dq ¢ KE) The Dallas Post Dallas, PA Wednesday, October 27, 1993 5 A. Case for conservation By ALENE N. CASE . The weather has become cool and clear. Leaves crunch under- foot. It is a good time of year to ‘spend one’s leisure out-of-doors. Bird watchers and bow hunters enjoy the open woods in our Penn- sylvania autumn. Perhaps you recently took a long hike to the top ofa hill in order to photograph the stunning foliage below. As you descended to your waiting car you passed a small stream with crys- tal clear, cool water. You were tempted to bend down and take a large draft. What is wrong with this pic- ture? Well - it is quite possible that within a week or two that . drink of water you began to feel lousy and to have extremely unpleasant diarrhea. For, you see, this is not only a great season for hunting and photography; it is also a good time to pick up a rotten case of giardiasis. Let me explain. Giardia lamblia is a tiny organ- ism that lives in the intestines of people and other large mammals. It has only one cell and is too small to see without a powerful microscope. It does not get into the bloodstream or other tissues in the same way that bacteria and viruses often do. Instead, large numbers of these parasites at- tach themselves to the inside of the intestine and prevent the normal digestion and absorption of food. Thus, the unhappyvictim complains of gas, cramps, diar- rhea, fatigue and related symp- toms. .«' Most of us were made aware of this disease in the early 1980's when there was a local outbreak caused by Giardia cysts in a water supply reservoir. Cysts are a resting stage of the protozoan. They are covered by a thick membrane that allows them to survive outside the host animal. They have survived for months in cold water underneath the ice. Chlorine will kill them but only in higher doses and over a longer period of time than that used to kill bacteria. That is why water companies are installing expen- sive filtration units to remove the cysts that may be in their reser- voirs. Giardiasis is a rather strange disease. Many people have Giardia living in their gut and never expe- rience symptoms. Studies have shown that approximately seven percent of all Americans carry the organism. Some people are acutely ill for a few days and then recover completely. Other people become quite sick and remain that way until they are treated by aphysician. A good friend of mine was sick for more than a year before her doctors made the cor- rect diagnosis and gave her the proper medicine. Giardia cysts are shed in large numbers with the stool (feces) of the infected person. A billion or more cysts may be in one stool specimen! Or, then again, none may be there. You see why I said it was a strange disease. The cysts seem to form only periodi- cally, which makes diagnosis very difficult. Now, let's return to that cool mountain stream. The water that Don't blame beavers for causing giardiasis seemd so refreshming may con- tain thelO to 100 cysts necessary to begin a colony of protozoans in your gut. Another person may have used the out-of-doors as a toilet. Or, there may be infected muskKrats, deer, dogs, catsor other mammals in the area. Beaver have been implicated in some disease outbreaks, butitis justas likely that these animals picked up the parasite from human feces. Heat is one environmental fac- tor to which the cysts are not resistant. Therefore, the best way to prevent infection is toboil water from unfiltered surface sources for at least one minute. Deep wells are generally not contami- nated. Giardiasis is also often passed from one person to another. Day care facilities are notorious as “distribution points.” If one child has it, the person who changes the diapers may get it or pass it to other children. Children may carry the disease home to other family members or to the family's pets. Handwashing is especially important because the infected child may not show any symp- toms. This is one environmental haz- ard which we can avoid with a little vigilance and common sense. Remember that what you cannot see can sometimes hurt you. Boil your water when you are camp- ing. Wash carefully after using the toilet or before handling food - especially food that will not be cooked. Teach your children good hygiene from an early age. And, have a safe and healthy autumn season! J WJ Baseball is different things to By J.W. JOHNSON Coming back from Washington recently, I was listening to a New York Yankees game when a fan ran onto the field. This caused Yankee announcer Michael Kay to pose the following (paraphrased) rhetorical questions to fellow announcer John Sterling: - —Have you ever seen a specta- tor throw a bowling ball in the gutter during a match? ~—~How about someone running on stage to sing during an opera? ~~ —What about someone in the gallery striding onto the 18th green to sink a putt while the players in the tournament are marching up the 18th fairway? Sterling, of course, responded in the negative, followed by Kay's droll observation: ‘then why so some idiots run onto a baseball field?’ Sterling and Kay are among the best in baseball at what they do. Sterling, in particular, provides one of the best minds in the game of bringing the game to fans. But at the risk of overstating the obvious, surely both Kay and Sterling know that idiots run onto the field because baseball is the only game we play which every- one can claim for his or her own. As such, I can’t help but re- member what former baseball commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti (he died suddenly nearly 3 years ago) said about baseball. Gia- matti saw the game, albeit, some- what romantically, but he did have a vision of what it represents as part of the soul of America. He said: “Baseball is counterpoint: sta- bility vying with volatility, tradi- tion with the quest for a new edge, ancient rhythms and ever-new blood—an oft told tale, repeated in every game in every season, season after season. Repetition within immutable lines and rules. “If this is the tale told, who tells it? Clearly the players who enact it thereby also tell it. But the other true tellers of the narrative are those for whom it is played. If baseball is a narrative, an epic of exile and return (to home plate), a vast communal poem about sepa- ration, loss, and the hope for reunion—if baseball is a Roman- tic epic—it is finally told by its audience. It is the Romance epic of homecoming America singing to itself. “So games, contests, sports reiterate the purpose of freedom every time they are enacted—the purpose being to show how to be free and complete and connected, unimpeded and integrated, all at once. “That is the role of leisure, and if leisure were a god, rather than Aristotle's version of the highest human state, sport would be a constant reminder—not a faded remnant—of that transcendent or sacred being. Because sport—no matter how cheapened (and it need not be) or commercialized (and it often is) or distant from an exter- nal ideal (which it may never have approached)—contains within itself, as external ideal (which it may never have approached)— contains within itself, a a self- transforming activity, fueled by instinct and intellect alike, the many people motive for freedom. “If we have some freedom, then we love it; if we love freedom, then we fear, at some level (individu- ally or collectively) its loss. And then we cherish sport. As our forebears did, we remind ourselves through sport of what, here on earth, is our noblest I: >. Through sport, we re-create our daily portion of freedom, in pub- lic.” Of course, controlling the fans is absolutely essential to playing the game, and maintaining safety for everyone. And running onto the field is a stupid, time-wasting and juvenile thing to do. Just like the game, Messrs. Kay and Sterling. Just like the game. P.S. By the way guys, and as you know, some Yankee fans are so mired in the past, that Babe Ruth still strikes the outfield in the South Bronx. I'm sure you've already done so, but perhaps you could share with your listeners again that Yankee great Roger Maris finally got his due with the removeal of the asterisk after his record breaking 61 home runs in 1961. (Parenthetically, I've al- ways thought that Maris had the actual record even if he did take 162 games to accomplish what Babe Ruth did in 154 games. And that's because at least 6 of Ruth's home runs in the 1927 season bounced (rather than flew) over the wall, and would have been called groundrule doubles in the time Maris played. The rule making bounces over the wall doubles rather than home runs wasn't implemented until 1931. Guest column Scouting shapes tomorrow's By TODD WEIDNER Northeastern Pennsylvania Council Boy Scouts of America “On my honor, I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country” are the words which have inspired thousands of former Scouts and leaders from all walks of life across Northeastern Penn- sylvania. ~ Scouting has been shaping the tomorrow of our youth for over 83 years. Scouting teaches values, ethics and skills that will enable today's youth to discover and shape answers for themselves. Individual initiative, self-reliance, leadership, good working habits and a sense of all-round responsi- bility are the hallmark of Scout- ing. : Our children. They are the pride and joy. We are proud simply because they are ours. Scouting recognizes that pride and builds on it. He learns to take pride in himself. That knowledge fosters respect for oneself and for others. It becomes the foundation for Dr. Comochowski lectures at symposium in Europe George E. Cimochowski, M.D., Dallas, chief of cardiac surgery at the Wilkes-Barre General Hospi- tal campus of the Wyoming Valley Health Care Sytem, Inc., recently addressed the 15th Congress of the European Society of Cardiol- ogy-in Nice, France. . Dr. Chimochowski presented a paper, “The Exclusive Use of Only Arterial Grafts for Myocardial Revascularization in 169 Pa- tients,” based on the Wilkes-Barre EES General Hospital cardiac surgery team’s success with the exclusive use of arteries in cardiac bypass graft surgery. Over 17,500 physicians from around the world attended the Congress, which is designed to provide cardiologists with the most up-to-date and clinically relevant information for the management of patients with cardiovascular disease. youth confidence, tolerance, patriotism and civic pride. Tiger Cubs - 7 year olds (1st grade boys), Cub Scouts - 8 to 10 years old (2nd through 5th grade boys), Boy Scouts - 5th grade to 18 years of age and Explorers boys and girls 14 to 21 years of age. For information on how to join a Scouting unit near you, contact the Northeastern Pennsylvania Council, Boy Scouts of America at 451-0350. Boy Scouts of America is a Member Agency of the United Way. DR. GEORGE CIMOCHOWSKI American Asphalt donates to fire company American Asphalt Paving Co. recently donated $2,200 to Jackson Township Volunteer Fire Co. Pictured left to right are: Anthony Barbose, John Laney and Richard Scott of American Asphalt. Presenting the check is Bernard Banks, Jr. Executive Vice President of American Asphalt, Doug Smith, Dan Manzoni, president of the fire company, Ray Bernick, treasurer, Rollie Evans, fire chief, Nello Talamelli and Don Violini of American Asphalt. 0 : IE wmberty ¢ Floral Dallas Corners Building Dallas, Pa 675-1154 Flowers for All Occasions Balloons ¢ Gift Baskets e Fruit Baskets o Silk Arrangements Funerals « Weddings « Anniversaries « Fall Arrangements e Fall Centerpieces & Daily Deliveries To Entire Back Mountain Area of and Wyoming Valley # Daily Hospital Deliveries HOURS: Monday 9amto5 pm Tues.-Thur. 9 am to 6 pm Friday 9 am to 8 pm Saturday 9 am to 6 pm Because life is a physical challenge. 22 Introducing SS Specialized Therapy And Rehabilitation The newest, most exciting, most comprehensive facility of its kind in the Back Mountain is how open! Dallas Shopping Center Route 309, Dallas Physical Therapy - Occupational Therapy . Sports Medicine - Work Hardening - Work Conditioning . Personal Fitness Training - Corporate Health Services Please visit or call for more information 674-6017 A service of Wyoming Valley Health Care System, Inc, Nesbitt Memorial Hospital and Wilkes-Barre General Hospital.
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