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CALGARY - Calgary's young soccer players will no longer shake hands with members of the opposite team at the end of every game. The new policy, kicked off today by the Calgary Minor Soccer Association, is meant to protect players from the spread of the H1N1 flu virus, and is part of a growing trend that has some city organizations rethinking the simple handshake and other rituals surrounding human contact. "At the end of the game, we're strongly recommending to the coaches that the teams stand in front of each other, cheer or clap appreciation for the other team and then go to their respective dressing rooms," said Daryl Leinweber, the league's executive director. "And we're recommending that every player and coach washes their hands after that." A new set of policies governing the indoor soccer season --which runs from October to March--is being distributed today to players, coaches, parents and others in the soccer league that includes more than 12,000 children and youth, ages six to 18. It will be posted in dressing rooms and referees' rooms. It follows exactly the policies introduced last week by the Edmonton Minor Soccer Association in light of a possible H1N1 flu pandemic. "We're still having that idea of 'congratulations, thank you for a great game,' but we're doing it in a different way," said Leinweber. As well, players are discouraged from sharing water bottles and parents are asked to keep sick players home. Each team must have hand sanitizer available. Leinweber anticipates some complaints from parents and coaches, but says those who do "may not realize the severity we're possibly facing. We're being proactive. We don't want to ruin the game, but we want to ensure that the health and welfare of players is being taken care of as best it can. He hopes the policies are temporary. "In fact, we hope we're over-reacting, that it does not turn out to be a pandemic." While Hockey Calgary still allows its 14,000 players to shake hands post-game, it's following a set of H1N1 guidelines established by Hockey Canada's chief medical officer. Beyond staying healthy, reporting illness and keeping sick kids home from the rink, the guidelines urge players to carry their own hand sanitizer and, where possible, wash their hands with soap and water after handling hockey equipment. "Without trying to be facetious, the bacteria that's in hockey equipment on a regularly basis dwarfs H1N1 probability," said president Perry Cavanagh. Players ages five to 21 are cautioned not to touch their mouths, noses or eyes in the hockey arena, said Cavanagh. Players, coaches and refs alike must drink from their own labelled water bottles. Personal items and towels to soak up sweat and are banned from the bench. "We're not straying away from handshaking," he said. "We don't believe that in itself is going to be a major transfer mechanism, although the possibility exists." Handshaking isn't the only ritual being eliminated from public life. This summer, Bishop Derek Hoskin instructed Anglican churches in Calgary stop providing communion by what is called "intinction" -- the practice of worshippers dipping a piece bread or a wafer into a communal chalice filled with red wine. "The thought is that hands carry more germs than mouths," said Rev. Brian Pearson of St. Stephen's Anglican Church. "But we have not stopped the use of the common cup, although more people are refusing it. That's not officialdom, that's people feeling squeamish, and I don't blame them." The "passing of the peace" is another tradition falling prey to the threat of the H1N1 virus. "Prior to communion, everyone turns to one another and with a handshake, a hug or a kiss on the cheek, makes a symbolic sign of peace. Now, people are saying, 'I'm not going to be touching someone else's hand and then going up for communion.' People are getting paranoid," Pearson said. Some are opting instead to exchange the Hindu practice of "namaste"-- greeting one another with hands in the prayer position and a slight bow. But bowing, knuckle-bumps and the like haven't taken hold in Calgary's business community, where handshaking continues to be the norm, said Calgary Chamber of Commerce president Heather Douglas. In the past month, Douglas has seen only one person--an individual with a bad cold--not shake hands. Likewise, Rhona DelFrari, a spokesperson with EnCana, said the company has no handshaking policies for its staff of 8,000. "We do have a lot of other things such as posters, website information, advising people to wash their hands and putting hand sanitizers all over the place--but no direction regarding handshaking. People are free to continue doing that. It's their own choice." Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
Flu Rewrites Calgarians' Social Rituals
Calgary, Canada October 6th 2009 http://www.calgaryherald.com/health/rewrites+Calgarians+social+rituals/2074395/story.html
PARIS, France (CNN) -- Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece the "Mona Lisa" was attacked with a mug earlier this month, but the world's most famous painting -- protected by thick glass -- emerged with its enigmatic smile undimmed. The "Mona Lisa" sits behind bulletproof glass in the Louvre gallery. French police say a woman "not in her senses" lobbed the mug at the 500-year-old painting, which hangs in the Louvre gallery in Paris. The woman, a tourist, was later transferred from police custody to a psychiatric unit, a police spokesman told CNN. The spokesman declined to be identified, and did not say where the woman was from. The "Mona Lisa," considered one of the world's most valuable paintings, sits behind bulletproof glass in a special wing of the Louvre, attracting visitors in their millions. The Italian Renaissance masterpiece, which depicts a dark-haired young woman with an aloof facial expression, has been the target of attacks in the past. In 1956 the artwork was damaged when acid was thrown at it. A rock was also thrown in a separate incident in the same year. In 1911 it was stolen from the Louvre but was returned two years later.
Woman Throws Mug at 'Mona Lisa'
Friday October 2 2009. www.calgaryherald.com/opinion/editorial-cartoons/index.html#
Paris, France. August 11 2009 http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/08/11/mona.lisa.attack/index.html
http://edition.cnn.com/video/?/video/world/2009/10/07/tank.smith.south.pacific.quakes.cnn
South Pacific Ocean. October 7 2009. CNN http://edition.cnn.com/video/
By Chella 8.4
