Johnny-Wei Bai / Meducator

It is a well-known fact that a healthy diet can lower the risk of various types of cardiovascular disease. How far can the benefits of healthy eating go, especially for someone who already has cardiovascular disease or other age-related pathologies such as diabetes mellitus?

Every year, more than 20 million people around the world survive a heart attack or stroke. Often, these patients are prescribed medications such as blood thinners or antiplatelet agents, which significantly decrease their risk of subsequent heart attacks, stroke and heart failure. However, Mahsid Dehghan, a nutritionist at McMaster University, says that "at times, patients don’t think they need to follow a healthy diet since their medications have already lowered their blood pressure and cholesterol – that is wrong." She goes on to say that "dietary modification has benefits in addition to those seen with Aspirin, angiotensin modulators, lipid-lowering agents and beta blockers."

To find an association between diet quality and cardiovascular disease, Dr. Dehghan recently led a 56-month study in 40 countries involving nearly 32,000 people over age 55, all with history of cardiovascular disease, stroke, or severe diabetes mellitus. The participants were given questionnaires to assess their dietary intake, alcohol and smoking habits, and exercise levels. This is one the few studies to explore the effect of diet on people who already have cardiovascular disease.

It was found that even after adjusting for potential confounders such as age, sex, geographical location and medications prescribed, a healthy diet consistently lowered risk for cardiovascular disease in patients with prior disease history, thereby greatly enhancing the benefits of their medication. This healthy diet would include items such as vegetables, fruits, fibres, nuts, and fish, and lower levels of saturated fats. The results of healthy eating included a reduction in risk of 38 per cent for cardiovascular death, 14 per cent for recurrent heart attack, 28 per cent for congestive heart failure and 19 per cent for stroke.

This study bears great implications in healthcare and patient education. Healthcare providers are encouraged to stress the importance of good eating as part of therapy for heart and stroke patients. By learning to not simply depend on medication, but also lifestyle choices, patients can reap the benefits of both their medication and healthy eating to avoid recurring heart disease.

Although the sample population consisted of older patients with cardiovascular disease, it certainly is very applicable to university students. Dr. Dehghan's results support the notion that it is never too late (or too early, for that matter) to start improving one's dietary habits – a new year's resolution that has been plaguing many of us for months now, I'm sure.

Justin Raudys / The Silhouette

Being part of what one of my professors calls “a special generation” – that is, the first generation to grow up online – it’s becoming hard for me to recall those bygone days when an unanswered problem or question wasn’t instantly turned into a Google search. The pre-Internet world is a hazy, distant past to the many millions of people around the world who were, like me, born in the 1990s.

I can ring off countless things about the Internet that are not only lovable but utterly extraordinary: one can hear the words and voices of the greatest teachers and musicians and philosophers that ever lived at the click of a search button; one can instantaneously see and hear loved ones thousands of kilometers away, free of cost; the poorest person in the world could, with that magical connection, tap into all imaginable fields of education in existence.

The Internet is here to stay, and it’s allowing previously unthinkable things to be achieved. But as much as I love the Internet, I equally loathe my incapacity to tear myself from its grasp. I suppose you could say it’s a virtual love/hate relationship. This dichotomy of hate obviously doesn’t come from the abovementioned examples of the positive and constructive capacities of online connections. It comes from something that the Internet does to us when, as it’s so easy to do, we overuse it.

The Internet is ever-increasing in its ability to immerse us and is rapidly becoming more and more integrated into the daily affairs of all people, especially those in my age group.

But I don’t often see the questions asked, what should we make of this increasing immersion in the digital world? In what ways is this increasing reliance on the Internet changing us? Are these changes for the worse or for the better?

I fear – and many of my colleagues share this sentiment – that the quick-fire mode of online data consumption and the condensation of information into ever-smaller and ever-easier-to-consume fragments have undermined my attention span.

Indeed, as an English major I feel blasphemous in conceding that I often find it hard to simply sit down and read long passages of text – even a news article can seem, after prolonged Internet use, tediously long.

Why? It seems to me as though it’s largely because I have trained my mind day after day, month after month, year after year to become accustomed to the fast-flashing, bite-sized, viral-video-serving conveyor belt of quick, cheap entertainment and information that often comes with the likes of Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Reddit and so on.

Now, to argue that my “hate” – my addiction to the Internet and its effect on my mind – doesn’t stem from my own vices would be idiotic. It smacks of the lawsuits obese Americans have made against McDonalds, charging the golden arches for being responsible for their personal plight.

But I encounter this problem among many of my friends with increasing frequency and am convinced that the Internet is undermining many people’s ability to stay focussed on one thing and, by extension, to truly savour moments that are worth cherishing and to take the time to ponder things that are worth pondering. After all, how often do we see a large group of young friends completely invested in spending time with each other in the moment without at least someone veering off into the world of distraction on their phone? How often do we see people constantly reading vacuous things on the Internet instead of reading books?

Sitting at the back of one of my large English classes, I surveyed what is now surely a common sight in universities: of the upwards of fifty laptops in the class, more than half of them had Facebook open. I may sound old fashioned, but something about that image just doesn’t sit right with me. Are we so neurotically obsessed with staying up to date and up to the minute with all our Facebook friends that we can’t even sit through 50 minutes that are supposed to be reserved for actually focusing and learning things? I must admit that I have often, like many people I know, made checking Facebook one of the first things – if not the first thing – I do in the day.

I know the phrase “take it slow” reads as utterly cliché, but that doesn’t mean it’s not of value, and I think that it’s precisely what a lot of Internet over-users like me could benefit from doing. I know I profit every time I take a moment to circumspect, to breathe in, to think a little more deeply, to reflect on who I am and to take time to think about what I’m doing – and I know that jumping on the Internet every ten minutes isn’t exactly helping me do that.

The levels of Internet use are only increasing, and what I see as the problem of Internet addiction is only going to get worse.

Cornel West says that the Internet’s “clever gimmicks of mass distraction yield a cheap soulcraft of addicted and self-medicated narcissists.” I’d have to say I agree. The irony? I saw it on his Facebook page.

By: Jennifer Bacher

 

Christmas break is long gone and yet the winter drags on. No longer do we have the days of going to bed at 2 a.m. and sleeping till noon. Back to the books and back to the essays, labs and all those other assignments you’re facing this term. A good night’s sleep can seem like an impossible luxury, but it can help you tackle the day with ease. If you find yourself staring at the ceiling late into the night, try these foods to help you drift into peaceful sleep:

 

Herbal Tea

Teas such as chamomile and any herbal tea have been known to aid in relaxation and relieve anxiety. Try brewing a cup and enjoy while reading a book in bed.

 

Almonds

Almonds are an excellent bedtime snack. The magnesium in almonds relaxes muscles and their protein content keeps your sugar levels stable while you sleep. Try a handful before bed.

 

Milk

A cup of warm milk is the tradition route to help catch some Zzz’s. If you’re not a fan of straight warm milk try it in some decaffeinated tea, in hot chocolate or with some honey. You could also try a bowl of cereal with milk. Carbohydrate–rich foods increase the availability of tryptophan, the sleep-inducing effect also seen in turkey.

 

Banana

Like milk and turkey, bananas are also high in tryptophan. Try some bananas with peanut butter, on their own or as a sandwich.

 

Crackers

Enjoying snacks with carbohydrates and calcium will aid in a blissful sleep. Try Triscuits with melted cheese or turkey.

By: Amanda Watkins and Jamie Hillman

 

Whether it’s excessive stress and anxiety from school, a crush on your best friend, or personal insecurities, everyone has a secret.

In response to this reality, the Student Wellness Centre has developed the “MacSecret” program. Based on the online phenomenon “PostSecret,” the initiative is going into its third year.

The program is designed around the sharing of personal secrets via hand-written postcards revealing anonymous concerns or insecurities. As outlined on the MacSecret posters, the goal of the program is to “raise awareness about the many challenges students face, and to provide an outlet to share these concerns openly, yet anonymously.”

“Having the anonymity is helpful when dealing with things that are more challenging to address,” explained Pearl Mendonca, a Wellness Education Coordinator at the Student Wellness Centre.

By offering MacSecret as an outlet of expression, students are able to open up about issues and ideas that they may not otherwise be comfortable sharing. In an effort to create a safe and comfortable environment, the Student Wellness Centre strives to offer services that cater to a variety of concerns, such as stress and life issues, mental health, relationships, academic concerns and identity struggles.

In discussing the values of the MacSecret project, Khadeeja Sheikh, a Mental Health Team Leader, expressed the rewards of the program. “The fact that students can share [these secrets], helps relieve stress…We were surprised at how sincere the secrets were and [how the program] allowed them to write something really private.”

MacSecret has 10 locations around campus that provide blank postcards for students to fill out and boxes where they can be submitted. Currently, boxes are situated in Mills, Innis and Thode libraries, DBAC, SHEC, the north and west quad Residence Service Desks, the Student Success Centre, Student Accessibility Services and the SWC.

The coordinators find it interesting that “Depending on where the boxes are, the secrets are often geared towards those locations and who uses them,” said Melissa Fernandes, Wellness Education Assistant. For instance, the boxes in libraries often housed academic concerns, whereas boxes in residences usually held secrets about relationship struggles and identity crises.

The program was first run in the 2010-11 school year by the SWC. Despite the fact that the boxes and postcards were available for the entire school year, the program only received around 150 postcards.

This year, the coordinators are looking to change that and have more students submit messages about their concerns, fears and personal thoughts, as it is an effective way of expressing pent up emotions and stress-inducing secrets.

The boxes have been available since Nov. 1 and will be up and running until the end of the month. Already in this month alone, the SWC has gathered around 60 postcards and are hoping to increase that amount exponentially as the month nears its end.

Once the cards have been gathered, the coordinators will be posting scanned secrets online via the SWC’s Facebook page, and will be putting them up on their bulletin boards.

Similar to the initiative of PostSecret creator, Frank Warren, the Student Wellness Centre hopes that by displaying the secrets, students will be able to relate and connect to one or more of the secrets and help them understand that they are not alone in their struggle.

The organization also hopes to use the web, much like Warren, to make the postcards and ideas more accessible. The initial PostSecret website, www.postsecret.com, was developed in 2005 as “an ongoing community art project,” according to its webpage. But within two years, the site received over 2,500 postcards and became far bigger than initially anticipated. The site grew into a web-based community that allowed anonymous strangers to post secrets from all around the world without feeling judgment or alienation.

Initially, a comment section was enabled to allow viewers to connect to one another, but it was eventually removed as it defaced the original judgment-free mandate.

And even though many secrets are hard-hitting and stress-inducing, some deal with more trivial matters. As stated at his March 2012 presentation at Western University, Frank Warren revealed that the most common secret he receives is admitting to peeing in the shower.

The representatives from the SWC explained that many of the secrets they receive are usually related to mental health and academic concerns, but the project welcomes postcard messages of all natures.

So drop off your secret, and help yourself while helping others.

By: Ilia Ostrovski

 

Medical advances are continuing to push the boundary of how long the average person should expect to live. This trend of increasing life expectancy underscores the importance of measuring quality of life as individuals age.

With this issue in mind, three Canadian researchers submitted a joint proposal to the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR) to launch one of the largest clinical explorations of the topic to date. In November 2001, their proposal was accepted. On Sept. 28, after eleven years of planning, the study’s lead principal investigator, Parminder Raina of McMaster, finally announced the official grand opening of the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA).

Raina is the director of McMaster’s Evidence-based Practice Center and specializes in clinical epidemiology and biostatistics. His area of interests is the epidemiology of aging, injury and knowledge transfer. Before the launch of CLSA, Raina was the lead investigator for the Hamilton site of the Canadian Study of Health and Aging, which explored the epidemiology of dementia. Currently, he holds the Raymond and Margaret Labarge Chair in Research and Knowledge Application for Optimal Aging.

Raina was joined in the celebration by some of the 160 researchers from all across the country who are collaborating on this innovative project. The study’s co-principal investigators are Christina Wolfson from McGill University and Susan Kirkland from Dalhousie University. This study will collect data from 50,000 men and women between the ages of 45 and 85 and will continue to follow up with its subjects for at least 20 years.

Unlike previous longitudinal studies on similar topics, CLSA will take a multi-faceted approach to examining the aging process. By analyzing the gradual change of psychological, social, medical and biological parameters, the investigators hope to address a breadth of important issues concerning the maintenance of good health in the latter years of life.

CLSA will use 11 data collection sites, four telephone interview centres and three data analysis facilities across the country. The McMaster Innovation Park is one of CLSA’s particularly prominent facilities. It houses the study’s National Coordinating center, the Bioanalysis and Biorepository Center and the McMaster Data Collection Site.

"The CLSA is more than a study,” said Yves Joanette, the Scientific Director of CIHR’s Institute of Aging. “It represents a unique platform that will be used by researchers from all disciplines and fields for decades to come thanks to the range of information that will be gathered and analyzed."

By Rob Hardy

 

One of the bigger decisions of our lives is not only what kind of education we should pursue and where, but also what field we will choose to study. In recent years, and ever since The Great Recession, this has become a larger concern for the majority of people who enter higher education these days. But in true Socratic fashion, this becomes a much bigger debate we have with others and ourselves. Whether we realize it or not, we gradually develop philosophies on which things we value and, consequently, which we don't.

As our time in university plods on, we are forced to confront what value means to us. Is it some kind of inherent quality regarding the sanctity of life on all levels? Are we okay with resigning those ideals once money enters the equation on a more pressing level? Or are our values what we actually practice when it comes down to the wire? These are only some of the dilemmas facing us as we choose courses and think about graduate school.

While it is prudent to be aware of what awaits us when we choose to study philosophy or any of the other programs under the umbrella of Humanities, it is also prudent to understand the ways our experiences will vastly differ based on whether we make our decisions on external or internal forces.  Simply put, doing things we intrinsically enjoy versus our current idea of what practical is.

And therein lies a distinction. We never have to think about, or usually regret, those things that truly give us joy and make the minutes and days a pleasure to go through. But some conception outside of us about what constitutes security and a safe path is always to some degree arbitrary, shifting and not wholly clear.

I'm talking about this because there has been so much negative press circulating about the validity of pursuing a degree in the Humanities, or what others similarly refer to as the Liberal Arts. But what is ironic and unbeknownst to most, is that these subject areas of language, philosophy, music, as well as mathematics, in relation to our place in the world, formed the core of university curriculums since their inception. The line of reasoning was that in order to be a truly free person, one must be educated, and that these subjects were the essence of enlightenment.

So while the marketplace, something which is extremely fickle to say the least, is demanding students study business, technology, and other cut-and-dried industries, we are drifting further away from a core understanding of the institutions we comprise. And while there is nothing wrong in formulating a resume in order to optimize your chances of gaining secure employment and future prospects, we have to be aware of how much we are giving up as we essentially design and subsidize our own job-training programs then later nostalgically wonder about having forgone those courses for which we had a genuine curiosity. When we ask others to validate our paths and experiences, we lose control and confidence in becoming the captains of our own life journey.

It is no secret that university departments across North America are slashing budgets, and that Humanities departments are front in line.  But we need to take another look at the real value of dismissing what has been, up until now, the heart and soul of academia. After all, if we don't care what others have shared and discussed in the past, why should we be presumptuous enough to ask future generations to give us an audience?

As idealistic and passionate as I am about those courses many now deem a waste of time, I have to admit that I would have no problem with going into fields which are big money-earners if I had the aptitude. No one wants to feel like whatever they have worked on for years is not valued and rewarded by society as a whole. At the same time, there is a transient quality in current trends. Certain fields are booming now, but busts always follow sooner or later.  And for all the talk of “experiential learning” and teamwork, I still fail to fully grasp how this applies despite reading every word of Forward with Integrity, our esteemed University president's views on the direction we are/should be heading.

As much as we want some kind of short cut, the fact is that acquiring substantial knowledge has always involved the discipline of a tremendous amount of individual study over time. Other skill sets are also important today, but they are not so much academic in nature as they are broader social requirements newly demanded of everyone now.

Like many articles you have read on the subject, this is all just food for thought. Some of us are looking forward to careers in professions with a clearly defined track with little room for flexibility, while others have priorities that extend to other life areas, leaving little curiosity to debate the place of education in our lives.  Still, we should not be afraid or dismissive of the long rows of books we pass by as we walk through the library, thinking them irrelevant to our everyday lives. Just as Twitter has formulated the catchphrase “Join the conversation”, there are many other conversations waiting to be engaged, some via the printed word, spanning space and time.

Rob Hardy

 

It’s October, and by now we are all knee-deep in yet another semester at university.  Some of us have been around the block a few times and have developed strategies of coping with the oppressive workloads we acceptingly swallow while others have yet to learn these kinds of critical life skills.  The problem seems to be - if you are anything like me – that with all these safeguards in place, time seems to constantly elude us.

One of the default answers of this age when asked “how are you?” can often go something along the lines of “oh my God, I’m so busy.” This is followed by further conversation, which quickly, if not immediately, drifts to something else.  Apparently, that we are bone-tired merits little attention, at least as something that we would attempt to discuss at length. The underlying meaning in all this is that our fatigue gets reduced to an anecdote, a commiserating joke, something we begrudgingly accept but never really question beyond its annoyance or even pain.

Chronic fatigue, however, is very serious and not something to make light of; it can even become dangerous.  Although some people report feeling fine with only a few hours of sleep, many of us need at least seven, if not eight, to feel a sufficient level of vibrant alertness. Our society, though, doesn’t really take this into account, as fuzzy math tends to think that some things can be overlapped or reduced without consequence. In reality, a lack of sleep is one of the biggest health indicators over time. Restful sleep also requires a gradual winding down. Finishing an essay and then racing to bed right away isn’t a positive segue to optimal sleep. But few of us have the luxury of enough downtime to enjoy the ritual of preparing for bedtime, even on weekends.

So, if we are not sleeping for most of the 24 hours a day provides us, then what are we doing? Going full-force into templates of full-time course loads, part-time jobs, and a mix of volunteering, interning, clubs/sports and a myriad of other social activities. Not all of us are doing all of these things, but even a portion brings us into 16-hour days. We come to see that no matter how quickly we check things off on our to-do list, the problem becomes not time-management itself but simply having way too much to manage in the first place.

All of these endeavours, superimposed also onto a perennial process of new applications and constant upgrading, just so that we can prove to others that we can handle it, and in turn be rewarded with future positions that leave us even more haggard. That’s fine for those who are truly this ambitious, but not all of us can juggle 17 plates while balancing on a ball on ice with one foot. And even for people that can, sooner or later they burn out from the level of severe demands we have grown to accept.

A common regret for many as they grow old is that they got into the rat race and before they knew it they were middle-aged, seeing their best years pass them by. Not knowing how to shift into a transition, many continued down this path until it was too late and burning regrets took over the remainder of their life. What has evidently become the burning issue of the Gen-Y’s is that all this work and sacrifice may return dubious dividends in an economy that is not able to sustain the entire work force, and in return is burdening us to support the widespread scarcity.

Maybe I am idealistic, on top of being hyper-exhausted, but we should really be aware of these things and be sure to make time in our lives to walk in the sun with abandon. This doesn’t mean you are being frivolous or hedonistic, but that you take your health seriously and understand how different components can work together to either strengthen you or undermine your end goals. “Personal days,” as they have come to be known, are crucial to health and rejuvenation and actually staying off sickness, thereby increasing productivity.

Princeton grad Timothy Ferriss, wrote a best seller a few years back called. The 4-Hour Workweek in which he outlines principles of productivity and return on investment.  Though most of us cannot become successful entrepreneurs, it is food-for-thought on ratios of time, money and energy expenditure.  We have forgotten to be really aware that our lives are our own, and that when we put so much effort into spending those lives in efforts to influence what others think or whether they will hire you, we may be in for a very rude awakening.

Cultivating confidence, which often stems from doing what makes you happy, is a very powerful factor in achieving the gains we so often seek anyway.  In order to do this, we have to create new realities for ourselves, as well as reclaim our lives.  If this is too great a task right now, we can start by at least reclaiming our nights.

By: Johnny-Wei Bai

 

For years, people have recognized that physical exercise improves cardiovascular and mental health, controls weight gain, and enhances academic performance. In fact, some even estimate that 20 per cent of premature deaths could be prevented by regular physical activity. Despite the benefits of physical activity, recent studies show that 85 per cent of Canadian adults do not fulfill the recommended 150 weekly minutes of moderate-to-vigorous exercise. Looking at the bustling activeness in young children, one may wonder at what stage of development this drop in exercise level comes about. Well, it is known that decline in physical activity occurs most drastically in adolescents transitioning into early adulthood, especially from high school into college/university.

To further explore this phenomenon, a recent research study was headed by Matthew Kwan, a post-doctoral fellow at McMaster University's Department of Family Medicine. Participants for this prospective cohort study were recruited from the Canadian National Population Health Survey; in total, 683 adolescents of ages 12-15 were followed until they turned 25-27 years old. During this period, scientists looked at factors such as physical activity, education status, binge drinking, and smoking levels in both males and females. Comparing such a wide-range of factors allowed researchers to evaluate whether decline in physical activity is truly as big of an issue as other, more publicized health-risk factors.

Results showed that the average physical activity level across all participants decreased by a drastic 24 per cent, with a steeper decline in college/university males than in females. This difference across genders, however, may be because females in this study generally exercised less than males did, even in high school. Other health-risk behaviours, such as smoking and binge drinking, predictably increased during the high school-university transition, likely because of reduced parental influence and greater social pressures in post-secondary settings. Although levels of drinking and smoking began to plateau in later years, physical exercise levels continued to decline in adulthood.

Kwan’s findings suggest that an increase in unhealthy behaviours in early adulthood puts university and college students at greater risk of future health complications. It is commonly known that excessive smoking and drinking can cause various cancers, lung conditions, and cardiovascular diseases. McMaster researchers claim that in addition to the usual focus on preventing negative behaviour, health promotion strategies should emphasize the benefits of positive health activities such as physical exercise. Kwan called for greater efforts in targeting the decline in physical activity levels in adolescents to encourage healthy life-long habits.

Nour Afara

 

Ladies and gentlemen, prepare to leave all of your personal insecurities behind. Cast away those morning shudders when gazing at yourself in the mirror because the answer to all your problems is here.

Forget practicing your confident face (or your duck face), plastic perfection is what has been making the news for years now. I’m not here to rant about old news - I’d like to think of myself as a little more fresh, and hip, if I might add. Instead, I’m looking at something more specific within this topic — plastic surgery and young adults.

Is it ethical? Is there an age that can be deemed too young to make such a decision? Are young people ready to make physical alterations to themselves? The questions could go on but I must make it clear that my article is not directed towards those who undergo plastic surgery for medical reasons, but those who do it for aesthetic purposes.

I think that plastic surgery is a great development and that young people should definitely take advantage of it. Although everything that is done in excess is, well, excessive, plastic surgery is no exception. I believe that the only valid reason for having plastic surgery at a young age is for the purpose of being happy or happier. That’s where it all ends. It can be said that you must learn to love yourself as you are — if you can’t accept yourself, then who will? However, I will strongly argue against all of those idealists who assume that loving yourself is the easiest option.

I thought it would be interesting to get the input of some students on campus about this topic. Jessica Grendzienski, a second-year English and history student also thinks that everyone “should be happy with their bodies and not try to change certain parts about [themselves] since that’s what makes [them] unique from others.”

Although this may be the ideal mindset, being unhappy with your body is a huge obstacle to overcome. This isn’t obesity where the weight can potentially be lost or ugly glasses that can be replaced with contact lenses — this is your physical structure, your skin and bones. The only way to change that is to go under the knife.

So all that’s left now is to determine if you’re ready to undergo surgery for the sake of your happiness. How frustrated are you with your imperfection? How sure are you that this surgery will make you happy with yourself? These are questions you must answer for yourself but my goal here is to educate others that there is no shame in going to great lengths to make yourself happy. I feel that the topic of plastic surgery is overly glamorized in the sense that there is this assumption that “no one I know has had plastic surgery.”

This assumption is false. I think that those who have undergone procedures tend to hide it from others, fearing judgmental opinions and prejudice. The most vital thing to remember is to make your decisions based off of your own emotions and your own thoughts.

Natasha DalliCardillo, a second-year English major agrees with this mindset and said she has “never had any surgery done but that does not mean [she] would stand in the way of someone else’s happiness. [She thinks] everyone is beautiful just as they are.

“However, if it will truly make them happy, then they should go for it, by all means.” And that’s exactly what I did. Although I will not go into extensive detail, I will confess that I have undergone plastic surgery. My reason?

Because for the majority of my mature life I absolutely hated a certain feature of mine. Finally, I decided to “fix” my problem and I can confidently say that I am much happier with myself now than ever before.

Plastic surgery among young people should not be embarrassing or something to hide from. It is an opportunity to feel fantastic when you otherwise do not. As long as you have come to this decision on your own and are ready to start glowing with happiness, go for it.

Brook Clairmount

 

Maybe I’m just being naïve, but I thought that when I moved from the widely varied population of high school to the relatively homogenous grouping of intelligent students at university, the students as a whole would make smarter choices.

It baffles me that so many smart people, people who clearly have the ability to understand the consequences of their actions, still smoke. There’s no high from smoking (or at least so I’ve heard; it’s not like smoking pot or other drugs), and there’s nothing attractive about coughing smoke at everyone within a ten foot radius. So, what’s the appeal?

Don’t give me the addiction crap–our generation has grown up hearing about the effects of smoking. Everyone smoking at McMaster made the choice to light up a cigarette and knowingly infuse their lungs with tar and cancerous chemicals.

That wouldn’t even bother me, except it’s my lungs you’re infusing with tar and cancerous chemicals, too. Personally, I couldn’t care less if someone wants to go and smoke in some far off corner where non-smokers aren’t affected. We’re all adults, so the decisions we make are our own business. What irks me is having to walk through a cloud of smoke to get to class. I don’t have the ability to make a decision to not inhale.

I was used to the smokers in high school–you know, the ones who always had something lit between their fingers. Quite a few of them are still in high school. But university students (especially ones with enough intelligence to get into a university as prestigious as Mac) consciously choosing to do the same is something that will take me some time to wrap my mind around.

And in the mean time, please try to keep your second hand smoke away from me.

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