Question of Santa evokes holiday memories
several university students
recount how they learned
the chubby bearded man
in red may not be authentic
By Aron Glatzer
Freelance Reporter
Sleigh bells will soon be ringing
and milk and cookies will be of
fered. Santa Claus will be making his
rounds, bringing spirit and presents
to children across the globe.
But not everyone thinks 'ol Saint
Nick truly exists. Many college stu
dents passed the point of believing in
the chubby bearded man years ago.
"Dec. 17, 1987, that's a day that
will forever lay tainted in infamy,"
senior Adrian Blackmar recalls. "My
Christmas experience almost ended
before it could even begin."
Encouraged by an older cousin,
Blackmar rented a film entitled,
"Silent Night, Deadly Night."
Instead of seeing a jolly man de
livering presents, 6-year-old Black
mar watched the story of "an es
caped mental patient dressing as
Santa Claus involved in a murdering
spree from house to house. ”
Blackmar then listened to his
cousin explain how Santa Claus
does not exist at all.
"Not only is Santa not real, but
the escaped mental patient may
come to attack me," Blackmar re
calls thinking.
As a kindergarten student, Black
mar said he was given the assign
ment of reporting his holiday expe
rience by means of a show and tell
presentation.
"The few days left before Christ
mas 1 spent several hours working
on a diagram to recreate the horrific
details of my new Christmas be
liefs," Blackmar said. "Never afraid
to speak my mind, 1 gathered the
strength and courage to tell others
what I was told."
But on the night of Christmas Eve
an event occurred that made Black
mar reconsider his presentation. Af
ter his cousin told him that his par
ents were the one's who left gifts
labeled "from Santa," he snuck out
to the tree to see if any loot had been
left. There was nothing there yet, so
he went up to his parents' room.
"When we checked on my sleeping
parents, we heard a rustle," he said.
Turn to SANTA, page 7C
Santa Claus soothes Kyrsten Potterf to sleep at the Valley River Center on Thursday.
Tim Kupsick Freelance Photographer
Americans hop to shop during holiday gift season
Black Friday Wal-Mart sales
totaled $1.52 billion alone,
and average holiday buying
is up $21 from 2002
By Ayisha Yahya
News Editor
The holiday season is under way
with glistening light displays, Christmas
trees decked with decorations and even
a few Christmas carols on the airwaves.
Holiday shopping is also under full
swing because Yuletide is truly the sea
son for giving and receiving in this age
While the holiday has religious roots, it
is becoming more defined as a time of
revelry and gift-giving.
"I do think in our culture sadly it's
becoming more commercialized be
cause there's more money to be
made," University sophomore
Zachary White said.
And the Christmas holiday is a mon
ey-making machine. The National Re
tail Federation Web site,
http://www. nrf.com, projects that this
year's holiday sales are likely to bring in
close to $217.4 billion in revenue The
average consumer will spend about
$670, up from $649 in 2002, according
to a federation's survey. The NRF is the
world's largest retail trade association.
Hie overwhelming holiday shop
ping craze was evident on the day after
Thanksgiving — popularly known as
Black Friday — as millions of shoppers
flocked to stores as early as 6 a.m. to
scoop up the latest deals. Retail giant
Wal-Mart alone made $ 1.52 billion on
Black Friday, according to a Dec. 1,
2003 article in The New York limes.
Other people did their shopping on
line Citing Bizratecom, a site that tracks
e-commerce sites, a Dec. 3 The New
YorkTimes article stated that businesses
reported $820 million in Internet sales
over the four-day Thanksgiving week
end, up from $735 million in 2002.
"We've seen the holiday shopping
season pushed back," said campus
Pastor Jeremy Hadju-Paulen of the
Turn to CONSUME, page 8C
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