The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, March 24, 1999 - BI

TERRACE STANDARD

SECTION B
| ALEX HAMILTON
. 638-7283

Early detection is key, docs say

Terrace is hosting it’s first
prostate cancer forum Wed-
' nesday, March 31 at the Kin-

INSIDE
COMMUNITY
EVENTS B2

JUST A THOUGHT.
KATHY FLORITTO

Cyber-junkies
beware!

computer with a modem is a bless-
ing - and a curse.
For those of us who've placed for
writing “‘hardcopy”’letters first on
the procrastination list, e-mail is ovr ticket to
worming back into the good graces of distant
friends and family...provided they are online,
If they haven’t bitten that particular little bul-

. let yet, well....there’s always the telephone.

- Doing a search on just about any topic brings
scads of information, more than we want or

‘need most of the time, but scads, nonetheless.

Need a flowery design for your hand-made
Christmas cards?

There are hundreds of sites offering free
graphics. How about a set of plans for that bird
house? It’s just a matter of typing a couple of
words in a little box, clicking your mouse on the
“go’’ button and voila!

You now have enough plans to comfortably
accommodaie every sparrow, bluejay and crow
within flying distance. And if hammer and nail
skills are limited to hanging a picture on the
wall, another quick search will find skilled
artisans to do the job for you.

Ab yes...we can travel the world, drop into art
galleries and museums, listen to the music of
our choice, learn a new Janguage, dabble in the
stock market, buy books, clothes for the kids,

. antiques...read books written by folks who

toiled with sharpened quills and rough parch-

‘ment and transcripts of documents scribed
- centuries carlier, It’s an amazing world easily.

explored by the online community,

So where’s the curse? Not far behind the
blessing, that’s where.

A day is 24 honrs. Just a few of those hours
are available for playing with our children, en-
joying the companionship of our husbands,
wives and friends, reading a good book, walk-
ing ihe dog, digging in the garden or even
(shudder) washing the car.

‘The majority of the 24 are devoted to ‘‘earmn-

‘ing a living’’ or attending school and siceping.

The average online “surfer’’ may intend to
find just one piece of information, then log off
and get back to the here and now; something he
or she plans to take no more than 20 minutes.

Bot an hour and a half later...

Finding information is a simple matter: type in

“the search criteria, go to one or two of the
. recommended sites, get the informalion wanted

and log off, In-depth Tesults in mere minutes,

~ So why are the searcher’s eyes glued to the
‘. monitor for so long and so aften?

Is there some insidious plan afoot to control
the world through a PC or a Mac? While we

‘poor sods are innocently using this marvelous

invention of the 20th century for increased
knowledge and a better understanding of our
world, has a modern-day Machiavelli managed
to insert subliminal messaging into the blips and
dots that form what appears on the screens be-

. fore us?

To what end?

Okay, okay - I’m slipping into paranoia. But
if you're onc of those cyber-junkies, think about
it. Do you see your friends as often as you once
did? Are your conversations a tad stilted com-
pared to your pre-computer days?

_ How long has it been since you found time for
reading something in hardcopy (ihe ingredients

- on your cereal box déesn’t count).

_ Are you contemplating doing your banking

- online? Is shopping for groceries in a cyber-

mall beginning to appeal to you more than driv-
ing downtown and standing in line at a check-
out counter?

Are your fingers getting more exercise than
the rest of you?

Ef this is you, you know the curse. The bless- .

ing is rea] enough, but if the same curiosity that
jeads you to looking up everything from recipes
to details of the 1904 census has you following
every ‘‘link’’ listed on every site you enter, you

“are well and truly hooked. There’s no catch and

release involved here,
. So, what to do? It’s not lack of discipline,
after all.

It’s thirst for knowledge that has you chained
to that screen. (fellow chainecs are nodding
their heads) Those games’ you encounter along

the way sharpen your wits, don’t they?? Of

course they do. Besides, some of those jokes are
really terrific! And if a littl knowledge is a
dangerous thing, then more knowledge must be
good, musiu’t it??
Of course it must... oe
Protesting too much? Of course not! _

Hut at 7 p.m.

PROSTATE CANCER is a
disease that most people
don’t speak about, but more
than 550 died from it in
B.C. last year.

In Terrace, 12 men are
diagnosed with prostate can-
cer every year,

Local
Fuergutz, who had prostate
cancer six years ago, was
one of the lucky ones.

His cancer was detected
early, before it had the
chance to spread to the rest
of his body.

Thanks to a blood test that
detects elevated levels of
prostate-specific antigens
(PSA), a probable sign of a
tumor in the prostate, his
cancer was detected while it
was stilt contained in the
walnut-sized gland.

The prostate, located be-
Jow the bladder, surrounds a
pari of the urethra and pro-
duces a fluid that becomes
part of semen. It is also
responsible for bladder con-
trol, and normal sexual
functioning.

Fuergutz said if it wasn’t
for his yearly physical
exam, he might not have a
clean bill of health today.

“I'd advise people to have
a regular check up,’’ be
said. : ,

It takes up to 15 years
from the time a tumour is
detected in the prostate until
it reaches serious propor-
tions, however, 60 per ceat
of cases are detected only
after the cancer has spread,

Once the cancer has
spread, it is very difficult to
treat.

‘The earlier it’s

resident Ken .

detected,’* Fuergutz said,
“the better the chance of
nipping it in the bud,’”

Fuerguiz said his prostate
cancer was dealt with in 33
fadiation treatments, which
were painless.

“There was no dis-
comfort,”’ he said.

The risk of prostate cancer
increases with age.

Doctors recommend at age
30, men should have a year-
ly digital rectal exam and a
prostate specific antigen
exam, Which detects the
level of and enzyme pro-
duced by the prostate.

Mon with a family history
of prostate cancer have a
greater risk of developing
the disease. Studies also
show that men with a high
consumption of dictary fat
have a greater chance of
getting prostate cancer.

Symptoms of the disease
can include frequent, dif-
ficult and painful urination,
painful ejaculation, blood in
the urine or semen, and fre-
quent pain in or stiffness in
the lower back, hips or up-
per thighs.

For reasons that are not
cleady understood, the dis-
ease is twice as common
among African-American
men than white men.

A prostate cancer forum,
Sponsored by the Canadian
Cancer Society will be held
in Tézrace March 31.

Speaking at the forum will
be Rick Gallagher, head of
the Cancer Control Re-
search Program with the BC
Cancer Agency, and Dr,
Osei-Tutu, Terrace
urologist.

Sis

Pastor installed here

MEMBERS OF Christ
Lutheran Church, friends
and people irom other chur-
ches gathered Sunday night
for a special event — the in-
Stallation of'a pastor.

‘What makes the event

stand out is that Rev. Pat
~Simonson is married to the
church’s other pastor, Rev.
Terry Simonson.

Pat Simonson has been
conducling services and per-
forming other pastoral
duties for nearly two years,
but the installation now
marks a more formal rela-
tionship with the congrega-
tion, she says.

“Tm now officially
responsible to the congrega-
tion. This is a way to be
more accountable, a sense

of covenant between myself.

and the congregation,” Pat
continues.

In some ways, the
Simonsons might be
regarded as a two-for-one
arrangement because she
won't be drawing a salary.

Pat will work half time,
cancentrating on the youth
ministry, on women and on
community outreach as well
as assisting with worship
service duties.

“7 love to preach,” notes
Pat.

Pat is on a leave from
work at a local business and
is also a member — one of
two from this area —- of the
British Columbia Board of
Parole.

Clergy couples are fairly
rare; the Simonsons know of
three other Lutheran pastor
couples in B.C,

The couple say the reality
of both husband atid wife
being pastors can be dif-
ficult and challenging.

But they note there will be
more clergy couples 4s more
worien énter the seminary,

The Simonsons met in

Winnipeg where Terry was

a Lutheran pastor and Pat

KEN FUERGUTZ had prostate cancer six years ago. He caught the cancer early,
before it spread to the rest of his body. Today, he has a clean bill of health.

Around Town

AFTER FOUR years of effort, a book on the Kermodei
bear is to be published in June.

Bear book on way

It’s a labour of Jove by local author Tess Tessier, who

CHAIST LUTHERAN CHURCH Sunday night was
the scene of an installation as Pastor Pat Simonson,
left, was welcomed as an asscciate pastor, Husband
Terry, right, is also a pastor at the church.

was in training to be an

After a year of that, she

specializes in children’s books,

Moksgin’ol. Save White Spirit Bears’ Home began
as a book on the famous northern while bear but in the
end expanded to include a strong, broad-based environ-
mental message, says Tessicr.

“Everybody who saw it waated a couple of pages.
Forestry, fisheries, you name it, so the book grew,’’ she
said last week.

The book is being published by the Western Cana-
dian Wilderness Commiltee, one of the better known of
the environmental groups. It’s printing 5,000 copies —
2,000 of which will be Tessier’s,

Tessier gathered up scores of pictures of the
kermodei bear. Those contributed pictures will get a
copy of the book and their pictures will be retumed.

Fetal alcohol
sessions planned

IT'S TIME to icarn more about felal alcohol syndrome,
say local organizers of an upcoming information ses-
sion here April 7-8.

They hope the one-and-a-half day session will lay the
groundwork for a local fetal alcohol committec,

Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) affects the brain pat-
terns of newborm babies whose mother’s drank alcohol
while they were nursing or pregnant. The invisible dis-
ability can be difficult to diagnose and is completely
preventable.

The Dze L K’ant Friendship Centre in Smithers is
organizing the Terrace workshop at the Centre for
Leadership at 4443 Keith Ave. (upstairs of the TOC
COM building), The mectings start at 9 aan. Call Dar-

Anglican priest.

‘TI stopped the one and
started the other,’’ said Pai,
“T began to read and dis-
covered that theologically I
had been Lutheran © all
along.”?

Prior to moving here, (he
couple lived in Rosthem,

suggested to church officials
thai if- they wished the
Simonons to remain married
and to be pastors, a beiter
arrangement could be found.

That transpired in 1993
with a move to the north-
west when Terry accepted

the calling from. Christ -

lene at 638-1863 to pre-register.

A MOVIE CALLED '‘Rupert’s Land’’ about two half.
brothers driving lo Prince Rupert from Vancouver for
their father’s funcral comes to Terrace March 27,

Rupert hits big time

Separated during their-youth, one of the half-brothers

Saskatchewan, just north of Lutheran here and Pat at a

Saskatoon. Terry was a Lutheran church in Kitimat.
pastor and Pat commuted to ©

seminary school al the Uni- and began assisting here.

She left that post in 1997

is a sirait-laced British lawyer and the other is an un-
employed fisherman. :

They meet a variety of other members of the family
and Ivan Bloat, a friend of their father’s, who is played
by George Wendt of TV’s Cheers’? fame,

versity of Saskatchewan in
Saskatoon,

Affler graduation, Pat took
on a mural pastorship requir-
ing a lot of travelling be-
tween three stall churches.:

The installation service
was conducted by Rev, Jolin
Gram from. Smithers, the
dean of the Lutheran north-
west conference:

various locations around the lower maindand.

al9 p.m. al the Tillicum theatre.

The movie was primarily filmed in Bumaby and at

There is only one showlng here March 27 and that’s