March 10, 2004 e the other press © BALLE BC Launch BALLE Theresa Laviolette OP Contributor A new business organization, with a mandate to defy globalization and the profit-at-any-costs system that it pro- motes, has entered the BC economic stage. The Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) held its official launch on February 25 at the Vancouver Public Library. A diverse and enthusiastic crowd of around 200 local business owners attended to hear keynote speaker, Judy Wicks, a Philadelphia restaurant owner, and the original founder of BALLE. Judy first had the idea for a network of local, ethically-based businesses after witnessing the hostile takeover of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream by the multi- national company, Unilever two years ago. Seeing the small progressive com- pany destroyed by the mega-corpora- tion, spurred her to create a network of local companies sharing a business vision that excluded the human and environmental exploitation practiced by multi-national companies. BALLE was born in response to globalization and its destructive impact. BALLE focuses on helping the local enterprise to do business in a better way. It provides independent, commu- nity-based businesses the opportunity to support each other, and in turn give local economies the chance to thrive. It has been estimated that upwards of 80 percent of the money that consumers spend at local businesses will stay in the community to revitalize the econo- my. That is compared with only 15/40 percent spent at franchises and non- locally owned enterprises. BALLE companies operate on the worldview that all life is interconnect- ed, that the environment needs to be sustained, and that people need to be treated with dignity in a work environ- ment that provides them with a living wage, and a sense of contribution and fulfillment. These ethical businesses look beyond the traditional, profit- based bottom line to what they BALLE calls the “multiple bottom line.” This new bottom line account- ing recognizes that companies must do more than just make money; they also must recognize their responsibility to their own people and society at large, and their responsibility to the environ- ment and future generations. Over the past two years, more than 20 BALLE chapters have been estab- lished across North America, with BALLE BC being Canada’s first. The BALLE network offers an online mar- ketplace for consumers and businesses, education on Sustainable Business 101, and Multiple Bottom Line Accounting for Small Businesses. Business membership in BALLE BC is $35 per year. Information on mem- bership and upcoming networking events can be found at . For information on the internation- al BALLE group, visit . Laughter —A Productivity Tool? Theresa Laviolette OP Contributor Is laughter in the workplace part of your job description? Not likely, unless youre a comedy sketch writer. And that is a pity, according to Chris Johnson, who extols the benefits of laughter in our everyday life, but especially as a way to create a happy and productive workforce. Johnson, who retired from the Douglas College Sports Institute in 2003, returned to the college; to give a presentation on the pepe fits—no, the absolute necessity—of laughter in the workplace. It was the third in a series on workplace wellness that the college is offering to Douglas College staff, faculty, and interested students. “If you don't feel good about ae you wont do a good job,” says Johnson. “One of the best ways to feel good about you is to be able to laugh easily and openly. Laughing is something we do less and less as we get older. As we become ‘capable and responsible’ its almost as if those two admirable qualities were not compatible with a sense of humour and having fun.” In fact according to statistics, compiled no doubt by the laughter police, the number of times in one day that we laugh openly shrinks from around 400 a day in child- hood to only 40 times a day by adulthood. This is criminal in Chris’s view, and he does every- thing he can to increase those laugh stats in the people around him, whether by wearing colourful clown noses, or wrapping a tele- phone cord around his neck and telling people it’s a phoneless cord—things he calls grabbers. It’s all part of creating a non- threatening environment where people can feel comfortable and valued, and learn to laugh about their mistakes in an atmosphere marked by tolerance and common sense. “Dont worry about looking fool- ish,” says Chris, who seems never to have tired of office practical jokes. He was even known for beginning his interviews with job seekers by asking them to tell him a joke. He wanted to check their laughter quotient, and also to let them know that they were entering a place where fun was the organiz- ing principle. After all, he reasoned, their work skills were listed on their resume; it was their sense of Psychosis Funding Kelly Parry News Editor Annual funding of over $120,000 from the Ministry for Children and Family Development to Fraser Health will improve early psychosis intervention services for young people throughout BC. Fraser Health will develop a provincial training program to help child and youth mental health cli- nicians and physicians, especially in rural areas, to provide early psy- chosis services. “The Fraser South Early Psychosis Intervention Program (EPI) has been so successful that it is now a model for expansion,” said MLA Dave Hayer. “Through the provincial training program, child and youth mental health clinicians across the province will provide children and youth with mental illnesses the services they need, within their communities.” “This government is committed to coordinated, community-based mental health services for children and youth in the province,” said Clark. “Training of — service providers in evidence-based prac- tices in the field of mental health is one of our strategies to meet that commitment.” Psychosis is a serious mental ill- ness that affects approximately three percent of the population, often starting during adolescence or early adulthood. A key focus of the Child and Youth Mental Health Plan, released in February 2003, is to devel- op approaches that reduce risk and prevent and mitigate the effects of mental illnesses. The gov- ernment has committed an addi- tional $14 million over the next three years, for the implementation of the Plan. “The onset of many mental dis- orders in adolescence and young adulthood makes it imperative that we try to minimize the impact as quickly as possible,” said Susan Brice, Minister of State for Mental Health and Addiction Services. “Supporting early psychosis inter- vention is vital to reducing the severity and course of mental ill- ness.” humour that needed releasing. If you give people permission to laugh and have fun at work, they become more creative, they put more into their job, and the work climate improves. Happy employ- ees take that spirit away with them and into their homes and commu- nities, ultimately making the world a better place to be. Imagine a joke in the office having such a multi- plier effect. It makes Chris Johnson laugh out loud. The ministry also committed nearly $30,000 for early psychosis educational initiatives, including an advertising campaign and transla- tion of materials into Hindi, Punjabi, Chinese, and Korean. “The Ministry of Children and Family Development continues to be a valuable partner to Fraser Health in this important mental health initiative,” said Dr. Karen Tee, EPI program coordinator, Fraser South. “This latest funding enables us to stretch our arms even farther in our efforts to reach out to youth and young adults in need.” The Fraser South EPI program, a collaborative community-based in- itiative between Fraser Health and MCED, began in May 2000, serv- ing Surrey, Delta, Langley, and White Rock. Speaking with a Forked Tongue —lt’s Easier Than You Think Peggy Giesbrecht OP Contributor Take a walk through a college cam- pus; pass the lineup at a hot new club or saunter down the aisle of your local grocery store and you will see evidence the immense pop- ularity of body marking. Tattoos and piercings have become fashion accessories for the young and the young at heart. This newest breed of body manipulation devotees has even revived some of the more obscure traditions of branding and scarring in the name of body art. But if marking or scarring your flesh doesn’t interest you, why not try speaking from both sides of your mouth—ah, tongue? Tongue splitting is a relatively uncommon form of body modifica- tion, but it is gaining popularity. And as with trends involving changing one’s physical appearance, there is an interest in the possible risks and side effects. “What we as a society have come to accept as nor- mal is changing all the time,” explains Dr. Tim Bressmann, assis- tant professor of speech-language pathology at the University of Toronto. “From my perspective it was interesting to see what the potential side effects are beyond the obvious change in appearance.” Bressman has released his case study in this month’s Journal of the Canadian Dental Association, in which he detailed the effects of a self-inflicted tongue splitting. The study participant was a 33-year-old body artist, who had no formal medical training. He performed the procedure in his studio, splitting his tongue along the midline with a surgical scalpel. The wound was then cauterized with a red-hot steel bead. The end result was a forked looking tongue that was about seven millimetres shorter than it was prior to the split. There were no further complications with the healing process. Evaluation by a group of experi- enced speech pathologists produced some surprising results. Despite the invasive nature of the procedure, it had little effect on the man’s ability to speak clearly and intelligibly. “The only thing that was noted by some of the listeners was a slight distortion of some of the sibilant sounds on s and z,” says Bressmann, adding, “There remains a_ signifi- cant risk of infec- tion or injury, but the good news is that it doesn’t appear to perma- nently affect a per- ™ son’s ability to be undetstood.” Despite the less than damning results, tongue splitting is still not getting the nod of approval from the Canadian Dental Association. Dr. Louis Dube, President of the CDA explains, “Tongue splitting probably isn’t going to cause the damage to the tissues |that we see from tongue piercing—there is no jewelry involved to hammer away http://www.otherpress.ca at the teeth and gums. But infec- tion is a real possibility. Besides, going into your mouth with a sharp object or a red-hot bead is never a good idea.” The full text of the case study is available from the Journal of the Canadian Dental Association website at . Page 5