoprak, a foreign exchange student from Germany, said that trick-or-treating was mostly seen as an activity for younger children. St. Martin’s Day is more popular, Öztoprak said. Children parade the streets with lanterns and candles and sing songs about St. Martin. It’s a different holiday altogether, but around the same time period.
Australia Guy Fawkes Day is celebrated as the day for Halloween festivities. It’s also known as Mischief Night. It’s a night for children of all ages to “create mischief” by trick-or-treating. It’s mostly celebrated by dancing, not causing actual mischief. There are also haunted houses and ghost hunts. Costume parties are also popular.
Senior Justin Gross said he always has something great planned for Halloween each year, whether it’s going to parties or dressing up in something unique. This year, however, Gross is going as something he said is unforgettable. He plans to dress in a partner costume with junior Cody King. “Our costumes are going to be Burt and Ernie from Sesame Street,” Gross said. “It was just an idea we thought would be both cool and funny to do. We came up with the idea when we were at Halloween City. We saw the costumes and they just looked sweet.”
W h i l e some students are dressing up with funny costumes, others are decorating their houses with Halloween attire or even creating their own haunted houses, such as junior Zach Ducher. Dutcher’s family goes all out every year. “We’ve been decorating the house ever since I was around 7,” Dutcher said. “My mom just loves to decorate, so when Halloween comes around, we go all out.” The first year the Dutchers decorated their house in scary attire, “It caught everyone by surprise because no one was aware that we would do this,” Dutcher said. “The reason we always do this, is the fact that my mom likes to be different. Halloween has been
special to us because we’ve been doing it for so long and like I said before, my mom just loves to decorate.” This year, however the Dutcher family won’t be able to decorate their house of much. He said, “Since my sister went off to college, we don’t have as much help to decorate. So it will be too hard for us to decorate our house for Halloween.” “Halloween means a lot to us, and it’s a shame that we won’t be able to Halloween this year,” Dutcher said.
Later that night, Walls was counting his candy in the living room while watching the Halloween Scooby-Doo episode. At this time, Walls’ parents convinced him that what he had told them didn’t happen. When Walls went to sleep that night, he heard two dogs barking in his front yard. When he looked out, there was the wrinkly old man standing at the end of his driveway. Walls was so scared, he went under his covers and eventually fell asleep. The next morning he thought it was all a dream. That afternoon, he and his dad went down McGuiness on their four-wheeler. There were no dogs in the yard this time. Walls thought he was for certain it was all a dream. But, on the ride back, Walls saw the old man with his dogs watching them from his yard. Walls was too scared to tell his dad. To this day, Walls doesn’t know what actually happened on that Halloween night. Every Halloween he still thinks about it, and this is the first time he has talked about it.
Halloween safety tips staff writer
Joel Gowen
Halloween is an excuse for kids to come out of their comfort zone and take on the persona of anyone, or anything, they want. For parents, however, the festivities can cause a great deal of worry. To help ease the worrying parents and help kids celebrate respectfully and safely, liaison officer Jeremy Hilobuk has some safety tips for youths. 1) When trick-or-treating, always stay with at least one other person, preferably a parent for the young trick-or-treaters. 2) Carry a flashlight or wear reflective clothing so you are visible to the oncoming traffic. 3) If you’re wearing a mask, make sure you can see clearly to avoid problems. 4) When searching through your bags full of candy, avoid anything that has opened wrappers or appears to be tampered with. If you suspect that the candy has been tampered with, don’t eat it. Take it to the police station, where the officers will try to find out where the candy originated. If you’re not interested in trick or treating anymore and want to host a party, here’s a few tips Officer Hilobuk has for you. 1)Make sure there are parents present. 2) Make sure there are no drugs or alcohol present. It’s not only illegal, but parents are responsible for what happens at their house. 3) Make sure people either leave in time to be home for curfew or stay the night.
QA &
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uPage
Friday, October 29, 2010 staff writer
Have you been tanning within the last 24 hours?
Q: Who is the most attractive person in DHS? A: I’d have to go with (English teacher) Andrew Parker. By far. Q: You seem to be really happy after that question. Why’s that? A: What can I say? His body is magnificent. Q: What’s your favorite thing about the high school? A: All of the beautiful people. Smart boards. And Andrew Parker.
Yes, my package ended yesterday.
Snooki No, tanning is illegal.
Obama put a tax on tanning. I’m all natural baby.
5X5
What is your opinion of pickles?
I like pickles. They’re good.
They’re gross. I hate vegetables.
I love them. I used to snack on hamburger pickles while watching TV.
They’re good. I love them.
When rockin’ your poof, what’s the minimum height it can be?
Surprisingly, I don’t measure it.
My what?
The bigger the better.
I don’t really know. Four inches?
Favorite song to fist pump to?
“Dynamite”
“Dirty Talk”
I can fist pump to every song.
Definitely that one song ...
A true guidette can fist pump to any song.
Uh. I don’t think so.
Honey, I’m the bomb, but I ain’t no grenade.
No.
No. But I’m explosive.
No ... well Would you maybe today. consider yourself to be a grenade?
Q: Who’s the reason for the teardrops on your guitar?
Is that even a question? Pickles are my life. Sucking the juice out is the best. Let’s just say, my hair stylist needs a ladder to do my hair.
Match the teachers to their favorite monster
A: Cassie Klocek. Without question. Q: What would you do if I kissed you right now?
No. I don’t fake bake.
I have not.
Jessica Fielhauer (12)
Marshall Kellenberger
With senior Justin Gross
Marissa Argerio (11)
uPage editor
Ana Gedde (10)
Parmeda Sokansanj (9)
Emily Pap
A.
math teacher Lisa Bauer
B.
math teacher John Heuser
C.
spanish teacher Maria Vazquez
science teache Cheryl Wells
D.
science teacher Dave Callaghan
E.
A: I’d probably slip some tongue. Q: What is your opinion on (physical education teacher) Tom Barbieri? A: Greatest man to ever walk the earth. Q: O.J. Da Juiceman or Gucci Mane?
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Halloween Mole
2
Frankenstein’s monster
Troma Monsters
Zombie 3
4
Incredible Hulk 5
A: AYE! Q: If you were the principal for a day, what would you add to DHS? A,3/B,5/C,2/D,1/E,4
A: Easy. A giant trampoline.
All monster photos from creativecommons.org/used as licensed