6 THE VOICE, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2013

EDITOR ANGIE HOLUBOWICH

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lesticular conversations between
Te tend to always include

some form of “humorous”
accident involving a fencepost or
railing laying a spectacular blow
and rendering the victim speechless
and gasping on the ground.

The idea of men having an honest
conversation about the health of
their genitalia is often met with
guffaws and becomes a point of
ridicule. The time has come to move
forward, men!

Lets talk about your twig and
berries, special package, three
tenors, crown jewels, bait and tackle
with the dignity and respect it
deserves.

This is not just some appendage
dangling from your body that serves
no purpose. You are carrying the
seeds of life.
Where a wom-
an’s uterus may
be worshipped as
the vessel of life,
without your
swimmers, there
would be no life.

So why is it so

OPINION

culturally
ANGIE frowned upon for
men to have
HOLUBOWICH legitimate
conversations

with other men about the potential
for testicular and prostate cancer?

We have had it beaten into us as a
culture that men are supposed to be
the pillar of strength in our society.
The epitome of unwavering mascu-
line character, oozing of courage.

It is not a matter of demasculin-
izing the men in our lives in asking
them to take care of themselves. We
should as a society embrace men
who can openly discuss their sexual
health, not make fun of them.

Reality: Men get cancer too. You
can take simple steps to give
yourself a better chance at surviv-
ing cancer. You might roll your eyes
and think that you’re too young to
worry about those kind of issues but
the highest risk window for testicu-
lar cancer is between the ages of 20
to 39.

Do the right thing men. The
future of the human race is in your
hands.

We want to hear from you

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Tell us.
Got a different point of view?
Write to us.

Problems with something we've said?
Let us know.
Journalism instructor
Ethan Baron oversees
The Voice, Email him at
ebaron@langara.be.ca

Vets deserve more than one day

we'll be pinning red poppies to our

coats again on Remembrance Day.
But this one day — which, once over,
is quickly forgotten in the lead-up to
Christmas ~ is
not enough.
Remembrance
itself is not
enough.

Many veterans
returning from
Afghanistan
iN aren’t getting the
N support they

need. Many come
back with
post-traumatic
stress disorder,
struggling to readapt to life back
home. Others come back with
physical disabilities and are unable
to support themselves financially.

In 2006 the New Veterans Charter
was introduced, which critics say
provides less support for new
veterans than previous generations
of veterans. The older Pension Act

I: be another 360-odd days before

hail
OPINIO

GAVIN FISHER

all the wrong reasons. But the

secret is finally out — Toronto’s
mayor admitted to smoking crack
cocaine on Nov. 5.

Ford’s tearful announcement
came as a shock
to the city’s
deputy mayor
and councillors
who have since
joined the chorus
of Toronto
residents calling
for the controver-
sial mayor to
seek treatment or
resign.

While the city
and the rest of the world condemned
him for coming clean about his use
of illicit drugs roughly a year ago,
other politicians who have openly

R: Ford is making headlines for

OPINION

KENDRA WONG

provided disabled veterans with a
pension for life, while the New
Veterans Charter offers a lump-sum
payment of up to $276,000.

Then there are soldiers who have
been discharged shortly before
completing the 10 years of service
needed to qualify for a pension.

Cpl. David Hawkins, a reservist
from London, Ont., who fought in
Afghanistan, told CTV News last
month that he was discharged with
less than one year to go before
reaching the 10-year service mark.
Hawkins, who suffers from PTSD,
pleaded with the Canadian Forces to
keep him, but was let go because his
condition does not allow him to be
deployed at a moment’s notice.

In a statement to CTV News,
Minister of Veterans Affairs Julian
Fantino said the Conservative
government has invested nearly $5
billion since 2006 to increase
veterans’ benefits. But why is it so
hard for some veterans to receive
their well-deserved piece of that
$5-billion pie?

The men and women who have
served in Afghanistan don’t deserve
to come back to Canada and have to
struggle to get the counselling,
medical support and financial aid
that they need.

The Canadian government chose
to be involved in Afghanistan and
send these men and women to war.
They should therefore support those
who return suffering from physical
disabilities and mental afflictions
such as PTSD. Linguistically
speaking, perhaps our neighbours to
the south got it right by calling it
Veterans Day instead.

Remembering the dead is impor-
tant, but instead of only looking
back in history we should also be
looking at the present state of our
veterans, new and old. The govern-
ment needs to be consistent in how
they treat all veterans, and that
means providing them with a proper
pension.

Veterans need support — and that
takes more than one day a year.

GARIN FAHLMAN AND KAYLA ISOMURA photo illustration

The jokers, smokers and midnight tokers

admitted to smoking weed went
unchallenged for confessing their
use of drugs. So is the fact that Ford
smoked crack cocaine as big of a
deal as everyone is making it out to
be? I’m not advocating for the use of
drugs. But don’t forget that not so
long ago British Columbia had its
share of local politicians under the
drug spotlight.

For example, B.C NDP Leader
Adrian Dix, Justin Trudeau, the
leader of the Liberal Party of
Canada and Vancouver Mayor
Gregor Robertson all admitted to
smoking pot.

In September, shortly after issues
of legalizing marijuana arose, The
Province sent out an email to Lower
Mainland mayors asking if they
have ever smoked pot. Many
admitted to trying it, yet there was
hardly any public outrage calling

them to resign from their posts.

While smoking marijuana is not
as serious as smoking crack cocaine,
they are both illegal substances in
Canada and yet the public seemed to
accept and relish in the fact that the
leaders they elected to represent
them smoked cannabis at one point
in their lives.

It is not fair to condemn one
mayor for his bad decisions in what
he called his “drunken stupor”
(setting aside the most recent
profanity-laced video), when many
political leaders have also openly
admitted to trying illegal substanc-
es. Ford is doing exactly that, albeit,
reluctantly, owning up to his use of
drugs.

If people are calling for Ford to be
disciplined for his actions, by that
standard, Robertson, Dix and
Trudeau should also be disciplined.

Fil fay ce)

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EDITORIAL STAFF
THIS ISSUE:

MANAGING EDITOR/
PAGE 6
Angie Holubowich

PAGE EDITORS
PAGE 1

Jacqueline Langen

PAGE 2

Quinn Mell-Cobb
PAGE 3

Kelci Nicodemus
PAGE 4
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PAGE 5

Jana Minor

PAGE 7

Kayla lsomura

PAGE 8

Jesse Adamson
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