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Show OPINION 3 Ghost tales of Westminster EBERT MORALES STAFF REPORTER Things are going bump in the night at Westminster. All ghost stories start off the same way. Its dark and gloomy. The full moon lights the way for the wayward travelers. The air is crisp and cold with fog rolling in from the distance. Everything seems fine for the travelers. Until they stumble across a creature straight out of nightmares. Students dont have to worry about the typical WHAT ARE THEY? all fields. No, vitamin C does com- - Vitamins are organic pounds that your body requires in order to function but cannot make by itself. They have a wide variety of functions, ranging from regulating cell and tissue growth to help- ing the function of enzymes. THESE DONT WANT TO KILL, ME... RIGHT? Because you need them to function, vitamins will not hurt you if you take an appro- dose. In general that means you do not need to take vitamin supplements because you are getting your daily dose from the foods you eat. Let me repeat that: you do not need to take vitamin supplements. Unless, of course, your doc- tor tells you to. Please listen to your doctor. BUT... VITAMIN C... Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid or the thing that makes sour candy taste sour, can act as an antioxidant. This means that it reacts with free - very reactive mol- - ecules with an unpaired elec- tron to stabilize them. This prevents free radicals from damaging cells. - AND IT CURES COLDS! Linus Pauling, a Nobel-priz- e winning chemist, popularized this idea. He also provides the perfect illustration of what happens when experts in one field decide they are experts in not prevent, cure, or shorten a cold, BUT IT COULDNT HURT, RIGHT? Besides your wallet? Probably not. Too little vitamin C, as in less than most people get in their diet, can give you scurvy, which can kill you. Because it vitamin C is water-solub- le takes a lot to poison you - in fact, a death from vitamin C overdose has never been rete corded - so taking that borne is not going to kill you. Of course, it wont help you Air-pria- either, SO VITAMIN SUPPLE- MENTS ARE HARMLESS? Vitamin C probably is, because it is water-solubl- e. However, vitamins like A, D and E are stored in the body and so can accumulate. At high doses, these can cause, among other symptoms, liver fat-solub- - le - damage, bone malformations and increased bleeding. Fatal poisoning by vitamins is rare, but it is possible, and especial-radica- ls vitamins ly with taking more is not going to do fat-solub- le you any good, WHATS YOUR BIAS? I confess, I take vitamin supplements. Vitamins D and C, specifically, with iron. I have had low vitamin D and iron levels in the past, so I take supplements of those. Iron is best absorbed with vitamin C, hence why I take vitamin C. werewolf or vampire on the hunt for their next victim at Westminster. However, they should keep some salt, iron or the Ghost Busters number on speed dial because the campus is apparently haunted by numerous ghosts. According to the Alumni House website, there are ghosts lurking in the buildings on campus. The main ghosts students experience or hear about are: The Woman in White, The Mother and The Ghost of Ho-g- le Hall. THE WOMAN IN WHITE: Students may sometimes see the apparition of a woman in a wedding dress looking out the third floor window of Converse Hall out into the Richer Commons. As legend goes, this woman had gotten married on campus when Westminster used to have a chapel. Directly after the wedding she and her husband were driving to go on their honeymoon when a drunk driver struck their car, killing both of them. It is said that her spirit clings to her last memory of happiness-awaiti- ng her husshe once in Converse as band did on her wedding day. THE MOTHER: It has been said that the spirit of a mother can be seen haunting Nunemaker Place and the stream under the bridge at night. The mother is eternally looking for her child that she lost to Emigration Creek. Other tales say that The Mother is The Woman in White and she haunts both locations. Some say they are two different ghosts while others say that she is the same. THE GHOST OF HOGLE HALL: The residents of Hogle Hall may be in for a scare with this ghost story. It is said that the spirit of a young farm boy can be seen and heard haunting the second floor of Hogle. As legend goes, this little boy died in a horrible farming accident long before the hall was built, back when it was farmland. . It has been reported that residents can hear him laughing as if he is playing and sometimes his apparition is seen hovering next to the water fountain on the second floor. As students have their own supernatural experiences the stories grow and add to the folklore surrounding Westminster. If students want to have a frightful night, they can check out the haunted buildings on campus this Hallows Eve. Have your own version of the campus ghost stories? Submit them to FUN AND FRIGHTFUL HALLOWEEN WEEK Oct 25 SAC Halloween Dance tinyurl.comlw3gxa8 Oct 28 RHA Halloween Party tinyurl.comkhtru07 Oct 29 SAC Haunted House Buyout tinyurl.com m75yamn What do you think? We want to hear from you! Email your thoughts to forumeditorwestminstercollege.edu 1 ' |