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Further to Jennifer Omiston's article on the HPV vaccine on Oct. 3 as well as a letter to the Chronicle on Oct. 10. here are some little known facts that I have read on the website of Dr. Erika Schwartz. She states in her column that the HPV vaccine has only been tested for five years on possibly as low as 100,000 IO-year-old girls in Africa. No one knows what will happen to those girls or our girls in the next five, 10 or 20 years after the HPV vaccine. Like the girls in Africa we too are the guinea pigs. Merck pharmaceutical is the manufacturer of Gardasil, the HPV vaccine. Merck is investing millions of dollars in increasing lobbying efforts to get state agencies in the US. to make Gardasil mandatory. Remember the Lyme vaccine? That cure-all was taken off the mar- ket after a few people were killed. Merck's lobbying in Texas was dou- Once all the children leave home, and there's just the two of you, I find it's always a good idea to add something to the mix}? keep the magic alive. “u“ “V“"‘“""D" e" _ _ v At first I decided I would make a special meal once a week. But I tired of that, not surprisingly, after an entire week and have since moved on to other adventures. Make up your own mind on HPV vaccine To me, and this is probably a mark of my intredi- ble maturity and good sense, Ivalue those kinds ofactivilies that get under r ' 7 the skin and, quite simply, really annoy , the people I love. I ') i For years this meant hiding behind various doors or around corners and yelling out "booga-booga" as some unsuspecting female walked by. Some of them scared better than others. but it's a tradition that hangs on to this day. Rl lowed. I might add, byan exclamation that I am a jerk and really should grow up. Taking even the smallest of victories l agree, but it's not going to happen. It is a deeply rooted tradition of dado »i type humour. This also includes iam- ming two creamers into your eyes at every restaurant you go to despite the 1 protestations of your children, who B maintain it isn't really very funny at all. Ha.'What do they know? Which one of us gets paid to be slightly amusing? Right. Thank you. e,"'""."-"""-" u - V __ But now that I have lost the majority of my most appreciative audience, I feel the need to find new material. of course, that does not mean I will aban- don the tried and true. My wife gets a little teary- eyed when I do the creamer joke. " think the mem- ories come flooding back). And I dont believe the week would be complete for her without at least one "booga-boogm" If you know what I mean. Nudge-nudge. -- My? man” , So in an effort to open new comedic avenues. I have opted for a more subtle form of marital harass- mom. 'Ihat would he facial hair. I have had a ginormous moustache, I think. since I was nine. OK, that might be a slight exaggeration. but I know there are pictures of me at 15 with a stache or at least the beginnings of one. Ana fora" but two wéeks ofthe past 35 years. there has been this growth above my lip. Sometimes I have wanted to remove it for a while. but cvery bled and the results paid off big time. Gov. Perry issued an executive order to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to vaccinate all 170,000 girls in sixth grade as of September 2008 at a cost of $60 million. The Texas legislature has no authority to repeal the order, Merck could generate billions in sales if Gardasil at $360 for the tttree-shot regimen is made mandatory across the country. How long do you think it will be before Canada follows suit? Schwartz has two daughters aged 22 and 29. She says on her website that she would not have her daugh- ters immunized even if they were within the age group. Her reasons are that once her daughters became sexually active they started going for regular Pap smears. which diagnose HPV- related problems early. The gynecologist would then treat the problem. which in turn would pre- vent it from becoming cancer. She goes on to say that if your daughter doesn't have access to consistent preventative care or you are not sure you can help your BOURKE COMMENT time I do that people tell me I look like Franklin the Turtle. which was something I never had tried to achieve, _ . Anyway, once in a while I also get the urge to add to the moustache. So a couple of weeks ago I began to let everything grow out, much to the chagrin of my beloved. --e ' -* . 7* ,____r-..i, ..., WWW. This, like so many other things in my female- dominated life. makes no sense to me. She likes the , 7 , 7 . beards of several of our friends. But she doesn't want a full beard on me. nuw -_. -~-v-1,r I Anyhow, after a few days I opted out of the full beard and went to the goalee, which my wife says is an acceptable com _ promise. (I am not sure, dear reader. how this addresses the prickliness issue). And now. three weeks into it, I have to admit 1 am not really all that attached to the goatee. Physically, yes. but emotionally l have not formed a complete bond. In fact. I could do without it quite nicely. However. I cant shave it off yet for a couple of rea- sons. One revolves around next week's South Carolina golfing adventure, during which some form of facial hair beyond the norm is required. The other mason. and perhaps the more important one, is even if it's just fleeting, I must have some small victory. Somehow, this keeps us together. Brian Bourke, a member of the 105.3 KOOL FM morning (rpm, can be reached byemail at hhourkeekooifrtt.com. This argument has been going on for some time. I have tried to play the equal-rights card. I don't tell her how to cut her hair, what to wear or -- for that matter - what colour to paint the house. I should be allowed one deci- sum. But no. I am told three days into growing a beard that I look tess than attractive. (This from a woman who has admittedly described me as aver- age). And then the complaints about the "prickliness." I can't see much of a difference between the entire unit and just the moustache, but apparently I am wrong. daughter get into a supportive and protective health environment, then protect her by immunizing her. if they are supported and helped to develop self-esteem and seirconfi- dence, they will care enpugh about their bodies and health not to lead risky lifestyles that can expose them to STDs or other abusive situations. Besides Schwartz's concerns with the long-term effect of the HPV vaccine. she had one last nagging concern that she shared on her website, at www.drerika.com. w ii Elvis]; iitelase, again, they will not need the HPV vaccine. "What message are we giving our daughters if we immunize them at the age of nine against a sexually transmitted disease. Are we giving them a false sense of security and implicit encouragement for reckless behavior?" You make that decision and don't let the doctor. the school nurse, the drug rep or your neigtr hour tell you what to do. Lucinda Kiessling Waterlob t has been 30 years since Harry Chapin, the American singer, Isongwriter and social activist, performed at the University of Waterloo on Nov. 3, 1977 - his only concert in Waterloo. Although I was too young to be there, 1 treasure his live recordings. I dont think there has ever been a more passionate performer who crafted as engaging a live show as Harry Chapin. - ' _ . 7 ,1, .14- .MM. “and, mkn uncandnd punyuu I've spoken with several people this past week who attended that Show. when Chapin and his band performed such well known hits as Cal’s in the Cratile, Taxi and W0.LD. Troubadour penned WOI‘IIS ttt fhttt by mum. ”no.” u..- ... we "ie-_---'"-. -___ It was by all accounts a night to remember. as Chapin and his brother Tom hung around afterwards to sign programs and ticket stubs after the frnal encore and sing-along-anthem, Cir- cle: But then, it seems every Chapin concert was a night to remember _ "Everyone has a story" said Jen Chapin, the late singer's daughter. "Often the same story. They were at a concert or con _ certs, he played for hours and kissed their wife after the show. He waited until every last person had their Tshirts signed. Peo- ple remember him so vividly and fondly. lt really keeps him alive for me Fri’4:71:::' B-Mi- - I'm very fortunate that way," I , » Jen Chapin was only l0 years old when her father was killed in a 1981 car crash, but has many fond memo- ries of being on tour with him and see- ing him in concert. "l adored him and enjoyed the trav- els, though I would most often refuse when he asked me and my brother to join him on stage," she told me. “I was a shy girl, though my mother says I explained: ‘I'll be on stage when it's my own stage.' " Today. kn Chapin indeed has her own stage, performing her own brand MARSHALL of urban folk, singing story songs that WARD search for community and shared meaning. As well. she is a committed social activist and long- time member ofWHY [World Hunger Year), an organization her father co- founded. I asked her about the influence her father's music has on her. , :, think his natural and intimate approach to performing has had the greatest impact on me," Chapin said. "No smoke and lights, just being real." _ w .. --. ,V. . . , ,.-AA_:_..... urn Incl iiil,fiii'r'i2ui,TiGy" Elhapin's drummer from 19754981. agrees that Harry Chapin is one of the most gifted storytellers of our time. "Harry had such a great gift for creating gorgeous melodies. well-crafted and clever chords, hauntingly beautiful lyrics and riveting musical stories." Fields told me. "However, We always (bought it was the characters that he would create and write about that captured his audience. These characters were always or often underdogs faced with impossible life decisions to make, but, one way or another, seemed to rise above their dilemma or at least find a way to live with it." It was the characters in Chapin's songs like Mr. Tanner and A Better Place to Be, from the double album Greatest Stories live. that captivated me as a teenager. when I spent countless nights lyingon the rec room floor in the dark. imagining! was at the concert. Fields told me his favourite Harry Chapin song is Any Old Kind of Day. And while Jen Chapin has many favourites. there is one that holds a special pla_ce_ip_ her heart: "l iiiiii,"iiiGiiG iiriaji/rwha, Would Happen To This World. and performed it many times." said Chapin. "An excerpt from the lyrics is on his grave stone." -. ‘- . - ,L,~.L-.t-L.....Inn .....v ...- .,...., - w. ”my- - - Harry Chapin died less than four years after that Waterloo concert when the car he was driving collided with a ttactor- trailer on the Long Island Expressway. A true humanitarian, Chapin donated an estimated one-third of his paid concerts to charitable causes, raising more than $3 million in the last six years of his life. Perhaps Chapin's own words, and epitaph. say it best: "Now if a man tried to take his time on Earth and prove before he died what one man's life could be worth. I wonder l what would happen to this world." Marshall Ward is a uismzl artist and independent Jilmmaker, teaching courses in continuing Mutation at Conestoga Collega Email ix "Mfume at marshay_wardehotmail- WATEKUK) CHRONICLE -Wtdnesday. October " 2007 . .