6- The Oakville Beaver Weekend, Saturday February 23, 2008 www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-3824, ext. 224 Circulation: 845-9742 The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone (416) 340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline. Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. Commentary Guest Columnist Program touts youths and environment Gary Carr, Halton Regional Chair he environment is something that Halton residents care about deeply. It is important that we celebrate and recognize the efforts being undertaken by young people to enhance and protect our environment. The Halton Regional Chair's Environmental Awards Program was designed to foster an appreciation for the environment in Halton's youth and to raise awareness of local environmental initiatives. There are two awards in the program: the Halton Youth Awards for Environmental Excellence and the Halton Environmental Scholarship Awards. We're now accepting applications for both of these awards. The deadline for applications is March 7, 2008. Applicants can submit their applications at the Halton Regional Headquarters, 1151 Bronte Rd. in Oakville, Attention Chair's Office. Complete details are available by visiting www.halton.ca. The Halton Youth Awards for Environmental Excellence is open to all Halton elementary and secondary students and provides an opportunity to win $500 for their school. The Halton Environmental Scholarship Awards are open to youth who are, or will be, pursuing post secondary studies with an emphasis on the environment. Each scholarship award in this category is for $1,000. Award winners will be celebrated at the next Regional Chair's Breakfast On The Environment, being held at the Burlington Convention Centre on Wednesday, April 23 at 7 a.m. Guests at this event will hear from keynote speaker Justin Trudeau. This event is being sponsored by Bell and TD Friends of the Environment. The education and empowerment of youth are priorities that have dominated Justin Trudeau's professional and personal life. Justin has been actively involved with Katimavik, Canada's leading national youth volunteer-service program. He has also been involved with the Canadian Avalanche Foundation and wilderness groups such as the Nature Conservancy of Canada and the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society. Corporations and individuals alike are invited to show support for the environmental efforts of Halton's youth by sponsoring an award or scholarship or by purchasing a table. Further details on sponsorship opportunities are available at www.halton.ca. Halton Region presents the Chair's Breakfast and the scholarship programs in conjunction with the Chair's Roundtable On The Environment, a working group involving individuals from corporate and community sectors. The group provides direction to the Region for both awards and the breakfast. The group will also review all applications and determine the award and scholarship recipients. 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Canadian Champion, Milton Shopping News, Mississauga Business Times, Mississauga News, Napanee Guide, Newmarket/Aurora EraBanner, Northumberland News, North York Mirror, Oakville Beaver, Oakville Shopping News, Oldtimers Hockey News, Orillia Today, Oshawa/Whitby/Clarington Port Perry This Week, Owen Sound Tribune, Palmerston Observer, Peterborough This Week, Picton County Guide, Richmond Hill/Thornhill/Vaughan Liberal, Scarborough Mirror, Stouffville/Uxbridge Tribune, Forever Young, City of York Guardian RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: Ontario Community Newspapers Association Canadian Community Newspapers Association Suburban Newspapers of America T THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: United Way of Oakville TV AUCTION How anyone can become an irrational, obsessive worrywart I t's not easy being me. At least, it didn't used to be. But with the escalation of Internet availability, and the proliferation of people surfing the web, it's getting to the point where darn near anyone can be an irrational, obsessive worrywart. Like me. Don't get me wrong: I don't think of myself as a hypochondriac, per se, just a guy who suffers somewhat from over-concern. Mine is a constant search for lumps. Let me expound with an example: One morning many, many years ago I was working -- mindlessly editing a manuscript and at once scratching my leg -- when I discovered a bump the size of a nickel on my lower calf. A bump. On my calf. Well, it was all I could do to rein in my panic and not have a coronary on the spot. Instead, I courageously continued working, although, admittedly, by midday I'd hypered myself into a frenzy. Obviously I needed to see a doctor. Trouble was, I was working in a new city and I did not yet have a doctor. So, I did the only thing that made sense to me: I ditched work, drove two hours to my hometown and crashed my old doctor's office. Not one to `awfulize' (that is, take things to the worst possible conclusion), while waiting to be seen I sent out mental goodbyes to everyone I loved, and etched out imaginary epitaphs. Eventually the doctor called me in, examined my calf for a second, and told me I had broken a blood vessel. All of which shows, I suppose, that I'm (a) neurotic enough to make Woody Allen appear rational (b) tempting the fate that Andy Juniper befell Sara Teasdale, an American poet and first-rate hypochondriac. Back in 1933, Ms. Teasdale ruptured a blood vessel in her hand. Certain she was going to die, she took sleeping pills, climbed into the bath, and croaked of an overdose. Personally, I worry that one day my doctor will say to me: "I've got good news and bad news, and the good news is that you're not a hypochondriac." Because, of course, fate decrees that all hypochondriacs are eventually proven correct. In my over-concern, I am not alone. History is peppered with people whose health fears tended toward the obsessive. Glenn Gould, Howard Hughes, Tennessee Williams, to name a few. But back in the day it took considerable time and effort to be a hypochondriac. Nowadays, every ailment is just a mouse click away. Nowadays there's a new term for hypochondriacs. It's cyberchondriacs. According to a recent poll, 80 per cent of all adults online use the Internet to search for health care information. It's getting to the point where Google is replacing family doctors. Health care professionals will tell you patient education is essential. But, according to the U.S. Center for Medicine in the Public Interest (CMPI), "a lot of the medical `information' on the web is designed to sell, deceive or frighten, rather than inform." The CMPI says web surfers need to ask where the information originated and how reliable is the source. For the hypochondriac, and for those people who suffer somewhat from over-concern, Internet health-care searches can be a real headache. And, as innumerable sites note, a headache may well be caused by a brain tumor. And every abdominal ache is appendicitis. And if you're tired, you need thousands of dollars worth of new-age remedies not, as one might think, a decent night's sleep. I'm telling you, it's getting too easy to be me. Andy Juniper can be visited at his Web site, www.strangledeggs.com, or contacted at ajuniper@strangledeggs.com.