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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1988-04-06, Page 4Page 4 Times -Advocate, April 6, 1988 Times Established I tr-1 Advocate Established ISBSI Amalgamated 1424 BLUE RIBBON AWARD 1985 Imes -/`advocate Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario, NOM ISO - Second Class Mail Registration Number -0386. Phone 519.235-1331 ROSS HAUGH Editor HARRI DEVRIES t omposilion Manager €NA «N. BIM BECKETT Publisher & Adsertising Manager DON SMITH Business Manager SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada: $25.00 Per year; U.S.A. $65.00 It can be beaten 'Cancer Can Be Beaten. April has -been designated as Cancer Month in Canada and we would urge all Canadians to support this annual fund raising campaign. People from all ages from infants to the elderly can develop cancer but the risk increases as one grows older. This year, 94,800 Canadians will be di- agnosed with cancer. This figure will bring the total number of people under medical care for cancer to approximate- ly 300,000. Of these at least ,half will be alive and well five years after treatment. Of every four deaths from all causes in -Canada, one is caused by cancer. Cancer:is not one disease, but a group of diseases which share a common fea- ture; unregulated growth of abnormal body cells. Often the multiplying. cells form a tumor. When the tumor's cells have the poten— tial to invade and destroy nearly normal cells and to spread to other parts of the body, the tumor is said to be malignant. - Not all tumors, however, are cancer. Some growths of normal cells enlarge .yet remain confined to the original site; these are called benign tumors.. The question continues, "Can Cancer be beaten?" Scientists believe That in time thc an- swer is "yes": Each year more money is allocated in Canada.for cancer research than is allocated for any other disease and the results are positive. This financial support as well as time and effort are paying off. Today. more people with cancer are living longer limes. The odds have been cut in more than half. In the 1980's, one of every two pa- tients under treatment will survive at least five'years compared to one in five during the 1940's. Nevertheless, scientists continue to search for more effective means of dis- agnosing and treating cancer in hope of completely eradicating it in the future. • The best hope that cancer can be beat- en, however, is to prevent it in the first place. That is why much 'of today's re- search concentrates on what causes can- cer. Some 50 years ago, physicians from the Canadian Medical Association and peo- ple from some provincial lay groups were looking for a way to.encourage Ca- nadians to see their doctors at the first sign of cancer. Some of them got together and incorpo- rated the Canadian Society for the -Con- trol of Cancer as a -national body in 1938 to meet this -need. In 1945, the name was changed to the Canadian Cancer Society. Since then, the Society has grown. Today it reaches out to serve more than 3,000 urban and rural communities. The Canadian Cancer Society could not exist without the participation and com- mitment of hundreds of thousands of vol- unteers who generously give of their time to Public Education and Service to Patients programs as well as fund raising activities. The 1987 campaign goal is to raise $36 million. The National Cancer Institute of Canada receives almost 50 percent of campaign monies for research purposes. In addition to these funds, CCS also of- fers fellowships to doctors for special- ized training. More than half of the Canadian 1987 di- vision campaign goals are expected to come from the province of Ontario w: a figure of $18,300,000. Many cancers might never occur in the first place if people avoided known -and suspected cancer-causing agents and chose healthy lifestyles. And, many poeple with cancer can be cured if the disease is detected soon enough to be successfully treated.. Public Education's goal is to help Canadians .change thisbehaviour so cancer can be prevented or detected early enough tb cure. With your support, the Canadian Can- cer Society can continue to make steady advances on making a dream of a cancer - free society come true. All of us know each year of families or friends who have been affected by this dreaded disease. We can help by giving generously when a canvasser calls or by being a canvasser. These important volunteers are needed in every community. Exeter Lioness Club members will be out on the street Friday morning of this week -selling daffodils for the Cancer So- ciety. Similar sales will take place the same day in other area centres. Let's all work together so at least in the lives of our children and grandchilden, Cancer will be Neaten. By Ross Haugh A personal challenge I swear that when a barber sees me come in the door that he secs my head of hair as a liersonal challenge. . Whenever it gets to tiTe place where i can't sec between my -bangs any longer my wife wams me: "Make sure they don't cut it too short on you again." And how can I forget. The last time three senior kids started snickering a little before I got half -way across the playground and one of my primary 'teachers said that one of her chiln an- nounced in 'show and lI' that Mr. Fletcher had something dif- fcrcnt about him this morning. Could they guess what it was? Apparently hands shot up all over the place with the correct answer. I When I get seated in the chair thc barbers always as, "And how would you like it today, sir?" And i always say, "Not too short, please, I've got a meeting By the Way by Syd, Ftetcher tonight and 1 don't want to look like I've just had a haircut. Just a trim around the edges and thin it out a bit." Now that seems like fairly clear instructions, so i lean back and try to relax. Of course, the prob- lem with most barbers is that the? don't let you look in the mirror as they're doing their • little numbcr on you. You sit there and hear the s'issors go snip, snip, snip and try to re- member if that was the place where the bald spot is starting to show through. Then they getout the clippers to do the final trim and you real- ize in a panic that they're trim- ming the short hairs right up -and around the back of your ear. It's - too late! They've got you again. I think I should do what they did in the old westerns. Pack my big .44 pistol in. Lay it on the counter and drawl. "See that, pardner. Just bear it in mind as you use those little old scissors!" The only consolation I ever have though is the advice my secretary gives me. She says that the only difference between a good haircut and a bad one is two weeks. r Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lambton Since 1873 Published by J.W. Eedy Publications Limited "TURNER FINALLY RECEIVED RECOGNITION WITHIN HIS OWN PARTY - ONE OF THE MEMBERS SAID' kll' TO HIM." Where bicycles belong That bright stuff in the air isn't snow. It's sunshine. Sunshine at this time of year can. only mean one thing. Bicycles. More of the two -wheeled ma- chines will be out and about this year than ever before, mine in- cluded. The increasing populari- ty of bicycling as exercise and sport means that more adults will be indulging in the joys of the road. Let us not forget the road is where they belong. In a bicycling publication I read that one motorist fumed that bi- cycles had no right to use the road because they didn't use gas, and gas taxes are what pay for the roads in the first place. Of course, bicycles were popu- lar long before cars and the laws clearly state they have every right to the roads. But with that right comes responsibility. Legally, bicycles are vehicles and all vehicles must follow the rules of the road. Bicycles must stick to the right- hand side of the road, except whcn making left turns and such. It doesn't take a mathema- tician to realize a motorist has much less time to contemplate a cyclist heading straight for him than if the bicycle were going the same direction. I was making a left tum off Hold that thought... by Adrian Harte Main Street the other day when a rider on a BMX bike suddenly appeared in front of my car. We both skidded to a stop, narrowly avoiding a fatal situation. The cyclist had been riding along the left sidewalk behind parked cars, -invisible from the road, and con- tinued right into the intersection. Not a smart move. However, cyclists who arc out on the road enjoying the sun- shine should be given full benefit of the courtesy of motorists. Driving up behind a bicycle and blowing the horn is never a good idea. ' Cars are noisy enough for a,cyclist to hear from a distance. The horn will only give thc rider a heart attack and ruin his or her day. Another favorite trick of incon- siderate motorists is accom- plished by those who insist on accelerating past my bicycle only to immediately tum right, forcing me to grab the brakes and scream nasty words the drivers don't hear anyway. Sometimes brakes don't work fast enough. If the driver could only wait the three seconds for a bicycle to pass the intersection, there would be fewer angry cyclists and fewer dents in passenger doors. Bicycling is a two-way street, to say the -least. So if cyclists are following all the rules of the road, give them all the respect they deserve. And watch out for those riders and children who believe the rules don't apply to them. With any luck they'll get a chance to learn from their mis- takes. We've got winners It's been quite a contest. I don't know who had more fun, the participants or mc. it's also been fun - and a lot of work - for the whole family. Our greatest regret is that 1 cannot scnd prizes or even acknowledgments' to everyone. The choice was very, very difficult. Somc of your .letters made us laugh out loud, others brought tears to our eyes. But here, chosen with great difficulty from among many hundreds of correct, witty, original entries, arc the winners: 1st prize: Marion MacLachlan of Masson, Que. (reads the Lachutc Watchman). 2nd prizes: Elise Bartram of Swan River, Man. (reads the Swan River Star & Times); Penny O'Donnell of Orangeville, Ont. (Orangeville Banner); Esther Weir of Kcmptvillc, Ont. (Kcmptvillc Advance). 3rd prizes: Mary Elford and Lome Little, both of Blenheim, Ont. (both read the Blenheim News Tribune); Doris Hiscock of Killarney, Manitoba (Baidur Gazette); Esther Merrill of San Luis Obispo, California (reads the Swan River Star & Times); Mary Sutherland of Lambeth, Ont. (Lambeth News -Star); Karen L. Olafson , of Wynyard, Sask. (Wynyard Advance). Honourable mention: Annie MoTenz of Dashwood, Ont.; V. Woods of Bowsman. Man., and Violet Lavell of Swan River, Man. One of the questions was: "What country beats Europe whcn it comes to scenery?" I will I'E'I'ER'S POINT • - devote one of my May columns to he answers I received. Answers to the question about situations you would tike to "hold" or "reverse" will also be dealt with shortly. The prizes have been mailed. You'll hear a liule more about the contest later, but here arc some extracts from the letter that won first prize: Women should shovel snow because it gcts them into shape for cutting the lawn, also because Peter believes it to be good for them. Men arc doing women a favour by letting them shovel to save them from having• to join ' Weight Watchers or aerobics classes. Marion calls my medical explanation "balderdash" and claims it was given to me by a doctor who wants to keep his wife busy. She says Angelstone has nothing to do with angels. She likes Canada better than any other country because 'This Land is my Land". Site says that I won't try downhill skiing because I am (a) too chicken and (b) "a trifle near with my money". She also thinks that 1 like writing about downhill skiing more than apres-ski activities. She wants ro "reverse" Black' Monday in the stock market and "hold" about 100 feet short of the black -ice patch that made her car spin around. She not only correctly identifies Downhill Duke as the Grand old Duke of York (as did almost all participants), but also names the ups and downs of his illustrious descendants. She did have some trouble with the FF question (correct answer: Fast Forward) and in desperation offers solutions such as Fake Fur (advocated by animal rights activists who own the companies making them) or Fattening Food. She ends by saying "I'll bc't• you thought Pd throw in a few risque FF -bits. It would have been easy to do, but I don't trust you, Peter: You'd publish them with my name attached." Come on now, Marion, I may be accused of occasional bluntness, but I am a gentleman. I was very grateful to receive so many heart-warming, encouraging comments about my column. I'm_ glad you enjoy it. I also thank all the staff members at the various newspapers who collected the entries and forwarded them to me. I thank you all and hope to meet many of you in person next year during our family's planned Cross -Canada tour, to coincide with the publication of my book, "Peter's Point".