a nr Feeling under the weather? “Connecting your health to the weather” www.mediclim.com By Trevor Doré, Opinions Editor lhe endless days of dark rainy weather are once again upon us. Some days you wonder if it will ever clear up. And if the weather wasn’t bad enough, it’s also the time of year when more and more people start disappearing from class due to this or that illness. This time of the year is notorious for making us feel under the weather. Interestingly, a new website has connected and combined those feelings with medical research and meteorology. As ridiculous as it may seem, the people at MediClim.com have found a way to connect the way you feel to the weather. We have known about the potential affects of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SADS) for some time now, especially here on the wet coast. Mediclim however, has got it down to a science. They have taken everything from humidity, barometric pressure and temperature into consideration. The website warns people when they are most susceptible to flare ups from things such as migraines and heart disease. Those who are | interested, sign up to receive e-mails that alert them when specific weather conditions are coming into their area that may cause them problems. It’s a crazy idea that was thought up when a medical practitioner in 18 Toronto noticed that his patients were complaining about the same symptoms on the same days. Wondering if weather might be the cause, he contacted a meteorologist. After some research, the two found that there was a direct correlation between human health conditions and the weather — biometeorology. So after receiving positive response from the medical community, the two set out to develop an index that would map specific weather conditions known to trigger human health conditions. 14 distinct categories of weather known to affect health now exist on the MediClim website. Subscribers are warned via email on days when health conditions may be triggered. They can then go about taking the proper steps to reduce or avoid symptoms all together. MediClim currently has warning systems for those who suffer from arthritis, asthma, diabetes, heart diseases and migraines. Although you may not currently suffer from any of these aliments, the website is worth checking out. Overall, it just goes to show how connected humans are to the environment. The next time that you’re feeling under the weather, you might be getting a cold or perhaps you truly are simply under the weather. Our strange and complicated drinking rituals A romantic look at alcohol and all its accompanying baggage By Miguel Yetman — The Manitoban (University of Manitoba) WINNIPEG (CUP) — Alcohol, that wondrous and almighty social lubricant available at hundreds of inebriation stations in a town near you. Whether your poison is spirits, beer or wine, there is a beverage out there for everyone to enjoy. We all know that when the room begins to spin, sitting or lying down feels a lot “cuddlier” than usual. Long walks to McDonald’s and other far-off fast-food joints don’t seem as far and potential partners seem more attractive than usual. Most of us are familiar with the current advertising campaigns for alcoholic beverages. Their slogans usually include the message, “Please drink responsibly” or some take on the phrase. In reality, they should read more like side mirrors on cars: “Things may seem better and more awesome than they actually are.” But, we all make mistakes. Ads these days are nowhere near as fun as they used to be. For example, advertisements for Guinness designed in the ‘30s and ‘40s had slogans and phrases like “Guinness for Strength” or “Guinness is Good For You.” In the “good ol’ days” it was legal to promote the fun and pleasure that sometimes came with alcohol consumption. Ads were permitted to suggest that you might feel awesome, stronger, empowered or that you’d be cooler after consuming a company’s specific brew, ignoring the hangovers, embarrassment and health risks. This cavalier attitude towards alcohol marketing all changed very rapidly, both here and abroad, with almost every country having its own regulations for what can and can’t be said in advertising. Some of the most extreme regulations can be found in countries like Ukraine, Kenya and France, where alcohol advertisements on television have been banned, with the intention of cutting down on underage drinking. As someone who drank as a minor, I learned the value of a dollar. Many excellent evenings were spent surrounded by friends in a public park, drinking discount beer. When you were young and money was tight, you knew that beers like Colt 45 were a cost-effective way to get drunk. It tasted awful, but it got you where you wanted to be at a reasonable price. On a related note, drinking at public events has always been a popular activity for many a fan of inebriation, be it sports or music events. I never do it, mostly because I end up driving, but I have often noticed that the line for beer is directly proportional to the line for the bathroom. But hey, maybe some people get their kicks out of paying $30-$120 dollars for a concert and then doing their absolute best to match that dollar amount in beer — so much for listening to the music. Couldn’t you just have gotten wasted at home? That being said, I recently attended an Arcade Fire concert and was fascinated to find that this was not the case there. People were in their seats, and while I did see a lot of beer cups, it was, in my estimation, not the usual amount. J attribute this to them being wonderful musicians and possibly the lack of Pabst Blue Ribbon. Finally there is the problem of drinking and driving. If I were an officer of the law, I would think to set up a roadblock outside football stadium parking lots. Without a doubt, I’d be able catch the inebriated assholes filled with fermented barley and nab them before they got to kill someone. Seriously, why hasn’t anyone thought of this? Same thing applies to local watering holes. Just sit outside and stick the Breathalyser tube in the mouth of the guy or girl with keys in his or her hands. I promise you we could cut back on alcohol-related vehicular fatalities.