UPEI alumnus quits smoking, wife happy

On August 27th, UPEI alumnus Walter Jennings cele- brated a very special anniver- sary. He had gone an entire week without having a cigarette.

“I’m feeling great,” said Jennings, a 37-year-old tele- phone solicitor, during a press conference held at his Cornwall home on the special day.

At: his: “side > “was Jennings’ wife, Tracey, a fellow UPEI alumnus and non-smoker. “I’m just so proud of him,” she said, wiping away her tears of joy. “It’s not every day you can go a week without smoking.”

A smoker since his early teens, Jennings admits that until recently he had been smoking as many as_ three packs per day. “My smoking got so bad that I developed health problems,” he said.

Indeed, two months ago Jennings discovered that he had a dry, hacking cough and that he wheezed when he ran for long distances. “At first I thought I had a cold, but when I went to my doctor, he told me my smok- ing was making me sick,” said Jennings.

“Tt was just so awful. All

Antonio Banderas is “ssssmokin” in the 1998 film, The Mask of Zorro.

Wwww.upeil.ca

One thing is for sure...

At least we're not Lakehead.

At the University of Prince Edward Island, we are committed to delivering each and every student a top quality education. More often than not, we don't. But that doesn't mean that UPEI isn't a good place to party for four years, or even longer if you want to. Plus, at the end you will end up with a piece of paper that will be much more impressive than the one that you could get at, say, Lakehead University. Of course, we're not saying that Lakehead is a bad school. It's fine... If you don't care about your future.

?

that smoking was ruining him,’ insisted his wife. “It finally came down to me giving him a choice: either the cigarettes went, or I went.”

Jennings credits a recent viewing of the film, The Insider, as the deciding factor in his quitting. “That movie really made me think about what I was doing to myself,” he said.

Some films that have popularized smoking § are Smoke, Smokey and the Bandit, and The Mask of Zorro.

If Jennings could give one tip to young people consid- ering taking up smoking, he would tell them, “Don’t. It’s just not worth it in the long run. Sure you might look cool and get lots of friends, but it really screws you up on the inside. And I’m not talking metaphorically

' either.” A graduate from the ' UPEI business program in 1985, ' Jennings quickly found a job at Teleco, Inc. He soon became the : company’s most successful tele- | phone solicitor, interrupting as : many as four hundred meals per day. “It’s hard work, but some- body’s got to do it,” said ' Jennings.

When asked what he has planned for the future, Jennings said, “Well, Tracey still has a 1 couple good years left on her : biological clock. Now that my 1 SCX drive is back, I think it’s ; about time we made us some babies.”

Compared to other sto- ries about smoking, Jennings’ story proves to be a breath of fresh air, both literally and : metaphorically.

Dear Coolbreeze:

I’ve got a crush on a girl that moved here from Calgary, but I can’t seem to communicate with her. Every time I say something like “Represent Beyatch!!” she slaps me and calls me a little bastard. Is there a way that I can let her know what I think?

-Little Bastard

Dear Little:

I have developed a fear of Calgary women ever since I got into an accident involving a rodeo clown at the Calgary Stampede, so I’ve enlisted a friend of mine, who recently moved to Alberta, to handle your question. Take it away, Vince: “Calgary is one classy

' town, and the ladies are com- | pletely different from the girls

1 you ll meet in PEI. The key to

1 getting to know them better is

| knowing what to say. For exam-

ple, when Calgarians see a

' good looking girl, they say,

' Hey baby, ya got a nice pooper ' there! while pinching her butt.

' Or (my personal favourite) Hey | sugar, wanna touch pissers? If 1 she giggles, invite her out to : Shoot some prairie dogs. But if ' she looks angry, run away. She probably has a gun.” Thanks ' Vince. Nice Pooper.

Calgary’s least available bachelor: Vince.