O C T O B E R 2 0 1 2

Hello Wonderful Reader!

First off, we were ecstatic about the response to our Septem-

ber issue - over 100 copies of Rampage were printed and dis-

tributed, and we got some good feedback. However, feedback

is something we’d always like to see more of, especially on

more controversial articles. Have an opinion on anything we

print? Tell us by emailing mdrampage@gmail.com, and we

might put your letter in next month’s paper! We want Rampage

to be inclusive of the whole school, not some sort of newsletter

for a specific club. If you want to write an article on anything

from sports to video games to fashion, we’d be open to print-

ing it.

We were excited to meet our team of contributors for the first

time in person, and, let us tell you, they’re pretty awesome.

We’ve also got some resident artists whose illustrations you’ll

see scattered throughout this issue; we’re eternally grateful for

their skills and patience.

Lastly, we want to encourage all of you readers to drop us

some of your art, writing, or current events articles for our No-

vember issue. We’re always looking for quality content, wheth-

er you email it to us, find us in the hallways or just come to the

meetings to see what you can do to help.

Have a Happy Halloween everyone!

Thanks for reading,

Maddy, Joh, Nick, and Alison

ART BY JESSICA SONG

EDITORS’ BLATHER 02 MOUNT DOUG

INTERVIEW WITH MS. SHIRSTOBITOFF

COPS FOR CANCER

WE LOVE MOUNT DOUG

PEER TUTORING

ASK ASMODEOUS

07 LIFE & OPINION

RESTAURANT REVIEW: RED FISH BLUE FISH

RECIPE: WHITE CHOCOLATE MACADAMIA NUT

HALLOWEEN DILEMMAS

AHOOAP: PART II

HALLOWEEN AS WE KNOW IT

MELANCHOLIA SUBMISSIONS

THE CREW

EDITORS: MADDY INNES, JOH YOSHIDA, NICHOLAS GUER-

REIRO, ALISON WHITE

LAYOUT: ALISON WHITE

COVER: MYA ROBILLIARD

ILLUSTRATORS: JESSICA SONG, SALLY JIN

MARKETING: JESSIE JIA

WEBSITE: BRETT GOSS

mdrampage@gmail.com

www.mountdouglas.ca/webusers/rampage

We got the chance to interview Ms.

Sherstobitoff, our newest Vice Prin-

cipal about her experience with the

school so far, and what it’s like to

be a vice principal. By the way, it’s

pronounced ‘shirst - t’be - off,’ just to

help you out a bit!

Rampage (RP): Were you sad to

leave Oak Bay? You must have built

your own relationships with the stu-

dents.

Vice Principal (VP): Absolutely. It was

devastating. I was there for five years.

RP: That must have been very hard.

Did you get a choice whether or not to

leave, or are you just told that you

have to go?

VP: No, they just tell you that you’ve

got to go. That’s a district decision.

They move us pretty much every five

to six years.

RP: So you know a move was com-

ing?

VP: Yes, but you hope to stay as Mr.

Mitchell did.

RP: Do you know why you have to

move?

VP: Yes, for more experience. They

just move us around and try to get us

into different schools. I think about five

or six secondary school vice principals

were moved that year.

RP: If you were at Oak Bay five years,

you must have started with a group of

grade nines and then watched them

go through high school.

VP: Yes, it was nice to see them grad-

uate. I was in charge of Grad, so I

organized everything, from helping

them with all their prom stuff to the

dinner dance, the spirit days to the

graduation ceremony.

RP: Wow, moving must have been so

hard then. You must have built such

solid relationships with that group.

VP: Yes, especially with this group of

grads. They were my first home room.

Moving was very hard.

RP: Are you hoping to build the same

kind of relationship with the students

at Mount Doug?

VP: Yes, but it takes a long time to

develop that trust.

RP: And you have to get used to the

staff too, it must be like being the new

kid.

VP: It is like switching schools. You

have to get to know who the staff are

and where you fit in.

RP: I don’t really know how being a

Vice Principal works, but is it a similar

duty here as it was at your old school?

VP: Some things are similar; some

things are different. Every school is

very different, but every school is the

same. Does that make any sense?

Somebody’s in charge of Grad and

somebody’s in charge of departments.

RAMPAGE INTERVIEWS: YOUR NEW VP - MS. TAMMY SHIRSTOBITOFF MADDY INNES

I’m in charge of a little bit of everything

here. Mostly the student body from the

grade 10’s, L through Z 10-12.

RP: And what does that involve?

VP: Well if something comes up,

those are the ones who come and see

me if there are any issues, or if teach-

ers need to see me about attendance.

RP: So if a student was having trouble

in school and they needed to speak to

someone and were uncomfortable

about approaching a counsellor, be-

cause sometimes there’s a stigma

around that, they could come talk to

you?

VP: Absolutely.

RP: Okay, that’s a good thing for peo-

ple to know. What is the biggest chal-

lenge being a Vice Principal?

VP: The relationships, building trust,

and people getting to know who can

come and talk to you. Getting to know

the parents is important too. I’m not

only in a different school but a differ-

ent community too; nobody here

knows me. It will work out though, the

students at Mt. Doug are really nice.

It’s a good feel. And the staff has been

very welcoming.

RP: I hope you enjoy it! So, what’s

your disciplinary style like? How do

you deal with kids who are, say, not

showing up to class?

VP: Well, you have to bring them in

and meet them. Find out if there have

been any issues in the past, because

usually if there’s any behaviors that

show up in school - whether it’s at-

tendance, or stuff isn’t going the right

way - there’s usually something else

going on in their lives. It’s about get-

ting to the root of what’s going on, so I

have to get to know who the student

is.

RP: I know some people make as-

sumptions, and that can be hard to

deal with. But it’s good to know that

you’re open to talking to people and

base each situation on the individual.

VP: Yeah. Everyone’s kind of that

open window and you have a thou-

sand things going on in their lives.

You just have to get to know who they

are. And then of course, it’s just nice,

friendly talk to begin with, and then

you help them to be successful. I think

everyone wants to be successful. No

one gets up in the morning and says,

“I want to have a bad day.” And of

course, school’s not the easiest for

some kids.

RP: Yeah, some people excel in differ-

ent areas. A lot of people seem to pri-

oritize academics, but there are so

many other options.

VP: It’s interesting; last year I talked to

one student who had autism. He grad-

uated and he told me that every single

day was a struggle to come to school.

It was the hardest thing he had to do

all day, to walk through those halls.

And you just don’t know that, especial-

ly if you’re one of those students or

teachers that just loves the school and

thinks everyone should have the same

experience. You have to see the

whole spectrum. And in the end, you

just hope that when people look back

to their high school experience, that

they have a good feeling.

RP: You mentioned that in the assem-

bly; that good feeling - how you won’t

remember every day.

VP: You’re not going to. But you’ll re-

member the cool things, like that one

teacher or two - and it’ll either be a

good feeling or bad. I want to bring

energy and spirit to the school. I would

love every day to be a positive day for

people. People say, “Jeez, you smile

all the time.” Yeah, I do. Why not? A

lot of our ISP students - the interna-

tional students - are kind of quiet, and

just saying good morning to them is

like, “Wow, somebody noticed me.”

It’s about making people feel comfort-

able in that school spirit piece.

RP: Thank you very much for your

time!

VP: Thank you!

This interview has been edited for

clarity and length.

Every fall, hundreds of law en-forcement and emergency service mem-bers cycle for two weeks across the re-gions of B.C. to support children with cancer and their families. The first Cops for Cancer program started in 1994, when a police officer with a shaved head posed in a picture with a young cancer patient. More officers wanted to get in-volved and Cops for Cancer was born. Since then, members of law enforcement and emergency services across Canada have participated in fundraising events with Cops for Cancer for the Canadian Cancer Society. With the help of several generous communities and fundraisers such as head shavings, golf tourna-ments, and other sporting events, Cops for Cancer has raised over 50.4 million dollars. These donations, collected dur-ing the Tour de Coast, Tour de North, Tour de Rock and Tour de Valley, help fund life-saving childhood cancer re-search and support services including Camp Goodtimes, which is a summer recreational program for kids and families with a history of cancer.

More than a hundred police offic-ers from across the province get on bikes and ride up to two weeks each fall, rain or shine, over the various terrains of Greater Vancouver, Vancouver Island,

Fraser Valley, and the Northern Region. This year, the Tour de Rock–a 1000 kilo-meter biking event beginning at the northern tip of Vancouver Island and cov-ering the south, east, and west coasts–started on September 22nd at Port Har-dy, and will end on October 5th with the 40 kilometer Spirit Square Finale in Es-quimalt, Saanich and Victoria. All 19 par-ticipants of this year’s Tour de Rock, in-cluding 13 police officers, 2 members of the media and 2 special guests, have been training since the beginning of March for their two-week journey.

This is the third year Mount Doug-

las Secondary School has been involved

with Cops for Cancer and the fight

against this omnipresent disease. Ms.

Fehr and the graduating students raised

an astonishing $15,000 last year, and

are hoping to raise the bar to $20,000

this year. They have already managed

to collect close to $4,000 as of Septem-

ber 21st from fundraisers that you may

have enjoyed, such as the Pie Auction,

the Silent Auction, the Block 2 fundrais-

er and the Grade-Wide Competitions.

Ms. Fehr and the students are planning

more events, and we are likely to see

something like last year’s dunk tank and

bake sale at the Year-End Barbeque to

get a head-start on 2013/14.

COPS FOR CANCER ANSH SHUKLA

SOURCE: SEEKLOGO.COM

ART BY SALLY JIN

HALLOWEEN ART SALLY JIN

WE LOVE MOUNT DOUG Have you ever noticed the problems which overwhelm the world? Ev-

er felt like crying because one of the many without a home asked for

your spare change? Perhaps you felt the urge to punch a wall after

reading the news. Whatever the case, if there’s something you’re pas-

sionate about or if there’s anything you wish to change about our

world, YCI is the place for you. Youth for Change and Inclusion is a

student-run organization funded by the Victoria Police Department

which takes a great interest in the social justice issues which exist in

our world. From Tibet, or the potential oil lines off our coast, to gay

rights, and feeding the homeless, we try to cover as much as we can,

and will never stop working. If there’s anything close to your heart,

anything you feel needs to be fixed, come down to one of our meet-

ings: Wednesdays every week in room 106. And even more exciting,

come October 19, we hold a district-wide Motivational Day! Attended

by students from various schools, our Motivational Day is the kick-off

to all YCI events. Including public speakers, student led workshops,

and more, it’s the best way to start off a new year and tackle new

problems. Come to room 106, next Wednesday at lunch, to find out

more!

YOUTH FOR CHANGE AND INCLUSION: YCI MEN’S CHOIR

RAMPAGE SPONSORS

Lyon Chang

張磊韻

房屋貸款經理

大維多利亞地區

電話:250-885-1440

傳真:250-388-9524

Rebecca Chang

投資理財專家

大維多利亞地區

電話:250-727-8861

傳真:250-356-4648

Glancing about the school, you may have noticed some posters floating about. Perhaps you’ve been accosted after school by a desperately bored peer tutor. Maybe you’ve searched them out already, “bearded the lion in its den,” so to speak, or it’s possible you even bought a slice of pizza from one last Thursday. In any case, I’m sure you know by now that Peer Tutoring has started back up at Mount Doug. Everyday after school the peer tutors make their home in the career cen-ter and library, waiting for a potential vic-tim... err, client. If you’re lost, confused, and looking for some help the tutors are there for you; whether you need a brief reminder before a test, someone to keep you on track while doing homework, or an in-depth explanation because you just can’t pay attention during class hours. From chemistry, physics, and other quan-titative courses to socials, English and the humanities, there’s always a peer tutor willing to help Simin and Ryan are just two such peer tutors. When asked which days they offer themselves to the public and what subjects they can help all of you gor-geous and intelligent people with, they respond enthusiastically: “We’ll both be in the career center on Tuesdays from 3:15 until 4 pm! Anybody needing help in any of their grade 9 or 10 subjects should drop by.” “I can also help out with English and Socials 11, Chemistry 11, and Plan-ning,” Ryan adds to his list absentmind-

edly.

“Don’t forget French!” Simin re-minds. “Oh, and I can tutor Mandarin as well.” It’s at this point that I start to won-der if there’s anything these two don’t cover! Ryan’s only response is a shrug, and a disclaimer that he’s only good up to French 10.

Curious about their personalities, I asked what they might be if they were mythical creatures. After much delibera-tion Ryan answers with an iguana, much to Simin’s and my amusement. Simin’s creature of choice is decidedly less exotic in comparison. “You know the dragon from How to Train your Dragon? Toothless, his name is. I’d

love to be a dragon.” She nods emphati-cally, a grin on her face. Her pleasure is tangible, and makes for an excellent end to our interview. Before I can leave the Career Cen-tre, across from the office, they remind me that available peer tutor schedules are posted in most classrooms and that tutoring sessions can be requested either through your teachers, Mrs. Phillips, or online through the peer tutoring website (www.mountdouglas.ca/webusers/pt). Accepting a hug from each before I run off to my next meeting, I can assure you all that while they may seem intimidating at first, they’re more like Toothless the

dragon, and I doubt they would ever bite!

PEER TUTORING AIYANA CHAUHAN-KENDRICK

“ASK ASMODEUS,” RAMPAGE’S VERY OWN ADVICE COLUMN, WILL BE HERE NEXT

MONTH! SEND YOUR QUESTIONS TO MDRAMPAGE@GMAIL.COM TO GET THEM PRINT-

ED, ALONG WITH A QUIRKY REPLY FROM OUR MYSTERIOUSLY DEMONIC AUTHOR...

BIO:

Ever wanted to taste fresh Pacific Coast seafood done right? Then head on down to Red Fish Blue Fish at 1006 Wharf

Street (on the foot of Broughton Pier). Red Fish Blue Fish is a restaurant very focused on recycling and keeping the world

clean. All utensils are made from plant starch, and the baskets are reusable. This restaurant is 100% sustainable - do the

planet a tasty favor and go on down for fresh air and fresh fish!

THE GOOD:

Taste: The food is first and foremost the best thing about Red Fish Blue Fish. They take your normal seafood and add a

special twist to it. Whether it is with a special sauce or in a seafood tacone, all their food is extremely fresh and tasty.

Service: Once you order, your food will be ready within 10 minutes or so.

Consistency: All food there is consistently good, so go ahead and try that “Cod Dog” and you won’t be disappointed!

THE BAD:

Lines: Red Fish Blue Fish is plagued with endless lines of tourists, due to it being right down on the docks; as well as

hordes of loyal customers (such as me) trying to get their fish and chips fix. I have waited over 45 minutes due to lines, but

do not be turned away from the restaurant because of this, as the food is more than worth it!

Price: the only problem with being a super restaurant selling organic fish is the prices. One can get out of Red Fish Blue

Fish for about 10 dollars, but you will not if you are a halibut lover like me! The price is good enough for students, but I

would recommend going down with a family member to pay for it if you can.

THE MEDIOCRE:

Seating: With any restaurant seating can be good or bad, and

Red Fish Blue Fish is no exception. While on nice summer

days it can be quite beautiful looking out over the water, on

windy or gloomy days it can be annoying along with the sea-

gulls.

CONCLUSION:

It’s the best fish and chips joint in the whole of Victoria, and if

you think differently then I dare you to eat there and tell me so

afterwards!

RESTURANT REVIEW: RED FISH BLUE FISH LEO KORICAN

SCORE OUT OF FIVE:

ART BY JESSICA SONG

Yield: About 40 cookies Ingredients:

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup coarsely chopped macadamia nuts

1 cup coarsely chopped white chocolate Process: 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). 2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla and almond extracts. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; gradually stir into the creamed mix-ture. Mix in the macadamia nuts and white chocolate. Drop dough by teaspoonful's onto ungreased cookie sheets. 3. Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.

This is one of my favorites as it highlights the taste of the macadamia nut with the white chocolate. It’s a truly sinful cookie,

and you will want to eat all 40 by yourself!

WHITE CHOCOLATE MACADAMIA NUT COOKIES LEO KORICAN

RAMPAGE SPONSORS

Halloween is a day of opportuni-

ties. It’s the one day a year where

someone can be anyone, and not have

to explain themselves. Unless, of

course, their costume is so unique, or

strange, that no one has a clue what

they’re supposed to be. This love of

disguise has been carried on through

the ages, as people on both ends of the

age spectrum dress up on the last day

of October. Dressing up, however, is

not the only tradition that is being kept

with people as they age.

Many teenagers, although older than

the average trick-or-treater, continue to

spend at least part of their Halloween

evening going door to door, asking

strangers for free candy. A childhood

tradition that they never grew out of,

trick-or-treating is seen by many to be

an activity to be ceased at the age of

twelve or thirteen. As people open their

doors on Halloween at the sound of a

knock or doorbell, they are often not

pleased to see teenagers in place of

the children they were expecting.

Many people see Halloween as a time

of year to be enjoyed by children, an

idea which is simply tainted by teens

who refuse to hang up their candy

bags. To some, the immaturity of over-

aged candy seekers is seen as tarnish-

ing the idea of Halloween, and some-

thing which needs to be stopped.

Many teens, however, do not see the

problem with continuing their childhood

tradition of collecting candy on Hallow-

een. Most teenagers go out after the

younger children have retired for the

evening, and end up wondering why so

many people are unhappy when

they find someone well into their teens

at their door instead of a child. Why

should people deny or crush the dream

of a person, just wanting to relive a part

of their youth? If the teenagers are

dressed up, then they’re following basi-

cally the only rule of Halloween that

there is. They’re holding onto maybe

the only piece of childhood that they

have left, enjoying the one night a year

when they can enjoy themselves like

only children can. Or maybe (probably)

teenagers just like free candy.

Whatever the reason is though, it is

likely that teenagers will continue trick-

or-treating until there is a law made

against it. Even then, many of them

would still try their best to get as much

free candy as they can. There’s always

the hope, though, that if teenagers are

focusing their Halloween adrenaline on

collecting as much candy as they possi-

bly can, then maybe they won’t be the

ones setting off fireworks in people’s

front yards or ending up in the emer-

gency room after drunk driving. If the

logic can’t be seen in even that, then

know that they’re actually doing you a

favour by taking all the leftover candy

off your hands, because everyone

knows that as soon as the porch light

goes off, all 32 of those leftover mini O’

Henry bars are going to be gone pretty

quickly!

HALLOWEEN DILEMMAS NICOLE BRUCE

HALLOWEEN ART

CORPSE BRIDE BY SALLY JIN

RAM SKULLS BY ANSH SHUKLA

Since early childhood, we are inun-dated with stories of vampires, were-wolves, cannibals, ghosts, and spooky clowns, primarily from Uncle Joe, who enjoys seeing mom and dad with circles under their eyes after a long, terror-fueled night. Now that we are older, these stories may not have quite the impact they used to, so, to celebrate this Hallowe’en, I decided to discuss the chilling accomplishments of a few individuals, who, while cer-tainly horrifying, are also somehow inspiring of respect. Or at least nau-sea. Liver-Eating Johnson: Finger-Lickin’ Weird. For twenty years, the Crow Nation of the Western USA cowered in fear of a mysterious figure living a vengeful and solitary life on the borders of their territory: John Johnson. Born in 1824, Johnson had been a soldier in the American Army in Mexico, but left to explore the west as a trapper and a guide. Johnson operated a small trad-ing business from a cabin around Snake River in Northern Colorado. He was skilled in the arts of tracking, shooting, and mountaineering, and quickly earned the respect of First

Nations groups in the region.

On one of his winter trips, John-son married the daughter of a first nation chief. During the return voyage to the cabin, Johnson’s wife taught him her language, while he taught her how use a gun, ensuring her survival

during his long trips. However, this wedded bliss couldn’t last. When Johnson returned home one autumn, he was greeted with a gruesome sight. A Crow Nation raiding party had attacked his cabin and murdered his wife. Furthermore, Johnson found a tiny skull among his wife’s bones: she had been pregnant at the time of her death. Enraged with grief, Johnson lashed out at those who had de-stroyed his tiny family. For a period of more than twenty years, Johnson led a one-man guerilla war against the

Crow nation.

Whenever Johnson came across a Crow warrior, he would kill him and devour his liver, the seat of power in Crow tradition. The moun-tainman was so fierce, all attempts to capture him failed (he once escaped his captors using a human leg as a weapon!) However, Johnson realized that his vendetta was pointless, and made peace with the Crow nation, who he began to consider his broth-ers. After serving in the Civil War, Johnson became a sheriff and pro-tected others from the fate that had befallen his wife, and never ate anoth-er liver. Sergei Bruykhonenko and Vladimir Demikhov: Real-Life Frankensteins In 1925, a Soviet scientist by the name of Sergei Bruykhonenko devel-oped the world’s first heart-lung ma-chine. This device could give a body oxygenated blood when the actual

cardiovascular system couldn’t, such as heart surgery. This was a revolu-tionary technology advance in medi-cine, and Bruykhonenko wanted to test the limits of his new technology. Using dogs as his test subject, Bruy-khonenko, found he was able to keep a canine heart operating independent-

ly of its body.

Even more chilling, the heart-lung machine, or “autojector”, allowed Bruykhonenko to keep a severed dog’s head conscious for several minutes. While Bruykhonenko’s shin-ing scientific star was soon clouded over by politics, one of his disciples, Vladimir Demikhov continued his ex-periments, which became more and

more disturbing.

Demikhov unveiled the world’s first surgically-constructed two-headed dog in 1954. This proved that organ transplants could be success-fully performed, a radical idea for its time. Demikhov’s experiments were just as deranged as his predeces-sor’s. Demikhov once grafted the head of a puppy onto an adult dog. These two doctors’ experiments revo-lutionized medicine, but in the creepi-est ways possible. Jacques Plante: The Proto-Jason Unlike the previous two entries, Jacques Plante did not commit any ethically dubious actions, but he is, in a roundabout way, the man who was responsible for one of the most iconic

A HISTORY OF OBSCURELY AWESOME PEOPLE

PART II: THE REAL MACABRE NICHOLAS GUERREIRO

horror characters of all time. This Ca-nadian legend was born in rural Que-bec on January 17, 1929. The first of 11 children, Jacques was a fragile youth who suffered from asthma and a stunted right hand. Nonetheless, this rambunctious child played hock-ey on the lake like everyone else. However, tuberculosis caused by asthma impeded Jacques from skat-ing for long periods of time, so he began playing goalie, with pads made from potato sacks. Jacques’ father also taught him how to knit and em-broider, and Jacques was seldom seen without one of his handmade

tuques.

It quickly became obvious to all involved that Jacques was a master goalie, and he was snatched up by local teams. By his fourteenth birth-day, Jacques was playing in five hockey leagues at once, and was receiving offers to join teams from as far away as England. However, Jacques finished school before begin-ning his professional career, and was quickly recruited by the Quebec Cita-dels, later transferring to the Montreal Canadiens. Jacques was not popular with his team, and the coaches re-fused to let him wear his tuque on the rink.

During his seven year stay with the Canadiens, Jacques revolu-tionized goaltending. He pioneered the practice of having the goaltender leave the crease to take possession of the puck and pass it to other play-ers, reasoning that “the puck was number one.” This contributed to his unbroken record of seven Vezina tro-phies for goaltending, and he was a central factor in the Canadiens’ five-season Stanley Cup streak. But it was another contribution of Jacques’

that really changed hockey and the world. One of the players for the New York Rangers had a personal prob-lem with Jacques, and, in revenge, shot the puck straight into Jacques’ face. Badly cut and with a broken nose, the star goalie returned to the ice wearing a frightening mask. The Canadiens’ coach, though initially hesitant, soon realized that the mask allowed the goalie to forget about safety and stop shots more easily. Jacques continued playing hockey professionally on a dozen teams until his retirement in 1973 at age 44, the second oldest goalie ever to have played. With an impressive Goals

Against Average of 2.38, Jacques happily retired to spend time with his family and engage in his hobbies of knitting and ballet. Jacques Plante passed away on February 7, 1986, in his wife’s home country of Switzer-land.

The hockey mask has since become an icon of terror due to its use in Friday the Thirteenth: Part III, and all subsequent films in the ten-film series. The character of Jason Voorhees, now legendary, would nev-er have received the MTV Life Achievement Award without his fa-mous headgear, and for that, we must thank Jacques Plante.

JACQUES PLANTE’S MASK

JESSICA SONG

Jack-O-Lanterns, pumpkins, cos-tumes, witches, ghosts: these are some of the words that come to mind when we think of Halloween. But what is Hallow-een all about, really? How did it start? And why is it that we dress up or hand out candy every October 31st? It all began over 2,000 years ago in an area now located in north-western Europe, when the Celts celebrated New Year’s Day on November 1st. To them, October 31st was the last day of harvest-ing and summer, and the following day was the start of the dark, cold winter, which they linked with human death. On the night of October 31st, they celebrated Samhain [sah-win], when they believed that the ghosts of the dead return to Earth and roamed the land. Although they believed that the spirits were there to cause havoc, such as damage crops, sicken people, and generally make trou-ble, they also made it more convenient for the druids, or Celtic priests to make predictions about the future. To keep safe, the Celts would put out their hearth fires early in the evening, and head out to the druid’s bonfire. They would burn animals and crops as sacrific-es to the spirits while the druids would dress up, most commonly in animal heads, and dance around the bonfire, in attempt to mimic the evil spirits. It is said that insects were attracted to the bright-ness of the bonfire, which attracted bats to the area, and that is why we associate bats with the holiday of Halloween. The druids would then attempt to tell the peo-ple’s fortunes. When the celebration ended, the Celts would head back home and re-light their hearth fires as a symbol of warmth through the winter. In 43 A.D., the Romans conquered the Celtic peoples of Britain. They ruled the Celtic lands for 400 years, and over those many years, two Roman festivals

were associated with the festival of Sam-hain. The first took place in late October, when the Romans usually honoured the passing of the dead through a celebra-tion. The second day was to honour their Roman goddess of fruit and trees – Po-mona. Pomona’s symbol was the apple, so on the day that they honoured they also honoured the apple, which evolved over the years to the game of bobbing for apples, which we typically associate with Halloween. When the Romans converted to Christianity, they established a holiday called All Saints Day, All Souls Day, or All Hallows Day on November 1st. This was a day to honour all of the saints who did not have their own holiday. The Ro-mans set the holiday on November 1st in hopes that the Celts would stop celebrat-ing Samhain on October 31st, and switch to November 1st; but no such luck. The Celts carried on with their celebrating, and as did the Romans. Soon after this, the first witch craze came about. It was such a mes-merizing concept for the people of that time that the Celtic celebrations which took place on October 31st were re-named Night of the Witch. The new be-lief was that on October 31st, the devil, along with all of his followers, whom in-cluded hags and demons, would come out and make a mockery of All Hallows Day along with its celebration and tradi-tions. As these celebrations continued, October 31st was renamed All Hallows Eve. it was the night for all superstitions, beliefs, and mystery. The name was eventually shortened to Hallowe’en, and finally became known as Halloween. Jack-o’-lanterns came into the picture a little later on when the Irish peo-ple came to America with a man named Jack-O-Lantern, who was a legendary, stingy, drunkard. According to legend,

Jack tricked the devil into climbing up an apple tree to get him and apple, but he quickly carved a cross into the tree trunk, preventing the devil from being able to come back down. The devil promised Jack that he would not come after his soul, but when Jack died, he was turned away from Heaven. He went to the devil, but he said Jack had to go back to where he came from. Jack didn’t know where to go but the devil gave him a lighted coal and sent him away. Jack put the coal into the turnip he was eating and used it as a lantern. Ever since then, every Halloween Jack has wandered around with his Jack-o’-lantern in search of a place to rest. Children began carving out pota-toes and turnips as well to use as lan-terns, but when the Irish came to Ameri-ca in great numbers in the 1840’s, they discovered that a pumpkin worked as an even better lantern. And so began the tradition of the Jack-o”-lantern.

Lastly, trick-or-treating became a tradition around the time that the All Souls day parades were taking place in England. This is where the poorest of people would join the parade and beg families for food. They would receive something called Soul Cakes from the families. In return for the cakes, they had to promise to pray for the family’s dead relatives. This practice was encouraged by the church in place of the older tradi-tion of putting food and wine out for the spirits who would be returning on Octo-ber 31st. The tradition referred to as ‘going a-souling’ was later on passed on to children who would go to houses and received food, ale, and money. This eventually evolved into today’s tradition of handing out candy only to the children who dressed up and asked for it with the

worldwide saying of ‘trick-or-treat’.

HALLOWEEN AS WE KNOW IT EMMA RONAYNE

MELANCHOLIA SUBMISSIONS Perhaps

I’m a paper cut-out

A white doll barely visible against walls of the same shade

My brittle bones can scarcely hold me up as I fold my way

along

I don’t fit in this two dimensional landscape

I’m alone too often

Isolated, with my untidy thoughts

I’m empty, concave

I feel as if my frail body will crumple

In my soundless existence

Surrounded by the smell of my own fear

I’m disquieted by my confinement

Disturbed by my computer-generated life

If I can be charmingly false

A sweet, insipid, paper shape

Perhaps I can be happy. Perhaps I can see you

For a day I can be submerged in your color

Being with you consumes my being

You who paints my mind back on

Perhaps I can let my troubles float away in your kiss

Perhaps I can cling to the leftovers of my torn up sanity

Let me clasp you tighter

Keep me safe from my purple nightmares

Slow my decay. Or perhaps

We can decay together

KAILEN REGHER

Fragments of a Love Story

Certainly,

we can both be in love.

But time calls

and I must leave

to fight our war

Is this goodbye?

Let it be not

For I will die

Of a broken heart

I’m coming home

To stop her with words.

Our final chance

Is here on the train

Beneath the tracks

A door opens,

But she doesn’t notice,

Not at first.

She’s too occupied

With sorrow

To watch the sky.

But look, Alas!

‘Tis what we call peace

Behind the glass.

I’m never leaving you.

The war is over for all of us.

I’m staying with you.

I love you.

This is love, right?

It’s more than that. It’s life.

I’m laughing because I’m not afraid anymore.

Marry me?

Hold me.

Don’t ever leave me.

I won’t. MICHELLE WATT

awkwardness trails through

my speech

as I realize

you don’t accept my lies.

How will I dance around this now?

ALISON WHITE

Rampage’s first meeting

for our November issue will

be Tuesday, October 9th,

with the second meeting

next week on the 16th—if

you’d like to submit some-

thing for the paper, come

out and talk to us! We can

also be reached at

mdrampage@gmail.com;

that’s also the address

where you’ll send any sub-

missions when they’re fin-

ished (hopefully before the

deadline). See you all out

there!

CONTACT US!