HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1976-10-07, Page 4Page 4
Times-Advocate, QctOber 7, 1976
Do your part
What do you plan as your contribution
to the energy conservation week being
planned for later this month?
While few residents.' have probably
given little thought to the matter, some
communities are showing some strong
leadership and will probably end up show-
ing themselves that in fact most citizens
can live quite comfortably on less energy
than they are now consuming.
In Stratford, for instance, there has
been a suggestion that the city's high
school students walk to school on one day
rather than ride the buses. Another sugges-
tion was that merchants shut off the lights
in their stores rather than having window
displays lighted throughout the night.
Street lights can be turned on later in the
evening and turned off earlier in the mor-
ning.
The suggestions are limitless and the
week should provide good exercise for
everyone in coming up with ideas on how
they can conserve energy.
The real benefit, however, will be the
long-range effects of the program. After
all, if people can conserve energy with a
concerted effort for one week, they should
be able to do it throughout the year.
The best, part of it all is the fact that
those who do come up with conservation
measures reap an added benefit — the sav-
ing of their hard-earned dollars.
Do your part, plan to participate and
enjoy the benefits.
Government indecision
Does anyone know ;anymore what is
happening as far as the mass swine flu im-
munization program is concerned? We
doubt it, There have been so many changes
in the plgris over the past month — not to
mention the past six months — that
everyone, including district health units
and doctors are in limbo.
First off we Canadians weren't going to
bother our heads about it; come what may
we were to take our chances. Then it was
announced the vaccine would be available
to senior citizens, the chronically ill and for
people aged between 20 and 50. Only those
under 20 and the group between 50 and 64
were to leave the matter up to Lady Luck.
Then we were informed the province was
going to purchase enough vaccine to in-
clude the 50-64 year-olds thus leaving only
the youngsters under 20 out in the cold.
Up until last week, those were the
broad changes in the provincial program.
Of course there were others which were of
a more technical nature. To begin with, the
swine vaccine in any form was to be ad-
Ministered only at special clinics to be set
up by the district health units. Then at last
word, we were told that individual doctors
would be supplied with supplies of the com-
bined swine flu vaccine and Victoria-A
strain to administer to patients who
regularly came in for flu shots. At the same
time it was noted that both the straight
swine flu vaccine and the combined swine-
Victoria-A vaccine would be administered
at the special clinics.
Throughout this impossible confusion
emanating from Queen's Park, we have
nothing but praise for the Perth County
District Health Unit. Dr. Susan Tamblyn,
the medical officer of health, has been ex-
ceptionally co-operative and patient and
has somehow succeeded in keeping the
public informed.
That is, informed up until the middle of
last week.
After health units had reached the
point of announcing the numbers of im-
munization clinics and where they would be
held, the provincial government again
changed its mind. The latest word (we
think) is that immunization will go ahead
after Oct. 15 for those 65 years and over and
the chronically ill but a decision regarding
the rest of the population is to be made by
the national advisory committee on im-
munizing agents which will meet on Oct.
15.
Government indecision — especially
Queen's Park indecision — is nothing new,
but when it applies to the public's health
and welfare it is simply intolerable. And if
we think we've been inconvenienced as a
member of the public, just imagine how the
medical people directly involved in the
program must feel. It's a wonder they
aren't all popping their blood pressure
tubes.
The Listowel Banner
Critics are all wet
"Hello — I'm working my children's way through school."
It's downright indecent
A powerful word
• .
Times Established 1873
Advocate Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924
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Phone 235-1331 Published Each Thursday Morning
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Paid in Advance Circulation
September 30, 1975 5,420
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4 TZ.:ZZZ
THAT strong gust of wind you
felt in early September. as the
nation's schools re-opened,
wasn't a warm front moving in
from the west. It was hundreds
of thousands of mothers giving a
simultaneous sigh of relief at
getting their offspring out of the
house and out from underfoot for
five days a week out of the next
10 months.
There was another gust of hot
air at the same time. This one
came from the critics of educa-
tion, who are numerous as the
sands of the desert, and who
wonder, in print and aloud, what
the taxpayer is getting for his
education dollar.
Well, for one thing, he or she is
getting me. For the next 10
months, I will devote myself, at
a nominal remuneration, to the
task of trying to teach young peo-
ple how to read, write and speak
their own language with some
degree of accuracy. Like, you
know, it's crazy man, but that's
the way the frisbee flies.
Far be it from me to bite the
hand that feeds me, but most of
the critics are all wet.
Some, with extra-bright.
children, are furious that the
public school system does not
provide enriched courses for
their kids, so that they'll emerge
from high school with the
equivalent of a private school
and a university education.
But they don't pay any more'
school taxes than I do. and I have
no children in school. I'm helping
pay for their kids' education.
Others, too lazy or scared to
discipline their own kids, expect
the schools to do it, then are the
first to sue a teacher who finally,
being human, can't resist giving
their darling a whack on the
head.
A growing number of critics
take up the chant of "getting
back to the basics," when they
find that their kids can't do long
division without a calculator,
can't write a servile letter, and
know more about sex than they
do about science.
What these people really mean
is: "Why don't them there
teachers give the kids a real good
training in the basic elementals
like what I got?"
These are people who can't do
short division, unless it's two
into four, use the dash as their
only punctuation mark when
writing a letter, and know
nothing about either science or
sex.
There's another type of critic.
This is the type who deals in
figures. He is infuriated when he
sees that the town council spent
46 per cent of its budget on
education and only 22 per cent on
the Works Department. He'd
rather spend money on
straightening out roads than on
straightening out his kids' heads.
There is one critic for whom I
feel some sympathy. This is the
mis-named Senior Citizen. He, or
she, never got much education,
because in those days you had to'
go to work, and only the elite, the
sons of doctors and lawyers and
such had a hope of going to
college.
These people feel a righteous
indignation that their moderate
incomes are taxed to support
those over-paid teachers and
those expensive buildings and all
those young layabouts who
should be out working, when
they, themselves, get absolutely
nothing out of their education
taxes.
Well, tough toenails, Old-
timers. You helped elect the
governments that are bleeding
you. And another point. We all
have to pay, sooner or later, You
and I are leaving these kids so
far in debt they'll never get out.
The critics don't bother me. I
work hard' at my job, and 99 per
cent of the teachers in the coun-
try do the same. We are not all
either a Socrates or a Jesus, but
we do the best we can with what
we have.
You know, we're not turning
out pulpwood or sausages or cake
mixes. We are not producing a
product, whatever the manufac-
turers and business people think
we should be doing.
We are dealing, every day, for
Several months ago, an area
youth was fined in Exeter court
for using obscene language. The
decision of the court was lauded,
and rightly so, because people
should not be subjected to
hearing foul language.
However, there is every in-
dication that the use of language
of that nature is becoming quite
acceptable to many people.
Nowhere is there more evidence
of that fact than on our television
screens.
There seems to be a "no holds
barred" attitude on the part of
those responsible for television
programs. Anything goes, and in
fact, the coarser the language the
better it would appear as far as
they are concerned.
It is now almost impossible for
a parent to chastise an offspring
for using dirty words. Those
words are being learned right in
our own living rooms.
People who have to use such
language to communicate show
their ignorance, of course,
because there are certainly an
unlimited number of words in the
English language to convey the
appropriate message without
stooping to vulgarities.
Parents who prefer not to have
their children subjected to foul
language are now almost
required to issue a total ban on
TV viewing, because there are
very few shows which have not
yet been degraded.
+ + +
We were also shocked the other
evening to find our offspring
watching an early evening show
that was totally unacceptable to
young eyes and ears—and even to
many old ones as well.
It was determined that the
station had aired the warning the
show should be watched only with
parental guidance, but because
several years of their lives, with
that most intricate of
mechanisms, a human being.
And we are doing that at the
most sensitive and delicate stage
of its metamorphosis into adult,
Try that on for size,
And we're not doing it that
badly. The old, mindless
authoritarianism, which at-
tracted the weak and the bullies
into the teaching profession,
along with many first-class peo-
ple, is gone. That's good,
The old system, under which
kids from professional families
went on and kids from poor
families went into service or fac-
tories or common laboring is
gone. That's good.
We're trying to offset the
mindless garbage of television
by teaching kids to be curious
and skeptical and challenging of
the shoddy and insidious. And
that's good.
Let me give an example. I was
in the bank during the summer.
Right behind me was Ed, a boy
I'd taught about three years ago.
He'd been caught drinking beer
in a car in the school grounds,
and was expelled for a week.
Asked him how things were go-
ing.
"Oh, pretty good, Mr. Smiley.
I'm in construction with Mose.
Remember Mose?" I did. Mose
was a large. good-natured fellow
who had staggered through the
two-year course in high school.
Ed showed me the cheque he
was cashing. I almost fell on the
floor of the bank. Those two guys
were making, each, almost as
much as I was, after years of
education and experience,
Thirty years agO, they'd both
have wound up on the end of a
pick or shOVel. 'Nuff said. It may
be costing you an arm and a leg,
but education today is doing
More than churning out cheap
labor far the masters of society.
we were otherwise occupied,
there was no way that in-
formation was relayed to us.
Probably the same situation
exists in many households.
Parents assume that prior to 9:00
p.m., the shows will be fit for
youthful viewers, but obviously
such is not the case.
The question then arises as to
whether the parent must act as
the censor, or, whether the TV
station has that obligation.
Personally, we are of the
opinion that the latter should
have the obligation, because
parents have no way of knowing
what may be flashed on the
screen in front of their children's
eyes. It's usually too late to take
action after it becomes apparent
that the show is not suitable for
youthful vewing,
It is becoming evident that the
CRTC should not be wasting their
time worrying about whether TV
content is American or Canadian;
but basically whether it is
suitable content at all, regardless
of its origin.
Surely parents should be able
to allow their children to watch
TV until 9:00 p.m. without having
to monitor everything that
flashes on the screen.
There should also be more
stringent regulations on what is
acceptable at any time, because
the air waves belong to the people
and it's highly questionable if the
majority have allowed their
concept of decency to dip to the
levels suggested by the sex,
violence and obscenities which
infiltrate their living rooms.
Much of it is not fit for human
consumption and should be
treated as such.
+ + +
So much about what stinks in
our modern era ... we move on to
a topic broached by the Seaforth
5 Years Ago
At special festivities Friday
night, Lucan Legion branch 590
presented several certificates of
merit. Among those receiving
were Comrade Wally Boyes,
Exeter T-A ass't editor Ross
Haugh and Keith Dickinson.
Mrs. Murray Coward and Mrs.
Lorne Johns of Elimville WI and
Mrs, Wm. Dougall and Mrs. L.
Ballantyne of Hurondale WI
attended a two-day course in
Clinton on "The Knack of Sewing
with Knits."
Huron voters will see four
names on their ballots: Ed Bain,
Paul Carroll, Chas MacNaughton
and Ken Duncan.
15 Years Ago
Top executives of the
Kongskilde Manufacturing Co.,
Denmark, arrived here Tuesday
to supervise establishment of
their Canadian assembly plant
and distribution centre in Exeter.
Exeter Lions Club fed nearly
seven hundred at their Table-Rite
beef dinner in the Legion Hall
Thursday night. Judy Snelgrove
was crowned Miss Table-Rite
Queen by Lion Pred Darling..
With the ice machine turned on
at the new rink Wednesday, the
executive of the Exeter Curling
Club are busily preparing for the
coming season with the opening
bOnSpiel the first week in
November.
Expositor. The editor up that way
has started a campaign to save
one of Huron's historical sites.
No, it's not the town hall, or
anything of that nature. The
editorial writer notes she was
saddened to read that the Goshen
United Church south of Varna is
getting rid of its outhouse.
She doesn't blame them for
their plan to upgrade their
facilities by installing new
plumbing fixtures in the church
basement. She merely asks if
they've given sufficient thought
to tearing down the,old, as they
bring in the new.
The point is, of course, that the
Goshen outhouse is probably
among the last of its kind in
Huron and if it disappears, future
generations will never really
know about those old one and two-
holers that served such a
valuable purpose for so many
years,
The end was in sight (no pun
intended) for outhouses when
Eaton's announced the ter-
mination of the production of
catalogues last year. The two
we're synonomous with' a way of
life for decades. In fact, you
seldom found one without the
other. There was never any
choice between two-ply or four-
ply for our ancestors. The only
choice was whether one used the
page showing the girdle display
or the horse harness.
The heavy catalogue also
served as a suitable weapon for
combatting the occasional wasp
that found its way into the
outhouse.
Many of this nation's hopes and
plans were formulated during the
quiet hours spent in those outdoor
facilities, and if the Huron
Historical Society is worth its'
salt, it will surely quickly come
forth to ensure that one of the
structures will remain for public
view and school tours in the years
ahead.
20 Years Ago
Promotors of a junior band for
Exeter received the green light
from town council and recreation
council this week to begin
practices and were given per-
mission to use the instruments of
the disbanded Citizens' Band,
Instructor will be James Ford of
London.
Members of the Exeter
Chapter of the Eastern Star
presented South Huron Hospital
with an anaesthetic table this
week.
K. W, McLaughlin of
Morrisburg has been transferred
to the local branch of the Bank of
Nova Scotia succeeding H.W.
Kelson who has been posted to
Milton,
30 Years Ago
Walter Sovereign, editor and
publisher of the Lucan Sun, died
Tuesday in his 82nd year.
RCAF veteran Larry Snider of
Exeter landed his own plane on a
runway hopped out and
proceeded to take part in the
Veterans tractor class for. Huron
County.
The years and months of
planning for the International
plowing match for Huron County
came to fruition with the opening
of the great event Tuesday at
Port Albert .Over 15,000 persons
attended the first day.
Hope. What a powerful word.
The dictionary defines it as
`desiring and expecting with
some confidence,'
Generations of people have
lived by hope. Armies have
marched in the hope of whining
the upcoming battle. Countless
souls have groped through the
dark tunnels of their lives hoping
against hope there waS" a light at
the other end leading them out of
their despair.
Centuries before the birth of
Christ, Pliny the Younger wrote
that hope is the pillar that holds
up the world. Martin Luther said
that everything that is done in
this world is done by hope.
Everyone, no matter what their
age, needs hope. Young people
need hope to reach a desirable
goal, That goal may be
knowledge, mastering skills,
recovering from an illness,
gaining self assurance and so
forth. As for old people, whatever
their bodies may tell them, hope
keeps them getting up each day
and facing the sunrise.
Did you know that following
World War II it was learned that
prisoners of war who kept on
hoping that freedom would come
for them, who 'were sure they
would come out alive, came
through their ordeal with much
less harmful effects than those
who surrendered to despiar?
In this nuclear and
materialistic age, we all have
many hopes. We hope for peace
and harmony. Some people hope
for wealth and right now there is
a great surge to buy lottery
tickets in the hope of becoming an
instant millionaire.
Perhaps because life is un-
certain and all too short we
clutch, as the German preacher
Helmut Thielicke has said, at the
passing moment and put our
hopes in money and goods and
those we love. However, how
often we find those hopes dashed.
I remember so well a young
man telling me about the early
Dear editor;
In your last edition of Sep-
tember 30th there was an article
concerning pinball machines and
the so called negative behaviour
patterns that so called arise.
This was brought before the
editor in reference to an article in
the Glode and Mail. Anyone
possibly comparing Toronto to
the town of Exeter would be half-
baked and absured.
It has also been brought to my
attention that students are
skipping school to come here,
which is totally false! The rules
here are that no students are
allowed in here during school
hours. We instruct them to leave
10 to 15 minutes before their
lunch hours are up. During the
evening anyone in elementary
school has to leave the premises
by 8:30 or 8:95 p.m.
Letter to Editor:
I am writing in regard to the
article in the September 30, 1976,
issue of the T-A, entitled "A Bird
in the Hand".
This article in my opinion
should never have been printed. I
don't know who is responsible for
such an article, but may I draw it
to your attention that one of the
signing officers on this account
was my late husband and fur-
thermore this type of information
should be kept confidential and
not printed on the front page or
any page of any paper,
I feel an apology is due from
the hands this has fallen into — to
days of his marriage, "We didn't
have a washing machine," he
recalled, "so we trudged every
week to the laundromat. We
hoped for the day we could afford
our own machine for we knew we
would be much happier then.
Well, we finally saved enough for
the washer and for awhile it was
the delight of our lives, But then
as we got used to it we started to
hope for the day when we could
afford some really good fur-
niture. We got that in a few years
too, and we began to realize we
would be much happier if we had
a television set so we set our
hopes on that, Having acquired a
TV, we decided we would be
happier still if we had a second
car, As the years went on we
acquired more and more things
until one day my wife and I sat
down for a good honest talk.
Somewhat to our dismay, we both
confessed we weren't as happy as
we were back in those days
when we trudged every week to
the laundromat."
Yes, hope in material things
usually lets us down.
"Keep on hoping that the
clouds will break" is the line of an
old song, but the hope in that song
is a pretty wishy-washy affair
compared to the great hope St.
Paul shouts about in the New
Testament. This great hope he
extols and builds his life on is the
hope based on his belief in God
because of what He has done, is
doing and will do through His son,
Jesus Christ.
Paul's hope, and so should that
of every Christian, is so strong he
is able to face any condition, good
or bad; trusting completely that
God's hand will never let go of the
anchor that keeps his life steady
and calm and sure even through
the stormy seas. As he tells the
Hebrews his faith in God gives
substance to his hopes.
Yes, Hope is a word that gives
power to your life but especially
when it is built on a deep and
abiding faith in the goodness of
God.
Kids, male and female, come in
here and have a good time, They
are not subjected to profanity,
narcotics or alcohol. We run a
clean establishment and plan to
run it as such in the future.
I personally feel that a lot of
parents sell their kids short on a
lot of things. We find them
congenial and remarkably clean.
My wife is a qualified social
worker and myself a volunteer
social worker. We understand the
problems that teen-agers are
going through, it's too bad that a
lot of people are shrouded with
decadence and don't realize that
it is "1976".
I personally feel this rebuttal
stating our way of thinking had to
be made since we have been
made a focusing point for
criticismn and sharp remarks.
Mike Koyle
Madhatter Arcade & Disco
the Exeter Chamber of Com-
merce members. No doubt this
was very embarrassing to many
businessmen in this Town and not
only the committee responsible
for signing on the account. Also I
am sure the P.U,C. has had to
write off larger amounts than this
before now and we never see that
printed in the paper,
Needless to say there must be
more important things to write
about in the paper than this. This
whole article is of very poor
taste.
From a concerned widow of a
late businessman of the Town of
Exeter.
Donna Webster
•
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