Halloween celebration

Most people expect to have fun ceremony of Halloween whether they know about Halloween's history and meaning or not. People like to dress in costumes and have a fun costume party. According to the history document, Halloween comes from the ancient Celtic festival which was related to death and dark. Many students in SIUC also do not celebrate Halloween because of either religious belief or cultural differences. After all, celebrating Halloween really depends on how people like to participate in the ceremony. In the past, SIUC students made big problems during Halloween break. For example, they fight, hit the car and break windows, even turn over the car. So SIUC was eliminating Halloween break.

I interviewed with one of the police officers who work in SIU Police, and he is kind and friendly. He feels that the Halloween celebration is better than before but it is not complete. The reason is students still make problems with the celebration. But as he said, after SIU decided to eliminate Halloween break, that changed students’ behavior. Also, his recommendation for Halloween is to spend profitable time with your friends and make special memories without overdrinking. In my opinion, I agree with what he thought. I think that students should know its true meaning and history, if they want to celebrate it, or, spending an ordinary night would be better.

By Hoon

Carbondale Halloween

In the mid 80’s, Carbondale’s Halloween was very famous, but it was dishonorable. Halloween riots began in 1981, and many outside people came to Carbondale. Then, they drank too much beer, and made some troubles, such as breaking widows, destroying signboards, and fighting with each other. So, Carbondale City made a ban that bars and liquor shops could not sell alcohol during Halloween weekend. These yearly riots continued until 1994. However, Carbondale Police still keeps caution that drunken people might make some trouble.

I asked Rebel when he was working in Old Town Liquor. Actually, he is not an owner of the shop, but he knows about the Carbondale City law. So, I decided to interview with him. My first question is “what do you think about the City law?” He said, “We have opened this shop for the last 3 years.” After his answer, I was confused because I thought that they could not sell beer during Halloween weekend. So, I was mistaken about the City law. In fact, now liquor shops in Carbondale can open their shops during Halloween weekend. Anyway, I asked the next question, which was “how much income did you lose during the weekend?” He did not know about the exact value, but he said, “I guess probably $2,000 per day.” My third question is “what was the cause of riots?” He believes that the reason of riots is Carbondale City, because they tried to invite many people for the Carbondale. In fact, Carbondale City made an advertisement for the Halloween festival. Therefore, he said Carbondale City made the troubles by itself. Finally, the shop sells beer in this year, and he believes that nothing will happen during Halloween weekend. I think his opinion is very clear, and I hope that Carbondale will be calm this year.

By Masaki

Halloween

Halloween in Carbondale was very dangerous in the past three years. For example, a lot of people were arrested because they damaged the city. However, when the city of Carbondale saw how serious this problem was, they closed the bars and kept the university open. I think closing the bars in the Halloween is the best solution to avoid this kind of problem. And, when the university is open the students will be busy, which is also a great thing.

I did an interview with Laura Halliday about Halloween in Carbondale. Laura Halliday has a good background about Halloween because she has lived in Carbondale since her childhood. And, in her childhood she wore a costume and went to get some candy from the people (trick or treat) which is something usually children do in Halloween. However, she said the damage which happened in Halloween in Carbondale is not caused by the people who live in the town, but when the people who live next to Carbondale hear that a party will be in Carbondale, they come to the town and damage the town and fight. Also, she thinks that closing the bars is a good idea but for a while, not every Halloween. Moreover, she thinks that the university must trust the students, and I agree with that. Also, she said, Carbondale did not handle Halloween problem well in the past. Finally, the best solution to avoid these kinds of problem is to make a concert or activity, which the university will do and be in charge, as Laura Halliday said. And, I agree with Laura Halliday because students need to do some fun activity.
By: Ammro