YC

MK

Thursday, October 30, 2003 www.trumanindex.com

TRulife9

HHoonneesstt hhuummoorrActresses are realistically funny

in ‘Beautiful Bodies.’See page 11

Copyright © 2003 Index www.trumanindex.com Volume 95, Issue 9

MMaaggggiiee WWoollccoottttStaff Reporter

Unexplainable noises, eerie feelings andcold sensations can be difficult to dismissamid stories of ghosts in the residence halls.

Grim Hall residents say the ghost ofCharlotte Burkhalter has been haunting thebuilding for more than 70 years.

“I don’t know why she is still here,” soph-omore Eric O’Brien said. “Why does anyonestay in Kirksville?”

O’Brien said Charlotte is known for mak-ing noises that sound likebowling balls rolling across thefloor, doors rattling and furni-ture moving.

He said he thinks the noisesare unexplainable unless theyare coming from a ghost.

“I don’t think her intentionis to scare people,” O’Briensaid. “[She may] just want toget your attention to [let you]know that she is there.”

Senior Elizabeth Higginshas been a resident of GrimHall for the past four years.

She said she and her friends have commu-nicated with Charlotte using a Ouija board.

“We talk to her,” Higgins said. “We try tofigure out how she died, but she won’t answerus. Touchy subject, I guess.”

Higgins said Charlotte lived in Grim Hallwhen it was a residence hall for nursing stu-dents.

She said there are different stories abouthow Charlotte died, but her life supposedlyended in Grim over winter break in the 1930s.

One tale is that Charlotte was diabetic andran out of insulin over the break. She eventu-ally went into a diabetic coma and died.

Another version is that over the winterbreak, the weather was very cold, and the heatgot turned off in the hall. Charlotte died of

hypothermia and was found wrapped in lay-ers of blankets.

Higgins said she has seen Charlotte, andthe ghost wears a white dress and has shoul-der length hair that covers her face.

“Her dress is a little more old-fashioned,but otherwise she looked like [a college stu-dent,]” Higgins said.

Higgins said while communicating withCharlotte using the Ouija board, she askedwhy she always wears a white dress and cov-ers her face.

“She said she wears the dress because itwas her favorite dress when she was alive,”

Higgins said. “And she does-n’t show her face because shedoesn’t want people to knowwho she is.”

Higgins said she thinksCharlotte often stays in thefourth-floor lounge.

Stephen Broadbent said hehas had encounters withCharlotte in the lounge.

He said one time when hewas studying in the lounge,the door to the attic started rat-tling.

He said the rattling of thedoor was impossible to explain because nowindows are near the door, and nobody hasaccess to the attic.

“The noise got louder and louder until Isaid, ‘Fine I’ll leave,’” Broadbent said. “Thenthe noise stopped.”

He said he thinks Charlotte also has beenin his room.

One night he was sleeping when the soundof somebody typing on his computer wokehim up. He got up to see who it was.

“I didn’t see anybody sitting [at my com-puter], but I still heard my keys going,”Broadbent said.

Higgins said Charlotte never does any-thing threatening.

“Our ghost is very kind, and unless you

want to talk to her, she won’t impose herselfon you,” Higgins said.

She said Charlotte is the primary ghost inGrim, but she is not the only one.

Higgins said there also is a little boyhaunting the hall. He has been seen runningdown the halls, giggling and carrying a ball,she said.

Higgins said no one knows why the boy isthere, but for some reason, he cannot enter thenew section of Grim Hall.

“He runs down the hall toward the newsection of Grim,” Higgins said. “When hecrosses the threshold between the new andold section, he disappears.”

She said Charlotte told her the boy rollsthe bowling ball across the floor, not her.

Higgins said there are benefits to having aghost in Grim, especially when she claims tobe a matchmaker, as Charlotte does.

“Charlotte says she sees two people whoare compatible and nudges them towards talk-ing to each other more,” Higgins said. “Shesaid she set my fiance and me up and anothercouple, so she has a pretty good track record.”

Not all students believe in hall ghosts. Sophomore Ben Sonnenberg said he does

not believe in ghosts but said there is some-thing different about the fourth floor in Grim.

“There is something there, but I’m notgoing to say it is Charlotte,” Sonnenberg said.

Higgins said it is every person’s choice tobelieve whether ghosts haunt Truman’s cam-pus.

“Sometimes you have to have experiences[with ghosts] to believe,” Higgins said.

She said many people don’t believe inghosts because they think people go right toheaven after they die or cease to exist alto-gether.

Higgins said she believes in both heavenand ghosts.

“Charlotte said she chooses to stay andhelp people who live in Grim, and when shefeels she is done helping them, she will moveon [to heaven],” Higgins said.

Centennial Hall

The information says the elevator inCentennial automatically comes down from thethird floor where student adviser Joan Escobarused to live before she was killed.

Escobar was killed in the summer of 1976when she was sitting outside with two friendsand a driver jumped the curb and hit them.Escobar was killed instantly, and the other twostudents were critically injured.

Haxton’s information said some people think

Escobar was killed so unexpectedly that shedoesn’t realize she is dead and continues to doher work as a student adviser in Centennial.

Ryle Hall

According to Haxton’s information, the unex-plainable turning on and off of television setsand radios and other strange occurrences inRyle can be attributed to Gina Johnston, whowas killed while she was a student adviser onthe third floor.

A group of women who lived in Johnston’swing used a Ouija Board around Halloween anddiscovered startling news about Johnston. It saidJohnston was in danger and was going to die.

Johnston died while staying with her boyfriendover Thanksgiving break in 1985 from carbonmonoxide poisoning.

According to Haxton’s information, studentson the student adviser’s wing had been contact-ed using a Ouija board by Johnston after shedied. Johnston said she would stay on the wingto take care of her women.

According to historicalinformation gathered byJason Haxton, director ofResidential Living from1991 to 2001, stories ofghosts also fill CentennialHall and Ryle Hall.

“We talk to her. Wetry to figure out how

she died, but shewon’t answer us.Touchy subject, I

guess.”

Elizabeth HigginsSenior

Truman’s Ghost Stories

Other spine tinglers

Students carve festive and ghoulish gourdsThese are the winners of the pumpkincarving contest that was co-sponsoredby Residential Living and the Index.

Winner: “Gollum,” entered by sopho-mores Erin Roper and Tammy Tolliverand freshmen Julie Wynn and JakeBoling from Grim Hall.

Honorable Mention: “Bulldog,” enteredby freshmen Shady Hawatmen andAlex Baker from Twain House in RyleHall,

Honorable Mention: “Twain Train,”entered by freshman Ben Martin fromTwain house in Ryle Hall.

SSttuuddeennttss’’ ssppiirriittsshhaauunntt hhaallllss

photo submittedCharlotte Burkhalterfrom the 1930 Echoyearbook.

Adam Yanick/Index

WWiinnnneerr:: ““GGoolllluumm””Photo illustration by Aaron Hawes/Index

HHoonnoorraabbllee MMeennttiioonn:: ““BBuullllddoogg”” Adam Yanick/Index

HHoonnoorraabbllee MMeennttiioonn:: ““TTwwaaiinn TTrraaiinn””