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Show Lehi Free Press New Utah! - Wednesday, October 6, 1999 - Page 2 Opinion Halloween, can be pretty scary Elections, like Early detection of cancer is key Cancer. It has become one of the most feared words in the English language, and with good reason. According to the American Cancer Society, one in three of us will get some form of cancer during our lifetime, and cancer is the second largest killer in this country, second only to heart disease. In a story in the "Health and Wellness" special section distributed as part of this newspaper, Jennifer Shumway Ballard talks about her own experiences with this dread disease. Jennifer is fighting for her life, but it is a battle she carries on with a spirit of optimism. For one thing, the fact that her cancer was found early has increased her chance of survival. That's a lesson all would be wise to learn. Jennifer points out that cancer treatment has improved drastically in recent years. For example, she tells us, "Only a few years ago, breast cancer was almost always treated with massive surgical removal of both breasts and surrounding tissue. Now, what form of surgery a breast cancer patient faces depends largely on how early the cancer is detected and some women are able to have minor surgery or no surgery at all." Nevertheless, many women avoid self-exaor regular mammograms simply because they fear finding the lump that might indicate they have cancer. As Jennifer points out, "With breast cancer, as with many cancers, ignorance and fear can be the cause of much unnecessary suffering and even death. Prevention is the best treatment, but early detection is the next best thing." Here are some other facts from the American Cancer Society, which is promoting October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and encouraging women to take the necessary steps to help in the early detection of this devastating disease. According to the American Cancer Society, the risk of breast cancer increases with age. Some 800 Utah women will learn they have breast cancer this year, and some 200 will die from the disease. Many will not take the simplest step towards early detection of breast cancer, which is regular Jeni Marie goaded us this weekend until she got someone to finally agree to get down the Halloween boxes out of the attic. We really didn't pay her much attention until two little girls came out of the garage hefting a heavy six foot steplad-de- r bly some of us that will put more up the stairs into our home. That is thought into our Halloween decor and when their father and older brother got costumes than we will put into who we up from the family room couch, turned are voting for two days later. Then there are those of us who are the television off, and took over. Now our home is covered with Halloween just stressed to the max and plop on cobwebs (to complement the cobwebs that ole' witch's hat for a costume and we already had) and more spiders, slide into the role quite smoothly every pumpkins, and witches than I dare to Halloween. No decision to be made count. just same old, same old. What's scary is But that wasn't the fun part of the many of us vote the same way. But unlike Halloween, the elections activity for them. What generated the most little girl giggles was taking out are not a holiday and the candidates the costume collection that we have are not pretend characters. They are and having them try everything on. On real people and the consequences of a weekend most Mormons consider to their actions whether good or bad, be a religious event, Sunday evening effect our community for years to come. we had witchesvand fairy queens flying As voters, we got a chance last Thursthroughout the different levels of our day to meet these "characters" and find out who they are and what actions they now haunted house. Later after the costumes had been plan to take if elected. It was a full house excepting the two packed back in their boxes and the self examination. However, even fewer use the best early detection tool available the mammogram. A mammogram can often detect breast cancer years before it can or be felt with breast by a clinical examination. But most women don't use this tool either because of fear, inconvenience or cost. The fact is, fewer than half the women over age 40 in this country have regular screening mammograms. For some, it may cost them their lives. What should a woman do to help in the early detection of breast cancer? The American Cancer Society suggests the following steps: Monthly breast begiiming by age 20. Clinical breast exam every three annually thereyears from age after. An annual mammogram beginning by age 40. Help is available and nearby. The Utah County Health Department, for example, holds Women's Cancer Clinics specifically for Utah County residents each Tuesday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Utah County Health Department, 589 S. State, Provo. Free breast exams, pap tests and mammograms are available for those who meet age and income guidelines. For those who do not qualify for free services. The cost is $30 for all three. The department can be reached 20-4- 0, at er. What is really scary is that per capita, only 1 out of 18 Lehi citizens vote. And ofthe 1000 voters only a small percentage of those will take the time to research the issues and speak with the candidates to try and make an intelligent decision. Actually, there are proba- - 370-873- 8. The American Cancer Society also offers informative programs and a variety of patient services. You can learn more about these programs by calling Many Internet resources are available, and are listed in Jennifer Ballard's story in the Health and Wellness special section. In addition, breast cancer is the topic of this month's free Deseret NewsInter-mountai- n Health Care Health Hotline this Saturday, Oct. 9, from 10 a.m. to e hotline number, noon. The can be called from anywhere in the intermountain region. All The train of the church moves on at an ever - increasing pace This week we welcomed home our returning missionary, who is one of the first of many his age. So, in the hopes it may ease the transition for all those returning missionaries, I pass along an observation that my toll-fre- calls are confidential. We can reduce our cancer risks, but regular cancer screenings are vital piece of the cancer puzzle one that can eliminate unnecessary suffering and save lives as well. son picked up from someone else. The first week home the returning missionary thinks his family is going to hell. The second week home the return- ing missionary thinks all of his friends are going to hell. And the third week home, the thinks fee" is y returning missionary -. Last the best of all the game Last week marked the last game in Tiger Field in Detroit. Next year, the team will move into a new stadium somewhere downtown. According to the sportscaster I was listening to, two or three other teams are also in the process of moving. Several dozen children in Lehi had the opportunity to sing in LDS General Conference this last weekend at the Saturday afternoon session. What made this activity unique is that this is likely the last General Conference broadcast from the historic Tabernacle. I almost got a little choked up as President Hinckley bid the old buildI hope the children will ing good-byremember the experience for a long time. Very often, we mark the passage of time in our lives by our own "Famous Firsts," such as our first tooth, oui first haircut, our first steps, our first date. But now I realize that we also mark time by our "lasts" as well. Throughout my years of attending churches in Lehi, though, I have experienced many of those bittersweet e. "lasts." I grew up in what was known as the "Old Third Ward" area, an ecclesiastical division that once encompassed the whole northwest section of Lehi. (That same geographic area today covers at least 10 wards, if not more, in two different stakes.) From the old History of Lehi, I could read about the first five wards, but I knew nothing of the creation of the sixth through ninth wards. But the creation of the Lehi Tenth Ward brought the first change to the "Old Third Ward," as we then became members of the reorganized Lehi Sev- enth Ward. Not too many years later, I remember sitting in the Lehi Stake Center as church officials announced the creation of the Lehi North Stake. Each of us had to stand when our respective wards were announced, and we were told at that time which stake would now be our home. 2?t Wm press KevUtah! (ISSN No. A ly easy. We didn't realize that we had forged some great friendships on the East Coast, ones that really came to mean a lot to us. In fact, even though I could not foresee remaining in my employment for the length of a career, I did enjoy the association I had with my coworkers. It was an office tradition to go out for lunch near the time of one's departure, and although I was not retiring after decades of employment, they recognized me with such an honor. At the end of the meal, they asked me to make a few remarks after presenting me with a going-awa-y gift, and I suddenly found myself in tears, realizing that I was leaving people who had become important in my life. "Firsts" are a lot easier and more exciting, but the "lasts" of our life have to last us the rest of our life. member of NATIONAL newspaper. To realize the value of ONE ask someone who has just celebrated their golden wedding anniversary. (After all, it's not the man who can woo a million women; it's the man who can woo one woman a million times.) To realize the value of ONE HOUR, ask the lovers who are waiting to meet. To realize the value of ONE DAY, Election time is mixture of headache and excitement in the news business. The headache comes with the countless interviews that go into putting together stories on each candidate sometimes not just once, but twice. For example, this year with the primary election we have already profiled the candidates ... but in a month local voters will return to the polls for the final election and that means another round of candidates profiles. For the national media, it's worse and it's better. These folks must focus on a presidential race that now runs for more than two years. Of course, that?s all those reporters do. In our case, election coverage is just one more thing to worry about On election night, however, there is a certain air of excitement to being among the first to learn the election results, as we pass them on to our readers. I've been covering elections of one kind or another for 24 years, ever since I was reporting for the Daily Universe at BYU. That-firsyear, we all gathered in the Utah County t Deadlines Classified Advertising Brett Bezzant Managing Editor City Editor NEWSPAPt ASSOCIATION .Marc Haddock Cathy AUred Periodicals Postage Paid at American Fork, Utah Mnd iddrwt ohingt to Amrfcan For, Utah 14003 POSTMASTER: WmI Main, the train. the value of ONE SECOND, ask a. person who has just avoided a traffic accident. feaiize' the value of ONE MILLISECOND, ask the person who won a silver medal in the Olympics. The last LDS General Conference to be broadcast in this century and from the Salt Lake Tabernacle was truly amazing one I hope never to To realize i forget. . recently ran across two different quotes that, put together, seem to describe where the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-da-y Saints fits in I today's world: In 1984, Elder Bruce R. McConkie said, "The Church is like a great caravan organized, prepared, following an appointed course, with its captains of tens and captains of hundreds all in place. "What does it matter if a few barking dogs snap at he heels of the weary travelers? Or that predators claim those few who fall by the way? The caravan moves on. "Is there a ravine to cross, a miry mud hole to pull through, a steep grade to climb? So be it. The oxen are van moves on!" (Ensign, Nov. 1984 p. 85) Bishop Glenn L. Pace likened the church to a train: "Many of us take the blessings of the gospel for granted," he said. "It is as if we are passengers on the train of the Church, which has been moving forward gradually and methodically. Sometimes we have looked out the window and thought, That looks kind of fun out there. This train is so restrictive.' So we have jumped off and gone and played in the woods for a while. Sooner or later we find it isn't as much fun as Lucifer (the marketer of misery) makes it appear, or we get critically injured, so we work our way back to the tracks and see the train ahead. With a determined sprint we catch up to it, breathlessly wipe the perspiration from our foreheads, and thank the Lord for repentance.... "I would propose that the luxury of getting on and off the train as we please is fading. The speed of the train is increasing. The woods are getting much too dangerous, and the fog and darkness are moving in!" ; (Ensign, Nov. 1992, p. 11) I More local election news than any other source a 3 Publisher MINUTE, ask a person who missed strong and the teamsters wise. The caravan moves on. "Are there storms that rage along the way, floods that wash away the bridges, deserts to cross, and rivers to ford? Such is life in this fallen sphere. The caravan moves on. "Ahead is the celestial city, the eternal Zion of our God, where all who maintain their position in the caravan shall find food and drink and rest. Thank God that the cara- 4- - Subscription price $24" per year 59 West Main American Fork, Utah 84003 r? that helps. Telephone Numbers New jewialiews 309-50- ' missionaries come home realizing the value of time, so, on a more serious note, I adapt and plagiarize this interesting thought: To realize the value of TWO YEARS, ask a Mormon missionary. To realize the value of ONE YEAR, ask a college student who failed a grade. To realize the value of ONE MONTH, ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby. To realize the value of ONE WEEK, ask the editor of a weekly Advertising & Circulation 1521-685- (U.S.P.S. No. going to hell. Well, I hope Hard-workin- g' Many other divisions, as well as physical moves, too, have taken us to new church areas. After I graduated from BYU, I accepted employment with the Department of Defense. We left for Maryland on January 1, 1983, a day we selected partly because it seemed auspicious to start a new life on the first day of a new year. Of course, we marked the passage with the family the night before, and shed many tears thinking that our move would be fairly permanent, and not sure which of our family members we might not see again, or at least for a considerable period of time. As it turned out, we decided after a year that we really didn't want to spend the rest of our lives that far away from our families in employment situations that did not seem as ideal as we had once thought. So we decided to move back to Utah, a decision we thought was fair- Published weekly by front rows. You know how that goes. People would rather stand in the back of the room than sit in those two front rows and so there was standing room only for many latecomers in the back. Connie Ashton helped a great deal in orchestrating Lehi's "Meet the Candidates Night." And Carolyn Player was perfect in her role as moderator. The candidates were controlled and well behaved i.e. there was no mud slinging, name calling, or serious accusations made. Unlike national campaigns, the candidates took time to address the younger children were tucked in bed, the older children, their father, and I discussed the upcoming election. Is it a coincidence that the general election is directly after Halloween? Two scary events scheduled one right after anoth- issues. Now that's scary. Questions asked by the audience were submitted in written form and each candidate had a turn to respond. Issues addressed were the preservation of agricultural use, growth, traffic, safety, and crime. Candidate Mark Johnson told a humorous sKunn story ana can didate Mick Elkins rebutted with offer ing everyone his best 'coon' recipes, one of which is available in this issue's inside nages. The last question posed to the candidates was a frightening one and was asked by Kelly Jacklin who has been attending city meetings quite regularly lately. Where were the candidates at the city council meetings? She had not seen them at the City Chambers before. Where have they been? With the primary election over, we have only a few weeks left until the general election. The issues will remain the same and we will cover some of them when we run the candidates one last time under the Election News. If you would like to review the candidate positions you can also call them up on our web site at wwwJJewUtah.com under the elections icon. So. Do you know what costume you're wearing for Halloween? Or are you hiding out in the family room watching TV? Do you know who you're voting for? Or are you hiding out in the family room watching TV? Hmmm...I seem to detect a pattern here.... Personally I'm going to be a witch for Halloween. My kids say that costume suits me best. And after Halloween I plan on doing something even scarier. I'm going to vote. Display Advertising News Missionaries Weddings .. .Tuesday, noon ... .Monday, 5 p.m. Monday, 2 p.m. .Monday, 2 p.m. .Monday, 2 p m. .Monday, 10 t.m. Community Calendar . .Monday, 10 a.m. Letters to the Editor . . .Monday, 10 a.m. Sports Obituaries .Tuesday, 11 a.m. tJfenc I jr Courthouse (since then it's become "historic," but at the time it was just the courthouse) and helped to tally the results. There were no fancy counting machines, no punch ballots that could be tallied electronically, no computers. We divided up the voting districts and all worked together to come up with our unofficial tellies. At the time it was the only way to get the election results for the next day's newspapers. In the weekly news business, things work a bit differently. For one thing, we won't be carrying the results of last night's election in the newspaper thfe week. A combination of manpower shortages and lack of time combined to malse it logistically impossible to provide next-da- y election coverage. J In previous years, that would mean an early night for me and my editorial staff) but the Internet has changed all that. J Because while we wont get yesterday's election results in the paper until next week, we will be posting regular election updates on our web siti www.newutah.com, for all of the commij-nitie- s covered by Afeu; Utah! I It's not a perfect answer, but we think ifs pretty neat In fact, it is likely you will get local election results on our web site first I For those of you who are interested, you can find the results here just a! soon as we have them. If you're readint this, they are there now. In this case, it helps us give you more local election news than any other source. For a newspaper man, nothing couia De more tun man that J We welcome letters to the editor. All letters must include the author's name (printed AND signed) and a telephone number. We reserve the right to edit ters for clarity, punctuation, HOW TO REACH By Mail P.O. Box 7, American Fork, UT 84003 - In let- taste and length. Letters are welcome on any topic. Person 59 W. Main, American Fork II $ By Fax 756-527- 4 By editor newutah.com J (POOR |