10 Opinion | may not agree with what you have to say, but! will defend to the death your right to say it. ” - Voltaire The opinions expressed in editorials or letters to the editor that are submitted to Over the Edge are not the opinions of Over the Edge or UNBC. The views expressed in a letter submitted to Over the Edge are the views of the original authors, and therefore, do not reflect the views of Over the Edge, or its staff. Over the Edge welcomes your submissions to our opinion section. To submit a letter to the editor e-mail over-the-edge@unbc.ca. Beat-Up and Broken: Head Shots in the NHL GRAHAM MACK CONTRIBUTOR ‘The 2009 NHL season has produced some high- light reel goals, plays, and hits but also some lengthy suspensions. It seems like every punishment handed down by Colin Campbell, Director of Hockey Oper- ations for NHL, regards a headshot or dirty hit. These devastating hits have made concussions seem commonplace in hockey. Dont get me wrong, I’m not calling for pond hockey rules, but players need to realize the head should be off-limits. Hockey is a physical game, and it should be, but the culture sur- rounding hits to the head needs to change. I enjoy big hits just as much as the next person, but I don't think anybody likes watching a guy stumble and fall after he receives a headshot. Hitting is a huge part of the game, it keeps players honest (anyone who watched Scott Stevens play would agree) but careers are in jeopardy after a player takes a direct hit the head. Kitchener Ranger's defenseman Ben Fanelli suffered a fractured skull and spent numerous days in a hospital ICU after being hit by Erie Otter’s for- ward Michael Liambas. Subsequently, Liambas was suspended for the rest of the season. More prominent was Willie Mitchell’s shoulder-to-head hit on Jona- than Toews, which forced him to miss six games with a concussion. Mitchell faced no suspension, as the hit was clean by NHL standards, which states that only the elbow may not be used in a body check. Sure, the elbow can do more damage to a player's head than a shoulder, but the increased post-lockout speed of the game has made any hit to the head potentially dangerous, Personally, I would rather watch Toews highlight reel goals than read his name on the injured reserve list. These hits are immensely popular with the media, but they are detrimental to the health and well-being of the players. A recent study by National Institutes of Health found that NFL players suffer from Alzheimer’s and other memory related conditions at a much higher rate then the general population. Ex-players from the ages 30-49 were 19 times more likely to have memory problems than the average person. There is no com- parable research for NHL players, but the physical nature of football is similar to hockey, so it is likely these results are loosely compatible with ex-NHL players. Former Philadelphia Flyer Keith Primeau was forced into early retirement after a number of concussions left him unable to complete practices without feeling headaches or dizziness. When he an- nounced his retirement in 2006 he still had balance and vision problems. Big hits may make TSN’s high- light of the night, but the long-term effects of head- shots have huge ramifications on the lives of players after they retire. This begs the question: why is the NHL experien- cing problems with headshots now rather than 10 or 20 years ago? Firstly, new research into concussions and their long-term effects has made it an import- ant issue, Our new understanding of concussions recognizes what was once just a headache’ and‘ little vomit’ as a serious medical condition. Secondly, the NHL lockout and consequent rule changes deserve some credit. The referee crackdown on clutching and grabbing has sped the game up significantly, While this makes for exciting hockey, players are now more vulnerable to head injuries. It's pretty obvious that the faster players can skate, the harder the hits are going to be. The increased speed of the NHL has enabled players to hit harder and use excessive force, which has resulted in countless concussions. If the league chooses to implement new rules regarding headshots, I don't expect much to change. Their ex- periment with the instigator rule is proving largely ineffective. If a player really wants to fight somebody, or defend another player, the $10,000 fine and one game suspension are peanuts. What needs to change is the culture surrounding headshots. Players need to make the conscious decision to make the head off-limits in order to prevent concus- sions. If the respect of players and headshots increas- es, guys would not be exploited when they are in a vulnerable position. Sometimes the unwritten rules are more important than the written ones. Further- more, the presence of these hits demonstrates a dan- gerous lesson to young hockey players. Is it really it really acceptable for kids to believe that it is okay to feed Johnny a sweet shoulder to the face? Primeau was able to play until 35, but it would be a shame to see kids hang up the blades at 19 or 20. Some people fear that losing hits the head will take away from the physical nature of hockey, but some of the biggest hits are shoulder-to-shoulder or shoulder-to-chest. I is still possible to punish a player without cracking him in the head. Until the culture regarding head- shots is changed, we will continue watching concus- sions, or the new euphemism: concussion-like symp- toms, dominant the injured reserve list and sports tickers everywhere. November 25, 2009 + Over the Edge Green Talk Thomas Cheney - Columnist/Staff Writer In terms of discussing environ- mental issues the term sustainability is bantered about in all sorts of word wars with governments, environmen- talists all calling for the same thing. The problem with sustainability is everybody thinks that it is a good idea, but few people seem to really have a grasp what it really means. One principle that is important in the concept of sustainability is that it is a state which provides for the long-term surival of any object. Sus- tainability can be defined in a wide variety of means. In the context of the environment,what sustainability means to me is that a human soci- ety is allowed to thrive and maintain a reasonable standard of living for geological time, such as for millions of years. As sustainability at its basis means the perpetuation of the health of a community, ecosystem, or whole planet, it is often considered to be multi-faceted, Sustainability of a human society can be broken down into a wide variety parts including social, economic, and environmental sustainability. All of these forms of sustainability are at least partially interchangeable as a society will re- quires an economy that will meet its material needs such as food, clothing, shelter and water which requires a functioning ecosystem. Social sus- tainability essentially means that the cultural norms and behaviour of the members of society facilitates the long-term stewardship of resources in order to maintain ecological viabil- ity. An example of social sustainabil- ity would be a society whose cultural norms require sustainable agriculture and distribution of food in a way that people do not engage in the farming of unsuitable areas due to coercion, or satisfactorly equitable distribution of food. It should be noted that wide- spead income gaps between the rich an poor tend to create unsustainable condition as it leads to those who will break societial rules and engage in unsustainable behaviours in order to survive. It doesnt mean that only an egalitarian “Age of Aquarius” is sus- tainable; the Haida Nation on BC’s Northwest coast was highly unegali- tarian society, but was quite sustain- able. Thus one can argue that sus- tainability does not necessarily entail a social vision that is desirable in light of modern mores, but does not inher- ently exclude it. What is sustainable means what can be perpetuated, not necessarily what is desirable. ‘The most common use of sustain- ability is in the relation to the envi- ronment. However, even this more focused definition of sustainability creates its own difficulties in pegging down a definition. One problem in defining sustainability in an environ- mental or ecological manner is that environments do indeed change over time. However, from an ecosystem point of view, one could argue that sustainability is the maintainence of a long-term viable population of a given species and ecological func- The reason that I chose the long-term maintainence of a viable population is that ecosystems expe- rience a wide variety of disturbances tions. such as fires, landslides, and bark beetle outbreaks. What sustainabil- ity means is that the natural system has the ability to recover ecological functions and go through a wide variety of succession states, such as from a burned-out state (treeless) to a climax state (old growth forest). It is most definitely not a state of con- stancy, but one of resilance. Environmental sustainability, al- though focused on issues such as biodiversity, is somewhat dependant on what we as a society desire to be sustained, provided that there is a critical amount of biodiversity to maintain ecological functions. Humans do infact interact with natural systems, which raises the is- sue of how much human influence in the ecosystem is sustainable. Al- though there is no hard and fast an- swer, the more human influence that acts as a means to reduce the diversity of life within the given ecosystem, be it thought forestry or other influences on the land, the more human energy and effort is required to substitute for (basically free) ecological services. One poignant example of such a project was Biosphere 2, a sealed glass dome in Arizona Desert which failed due to fact that the 200 million dollars and some of the best minds in science could not design a ecosystem that would allow eight people to sur- vive healthfully for about two years. The inherent importance of eco- logical protection has been highlight- ed by two recent ecological studies which found that nature is far more valuable intact than paved, or other- wise destroyed. A recent study found that increasing the protection of the oceans form 1% to 30% would cost 40-50 billion dollars per year but would yield benefits to the tune of 4 to 5 trillion dollars or over 10% of the World’s current Gross Domestic Product, and that is just protecting 30% of the ocean. Another study found that the total value of ecosystem services is 33 tril- lion dollars per year, in 1997 dollars, roughly the same size of the money economy. It is clear that sustainability is not only necessary for our common survival, but provides the basis of our economic prosperity. There are now easy answers in terms of finding an exact and all-en- compassing definition of sustainabil- ity. In someways what we consider sustainable depends upon what we want to sustain, That is not to say that ecological functions and the biophysical processes are not im- peritative for sustainability, they are. However, sustainability also has so- cial and economic components such a having a stable society and econo- my, and can also include thing that might not be considered inherently necessary for the survival of society, but desirable such as a given level of material prosperity or social equality. If sustainability means anything, it means a society that can perpetuate itself over the long term. HELEN HOGETERP COPY EDITOR It's starting to get to be that time of year again. While I wish that I could purge “All I Want for Christ- mas is You” off every single mix CD in every single mall across North America, I realize that such an ef- fort would be futile and that I stand a better chance in purging other things. Like toxins from my body. Yep, it’s time for a detox I think. Detoxing is no longer just for alcoholics and junkies, but with the realization of the sometimes profound ef fects of the standard North American diet on the hu- man body, better health can be achieved by eliminat- ing certain things from your diet. It is a good idea to purge yourself from these foods which are loaded with preservatives, artificial colouration, fat, sugar, and too much caffeine; however, it would be difficult to live in our culture without consuming these things at all, at least in a social context, so my suggestion is to try it for a few weeks and break the gummy-bear habit. There are loads of possible detox diets out there, and they vary a great deal. You can look online, find books, or talk to a health food expert. The general rule of thumb is to eliminate all things processed, difficult to digest, and hyper-stimulating for a few weeks (three to four seems to be the magic number). Meat, eggs, Detox 101 dairy, and heavy fats are difficult to digest. If you've ever wanted to try veganism (or vegetarianism), a detox diet is a good chance to do so, and it can be used to help diagnose milk sensitivity (or other food sensitivities, such as MSG) when you reintroduce them to your diet afterwards. Stimulants include high-sugar foods. Some people will swear off foods high on the GI scale like white bread or all gluten-containing foods (wheat, oats, etc). Alcohol is generally given up as well, along with other unnecessary drugs (over-the-counter painkillers) and highly-caffeinated energy drinks and coffee. Green tea is generally let slide, despite the caffeine, because of it's high anti-oxidant levels. It is possible that crazy mood shifts, insomnia, and scattered thoughts are caused by too much sugar and caffeine at various times in the day, causing energy spikes which are followed by energy crashes. Why put yourself through this strict dieting non- sense? You'll feel better afterwards. No, really. I'm ser- ious. If you've been feeling sluggish, listless, not quite “right,” or suffering frequent headaches or stomachaches it may be that Big Mac and Coke you had yesterday. What you should be eating while detoxing are whole foods. You should be consuming as many fresh fruits and vegetables as possible, though frozen is fine too. Some detox diets will eliminate particular vegetables and fruits, such as potatoes, onions, and tomatoes, be- cause of inflammatory qualities or acidity levels. Whole grains, nuts, legumes, beans and other vegetable protein sources are also incorporated, such as soy which you can replace your regular milk with (goat's milk or al- mond milk are other options), This may seem like it'll be expensive, but you'll also be taking out foods such as cheese and steak, as well as fancy caramel lattes and res- taurant visits. Heavily salted pre-packaged sauces are avoided in favour of plain herbs, It is more difficult and time-consuming to eat in this way and you may need to learn some new cooking skills (note: a crock pot can be your best friend here), but what else can you do over a nice long holiday? Another possibility is not cooking at all and doing a raw food diet. Unless you are nutritionally deficient or under- weight, three or four weeks of minimal eating will not harm you. You may experience some side-effects such as headaches (especially with caffeine withdrawal), lethargy, and acne break-outs, but these will usually pass within a week, and following the detox you should be more clear-headed, energetic, and you may find your skin positively glowing. It is very natural to do a diet like this in the winter, a time when humans in the past would have experienced a time of scarcity and when ac- tivity drops to minimal levels. Taking a multi-vitamin during this time won't hurt, and supplements such as green tea, probiotics, and fibre will help your body in cleansing itself, or you can purchase kits with herbal capsules that aide the body in this process. It is also possible to do something a little more dra- matic, such as a five-day lemon juice and apple cider vinegar cleanse, or a two-day fast, but the side effects to these can be far more dramatic and unpleasant. If you want to try a cleanse with less of the side effects, book- ending a short fast with a week of very light eating be- fore and after will ease it. Taking something to purge your digestive system while doing this is essential, for example salt-water, lemon-juice, or psylium husks. For a dramatic fast you should get an okay from a naturo- path or an open-minded physician. Mirielle Guilano, in her book French Women Don’t Get Fat describes a weekend long leek-soup diet that is used to help “reset” the body's metabolism and get on track with better eat- ing habits following, The dramatic cleanses aren't for everyone, but three weeks without booze and fast food is — let's be honest — good for anyone. It’s only a few weeks, so detoxing is very do-able and you're not as likely to get waylaid with it as you would with a longer diet plan (as with any diet, don't beat yourself up if you fall off it - get back on the horse!), Besides, if you start now you'll be done on time for Christmas dinner, and wouldn't that be great?