id The disease as cure We may not be saved after all by Ivan Huska ith the current measles scare at SFU, and the vaccinations happening here this week, students must ask themselves the question: Are vaccinations safe? Epidemiologist Dr. Gordon Stewart has suggested that it is dangerous to stress our immune system with “so many bacterial and viral antigens” without knowing the long term conse- quences. Furthermore, vaccination does not guarantee immunity against disease. In fact, by receiv- ing a vaccination, you are dou- bling your chance of getting the disease: one chance from the wild virus and one chance from the vaccine. While the altruistic motivations behind vaccinations are commend- able, there is another motivating 7 the — Bither Press Volume 21 - lesue 14 - February 17 1020-700 Royal Avenue New Westminster, BC V3L 5B2 Phone 525-3542 Fax 527-5095 general@op.douglas.be.ca The Other Press is Douglas College’s autonomous student newspaper. We have been publishing since 1976. The Other Press is run as a_non-hierarchical collective. The OP publishes every week during this semester— we felt like we needed the change — and monthly (as a magazine) during the summer We receive our funding from a student _| levy collected every semester at registra- tion, and from local and national advertising revenue. The Other Press is a member of Canadian University Press, a cooperative of student newspapers from across Canada. We claim to adhere to CUP’s Statement of Common Principles and Code of Ethics. The Other Press reserves the right to choose what to publish, and what not to publish. We don’t publish anything racist, sexist or homophobic. If you have any quibbles with what we choose, maybe you should get your lazy butt down here and help. Coordinating Staff Athletics ~ Jonathan D. Chapman sports@op.douglas.bc.ca Arts & Entertainment ~ Kim Jorgensen a&e@op douglas.be.ca Classifieds ~ Barbara Kinley-Hubert Creative ~ Gweny Wong others@op.douglas.be.ca Coquitlam ~ Joyce Robinson cog_coordinator@op.douglas.be.ca CUP Liaison ~ Julia Cornester (acting) cup@op.douglas.be.ca Distribution ~ Lee Flower (acting) Features ~ Arthur Hanks features@op.douglas.be.ca Graphics ~ Cheryl Chiu graphics@op.douglas.be.ca News ~ Jim Chliboyko news@op.douglas.be.ca Opinion and Editorial ~ Elijah Bak (acting) opinions@op.douglas.be.ca Photography ~ Eric Milner photo@op.douglas.be.ca Production ~ Jessica Fish production_co@op.douglas.bc.ca Systems Operator ~ Michael Pierre op_web@op.douglas.bc.ca Colours Ish ~ Michael Pierre & Gweny Wong Contributors Cynthia Ashton-Styles, Chad Luff, SiD, Christopher Bonnallie, Gina Stack, Roz, Trond Halle, Doug Whitlow, Ivan Huska, Dave Tam and Jezebel. Interim Employees Accounting ~ John Morash Production Resource ~ “Type-in” Ernst Editorial Resource ~ Ed McKay factor that cannot be overlooked: money. Pharmaceutical companies and people in the health industry stand to lose millions, if not billions, if vaccinations are deemed unsafe. In the US alone, 4 million children are vaccinated a year—a substantial revenue for the medical corporations. Consider this: the last case of wild polio virus infection was in 1979. Since then all polio infections have resulted from vaccinations. Why does polio vaccination continue? ‘ Medical historian Harris L. Coulter calls the twentieth century the age of vaccination. The first childhood vaccine was developed for whooping cough (pertussis) in 1925. This was followed by DPT (diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus) and MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccines produced in the 1960s. A baby’s first vaccination is Ee a OPinion routinely given as early as two months of age. Coulter believes that the immune systems of infants are not adequately devel- oped to handle the introduction of toxic proteins present in vaccines. Injected vaccines go directly into the blood stream and bypass a child’s first line mucous mem- brane defense system. Coulter estimates that at least 1000 babies die from the DPT vaccine in the US every year. He also estimates that 12 000 babies annually suffer permanent damage such as autism, seizures, mental retarda- tion, hyperactivity and dyslexia from early childhood vaccinations. The consequences, according to Coulter, are manifested as the neurologically damaged children grow older and begin to exhibit “aggressive, impulsive, unreflective and/or irrational” behaviour in different degrees. Coulter surmises that the reason this theory has not been pursued by medical researchers is that the issue is too “explosive.” Such a revelation would undermine the whole childhood vaccination program and swing the focus of many social problems from the family to the medical profession. The passage of the National Child Vaccine Injury Act by the US congress in 1986 gives credence to Coulter’s arguments and allega- tions. Since 1986, more than 700- million dollars has been paid out to families with children killed or permanently effected by vaccines. Some members of the global medical community feel it is their duty to eradicate all diseases. These experts say that mass vaccination has stopped epidemics in the past, such as polio. How- ever, other health professionals believe that polio declined natu- Editorial he fact that each one of us is a different skin colour, with many different shades even within rally and that vaccination had little to do with the virus subsid- ing. In light of the current measle drive, I find it curious that in an institute of higher learning, we ar not questioning such a controver- sial practice more. succeeded in freeing ourselves from all this garbage that we collect as we grow from conception. our own groups, gives us cause to celebrate our wonderful uniqueness. A bit sappy or corny you say? Perhaps that’s true, but what is even more real than this wild and woolly truth is that despite our dispa- rateness, we all have so much that we share. This is Sounds like a lot of hooey, right? There are likely many of you out there reading this thinking, “they’re off their rockers!” You may be right and perhaps you’re not. You see, we want to let you know that yes, we don’t want to deny who we are and we’re proud not to say that either one or the other is more important. Since this collapsing society is set up the way it is, it will be important to reclaim all of our iden- tities, and be proud of them, be we First Nations, female, raised poor, young people, elite class, male, adult or German. After we reclaim our identities, we need to go about the business of cleaning up what we’ve regained. We need to learn to use everything we’ve acquired to assist ourselves and others let go of all the baggage that we carry around inside of us. When we have loosed the shackles that bind the truth from our constantly seeking minds, we will have of who we see we are and who we’re with. Even if it hurts to be ourselves it only hurts because every Single one of us has been told lies that we have been forced to accept as the truth. Because the incorrect information and misinformation has come at us so often and consistently, we have come to believe this stuff that is given to us as the truth. This thing that some call oppression comes from within and without, from you and from me, by them and by us. One of the ways to shake it off is to learn to support each other and finally, to always support ourselves. Be gentle with yourself. Ben [7 RGLOE iz ORZA KA... Fe Rireeee | ( (22 yy 2 | = WAY. 8 = [ris] x} = aan “Cee Ss == om = S CALLING \y Pe, FAW S50Gu- REITER MAKE On being stereotyped Every day a hundred little things remind me that I am Black by SiD hat is stereotyping? A mental printing plate cast from a matrix that is molded from a raised printing surface, such as type. In English, “Generalizing someone or some- thing based on a few views.” The weird thing about it is that most of the time we don’t even know we are doing it. The question is why? I blame it on the media, if they stop portraying the negativity and misinformation we would be better informed. Black stereotyping (something I can relate to) is an example of how the media corrupted intelligent minds to make them believe that all black people are the same. Some people, when they first see me or talk to me, they automatically assume that I’m from the ghettos, and that I’m loud, obnoxious and have an extremely bad attitude. Oh, because you saw Ricki last night, you know everything about black women? Being loud, obnoxious and having an attitude are personality traits. Not black women traits. And what's up with this all tall black men play basketball sterotype? Because my brother is tall and black does that mean he should be a basketball player? Someone actually asked me if he was, I just simply answered, “No, does your brother bowl?” The reason why Jordan and Pipin are such good b-ball players is because they have the potential, they have the skills. A little less “White Men Can’t Jump” would clear up that sterotype. But what ticks me off more is when black people are classified under Africans or Jamaicans. Why is it hard to understand that our world is diverse? You tell someone you're from Holland, India, or Australia, and they look at you like you are some sort of freak. Yes it is true the majority of black people are Africians. Yes, there are a lot of Jamicans. Now if we flip to some “National Geographic” or some- thing, we will find Cubans, Hai- tians and Dominicans. (Where are these places you ask? Check the Caribbean, You'll find the rest there.) Black people are no different than any other ethnic group. And that’s what some people should learn! Some of these stereotypes can get so stimulating that their reactions are detrimental. For example, when I was younger, someone told me that my hair feels like a sponge. What the heck is that suppose to mean? Am I suppose to take that as some sort of “sick” compliment? I thought it felt okay. So being young and influenced, I changed it. Why? Probably because I thought every- one else thought the same way too... talk about generalizing! How do we stop this insanity? The thing is we don’t. All we can do, as open-minded individuals, is to try our best to think before we speak. Stupid as it may sound, it helps to prevent dumb questions like “Did yah guys live in trees?” and “Do you know OJ?” 2 February 171997 The Other Press