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Movement to not smoke
considered on a roll now
By John Gambs
Mental Health Center
As a former member of a non
smokers rights group called G.A.S.P.
(Group Against Smoking Pollution), I
was heartened to see that a number of
Atlanta-based companies have re
cently taken strong no-smoking
stances. As reported in the Atlanta
Journal on Feb. 5, companies like
Quadram, a computer firm, have
severely restricted the designated
areas allowing smoking.
A trivial matter? What’s wrong
with a little smoke in the air it
never hurt anyone. Not so, say mem
bers of G.A.S.P. and other such orga
nizations.
I attended G.A.S.P. meetings in
Boston for a few months in the early
‘Bos, and believe me, these people
really mean business. They em
phasize that cigarette smoking is not
just a “nasty little habit,” but,
rather, an addiction similar to alco
hol, heroin, or amphetamine addic
tion.
I have to admit that some of the
Omni offering two
local scholarships
Omni Health Services, the com
pany which owns Forsyth County
Hospital, will award two $2,000 schol
arships annual to Forsyth County
high school seniors who are pursuing
a career in a health care discipline.
The First Scholarships will be
awarded to deserving students in the
spring of 1985, based on academic,
leadership and financial criteria es
tablished by the Forsyth County
School system.
Robert Otwell, superintendent of
Forsyth County Schools, said that
there is a definite need for schol
arships in health careers and that
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B VERNON'S
TRACTOR & TURF, INC.
Hours: 8-5 Mon.-Fri., 8-12 Sot.
Hwy. 9 Cumming __ __
(Next to Heard & Vernon 887-7950
Form Equipment) Atl. 524-1434, ext. 1
G.A.S.P. members were brusque and
even obnoxious in their attitude to
ward smokers, but I supported their
cause because I felt their goal to
increase the number of public and
private sector smoke-free environ
ments was laudable.
(Yes, many of us G.A.S.P.ers were
reformed smokers ourselves, though
an equal number had never smoked.
Many of the members were from the
health professions.)
Cigarette smoking is really expen
sive to industry. It costs companies
47.5 billion dollars a year due to
absenteeism, reduced productivity
and premature death of employees
(Journal figures).
Until recently, it’s been hard to sell
the public on this point. I remember
discussing Stop Smoking Clinics with
corporate personnel in the ‘7os. More
than one door slammed in my face
when I started talking about industry
losses. I remember one vice-presi
dent in particular who chain-smoked
during my speech and then chal
lenged me:
“Frankly, I’ve smoked for years
health care offers many job opportu
nities.
“The government has tightened up
on school scholarships for certain
areas like nurses, technicians and
doctors,” said Otwell. “Today’s econ
omy puts further restrictions on the
ability of some students to go to
college.”
Craig Hethcox, administrator of
Forsyth County Hospital, said,
“Omni Health Services is extremely
pleased to contribute these schol
arships each year. The company is
totally committed to being a cor
porate citizens through activities.”
and I’ve never been absent, never
missed a day of work due to illness. I
question your statistics.”
But, at this point, the statistics are
undeniable. Smokers get more colds,
flu, bronchitis, emphysema, bron
chial infections, and die at alarm
ingly higher rates from various
cancers than their non-smoking coun
terparts.
Even if smokers survive all these
maladies, the quality of their life
decreases for example, smokers
are less physically active and develop
more wrinkling as they age.
It’s also increasingly evident that
sidestream smoke can be injurious to
those non-smokers who are exposed
to it daily. Towards that end, the
G.A.S.P. organization I joined sup
ported employees who attempted to
create smoking and non-smoking
areas at work and even established a
“Non-Smokers Gourmet Club” which
travels around to various Boston res
taurants, setting up non-smoking
areas wherever they went.
One particularly adamant member
made it her full-time project to stop
JF" 1 A m m m
■
Receive special honors
Forsyth County Farm Bureau’s manager Bob Worley (left) and
agents Bill Tate (center) and Herb Glassman (right) were recently
cited with company honors. Worley and Tate became members of
the elite Round Table, a club of the company’s top life insurance
producers. Membership into the Round Table qualified Worley and
Tate for an all-expense paid trip to the club’s annual convention.
They will be leaving in April for Seattle, Wash., where they will
board a Trans-Pacific flight for a week in Hong Kong and mainland
China. Glassman was cited for membership into the Million Dollar
Club.
Tornado Awareness Week
proclaimed by governor
Gov. Joe Frank Harris has signed a
proclamation declaring the week of
February 24 through March 2 as
Tornado Awareness Week in Georgia.
The National Weather Service,
along with federal, state and local
emergency management agencies,
the Georgia Department of Educa
tion and other state and local agen-
Census Bureau
to hold survey
The Census Bureau will collect
current unemployment data for this
Forsyth County area the week of Feb.
18-23, according to Susan A. Lavin,
acting director for the Atlanta re
gional office.
The local data will contribute to
February’s national unemployment
picture to be released on March 8 by
the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The
January data become available Feb.
1.
The bureau’s monthly survey in
cludes a national sample of some 71,-
000 households and is sponsored by
the Bureau of Labor Statistics to
gather employment data.
Mt. Tabor plans
singing Feb. 17
There will be a singing Sunday,
Feb. 17 at Mt. Tabor Baptist Church,
featuring the “Truthfulaires” and the
Pilcher Sisters.
The service begins at 7 p.m. and the
public is invited to attend.
Travel Club to
meet Feb. 15th
The Forsyth County Chapter of the
Christian Travel Club will meet at the
Western Steer Restaurant Friday,
Feb. 15 at 11:30 a.m.
Forty-six members attended the
last meeting, and at this meeting,
sign-ups will begin for 1985 trips.
•For Single Adults
• Single by choice •Divorced
•Or Widowed
Welcome to
First Baptist Church
Cumming
You are important.
The Bible is a friend
for life.
Friends can share joy
and pain.
Christ unites us in a family of caring.
The future is not
frightening.
Personal needs are met.
Bible Study- STST
For further 887-5118 or
Jnformation. call 887-9419
the world from smoking. Wherever
she went McDonald’s, Burger
Chef, Lord and Taylor’s, she would
tell the people that she “minded their
smoking and would they please put
their cigarettes out immediately.”
More than once, she came close to
having her head bashed in.
You might suspect she was an
uppity ex-smoker, but she wasn’t. She
simply had a lot of allergies and
smokey rooms made her nauseous. I
believe she was sincerely fighting for
her right to breathe clean air.
The movement toward not smoking
is on a roll now, one that’s not likely to
reverse itself in our lifetime. The
evidence against smoking is so over
whelming now that the tobacco indus
try’s fervent rebuttals seem to lose
velocity with each passing year.
I suspect historians 100 years from
now will wonder how the American
public ever linked the image of a
macho healthy-looking Marlboro
man and gorgeous Virginia Slims
women with something as unhealthy
as a pack of cigarettes.
cies, are working to educate the
public on the need for tornado pre
paredness.
In 1984, nearly 1,400 tornadoes were
reported across the country which
resulted in 124 deaths and thousands
of injuries. The year ended a nine
year period of below average tornado
deaths.
BASS
FISHING CLINIC ipcZj
Saturday, February 16th. .am Day.
-No Charge-
See and buy the new 1985 Fishing Gear Tu
by leading manufacturers at affordable prices T
MEET THE FACTORY REPS &
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Hwy. 5 Atl.-3 miles south of Jasper, Ga.
eor aa j A Open Monday-Saturday
Phone (404) /Jj'OJnU 8:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS—WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1985-
Tell him,
W'tJzzJ "■ love
YOU"
y&r with
HEART
Bikinis, UNDERWEAR
Briefs and
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Our Winter Clearance sale, continues.
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PAGE 5A