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The Times Advocate, 2004-04-14, Page 66 Exeter Times–Advocate Wednesday,April 14, 2004 Opinion Forum News Seniors' perspective Continued from page 5 they (or it) appear bad again, a sea of change about as monumental as what the egg industry has endured during its 1/2 century fight against choles- terol. Eggs became public enemy # 1 in the 1980s under irrational fears about cholesterol, until more research brought them into a better light this decade. It is today safe to eat eggs. Red meat has received a bad rap as well. But Atkins has reversed those fortunes and today people happily overindulge. The fruit and vegetable sector is usually a net ben- efitter from these food crazes, since most produce is on the recommended list. If everyone ate as many fruits and vegetables as they are supposed to, the demand would be unmatchable. However people do not eat all that they should. Potatoes are today's trendy victim, it will survive and come back. People ultimately eat what appeals to them, although the issue is whether they feel guilty about it when they eat. "Information from Ontario Producer Hospital Happenings Guide provides important lessons in caring EXETER -There are few more difficult --or more human --experiences than the end stage of life. We all face the end of life in ways that are as unique as the life each of us leads. What we have in common, however, is that most of us share the hope that when death comes to us or to someone close to us, it will be peaceful and free from pain. We hope to face death feeling comfortable and well cared for. We will face many choices on this journey, but the ultimate goal of palliative care is to enhance the quality of life. Principles in palliative/hospice care are about providing comfort and care, manag- ing pain and symptoms, communicating effectively with all members of the family and care team. Hospice/palliative care is care for people facing life-threatening illness and strives to meet the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of the patient and their loved ones. It is individualized care that emphasizes living fully until the end of life, living with dignity, in comfort, and surrounded by a circle of support. Hospice/palliative care is provided to adults or to children, in any setting --at home, in a nursing home or in a hospital. Hospice/palliative care can help make a very diffi- cult life passage both man- ageable and meaningful. The `Living Lessons -A Guide for Caregivers' has used personal experiences in hospice/palliative care, lessons learned at the bed- side of Canadians over the past 25 years, to teach us some important lessons: • We have learned that dying is an essential human stage of living and that when physical and emotional needs are met, the journey toward death, although difficult, can be a rich experience that gives meaning to life. • We have learned that, by managing the pain and symptoms of those facing death, more energy can be dedicated to embracing the life of the mind, heart and spirit so essential to quality of life. • We have learned that providing practical, emo- tional and spiritual support to the caregiver through all stages of illness and bereavement can allow caregivers and loved ones to experience spe- cial moments of growth, communication and intense connection with each other. • We have learned that everyone faces death in his or her own way and that the power of having control and exercising choice is an important com- ponent of maintaining dignity in the final stages of life. • We have learned that caregivers and patients alike must be well-informed, active participants in the care team and be prepared to be advocates for the quality of end -of -life care everyone deserves. At South Huron Hospital there is a Palliative Care team of caring physicians, nurses and volunteers that are from the VON Palliative Care Volunteer Program who provide 'that extra touch' for pallia- tive care patients. (excerpts from `Living Lessons -A Guide for Caregivers') OUTH Reasons Why Farm Trucks Are Never Stolen: They have a range of about 20 miles before they overheat, break down or run out of gas. Only the owner knows how to operate the door to get in or out. It is difficult to drive fast with all the fence tools, grease rags, ropes, chains, buckets, boots and loose paper in the cab. It takes too long to start and the smoke coming up through the rusted -out floorboard clouds your vision. They're too easy to spot. The description might go something like this: The driver's side door is red, the passenger side door is green, the right fender is yel- low etc. The large round bale in the back makes it hard to see if you're being chased. You could use the mirrors if they weren't cracked and covered with duct tape. Who wants a truck that needs a year's worth of maintenance, u -joints, $3000 in body -work, taillights and a windshield. It's hard to commit a crime with everyone waving at you. Reality T. V. , where's the line? Ever since the first season of Survivor reali- ty television has virtually taken over every network out there. You would think though after all this time that the quality of program- ming would be improved, but leave it to some networks to prove the viewing public wrong. The whole trend with the reality phase has gone like this: You're survival capabilities, such as Survivor (the only reality show I ever watched, and that only lasted a season), you're 'Boy meets Girl' where complete strangers "connect" over a period of really only a few short weeks and claim to fall madly in love, you're home decorating/improvement shows, and now more recently you're plastic surgery shows. It's the shows based on plastic surgery that I have the greatest problem with. From what I know, it started with the show Extreme Makeover, where a few selected contestants get the chance to have a plastic surgeon to completely alter ever part of their body they're unhappy with, whether it be a face lift, nose job or stomach staple. Of course, leave it to FOX to steal an idea and run with it. I was horrified to catch a few final minutes of their latest reality show called The Swan. Here several extremely self- conscious women are told that they have a chance to finally make themselves look beauti- ful, basically flat-out telling them that they're ugly. They undergo any physical changes that the panel of "experts" feel are required and then are forced to stay in their house with no mirrors until they are finally able to be revealed to their friends and family. To make matters worse, in each episode two contestants are up against each other to determine which one is beautiful enough to be entered in this false beauty pageant. So they loser is basically told "Well, you were ugly before, but you're a lot better now; but sorry, you're still not good enough." Maybe this is just me, but if these women are self- conscious enough to go through with this whole thing in the first place, that really isn't something I would go about saying to them. And what about the contestants family and friends? Some of these people are changed so much that they're unrecognizable. I personal- ly wouldn't feel like I was around the same person anymore. And if they felt like they had to do this for their loved ones, then maybe they should take a good hard look at the type of people they surrounded themselves with. It's natural for everyone to have a part of themselves they're unhappy with, but no one should get caught up by the latest television craze and think that drastic surgery is the way to go. Hopefully the next television fad teaches contestants to express their inner beauty, not help them make a false exterior. DEBRA TOONK Principal's message EXETER — Last Thursday the South Huron Chamber of Commerce hosted a successful Career Information Day at SHDHS. More than 20 businesses, industries and institutions were on hand to provide our stu- dents with valuable information about career opportunities in South Huron. The event was well received by our students, many of whom were surprised to discover the variety of careers available in this area. On behalf of the staff and students of SHDHS, I would like to thank all the people who gave up their time to be on hand for this worthwhile event. I would especially like to thank Linda Finkbeiner of the Chamber of Commerce for her hard work organizing and arranging this event. I would also like to thank Betty Janke of our Guidance Department for helping to organize the event and Janis Dougall and her Food and Nutrition classes for providing the coffee, snacks and lunch for our visitors. I would like to remind every- one of the special event we are hosting this Thurs., April 15, at 7:30 p.m. in the small gym: "Teenagers: Under the Influence" is a community forum hosted by the SHDHS School Council. We will have a number of experts in atten- dance to provide information and opinions on the many influences that affect the attitudes, values and behaviour of young people in our community. It is our hope the forum will pro- vide us, as parents and community members, with a common understanding of the many influences teenagers face so we may respond accordingly. The forum will be moderated by Bonnie Baynham, who is well known in the communi- ty for her work with various agencies and as the person responsible for bringing the youth drop-in centre to Exeter. The panel members will be Dana Bozzato of the Huron -Perth Centre, Shelley Spencer of the Huron County Health Unit, Professor Michael Katchabaw of UWO and Cindy Wesley of PAVE (Parents Against Violence Everywhere). Bozzato is the office manager of the Huron Perth Centre and has many years of experi- ence as a counsellor dealing with family issues. She will be able to provide some valu- able insight for parents dealing with the many issues that arise at home, as well as sugges- tions on how to develop effective relationships with our kids. Spencer is working in a pilot project at FE Madill in Wingham where she is providing counselling services to students. She can pro- vide first-hand information on the many fac- tors that influence the attitudes, feelings and behaviour of our young people. Professor Katchabaw is in the Computer Sciences faculty at UWO and one of his areas of specialty is computer and video games. He has done considerable research on the addic- tiveness of such games and is a recognized expert on the effects of violence in video games. His presentation should be interesting and informative. Wesley will share with us her tragic personal account of the terrible effects of bully behav- iour. Her daughter took her own life after being bullied at school, and Wesley now works with PAVE to let parents across the country know of the damaging influence of bully behaviour and what parents can do to combat it. Her present tion promises to be powerful and thought-provoking. The evening will begin with a series of pre- sentations by our panel of experts, followed by some open discussion among the panel mem- bers and then an opportunity for audience members to ask questions. This will provide an excellent opportunity for parents to get answers to questions they may have and sug- gestions on how to deal with the many influ- ences and situations their children face. The forum is open to everyone in the community, and we hope to see a good crowd in atten- dance for what promises to be an informative session. See you there. JEFF REABURN PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE