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Show U N V R OU FINAL ri BACK PACE f Thursday, October 28, 2004 svtlxlT? A nJ (TT "1 Dy DEAN - H i ; ! 1 -- 5 r EDITOR l 4 o r Heather Darata, i L i -- 1 Tl As f t ' 3 i ' ' v C'.vi ?r A - ODRISCOLL FOR THE JOURNAL Ediioi s note: 7 his slot v u as u i men by Dean O Di i a oil u hen he was a student at Southern Utah State College. It was ui iginallv pi intedin the May 26, I9SJ, edition ofl lieThundeibnd. ODi iscoll is cunenlly the assistant to the president for university relations. SUSC i.s now SUU, and the Old Adiinnistiation Building is now the Braithwaae Libeial Arts Center. I ji a ;j j ;j Remember staying up way past your bedtime on Tuday nights and watching those scary honor movies until you weie so seared that you would run into your bedioom and pull the covers oer your head? Youd shake, and you didn't even take the time to get undressed. Or how about after you visited the town theatre for a good haunted house flick," and every night for the next month you wouldnt dare sit in your house alone because every sound you'd hear turned you into a nervous wreck. Well, all of you Southern Utah State College students could have experienced these types of feelings first hand if you had been born about 40 years earlier ( now about 60 years). Although its true that there werent any vampires or goblins actually sighted, and there were no bloodcurdling screams, rattling chains or windows and doors that opened and closed by themselves, there were plenty of unexplainable ghostly phenomenons around campus. If you had been a student at SUSC back when it was Branch Agricultural College, you might have been a believer in the unexplained. You might have heard the music that nobody was playing, and you might have seen the lights flashing on and off that nobody was controlling. You might have been one of the students who would walk an extra couple hundred yards just so you wouldnt have to pass by a certain building. The building that was thought to be the haunted structure was the Old Administration Building, and even though it has since been remodeled, it is still the same building centrally located on the SUSC campus. The story or legend, whichever you prefer to call it, had its humble beginnings some two generations ago (now three generations ago). The story began more than five decades ago (now seven decades ago) and has managed to stay alive in some form or another ever since. In the late 1930s, a local female high school student was making a name for herself as an accomplished and talented pianist. She was asked to play the piano for many of the school assemblies and social functions. This girl was recognized for her outstanding abilities and was known by everyone associated with the high school and college, especially for one particular song. She became especially popular for her rendition of Deep Purple, a song much in vogue at the time. She played it for lots of T fi L jj ,j I , J a jj ;j i I J ft 4 4 i t M ? A I i i BY JARED GRANGE 3 death one night for some reason, and all of a sudden they heard music coming from somewhere upstairs. They went upstairs to find out wheie it was coming from. "When they got to the auditoi ium, they could tell the music was coming from the piano at the front of the hall. Even though it was daik at the time, they could see that no one was sitting at the piano. That's when they realized something was strange. They got a little closer to make sure nobody W'as really at the piano. When they discovered there wasnt, they practically fell over each other trying to get out of there. Cowen also told of another story about herself and the effect the strange music had on students around the school. I remember one time when some students and I were in the she said. I dont just mean any building doing homework. homework. We w'ere doing an anatomy assignment with little parts of animals pickled in bottles and things like that. Then we found out that we had somehow been locked in the building. Everything had been all right until we knew we couldnt get out of there, and then we all began to panic, she added. We finally shimmied through a small opening in the window which would only open part way. I dont know how we fit, but we managed somehow. According to Cowan, the story about the mysterious music was around school, and students seemed to be fairly very scared." Cowan felt there was only one explanation to account for that music. Someone had to have been playing another piano on the stage behind the curtain, she said. I doubt that very much because in those days, we were lucky to have the one piano that was sitting there in the open, especially since the one we had was a big Steinw'ay grand piano. Maybe one of the strangest facts about Cowans experience with the phantom piano player was that shortly after our subject had died, Cowan had the same operation by the same doctor. Although she admits she thought nothing of it, her parents didnt want her to let that doctor do the operation. Shirley Cowan, a relative who was a student at that time, said: If you would pass by (the Old A. Building) at night, you could hear music. It was always the same song, too Deep Purple. Most of the people that went to school at that time probably at least heard about it from someone else. SUSC alumna Mary Leone Foley (formerly the secretary to the vice president for academic affairs) concurs with all of the basic facts of the story, but she has her own version of how she thought it came to be. The Old Administration Building used to have a very large tin rain gutter, she said. Some of my friends and I used to take off our shoes and climb up to the top. Then we would sit on a piece of wax paper and slide down on it. I think that maybe somebody found out d ...f PHOTO ILLUSTRATION 3 mI s i 865-844- FOR THE JOURNAL The Braithwaite ghost plays a song on the piano. people at different times, and those who knew her came to think of it as her song. This gifted lady was a senior in high school when tragedy struck and the eerie events began to transpire. She contracted appendicitis, and surgety was performed by a local doctor. Following the operation, she incurred an infection and later died of septicemia. So, in the year 1939, our subject was gone, and so was her famous or so everyone though. style for playing the piano From here on, the story begins to gel a little out of the ordinary. It centered on the old auditorium, which was located in the top of the Old Administration Building. After her death, several people claimed they heard music coming from the top floor of the building in the middle of the night. Lights in the building flashed on and off without apparent control. At these times, music could be heaid. The music just happened to be the song Deep Purple." The same song, played at the same piano in the same room where the late musician had gained notoriety for playing. Winona Cowen, a student at BAC during that time, remembers this: There were three students that were in the Old A. Building See GHOST, Page 9 1A i ' m r GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY TERENCE t UNIVERSITY JOURNAL WATERS Halloweens role in society varies throughout world By RACHEL GLIDDEN rghddensuujournal.com in celebrated Although predominately the United States and Canada, Halloween celebrations around the world show commonality in their traditions. According to Historychannel.com, Halloween is celebrated in the United States, Canada and Ireland tri costume through parties and fun for all ages. People in Mexico, Latin America and Spain celebrate All Souls Day as part of a three-da- y Hallowmas observance, while the United Kingdom celebrates autumn rite. Halloween originated in Ireland, where bonfires are lit and children dress up in i astumes and spend the evening Children were known to play tricks on their neighbors, such as the prank where children knock on their neighbors doors and run away before they open, according to the Web site. most people attend After parties, where in addition to bobbing for apples, parents often arrange treasure hunts with candy or pastries as the treasure. The Irish also play a card game where cards are laid face down on a table w nil candy or coins underneath them," the Web site reported. When a child chooses a card, he receives whatever ." knock-a-doll- r y prize is found below it. All Souls Day, celebrated in Mexico. Latin America and Spain, takes place on Nov. 2 after a three-dacelebration beginning Oct. 31. The celebration is designed to honor the dead who are believed to return to their earthly homes on Halloween, according to the Web site. Many families constiuct an altar to the dead in their homes to honor deceased relatives and decorate it with candy, floweis. of the samples photogiaphs, deceased's favorite foods and di inks, and fresh water. the Web site reported. Candles and incense help the deceased family member find his or her way home, and a washbasin and towel are left out so the deceased can wash before indulging in the feast. Other ways to celebrate All Souls' Day include cleaning up and decorating around the gravesite of the deceased family member. Then the family gathers to reminisce and have a picnic. These celebrations date back as far as ancient Egyptian times, according to the Web site. the Celts to Hallovveen.net. According celebrated the New Year on Nov. 1, with a festival maikina the end of the season of the sun y and the beginning of the season of darkness and cold. The festival was called Samham (pronounced sow-en- ) and lasted three days. Many people would parade in costumes made out of the skins and heads of their animals, the Web site repoi ted. Accoiding to ReligiousTolerance.org, the Celts believed the veil between this world and the next was the thinnest around Halloween. The English, for the most part, Halloween stopped celebrating when Martin Luther's Protestant Reformation began to spread through the nation, according to the History Channel's Web site. Since followers of the new leligion did not believe in saints, they no longer celebrated the eve of All Saints Day, the Web site repotted. Soon a new autumn ritual emerged. On the evening of Nov. 5, bonfires are lit throughout England, while effigies are burned and fireworks are set off. This celebration has little to do with Halloween but celebrates Guy Fawkes Day, memorializing the execution of the "notorious" English traitor, according to the Web site. In 1606. Fawkes was executed after attempting to blow up England's parliament building. He wanted to remove the Protestant King James from power. The original celebration of Guy Fawkes Day was celebrated right after his execution. In addition to making effigies of Guy Fawkes to be burned, some children walk the street carrying an image or likeness of Fawkes and ask for a penny for the guy, although they keep the money for themselves. The Web site reported this is as close to the American practice of as can be found in England. While other countries celebrate Halloween with their own traditions, Americans currently have the record in every category dealing with pumpkins. the According to Guinnessw'orldrecords.com, city Keene, N.H., currently has the record for the number of pumpkin lanterns lit. On Oct. 28, 2000, 23,727 pumpkins were lit at the annual Pumpkin Festival. The worlds largest pumpkin was grown by Charles Houghton from New Boston, N.H., weighing a total of 1,337 pounds and 9.5 ounces. The record for largest belongs to Scott Cully, who carved Houghtons pumpkin. The record for the fastest time to carve a face into a pumpkin belongs to Stephen Clarke, who carved in a record 54.72 seconds, according to the Web site. n |