Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Times Advocate, 2006-05-10, Page 66 Exeter Times -Advocate Wednesday, May 10, 2006 Opinion Forum News Seniors' perspective Continued from page 5 celing foreign debt. The Business of Fear: Did you know that the Avian Influenza (Bird Flu Virus) was "discovered nine years ago in Vietnam? Did you know that since that only 100 persons have died in the entire world over all those years? Did you know that it was North American authorities that sounded the Alert on the efficacy of TAMIFLU (Human Antivirus) as a preventive measure? Did you know that TAMIFLU only lessens a few of the symptoms of the common flu? Did you know that the vast majority of the scientific community has questioned the effectiveness of TAMI- FLU against the common flu virus? Did you know that against the so-called mutant virus H5N1, TAMIFLU barely has any relief for this disease? Did you know that as of today, the aviarian flu still affect's only birds? Did you know who markets the TAMIFLU brand? Answer: LA ROCHE Laboratories Did you know who bought the TAMIFLU patent in 1996? Answer: GILEAD SCIENCES INC Did you know who the President of GILEAD SCI- ENCES INC was and who still holds the title of Chief Shareholder today? Answer: DONALD RUMSFELD, present Secretary of Defense, U.S.A. Did you know that the chemical basis for TAMIFLU is the "star -anise"? (a spice) DID YOU KNOW who in the world has maintained control over 90 per cent of the worldwide production of this plant? Answer: LA ROCHE Laboratories. Did you know that TAMIFLU sales went from $254 Million in 2004 to $1,000 Million in 2005? Did you know how many more millions of dollars LA ROCHE will make if the present FEAR politics continue in the future? The American Power Brokers decide that a pharma- ceutical product such as TAMIFLU is the solution for a pandemic that has not yet happened and that has caused the death of a hundred or so people in nine years across the globe. This pharmaceutical product does NOT heal the com- mon flu. This virus does not affect humans under nor- mal conditions. Rumsfeld sells the TAMIFLU patent to LA ROCHE who pays a fortune for it. LA ROCHE buys out 89 per cent of star -anise production, the basis for the antivirus formula. Governments across the world buy industrial quantities of the product from LA ROCHE. Are we crazy or just plain stupid? Mumps: Mumps is an acute viral disease characterized by fever with swelling, and tenderness of one or more sali- vary glands (parotitis). Widespread vaccination has made mumps extremely rare in North America, though it is still common in many European countries and the developing world. The vaccine is almost always given in combination form: [measles -mumps -rubella (MMR)1. The term mumps came from an old expression describ- ing the lumps or bumps that occur in the cheeks when the infection occurs. One-third of people who develop mumps have no signs or symptoms of the infection. Those who develop mumps and have symptoms may experience swollen, painful glands on either or both sides of the face, a temperature, weakness and fatigue, painful swallowing, pain when chewing or tenderness of the testes (orchitis). Mumps occurs from exposure to the mumps virus. The virus is easily spread from person to person by infected saliva. Without immunity gained from having the MMR vaccine you can control mumps by drinking from a cup or sharing eating utensils with an infected person or breathing in saliva droplets from a person who has been sneezing and coughing in front of you. There was a farmer who raised watermelons. He was doing pretty well but some local kids who would sneak into his watermelon patch at night and eat his water- melons disturbed him. After some careful thought he comes up with a clever idea that he thinks will scare the kids away for sure. So he makes up a sign and posts it in the field. The next day the kids show up and they see this sign, which says, "Warning, one of the watermelons in this field has been injected with cyanide." So the kids run off and make up their own sign, which they post next to the sign that the farmer made. The farmer shows up the next day to look over his field. He notices that no watermelons are missing but he notices a new sign next to his. He drives over to the sign and takes a look. It says, "Now there are two". Volunteers do their best! We are volunteers trying to organize things for the children. No wonder people shy away from helping with organizing programs for kids. I'm sure this is not just hap- pening in our township. Run registration, organize teams, and find a place to play, it is that easy. First you run registration on certain days; you wait all day for 15 people to sign up. Second you pull all the lists from previous years and call all the people that played before and they tell you they wrote it down then forgot to sign up. (I'm one of those people, ask anyone!) Third you organize the team only to find out you still need more children to complete the team. You phone the kids who have joined up and get them to bug their friends to join the team. So far so good, we have enough to make some teams, we just have to move kids around a little bit. Fourth thing to do is book a place to play. It's that simple. Oh, no it's not! Only time left in the summer is on the weekend. Now I have to try and make a decision for all the parents of the kids wanting to join our program. Let me see. Wait a minute; I'm thinking, small team or no team: Weekdays or weekends? Vacations or no vacations? Do the children drive? Oh, I forgot, their ages range from four to 15 years old. What was I thinking? So I decide to have small teams, play during the week and I want to go camping and have some vacations with my family. I think people like to try and balance work, children and relaxation if possible. All these factors taken into account, one can affect the other. So I start hunting around for a suitable place to play. Boy, am I starting to get a little frustrated but I'll keep going, it's for the children by the way. Wow, someone found us a place to play! It is going to suit one of our teams but not all of them. They are willing to do what it takes to make it suitable. Sorry but I couldn't quite see it but we appreciate the superb help we got. One team down, three to go. This is getting ridiculous, the phone has started to mold into my head. I have an idea there's a place that's not being used, it would be perfect. Oh no, another decision! It's not in our township. What to do? Let's see if we can use it first, then go from there. On the phone again, yeah, we can use it, and the nights we need are available. They even said I can call them anytime I want if I need anything. Funny thing is that I had to call them a few times. Guess what? I got the same person each time and she knew what was going on at most of the different play areas in their township. Finally, I think everything is in place. Let's see, children ready to play, check; coach- es, check; and place to play, check. Right, I forgot one more thing; the most important is the parents, they might have to drive their children to the play area. We, the volun- teers, need parents and without parents there would not be any fun and games for the kids. It goes to show how important it is that everyone works together. All I ask is that everyone has patience with the volunteers. We are doing the best we can with what we are given. Have a great summer and think of the children. CINDY HENDRICK - One of many volunteers. Letters to the Editor A time to honour nurses The week of May 8 -14 is Nurses Week -- a time to reflect and appreciate the many and varied ways nurses contribute to providing health care. Frequently when we think of nurses and where they work, we think of institutions like hospitals. And truly the greatest numbers of nurses employed in Ontario do work in hospitals. But did you realize that over 16 per cent -- more than 18,000 of Ontario's nurses provide nursing care in a community setting? Community health care Registered Nurses (RNs) and Registered Practical Nurses (RPNs) are expert providers of a broad range of nursing services to people of all ages and diagnoses in the comfort and convenience of their own homes, workplaces, in schools, clinics or other community settings. Nursing care such as wound and ostomy care, diabetes management, IV therapy, palliative care, foot care and home chemotherapy are some aspects of a comprehensive range of services that help to meet the care needs of people in Huron County and across Ontario. Nurses are an integral part of the fabric of health care provision, especially in these times of health care cutbacks and shortages. Community nurses are specialists who provide cost effective, high quality and compassionate care to clients where they most frequently wish to be treated -- in their own homes. JOAN' TODD, Manager, Saint Elizabeth Health Care Branch Office, Clinton Principal's message EXETER — Last week our district of the Ontario Secondary Schools Teachers' Federation, District 8, held its annual Excellence in Public Education awards banquet in conjunction with the Avon Maitland District School Board. This event annually recognizes the contributions of students, teachers, support staff, admin- istrators and community members to education in our area, and it is truly one of the highlights of the school year. Four students and one community member from South Huron received awards. Amanda Carter was recognized for her prize-winning poem, "The Fall of My Dreamworld," which she entered in the Marion Drysdale Awards contest. The theme of this year's contest was "Thinking Globally," and Amanda won the poet- ry competition in her age category. Tyson Breuer, Vicki Hartman, and Ally MacGregor were recognized for their involvement in many aspects of life at South Huron, from Students' Council and the arts, to athletics and community service. All three of these young people have made significant contributions to the school over the last four years, and all are very deserving of this recognition. Our community recipient, Peter Zwart, was honoured for his ongoing support of our music program. For over 10 years Peter has recorded the concerts that our bands have held at the school, taping their performances so the students can hear how they played and determine areas for improvement. He began doing this when his daughter, Amy, began taking music at South Huron, and he continues to do so even though she graduated five years ago. Mr. Robilliard, Ms. Hollestelle and the students in the bands appreciate Peter's commitment to our music pro- gram and this award is a fitting way for us to show our gratitude. This week we have three events happening that signal the end of the year is in sight. On Monday, the students in our graduating class met with our Student Services teachers to be reminded about scholarships and awards for which they should be applying to receive infor- mation about Commencement, to vote for the class valedictorian and to select the nominees for Students of the Year. The voting for Students of the Year will take place in a couple of weeks and the winners will be announced at the formal. On Wednesday the graduating students had the opportunity to attend an OSAP presentation to find out how to apply for student loans for post -secondary school, and on Thursday we have our annual Elections Assembly to hear the campaign speeches of the candidates for next year's Students' Council. This week is a busy week at South Huron, as the drama club launches its annual show. This year's production is Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet," with the setting changed to 1967, which should add some unusual twists to this classic romantic tragedy. The cast and crew, under the direction of Ms. Beth Jantzi, our dramatic arts teacher, have been working and rehearsing for months on what promises to be an entertaining production. The show started Tuesday and rims until Friday, starting at 7:30 p.m., with two separate casts performing on alternate evenings. Tickets are available in the Main Office at the school for $7 each. We encourage you to come out and support the drama club. On Saturday of this week, the Students' Council is holding a comedy night in the small gym starting at 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 each and available in the Main Office at the school and at Curves in Exeter. This event is intended for a teenage and adult audience, and we hope it will be well supported by the community. Next Wed., May 17, we are pleased to have Dr. Duncan MacKinlay from the Child and Parent Resource Institute in London coming to South Huron to speak to us about Tourette's Syndrome and associated conditions. Tourette's is a condition that misunderstood and it affects more people in our community than most people realize. Dr. MacKinlay is a well known expert on this condition and we are looking forward to gaining a better understanding of Tourette's. He will speak to the student body in the last period and then will be presenting to staff after school. Parents and community members who wish to attend the afternoon session are more than welcome to do so. It will run from 2:05 to 3:20 p.m. in the large gym. JEFF REABURN PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE