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SHORT-STORY Twisted Glow Photo: Freepik // rawpixel.com Aurora Trondsen Flatvoll Writer A big bang and an earth-shaking crash came from the kitchen. Nick, clinging to a half-unraveled string of twinkling lights, raised an eyebrow, “Guess we have a poltergeist who doesn´t like our taste in ornaments, huh?” April laughed as she approached the kitchen, convinced that the sound was the cat from next door sneaking in again. The night had begun innocently enough, surrounded by old decorations and tangled in tinsel; four friends could be found laughing. The air was thick with the scent of gingerbread and hot chocolate. In the middle of the hanging of ornaments, April took up the role of the unofficial leader, directing the hanging of mistletoe and the strategic placements of stockings. Elsa, the resident‘s jokester, couldn´t resist the opportunity to turn every decoration into a punchline. While Nick and Caiti, ever the sensible duo, diligently wrapped garlands and kept the holiday chaos in check. In the kitchen, however, there was no cat to be seen. Only shards of broken plates and overturned chairs scattered around the floor. “Guys, you need to see this,” The others joined April by the kitchen entrance, and the four girls looked confused at the mess in front of them. The silence hung in the air, except for the distant ticking of the old clock over the fireplace. The girls looked at each other, wondering if it was the neighbor‘s cat or something else. “I think the cat is having a bad day,” Elsa muttered as they ventured into the corridor. The sound of glass breaking and hitting the floor, lured them in the direction of Elsa and April‘s bedroom. The room was crimson red. Bloodstains painted the walls, forming patterns of a macabre dance. Without a word, the girls slowly backed out of the room. Fear clung to them, and their laughter, now just a distant memory, could be heard echoing through the desolated halls. Caiti rushed to the front door, only to find it locked. Despite her repeated attempts to unlock it, the door remained sealed, like every window and back entrance in the house. Their safe home had turned into a prison, where the walls conspired against their escape. The friends huddled together, convinced that an intruder had broken into their home. Nick clutched a makeshift weapon, a sparkly nutcracker. She gave it some practice swings “This may be handy,” she said while they steeled themselves to confront the banging noises that echoed through the corridor. They approached Nick and Caiti´s bedroom. The once familiar room was also like the other one, drenched in blood. Their adrenaline pumped, and anger and panic flushed over them. They decided to split into pairs to cover more of the house faster. Elsa and Caiti investigated the bathroom and washroom, only to find more broken glass and furniture scattered around. Searching through the basement didn´t solve anything either. Elsa and Caiti started to believe that someone was pranking them. “There´s no one here,” Nick said. She and April came around the corner from the basement. The lights started flickering. Paralyzed, they watched the darkness swallow the house, leaving only the colored lights from the living room. The Christmas decorations looked uncanny in the dark, Casting long shadows in the faded light. Nick, holding on to the Nutcracker, led the other girls as they began navigating their way toward the light. The corridor was suddenly longer, and the floor felt like a treadmill. After what felt like hours, they reached the living room door. The air had gone cold, and the house was quiet. The only sound was the continued ticking of the old clock. The colorful Christmas lights made every piece of furniture distorted and faded. The lights were twisted and tangled around something big in the middle of the room. As they approached, the vivid lights revealed four lifeless bodies. The old clock started to ring, and a collective panic struck the girls as they looked closer at the bodies, realizing the truth. The dead bodies, tangled in the colorful lights, were their own. A big bang and an earth-shaking crash came from the kitchen. Nick, clinging to a half-unraveled string of twinkling lights, raised an eyebrow, “Guess we have a poltergeist who doesn´t like our taste in ornaments, huh?” April laughed as she approached the kitchen, convinced that the sound was the cat from next door sneaking in again. 10
DEBATE Stirred not shaken! A look at the STIRRED UP debate about ALCOHOL regulation in Norway Henrike Jost Writer Illustration: AdobeStock // Jeff For those of us who celebrate, the holidays are right around the corner, which means endless Christmas and New Year parties with an even more endless flow of alcohol. While these parties can mean lots of fun, for others they mean a heightened risk of sexual assault. These cases are not isolated incidents. One tenth of the Norwegian workforce have either been sexually assaulted themselves or know someone who has been subject to such inappropriate behavior at their company’s Christmas party (Bjørnson Hagen, 2022). To blame is often the large flow of alcohol that are served and consumed at the festivities. Alcohol is not only deeply ingrained in Norwegian and other Nordic countries’ Christmas traditions, but it is said to be generally interwoven with their cultures for centuries. The dangers of the widespread heavy drinking patterns across populations in the North have been used to justify strict regulations on alcohol production, selling, and consumption that Norway and its fellow Nordic countries are well known for today. The question is: Are these stringent rules justified and effective in what they are trying to achieve? The most recent SHoT study (Studentenes Helseog Trivselsundersøkelse) has, for example, shown that more than half of the male university students and 4 in 10 female students exhibit risky drinking patterns (Heradstveit et al., 2022) and, as such render the regulatory approach to appear ineffective. So let’s take a look at the Norwegian approach to regulating alcohol, its history, and its pros and cons to see whether it actually works and prevents societal harm or if it is unnecessarily harsh. A shot of history The strict regulations on alcohol consumption date back to heavy alcohol use in the 19th century, reaching its peak in the 1830s with 13 liters of alcohol per person (Hauge, 1996). The general public saw it necessary to reduce the harm caused by alcohol and started to call for stricter regulations (WHO, 2023; Karlsson & Österberg, 2003). In 1919, the Alcohol Prohibition Act was introduced, which prohibited the consumption and production of the majority of spirits. However, trade quarrels with wine-exporting countries, like France and Spain, caused its demise 8 years later (Johansen, 2013). The Alcohol Act that is in force today was implemented in 1990s (Karlsson & Österberg, 2003). Its main objective remains to be the same as the initial approach to alcohol regulation: to reduce health and societal harm caused by alcohol. The new act tries to reconcile this goal while also allowing citizens to choose whether they want to consume liquor (Götestam & Röstum, 1983). Today’s offer: the legal cocktail It is widely held that the way regulating alcohol is approached has significant impact upon how much harm is caused by liquor (Götestam & Röstum, 1983). Therefore, the government opted for a rather strict approach to prevent societal and health related harms such as accidents caused by drunk driving, as well as alcoholism, and over 200 other diseases and conditions like cancer (WHO, 2023). To reduce consumption, only alcoholic beverages below a 4.7% alcohol concentration can be sold in normal stores. Beverages above that percentage can only be bought at Vinmonopolet, a store owned by the state. Through these shops and through the state monopoly on alcohol, the government can control the access to purchasing alcohol, its price, as well as which kind of alcohol is sold (WHO, 2023). The beverages are also highly taxed to further disincentivize alcohol consumption (Karlsson & Österberg, 2003). A prohibition of advertising alcohol also falls under the tight alcohol regulation in Norway (Götestam & Röstum, 1983). In addition, a license is needed to sell alcohol. Its issuance is decided by the municipalities (Karlsson & Österberg, 2003). There are not only restrictions to where alcohol can be bought, but also for when. Low-percentage alcohol can only be sold between 08:00-20:00 on weekdays, and 08:00-18:00 on Saturdays and the day before public holidays. Vinmonopolet is only open between 10:00- <strong>DESEMBER</strong> 2023 <strong>UNIKUM</strong> NR 10 11
Page 1 and 2: Seasons Greetings from Unikum‘s E
Page 3 and 4: LEDER SEASON OF GRATITUDE The year
Page 5 and 6: Sørlands Julebrus Ángels: It smel
Page 7 and 8: Christmas Gifts On a Budget TIPS Il
Page 9: KULTUR OPPSKRIFT OPPSKRIFT Doble ha
Page 13 and 14: My final shot To sum up, Norway has
Page 15 and 16: How to Celebrate Christmas Alone TI
Page 17 and 18: Culture calendar for students 07.12
Page 19 and 20: Ikke tid til et helt semester i utl
Page 21 and 22: it was. And you better believe I wa
Page 23 and 24: Final thoughts I could go on foreve
Page 25 and 26: ENTERTAINMENT PIT STOP Across 5. 78
Page 27 and 28: #4 - Ta det med ro Å sykle med pig
Page 29 and 30: Number 3: A mirror (which present i
Page 31 and 32: Registrer deg — og — vinn Regis
Page 33 and 34: JULESTEMNING ‚TIS THE GRINCH HOLI
Page 35 and 36: Photo: IMDb HUNGER GAMES: THE BALLA
Page 37 and 38: Interessant å se det større bilde
Page 39 and 40: Kingdom on his quests. Here, Mario

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