The White Falcon - 26.11.1993, Blaðsíða 2

Drag racing in Iceland? Yes!
Editor’s note: The following article was
submitted by Halfddn Sigurjdnsson, public
relations manager of the Icelandic Drag Race
Club.
Believe it or not, there is a drag race track
here on Iceland. I know that most of you have
not been told about the track when you ar-
rived. In this short article, I will try to tell you
about drag racing in Iceland.
The Icelandic Drag Race Club (IDRC) was
founded in July 1975, and the goal was to
build a race track near Reykjavik. The first
years went into trying to get sufficient money
to build the track, and it was done mostly by
having car shows and sand drag races. In the
summer of 1979, the first formal race was
held on the new track, which was the first
specially built drag race track in Europe.
Our car show is still held as an annual event
each spring. Next year, the IDRC will be
celebrating its 20th anniversary by hosting a
Scandinavian championship drag race. For
the first few years of our club’s existance, we
had some people from the base racing with
us, but for the last ten years, interest in the
sport has diminshed. If you are interested but
are not sure of the rales, be assured that we
use the same rales as the National Hot Rod
Association (NHRA), except for two classes
that we have invented for street cars. In the
past we had some other rales which came
from Sweden, but these rales were too com-
plicated, so we changed to the NHRA rales
that we use today. These two street classes
are the most popular today and the record for
the fastest class is 10.98 seconds per quarter
mile.
Next year we’re going to have ten races at
our track. Six are for the Icelandic champion-
ship and four will be the E.T. cup race. Any
drag race fans from the base can enter, both
as competitors and spectators.
For more information about drag racing
and other motor sports in Iceland, we’ll be
meeting today at 8 p.m. Our building is lo-
cated at Bfldshofdf 14, Reykjavik.
A smoker’s attempt at quitting
By JQ2(AW) Natalie Dias
Thirty-five people on the base signed up to
quit smoking for a day during the Great
American Smokeout; I was one of them. My
supervisor, Dave Crenshaw, volunteered to
adopt me and my habit fen- the day. Not that
I'm a two pack-a-day smoker, but it seems
non-smokers don't understand that it's just
not as easy as waking up one morning and
saying,“I’m going to quit today.”
I’ve tried to quit before. One year ago, I
quit for six weeks, but all it took was one
night at the club and smoking one cigarette to
start again.
I thought I should prepare myself and went
to the mini mart the night before the smoke-
out. I bought three bags of suckers to tide me
over. As the alarm went off the next morning,
I drudgingly got up and took one out of the
bag and headed for the gym. I thought to
myself, “Working out will help. I’ll feel so
good I won’t want to smoke all day.”
Everything was fine until I saw my fellow
smokers at lunchtime. I looked at them with
envy. Oh well, only 12 more hours to go, I
said to myself.
Five o’clock came and it was time to go
home. Dave had invited me over for dinner
with his family. For a second I thought I
could go home, smoke one cigarette and no
one would know. Do cigarettes control me
that much? I realized they did.
The dinner hours flew by while Dave and
his wife kept my mind off smoking.
When I returned home, I went straight to
bed. I felt an overwhelming power the next
morning that maybe I could really quit smok-
ing for good.
Smoking cessation classes are held at the
Counseling and Assistance Center quarterly.
For more information call HM2 Lisa Ballint
at ext. 7688 or 7333.
Breast Cancer
By HM1 Bernard J. Stewart
The Naval Hospital will have an open
house and breast cancer awareness day
onDec. 8, at 1 p.m. There will be displays
of mammograms, models for breast physi-
cal exams, Breast Self Exam (BSE) and
mammogram videos and a familiariza-
tion with the mammogram machine. The
surgeon, radiologist and mammogram
technician will be available for a question
and answer period. You will be able to
make appointments for breast exams at
this time.
According to the American Cancer
Society, one in nine women in America
will get breast cancer. Breast cancer is
the second largest killer of women in
America, but that statistic does not have
to apply to you. While there is no known
cause for breast cancer, chances for sur-
vival are excellent if it is detected early.
A women’s greatest defense is knowl-
edge. If you know the risk factors for
breast cancer, you can take steps now to
detect the disease early and preserve your
life and breast The major risk factors
include: sex, age, family history and your
history of pregnancy.
Sex. Breast cancer is a disease of
women, approximately 1,000 men (less
than 1 percent) will contract breast cancer
yearly.
Age. Only .3 percent of breast cancers
occur in women under the age of 30. The
chances that breast cancer will occur
increase rapidly after the age of 35. At 50,
an abnormality that can be felt is eight
times more likely to be cancerous than
that of a woman of 35.
Family history. Various studies have
shown a two to 14 times increase in the
incidence of breast cancer if a mother or
sister or both have had breast cancer.
Continued on page 8
The White Falcon
Commander, Iceland Defense Force
RADM Michael D. Haskins
Public Affairs Officer
LT Joseph L. Quimby
Deputy Public Affairs Officer
rridlhdr Kr. Eydal
Chief Petty Officer in Charge
JOC Dave Man
Public Affairs Leading Petty Officer
JOl David W. Crenshaw
Editor
J03(SW) Andreas Walter
Journalists
J02 (AW) Natalie Dias
J02 Carlos Bongioanni
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