■ Are you afraid of the dark??? ■ The Fighting Irish men’s soccer team W elcome Notre Dame will continue its season as it takes on I f not, tonight you might want to think Boston College on Sunday at 1 p.m. Check twice... Check out Accent fo r all sorts of parents and friends! out the players to watch in the sports sec­ fun facts about Halloween. tion. p. 14 & 15 Parents Weekend 1997 B ack Page I 3C OBSERVER Friday, October 31, 1997 • Vol. X XX I No. 44 THE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING NOTRE DAME AND SAINT MARY'S Friday Feature v :. : . glBlEElBiBlQElBlBlBIi . US ■ • - - - JfSJ H oliday boasts diverse history By HEATHER MACKENZIE fact, many popular Christian priests.” Assistant News Editor holidays have roots in more The lord of death then judged secular festivities. the souls and decided what Today, costumed children all “It was quite common for the form of existence they would over the country are using hos­ Church to take such pagan fes­ continue as, with the soul of the tile threats and scare tactics to tivals and Christianize them,” wicked being “condemned to persuade stingy adults to hand said Jay Dolan, a professor of the bodies of animals.” over expensive pre-packaged During the Middle Ages, how­ sugar. ever, the influence of Trick or treat, it is Christianity changed the Halloween, and the pagan ritual of Samhain. jack-o-lanterns, In the 7th century, Pope witches and black Boniface IV added All cats that repre­ Saint’s Day to the sent the holiday calendar as a festi­ grace, the val to honor all doorsteps and know n and storefronts of unknown saints America. who had not pre­ But what is viously received everyone really recognition. celebrating on In 835, Pope the night of Gregory moved the Halloween? holiday from its origi­ More than 2,000 nal placement on May 13 years ago, the Celts hon­ to November 1, essentially ored the sun god and the replacing the Samhain festival lord of death with a festival with a Christian celebration. called Samhain. Meaning the “All Saint’s Day is an im por­ “end of summer,” Samhain history at Notre Dame. tant part of our Christian year,” began as the sun set on Oct. 31, During the Celtic festival, sac­ explained Father Theodore and ended with a feast on the rifices were offered to the Celt Hesburgh. “A different saint is night of Nov. 1, which marked lord of death so that the sins of honored every day of the year. the beginning of winter, or ancestors would be expiated All Saint’s Day tries to catch up w hat the Celts referred to as and their souls freed. with all the saints that were not the “season of death.” According to Proinsias necessarily canonized formally Many scholars think that this MacCana, author of “Celtic by the Church.” ancient Celtic festival is the Mythology,” “criminals were The evening before All Saint’s The Observer/Kevin Dalum A chained prisoner tries to maim visitors at the Carroll Hall haunted precursor to the contemporary put into cages shaped like ani­ house Wednesday. Many campus dorms are celebrating the holiday. celebration of Halloween. In mals and burned by Druid see H A L L O W / page 4 SECURITY BEAT Carroll: Catholics must resist violence By MATTHEW LOUGHRAN South Bend police Associate News Editor Unless American citizens speak out against continued fight rise in crime dependence on nuclear weapons by the United States government, By M ICHELLE KRUPA a result, the police staff has the threat of a nuclear holocaust Associate News Editor reorganized, placing more offi­ has not ended with the Cold cers near the crime scenes War, according to Catholic priest SOUTH BEND over the past 10 days, but no turned author and columnist During the past two weeks, new officers have been hired James Carroll. the city of South Bend has as a result of the occurrences. Carroll lectured in the Center been stunned by an unusually “Plain-clothes officers who For Continuing Education yester­ high number of acts of “sense­ normally have follow-up work day as part of the Cushwa Center less violence,” and as a result, to do are now in unmarked for the Study of American the police department has cars on the west side,” Catholicism. He used his experi­ increased uniformed and W illiam s said. ence as an anti-war activist dur­ investigative officers’ presence He noted that 12 officers are ing the 1960s and 1970s to illus­ throughout the city. presently at the police acade­ trate how he thought that the According to Sgt. John my in “rookie school,” and that government, if left to its own Williams of the South Bend they will be hired upon their devices, could betray the people police department, the completion of studies to aug­ that it represents. increase comes in response to ment the present police force. “We know what kind of tragic a call from Mayor Stephen In the mean time, citizens days those were (in 1968),” he Luecke and police administra­ must carry on with their nor­ The Observer/Kevin Dalum said. “ But the real tragedy was tors a fte r 13 viole nt crim es, mal lives and trust the efforts George Carroll, a Catholic priest turned author and columnist, spoke Richard Nixon’s prolongation of including homicides, were of the police in trying to allevi­ yesterday about anti-war platform. a war that the American people reported in 14 consecutive ate the crime situation, bid for president on an anti-war there walked up, along with the had rejected. History will judge days earlier this month. according to Williams. platform. priest, and opened drawers of us harshly for allowing an illegal “They [Luecke and others] “I’m sure that a lot of people Carroll spoke at length about draft records,” he recalled. and immoral war to continue for called us to increase officers in the community are scared to Catholic priests Phillip and “They then pulled vials from years.” assigned to the neighborhoods go out of their houses, but they Daniel Barrigan who served as their coats, opened them and He indicated that he believed where the crimes have should know that the police inspirations for him in their poured blood all over the the Vietnam War could have occurred,” Williams said. are doing all they can to keep activism against the war. records. They said that it was an ended in 1968 after President All crimes took place on the doing all that we can, and He related the story of Phillip example of the American and Lyndon Johnson annouced he west side of the city, just a few we’ll keep them safe,” he said. Barrigan leading a raid on the Vietnamese blood that was being would not run for a second term, miles from the University, and Sgt. Ken Horvath noted in a draft-board in the customs house spilled in the war. Then they sat renouncing American involve­ law enforcement officials can­ recent press release the diffi- in Baltimore. “When the clerks down on the bench and waited to ment in the war when Sen. not find any connections went to go get the records, the see C R IM E / page 9 Eugene McCarthy announced his between any of the crimes. As two men that were standing see C A R R O L L / page 9 page 2 The Observer • INSIDE Friday, October 31, 1997 INSIDE COLUMN N o m o re t h e D o m e C ore : Boulder Pagan Alliance offers alternatives for Halloween BOULDER, Colo. migrants who were attracted to Trick or treat? A Barbie doll and Bullwinkle the Colorado in the ‘60s by its cheap land, moose, the goddess and god of the cer­ relative isolation and mountain mys­ emony, sit on the altar amidst candles, tique. a chalice, wine, a plate of cookies and a On Friday, many pagans will host rit­ Yesterday, my friend Dan McDonough sword. Subtract the sword, the Barbie, uals celebrating Samhain, a Celtic word told me that he has the moose and the light-hearted pagan meaning “summer’s end.” This day is decided to organize a Assistant Viewpoint Editor laughter that fills the room and the set­ the end of the Celtic year. In seasons community service ting could easily pass as a Catholic past, priests celebrated a festival of the project. It turns out altar. Goddess of Summer and God of Winter, that after a discussion of Alex Kotlowitz’s Warren Stott, priest and co-founder marking the year’s transition. Druid book “There Are No Children Here," he felt of the Boulder Pagan Alliance, took priests built protective bonfires, believ­ compelled to do more than just prattle part in this ritual and says that the levi­ ing that the souls of the dead assem­ about urban decay. Of course, his latent ty and joy in the funny side of the bled on Samhain. Priests also made penchant for social responsibility was part­ human experience is one of the appeals sacrifices of animals and, occasionally, ly inspired by the Arts and Letters Core of paganism. Stott describes paganism people, seeking to appease the sun god. Course. as a natural, pre-Christian religion that Samhain is the day when the veil I am already more than half way through has been termed one of the fastest between the world of the living and the my Notre Dame education, and I can hon­ growing religions in the country. dead is the thinnest, and pagans honor estly say Core has been the most valuable The Boulder Pagan Alliance hosts those who have passed away, Stott class I’ve taken.