Editorial Dancing with death To smoke or not to smoke? By Marko Peric hat is it about holding a smouldering firebrand in one’s non-smokers,’’ and my personal favorite-- ‘‘Smoking can kill you.’” This writer wonders how well ordinary Bazooka Joe gum would sei! if it brandished the advisory ‘‘Chewing gum can kill you’’. If tobacce was discovered today, what are the odds that it would be legalized? Imagine the scenario in government labs: ‘‘Here’s a brown leaf product that is highly additive, causes cancer, and contains over one hundred toxic substances. It has no medicina: use whetagever. Should we sell this stuff to the general public?’’ Somehow, I doubt that the answer would be ‘‘Sure, just try to keep it away from kids mouth that could ever be considered ‘‘cool’’? Is it that element of danger? Of course, if danger is. cool, “Here’s a brown leaf product that is highly additive, causes cancer, and contains over one justify the problems caused under eighteen.’’ There is simply no way to Te ee ee hundred toxic substances. It has no medicinal © by tobacco products. Over ing with wolverines would 1156 whatsoever. Should we sell this stuff to the ty thousand people died in be much cooler, as these ac- tivities are much more dan- Canada last year from smok- ing-related illnesses. That’s gerous. However, neither has become popular nor widely accepted in society (although subway surfing was common a few years ago). Mind you, smoking is a hazardous activity, at least if you put any faith in the surgeon general. Emblazoned on the packag- ing of all tobacco products sold in Canada are so many general public?” lent crime, automobile acci- dents, and AIDS -- together. Why do we let this killer run rampant in our society? The only good thing to arise from smoking are the jobs it creates, in fields such as agri- culture, manufacturing, ad- vertising, and in-health care. In all reality, the world would be a better place if to- bacco had never been discov- fun little warnings: ‘‘Ciga- rettes cause cancer,’’ ‘‘Smoking can harm your children,’’ “‘Tobacco smoke is the leading cause of lung cancer among Are you looking for fame and friends? Hot nights with hot dates? POWER? Then join the hockey team. Onthe other hand, if you are looking to churn your charming cynicism into free- floating hostility, or you are longing to have your name and twisted mental thoughts in print then SUBMIT TO THE X- PRESS! Here's what you need to do: 1. Screw your courage to its sticking place; 2. WRITE. About anything! Thenews, the state of the world, how bad your cat's litter box smells, ANYTHING! 3. Put your name and number on it; 4. Bring it down to the X-Press office either printed out or ona disk; mee Tee U CASCIO & SIMPLE! SNH COMO Thursday 4:00pm! ered. I doubt that smoking will be banned anytime in the near future, but if it were, many people who would be justifiably glad to see it go. -- Buy any regular priced pizza and receive a 2nd of equal or cain aval beni eah a Me rin SEY TT RST LD. CARD TEP 566-9000 393 University Ave. Kirkwood Mews *Not valid with any other offer far more than died from vio- | “PRESS Content Editor Marko Peric Managing Editor - C.A. Schneider — Assistant Content Editor Trent Drake Production Manager Grace Kimpinski Advertising Manager Aldera Chisholm Sports Writer Scott MacDonald Typesetter Michelle Stevenson Arts and Entertainment Sean McQuaid Special thanks to all of our contributors and to our printers the Guardian/Patriot The U.P.E.I. X-Press is the official newspaper of the University of Prince Edward Island. The X- Press is published three times a month throughout the school year. 2,500 copies are distributed both on and off campus every Tuesday. The X-Press is amember of the Canadian University Press (CUP). Anyone may submit to the X- Press but please note the following: -- For legal reasons, all submissions must contain the author's name and phone number. Author's names can be withheld upon request. | -- All submissions are property of the X-Press. -- Submissions may be dropped off at the X-Press office (room 06 Main). Mail at your own risk. Submissions are processed more quickly if they are submitted on 3 1/4" or 5 1/4" disk. Disks may be picked up any time after Monday. -- The deadline for submissions is 4:00 p.m. Thursday and ads are due by noon on Thursday. Any late submissions will be printed in the follow- ing issue. -- The X-Press reserves the right to edit or reject any submission. Submissions déemed to be racist, sexist, homophobic or libelous will not be printed. Advertising and any inquiries should be directed to: X-Press University of Prince Edward Island 550 University Avenue Charlottetown, P.E.I. CIA 4P3 Phone: (902) 566-0629 Fax: (902) 566-0979 E-Mail: xpress@stul.cs.upei.ca February 7, 1