INSIDE COMMUNITY EVENTS B2 _CHARLYNN TO EWS To boldly go ODAY’S TOPIC is the study of space, but not outer space. It is the space between your nose and this newspaper. Or, another way to put it, the space between these blobs of ink on new- sprint and your eyeballs. Because these are only blobs of ink, you know. Arranged in a certain manner of course, and with certain rules, like you know the dot at the end of this sentence © meas stop. Readers know a lot of things about these blots of ink. You know that when you see a little star like the one coming up soon, to look down at the bottom of the page. Okay, here it is now, go down for a look. How was your tip? Good?, Excellent all round then, Readers are magical. In this space between your nose and this newspaper, you, the reader, lake the blobs of ink and turn them into words again. Without a reader, they are like squashed bugs on a kicencx blowing across an asphalt playground, not even interesting to a raven. These blobs of ink only turn back into words when a reader picks wp the newspaper and looks at them with her/his eyes, brain, heart and gut. So the reader is necessary for any of this to work. Thank you, reader. Second, (or maybe, also first) are the words. The words are necessary too. If there were no words, I suppose a reader could still pick up a paper and admire how crisply it folds when | wrapped around fish or placed in the bottom of a birdcage, But that’s not reading. Perhaps it’s art. aT So we have the reader and the words (and the writer behind them) — three items, and most people think that’s it. But we need to add a fourth item, and the fourth item is the most im- portant, and that ilem is the space between your nose and this newspaper. If little tiny spaceships could fit into this space between your nose and this newspaper, down at the micro level, could aliens observe the blobs of ink being sucked into the brain by the eyes, like water to a thirsty elephant? Let’s think about the space for a moment: a few inches, a foot or so of space. Here is where reading lives, as if on air alone. Do the blobs of ink feed the brain, or do the eyes breathe life into the blobs of ink to make them live again as words? Rebom again and again and again. If little tiny spaceships could fit into this space between your nose and this newspa- per, down at the micro level, could aliens observe the blobs of ink being sucked into the brain by the eyes, like water to a thirsty elephant? Or would their sophisticated sur- veillance equipment rather detect rays of reading “‘light’’ pouring out of the eyes, sweeping across the blobs of ink to animate them? This is a very small space between your nose and this newspaper, so it would have to be a very very small spaceship. Perhaps such a spaceship would appear to us only as a speck of dust caught by sun- light, if it would appear at all, we being dis- tracted by reading at the time. Perhaps these spaceships appear only when we are read- ing. Perhaps the act of reading causes them to appear. See, I made you think about spaceships by writing these words. Or no, if I just write them, they are only bugs on kleenex until someone reads them. So we are crealing these spaceships together (mine is more Star Trek than Star Wars) in the space be- tween your nose and this newspaper. If we could talk to the little people operat- ing these small space crafi, we could ask them what they see, if anything, in this space, If we could somehow communicate with them to ask them what they are experi- encing, we could get some more solid in- formation on the whole question. But I bet they’d only aggravate us by saying, ‘‘Hey, groovy trip nian, thanks,” * Asterisk are so friendly. It's like a little ~ whisper down here, Okay, now go back up. By SALWA FARAH WE ALL occasionally crave rich cakes smothered in a dark chocolate sauce, creamy pastries with a sprinkle of icing sugar or! honey dipped donuts, fresh out of the fryer. ; But for many diabetics, these seemingly harmless sweets could lead to agoniz- ing nightmares — even death. Lois Hlushak knows the full impact of what diabetes means. She’s seen it destroy | her brother and now she has to cope with it every day of her life. In 1973, Hlushak was’ diagnosed with type two. diabetes — a diabetes that is non-insulin dependent and affects a darge number of Canadians — most of whom don’t even know it. - form of lose all sense of reasoning and have screaming fits. His condition was getting prog- ressively worse and years of injecting insulin in his legs resulted in destroying his nerves. He died a number of . years ago in a car accident. ‘When you become a diabetic you become very confused,’’ explained Hlushak, saying the lack of blood sugar going to the brain affects the capacity for clear thinking. ‘When her blood sugar is high, Hiushak begins to fect hyper. ‘It ll damage you’re fervous system,’’ she ex- plained about the devastat- ing effects.on the body. But having type two diabetes ‘doesn’t mean a short and painful life. With the proper diet and healthy lifestyle,\a long life is pos- \ " sible. “The main thing is to take it seriously — learn as much as you can about it. You can live a happy and normal life if you follow the rules.”? “Tf was thirsty, hungry, had dizzy spells. I had all the symptoms you read about,’’ said Hlushak. “Tt really threw me. I was upset because I'd secn the things my brother went through — it scared me, it really scared me,”” Hlushak realizes — the responsibly that comes with having diabetes. She’s seen the consequences of not tak- ing care of yourself. “We had. io wait until my brother Jeft the room before having ~ sweets,’’, said Hlushak about her older brother who was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes. “We used to chew his bubble gum lo get the sugar out of it,” she said, ‘‘Now I know the torture he went through.”’ Her brother would often One of the big misconcep- tions, is that all diabetics have to depend on injec- tions. But in fact, about 90 percent of diabetics are type two and are not necessarily on needles or pills, A strict diet, exercise and a healthy lifestyle can sig- nificantly improve a diabetics quality of life, but it takes perseverance and commitment. Hiushak was prescribed a strict diet by her doctor. “I made up my mind that this diet was going to be my life,’ she explained. “1 cannot emphasize enough how dict and ex- ercise play into a diabetics lifestyle,”’ she advises others. Hiushak measures every- thing «she cats and drinks and must cat something on a SECTION B CRIS LEYKAUF 638-7283 AS A DIABETIC, Lois Hlushak. rieasures and weighs everything she eats and: drinks. The combination of a healthy diet and plenty of exercise have helped Hlushak maintain a good quality of life, regular basis in order ‘to’ maintain ber blood sugar levels, At first, she had a terrible time with it. “I used to ex- periment with it (the diet) — I would try with a half a chocolate bar and nothing stick to a diet knows it’s not would happen, so I’d try a an casy task. whole one, then before ] ‘The main thing is to take knew it my blood sugar itseriously —learm as much would go up,’? said 48 you can about it You can Hlushak, live a happy and normal tife Any one who has tried to if you follow the rules.” The warning signs of diabetes DIABETES is a chronic disease that has no cure, and is a jeading cause of death by disease in Canada. Warld Diabetes Day is November 14 and it’s 4 good time to familiarize yourself with diabetes and its symptoms. Many who have diabetes don’t even know it, There are three types of diabetes. Type 1, or insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM), . occurs when the pancreas no longer produces any or produces very litile insulin. Insulin is needed in the body to use sugar for energy. About 10 per cent of diabetics are Type 1. The remaining 90 percent are affecied by Type 2 diabetes or mnon-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM). Type 2 diabetes oc- curs when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or when the body does not effec- tively use the insulin thal is produced, A third type of diabetes, gestational diabetes, is a temporary condition that occurs during pregnancy. It affects one oul of every 20 preg- nant women with 40 percent of those cases de- veloping into Type 2 diabetes later in jife. People with diabetes are at risk for developing a variety of complications. Approximately 40 percent of people with diabetes develop com- plications due to their disease, Possible complications include: Small blood vessel damage, nerve damage and food prob- lems due to blood vessel damage, kidney dis- ease due to blood vessel damage in the kidacys, and large blood vessel damage. Below are some statistics about diabetes and complications: A Diabetes is the leading cause of adult blind- ness, A Diabetes is the leading cause of all non- accident-relaled complications. A Forty to 50 percent of people with diabetes are affected by nerve damage. A The risk of cardiac heart disease and stroke is. Celebrating 40 years in school increased by two-fold in men with diabetes, and | three to four-fold in women. A Fifty to 60 percent of men with diabetes ex- perience impoience. It’s possible to have diabetes for years without knowing. The common symptoms of diabetes, when they are evident, are: increased thirst, fre- quent urination, weight change, nausea and vomiting, blurry vision, tingling and numbness in hands and feet, tiredness, irritability, itchy skin, slow healing of culs and wounds. Though you may be over 45 and have never experienced these symptoms, you may still be at risk of diabetes if you: have a close family member with diabetes, are overweight and inac- tive, are of Aboriginal, African or Latin Amer- ican descent, have given birth to a large baby. See your family doctor if you have experi- enced any of the above, or suspect for any other reason that you have diabetes, Or call the Cana- dian Diabetes Association at 1-800-665-6526, THESE STUDENTS were In their party hats and ready te go to the ‘Uplands Elementary School 40th birthday party celebration last Friday. WHEN VESTA Douglas took charge of Uplands Elementary School 40 years ago, she oversaw a small but energetic four classroom institution. While the size of the school has exploded, the same prin- ciples and attitudes at its foundation still prevail, says the school’s first principal. ‘*The attitude remains exactly the same —~ parents were extremely cooperalive, children were always an asset and — teachers where dedicated people,”’ explained Douglas. Uplands has come a long way since 1957, The four-room -school has expanded io 18, the enrollment has nearly tri- “pled — fiom 150 to 435 —- and there are about 35 teachers currently employed there, ; While she’d love to take another run at being the school’s principal, Douglas !s pleased to see the excellent work others are doing. “I commend you in your dedication to our children — for they are a real asset,”’ she said about the current staff, - Mike Schneider has seen many changes to the school in his 22 years of teaching at Uplands, He says there are more challenges to teachers now, such as more children with special needs. “The curriculum has slso changed immensely —— now . we have a new math curriculum, language arts and social . Stidies,”? he explained. Schneider is pleased with what he sees, ‘I. think children are belter and more respectful.’ ae ’