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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1973-05-24, Page 4Absurd situation nave Wie4 etyte aid yet dew T. PRYDE & SON LTD. Phone 235-0620 Main St., Exeter • MONUMENTS • MARKERS • INSCRIPTIONS Contact Jack Pryde: Office 235-0620 or Home 235-1384 Order Now For Delivery As Soon As Possible In The Spring DISPLAYS ALSO IN GODERICH, CLINTON and SEAFORTH "OUR BUSINESS ESTABLISHED 1919" r 1 2 ,• GUT JIM KEITIX 444°‘ ,4 1,*\* This newspaper concurs heartily with a recent editorial in the Seaforth Huron Ex- positor lamenting the fact that public bodies choose to make many of their decisions behind closed doors. While noting a few minor exceptions to having all meetings open to the public and the press, the newspaper suggests "the use of the committee system to short circuit the right of the public to know is a travesty of the democratic process as we understand it:' The editorial then went on to point out that would appear to be the case in the an- nouncement concerning the Huron Board of Education budget and it continues as follows: At no time was the,budget discussed at a board meeting. The public has no knowledge as to why a tax increase of 2.1 mills was necessary. It has not been told if there are fewer students or more or whether the number and salaries of the ad- ministrative staff have increased or decreased proportionally and by how much. Huron taxpayers are in darkness as to whether the trustees they elected favor or are against the recommendations of its committees and the administrative staff. For that matter it is not known whether or not recommendations were made. The budget of any public body is the very foundation upon which its activities are based. On it depends not only the taxes which ratepayers are called on to pay but also the extent of the services which those taxes will provide. As far as Huron tax payers are aware this vital function was carried out without any consideration, without discus- sion. The budget was not discussed at the Board's April meeting nor was any reference made to it in discussion with the press following the conclusion of a com- mittee of the whole meeting the same even- ing. Yet ten days later a news release over the signature of the Director of Education indicated the Board had approved its es- timates of expenditures and revenues. While the ratepayers of Huron in effect may be shareholders in the county educa- tion system, board members should remember that they are members of a public body and not the directors of a private company, no matter how con- venient such a conception may be for those concerned. Carefully sterilized announcements by staff people concerning board decisions are not sufficient under our system and deny the taxpayers of Huron information to which they are entitled. Schools and students ruined There appears to be a general and growing concern about the quality of education these days. Not only are teachers concerned, and they are, but students and parents are beginning to feel that they are being short-changed. A couple of letters to the editors of two daily papers recently were revealing. In one, a university student. stated that he had read a 2,000- word essay written by a friend, who was an honour student. In the essay, there was one (1) sentence which did not have a spelling or grammar error. And that was the sentence in which he repeated the professor's topic. In the other letter, a girl who dropped out of school three years ago because of the rigidity of the system, was flaming mad, She returned to Grade 12 this year and discovered, as she put it "that education had disappeared in the interim". This young lady said flatly that while teachers used to teach for the average in the class, they are now teaching toward the poorest students, with the keen and bright ones left to fend for themselves. In her opinion, standards had dropped drastically in three years. There are few teachers who would not agree with her on the last point. Administrators and "educationists", whatever they are, right up to the minister, blandly assure the public, via the media, that standards have not been lowered, Perhaps they should take off their rose-coloured glasses and take a good, clear look at reality. But they have managed to wrap themselves in such a fog of educational jargon that they wouldn't know reality unless it came up and bit them. What's happened? Maybe I'm prejudiced, but I don't think the fault lies with the teachers. To my definite knowledge, they are working harder than ever, under steadily worsening conditions. They are teaching as many as two more classes a day than they were three years ago. They are doing more of the unpleasant and uneducational chores than they did. Such a one is "trough patrol" as some teachers call cafeteria supervision. The name is not inaccurate. A few years ago, supervising a students' dance was an extra chore, but few teachers really minded it. One chatted with the students, deplored their taste in music, but felt that a good time was being had by all. Everybody was dressed up and happy. The lights in the gym were turned down but not out. There might be the odd case of a kid smoking pot or slightly under the influence but they were rareties. A regular Sunday school picnic. Nowadays it's more like Saturday night in Dodge City. A darkened gym except for the stage where four or five baboons caper and scream in- comprehensibles to the ac- companiment of a volume of sound that would make a boiler factory sound like a cemetery. Someone has thrown up again in the boys' washroom. Two grim-faced cops stand by the entrance. A teenage girl is caught rum-running not one, but six mickeys of rye. In the good old days, years ago, a yound buck could wear his own mickey in his hip pocket, covered by his jacket. Today, his pants are so tight he couldn't get anything in that pocket so he has some little girl take it in for him, But six! I'm drifting away from my topic, but not entirely. The defiance of rules, the demand for new "rights" is all part of the school scene today. It's a curious mixture of apathy and mindless defiance. I sound as though I'm blaming the kids. I'm not. They're human. They'll take what they can get and demand more. They're a pretty decent lot, on the whole. ...................................................... • • • '?.',..;•:•-••• Times Established 1873 Advocate Established 1881 Amalgamated '1924 SERVING CANADA'S BEST FARMLAND C.W.N.A., 0.W.N.A., CLASS 'A' and ABC Editor — Bill Batten — Advertising Manager Assistant Editor — Ross Haugh Women's Editor — Susan Greer Phone 23S.1331 Published Each Thursday Morning at Exeter, Ontario Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386 Paid in Advance Circulation, Match 51, 1872, 5,037 Canada $8,00 Per Year; USA $10.00 • • SUBSCRIPTION RATES,: BLUE GRASS Dusting Powder AND GIFT OF Tingling Tonic- 5 3.75 BLUE GRASS Flower Mist AND GIFT OF Atomizer '3.75 4.-kx, /4/bigot A SPECIAL LIMITED EDITION tv'WOIRE CH RIE Perfume Mist $3.75 20z. OTHER SPECIALS FROM ELIZABETH ARDEN BLUE GRASS Perfume Mist AND GIFT OF Purse Size Bottle s5.00 BLUE GRASS Perfume Mist AND GIFT OF Puff-Puff Dusting Powder s5.00 HUNTLEY'S DRUG STORE EXETER 235.1070 Now Four-year Guaranteed Investment Certificates Get yours now! VG The senior Trust Company devoted entirely to serving the people of Ontario. VICTORIA and GREY TRUST COMPANY SINCE 1889 RON COTTRELL Manager Phone 235-0530 A recent TV newscast emphasized one Of the absured situations to which this coun- try is being subjected. The first item on the news related the fact that while our unemployment figures- had declined last month, there were still in the neighborhood of half a million Canadians "unemployed". This was immediately followed by reports that workers from other countries were being brought to Canada to help farmers who faced critical shortages of manpower. Now, isn't that rather strange? How can a situation be allowed to exist where thousands of people are apparently looking for jobs while at the same time many Canadians are looking for workers? Part of the answer lies in the fact that many of those who are listed as un- employed are really not looking for work. They find it much easier to sit at home and collect unemployment insurance benefits than get off their fat benefits to get out and find the many jobs that are available. Some of the jobs available may not be to their liking, but it's time many of them were told to take it or leave it, Take it. . .or leave the ranks of those collecting un- employment insurance, that is! It's totally absurd to have the nation's economy and well being strangled by the vast numbers of unemployed while at the same time the nation's economy and well being is being equally strangled because employers can't find enough staff to per- form the work they have available. A real travesty Looking for a jackass! It's with rather mixed feelings that people in the newspaper business accept the exalted position given them by many as being knowledgeable on all topics. The unpleasant side is the fact it just isn't so and we end up disappointing many who call and ask for the answers to their questions, For some reason, yet unex- plained to the writer they think people working at newspapers can give them instant in- formation on everything from who won the 1924 World Series to the number of light miles bet- ween the earth and the moon. There are periodic calls from people attempting to settle bets or arguments on some of the strangest questions you can imagine. However, they were all topped this week by a caller from Strathroy who introduced himself merely by stating that he figured the local newspaper editor would be a veritable fountain of' knowledge. His problem (to him) was extremely simple. He had a mare which he was having trouble to get bred. He had been told (probably by the Strathroy newspaper editor) that if he brought in a jackass he would soon have his mare in foal. His question to yours truly: "Who around Exeter owns a jackass?" Now, we know it would be a type of suicide to leave the story there, for we can imagine the number of callers who would delight in advising the editor the man's quest for knowledge had been directed to the right place in view of the old adage. .it takes one to know one! At any rate, we provided the caller with the name of an area resident who at one time owned a jackass, although we're not But what girl won't wear hip- huggers if she's allowed to wear jeans, or a blouse slit to the navel if she doesn't have to wear a bra? What young man of sixteen wouldn't like to have a crack at growing a beard? No, the real culprit is neither teachers nor kids. It is the little empire-builders in the system, They are so far away from the classroom, and the taxpayers, that they have acquired a god- complex. They've never been in a classroom, or not for years. And if they are to preserve and ex- pand their empires, they must appear to be doing something. So they scratch each others backs, come up with revolutionary ideas that were stale forty years ago, and hide behind a squid-like emission of gobbledygook such as "input", "feedback", "com- munications", "concepts" and "individual needs". These are the barnacles on the good ship Education, and unless she is careened and they are scraped off, ruthlessly, they're likely to sink her. gli1^11111NINII"410"ft"41../Nw/ KEEP IN THE SWIM WITH WATER SAFETY 50 Years Ago The fourth annual celebration given in Crediton under the auspices of the CAAA on Victoria Day was a decided success. The weather left nothing to be desired. The citizens were up early decorating their residences and places of business. At 1 p.m. the parade started, down Main St. led by Leonard Haist and James Taylor mounted on hor- ses, followed by the Crediton Band and the school children. The float, drawn by a team of white horses, represented the May Queen with her court. After these followed the different floats of the business people and the decorated cars. After the parade, the crowd went to the school grounds. The crowning of the May Queen was followed by a May pole drill exercise. A tug of war was held. A baseball game too, between the local boys and U.C.T. of London. The game was very good, the final score being 8-4 for the London team. In the evening, the dramatic club of Zurich put on a play entitled "Let's All Get Married". The town hall was crowded to the doors, Mr. Alf Smith has taken a position in the Bake Shop of Mr, R.E. Cook, in Hensall. 25 Years Ago Carmel Presbyterian Church, Hensall, marked its centennial at special Sunday services. The carpenter work for the new Hopper-Hockey funeral home has been completed. After an absence of 24 years, Leonard Taylor of White Rock, B,C, is visiting at the home of his brother, Lloyd Taylor. Miss Margaret Taylor, first grade teacher of the Exeter Public school has resigned her position and taken a similar one in East York, The work is well advanced on infringements of being "all boy". No. 2 son is in the middle of the road. Some of last year's kin- dergarten enthusiasm has been tempered by his older cohorts who tease him about having to hold hands with girls, etc. He advised his grandmother last weekend he wasn't very keen about performing in "ring around the rosie", but his face brightened when he added that he was one of the more fortunate guys in the class in that he was standing between two other lads and therefore didn't have to. hold hands with any girls. However, chicken pox, of all things, changed his destiny. The class numbers were apparently depleted to such an extent that some juggling of performers was necessary and he came home all smiles to advise he had been transferred into the "farmer in the dell" number, which he ex- plained (not really satisfactorily for his parents edification) was much better than "ring around the rosie". But there was one drawback. He may have to hold hands with a girl, but apparently on balance, that was still better than the number to which he had been previously assigned. As you can well imagine, we can hardly wait until we have all four boys attending school and taking their places in the annual Exeter Public School spring soncert. The pre-show talk and antics are really better than the show. It comes off a bit anti-climatic! the cement foundation for the new grandstand being erected at the Exeter Community Park. 15 Years Ago The Eastern Star Chapters of District five entertained the officers of the Grand Chapter of Ontario in the Exeter Legion Hall Friday, Over 300 were in at- tendance. About 800 pounds of disease- free Sanilac beans is being made available to boys and girls in this area who wish to join a 4-H white bean club. Members will sow one acre and may sell their crops as disease-free seed next year. Rether's Coffee Shop will be closed for a period of two weeks to effect a complete renovation of its facilities. An unexpected gift of $35,000 from a retired Hensall dentist, Dr. James Bell, made possible the construction of the South Huron Hospital Nurses' residence which opens Sunday. 10 Years Ago Usborne school area board will engage an architect and locate a site for the proposed central school. Council Monday approved a two-hour parking limit on Main St. during business hours. Ontario Department of Education has announced that J,G. Burrows of Toronto will succeed G.J, Goman as public school inspector in Huron No. 3 and Perth No. 3 Inspectorate. Mrs. Ross Tuckey was elected president of the Home and School Association at the meeting Monday evening, She succeeds Mrs. Eric Heywood. Sparks from a pile of burning rubbish set fire to St, Paul's Anglican Church Mensal', Thursday 'but volunteer firemen kept the blaze front spreading. certain he still has such an animal. Unfortunately, we rather slipped up by not asking the gentleman to- advise us of the outcome. It would be interesting to know if he found the jackass and whether the mare came in f Perhaps we'll give the editor in oal. Strathroy a call to see if he knows of a man down there who has recently had a foal fathered by a jackass. As a newspaperman, he should have such information at his finger tips. Despite some apprehension on ' our part, the junior segment of the Exeter Public School spring concert came off quite suc- cessfully. It was, in fact, most enjoyable. Our apprehension stemmed from the part being played by the two senior members of the writer's family. For No. 1 son, it was a real drag, He's already joined the legion of boys who go through school thinking such things as singing and acting are strictly for sissies. • For years his kind have been trudging onto stages with their heads down, despite the repeated attempts by teachers to get them enthused about the event. The only thing they really enjoy about the situation is the hours they got off from classes to practice. Many of them, of course, would really like to get more en- thusiastic, but that would be going against "the gang" who have banded together in a common front of disdain for such