The Exeter Times-Advocate, 1977-03-10, Page 4Page 4
Times-Advocate, March 10, 1977
Valuable session
Last week's meeting called by a group of
area citizens concerned about the language
in some English books and in the hallways
at SHDHS took a somewhat surprising turn
when a group of teachers was on hand to
debate the issue,
It certainly made the event much more
interesting and valuable in that both sides
of the issue were outlined and the teachers
should be commended for their initiative in
making parents aware of how books are
chosen and the manner in which they are
discussed with the students in the
classroom situation.
Naturally, few people left the meeting
with a complete change of heart, However,
the frank discussion which took place
should serve a valuable purpose in remin-
ding the teachers that parents are concern-
ed about the type of literature their
children study, and in reminding parents
that the majority of teachers are equally
concerned and realize the tremendous
responsibility they have in shaping young
minds.
While some parents would prefer to
shelter their children from the temptations
and demands of the world, some only want
to assure themselves that their children
are mentally and morally prepared to han-
dle those temptations and demands when
they arise.
Still others, and hopefully the majority,
would prefer to know that they, along with
teachers and students, could work together
in eliminating some of those temptations
and demands and thereby make our society
a better place for this and succeeding
generations.
Surely that must be one of the primary
challenges, and while ignorance of the
facts will not result in their disappearance,
knowledge will not have that result either
unless it is accompanied by an understan-
ding of right and wrong.
However, there is still an obvious conflict
for the student who has been taught that
blasphemy and profanity are wrong and
who then may be assigned a course of study
which includes books in which blasphemy
andprofanity are included. The same con-
flict arises in many other situations and
often leaves the student reeling between
what is taught at home and what may be
taught at school. It obviously confounds
some parents!
While some teachers invited parents to
explore the methods they use in the
classroom, it is an invitation that is dif-
ficult for most to accept and they must rely
on the administration to ensure that the job
is being capably filled.
There is little doubt, however, that frank
discussions such as those of last week, also
provide an excellent opportunity for the
two groups to get together to discuss their
concerns. There should be more!
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"Let's see, dependents —wife, two children, Polysar, Otto Lang, the Olympics, Candu . ."
Sisters are special
Free enterprise be hanged
. . about school books
Last week women across this land and in
many other countries marked the 80th an-
niversary of the founding of the Women's
Institute by the late Mrs. Adelaide Hunter
Hoodless. Few organizations in living
memory can truthfully claim such a record
of success and accomplishment.
When Mrs. Hoodless spoke to her first
small gathering at Stoney Creek 80 years
ago she was addressing women of an en-
tirely different breed than those of our own
times. Women, in 1897, were indeed second
class citizens. They did not have the right
to vote. They were virtually unprotected by
inheritance laws. There were no widows'
allowances or old age pensions. The
general attitude of men, even those with
deep affection for their wives and mothers,
was that women were placed on this earth
to serve the male of the species.
Women were laughed to scorn if they
dared to suggest they should be
represented, even on most church boards,
let alone on town or township councils or in
the provincial or federal governments.
Their job was to stay at home, rear the
children and give their all for the powerful
father image.
Mrs. Hoodless must have been a person
of rare courage. For years the organization
she founded struggled not only against the
scoffing of the male half of society, but it
faced a continuing fight to convince the
women of that day that they were free in-
dividuals with a right to their own opinions
in the state as well as in the home. Indeed,
the institute motto, repeated at every
meeting of the WI to this day, is "For
Home and Country", signifying women's
breadth of vision and interest.
The WI members in those early days
didn't hold parades or public corset-
burnings — nor are today's members par-
ticularly women's libbers — at least not the
sort who resort to demonstrations. They
have learned over these eighty years that it
is intelligent and concerted action which
gets the desired results. Women's institute
briefs have made an important contribu-
tion to modern society and have affected a
great body of the legislation which has
' made Canada a free country, for women as
well as men.
The Institute movement was so well con-
ceived that it has spread to Europe and
many other lands. Changing times and fluc-
tuating economic conditions have not made
it obsolete. In fact the Institute ideals are
stronger and more valid today than ever
before. There is no indication whatever
that the WI is headed for oblivion in the
foreseeable future.
We salute the Women's Institute and
acknowledge with gratitude the role it has
played in the development of a progressive
society.
There's something wrong with
the economic set-up of our
society. This conclusion was the
one I came to after checking over
my T4 form the other day. I
turned white and then red when I
saw what everybody is clipping
out of my pay cheque.
The first and worst deduction is
for income tax. The feds got me
for more in taxes than my hard-
working father ever made in the
two best years of his life put
together.
Then I started wondering what
I get from Ottawa for my
thumping contribution. I wasn't
exactly impressed when I totted
it up. 1 don't get welfare or
unemployment insurance or the
old age pension or the baby
bonus.
I get the Trans Canada high-
way, which I use every 12 years,if
I can find a spot in the never-
ending line of Americans hauling
trailers or campers. I get the
CBC, which is one of the coun-
try's great losers, financially and
culturally. I get the Mounties.
Who needs them? I get protection
from our gallant armed forces,
who could probably wrestle
Iceland to a draw, although I
wouldn't bet on it. I get the
privilege of contributing to those
handsome pensions of MPs and
civil servants, with their cosy,
built-in excalation. I ,have the
-privilege of kicking in so that Otto
Lang can fly arond like Henry
Kissinger,
I help pick up the tab for those
federal-provincial meetings, at
the last Of which so many of the
provincial premiers were hard
into the sauce that it wound up in
a verbal donnybrook,
I also receive the privilege of
helping to pay for Skyshop bribes
in Quebec, and nuclear bribes in
Argentina and Switzerland and
Israel and lord knows where else.
I have the additional pleasure
of helping to pay for a wildly
proliferating civil service that
offers me such inessentials as
Manpowers, ads telling me not to
smoke or drink too much, and
vast propaganda churned out by
the hacks of Bytown on the
Rideau.
I am permitted to help pay for
the annual deficits of the Post
Office, the CNR, the CBC, and
practically any other "business"
run by the feds. In addition,
they'll let me kick in to help pay
our native Canadians millions of
dollars for a lot of moose pasture
and tundra that wasn't worth a
plugged nickel until someone
decided to run a pipeline through
it.
As I said, somebody has got
things backward. The govern-
ment offers me all sorts of things
I don't want or need, and fails to
offer me any of the things I do
need.
And that's only the beginning.
Insurance companies are taking
me to the cleaners: fire, life,
term, health, automobile. And
the only way I can get even is to
set fire to the house, smash up the
car, contract a disabling disease,
or die, It doesn't seem fair.
I paid a chunk into the Canada
Pension Plan. The only way I can
get it back is to get old, Unem-
ployment Insurance cost me $172
and I've never been out of a job in
my life. The union cost the $325,
which is probably used for a fund
Wingham Advance-Times
for a strike in which I will not
participate. "
In addition, they levied me
$1,750 toward a pension plan. By
the time I get around to collecting
from it,one of two things will have
happened. Either I'll be dead
(and I hear there are no pensions
in heaven), or my annual pension
will be worth three loaves of
bread and a can of beans, with
inflation,
And the whole thing expands
downward. The provincial
nails me for hard-top roe '.o
cottage country when .4't
have a cottage; weed ctwers,
geologists, fishing inspectors;
health care for every
hypochondriac in the province;
homes for the aged and homes for
the insance and homes for foster
children; and a hundred other
things I do not need,
Then the county takes its cut. I
help pay for reeves to go and get
drunk at the Good Roads Con-
vendor', for County Health Units,
County Assessors County
education empires.
And finally, the municipal
mafia puts the gears to me, for
arenas I don't skate in, swim-
ming pools I don't swim in,
healthy salaries for firemen and
cops and every other bird who
can get on the payroll,
But when I say "Don't cut down
my trees, please," they tell me I
am standing ill the way of
progress,
Nor does it end there, un-
fortunately. It comes right into
your own home and sits down
beside you at your own hearth,
The old lady wants a gourmet
Man is pushing himself to
greater and greater heights
these days, and it takes only a
weekend trip to Toronto to prove
that point beyond much question.
As part of the Ontario Weekly
Newspaper Association annual
meeting, the delegates were
treated to a luncheon at the CN
tower, and readers can well im-
agine how much anticipation that
held for most of us, especially
the four Batten boys.
Imagine if you will, stepping
into an elevator and being
hoisted into the skies high over
Toronto in a mere few seconds,
Imagine the view one could see
from the glass encased dining
room some 1,300 feet above the
ground. Imagine looking out over
the horizon and seeing the smoke
billowing into the skies from the
steel mills at Hamilton. Imagine
seeing the spray from the cas-
cading water at Niagara Falls.
Imagine the make-believe scene
directly below as the minute cars
and trucks made their way along
the Toronto streets.
Well, imagine it, we did!
Our trip to the top of Toronto's
number one tourist attraction
and the tallest building in the
world unfortunately coincided
with a thick fog and heavy rain
which rolled in from Lake On-
tario and our view was similar to
that of a fly swimming in a bowl
of thick, pea soup.
We could only imagine what
lay below, and our hopes of show-
ing some of our fellow conven-
tion goers the high snow banks of
South Huron were completely
thwarted.
However, several of our com-
panions indicated they had en-
joyed previous trips to the obser-
vation decks of the tower and
assured us it is well worth the
trip to Toronto for that ex-
perience alone.
We have no reason to doubt
them, but can advise our readers
that it is not adviseable to plan
such a trip when the city is
shrouded in fog.
* * *
Fortunately, all was not entire-
ly lost, as our room at the Hotel
Toronto was some 25 storeys
above the city streets and it
allowed a spectacular view of the
city when the air was clear.
An added benefit was the fact
that two of the elevators at the
hotel run up the outside of the
building and this proved to be a
thrilling ride. It was difficult
throughout most of the weekend
to get into one of these elevators,
primarily because most of the
kids in the hotel (including four
from Exeter) spent a con-
siderable portion of their time
racing up and down the side of
the building in their glass en-
cased conveyance.
It was also surprising to note
that many of the guests of the
hotel would refuse to get in the
two elevators even when they
were available, Many other peo-
ple who entered them unsuspec-
tingly could be seen with their
eyes closed and fists tightly
clenched on the hand rails as the
elevators made their ascent to
the top of the hotel.
Another "must" on most agen-
das for the weekend was a visit
cookbook, $20; the daughter
wants $250 for fees for a
university course; the son should
have a little donation in
Paraguay to keep him from
starving; the grandboys need
new shoes at 12 bucks a rattle. I
don't need a single one of these
things, yet I am the one who has
the tamboureen constantly
shaking under my nose,
Free enterprise be hanged.
There's nothing free about it, and
the only enterprise involved in
the considerably amount used by
various parties to separate me
from every nickel I earn.
On the other hand, maybe I'm
lucky that don't need a single
item from the endless list of
garbage for which I am being
clipped, You have to get old or
sick or stupid or poor to collect
Most of them,
to the New Eaton's City Centre.
Judging from the teeming
crowds, it was also on the agenda
of the 2,000,000 residents of the
city and its suburbs.
A walk through the giant shop-
ping emporium is akin to a visit
to a botanical garden. Huge palm
trees wave in the man-made
breezes and surround the color-
ful water fountains which send
sprays shooting towards the ceil-
ing in the distinctive structure.
But, the people! We walked
through the centre on Saturday
afternoon and it was literally
shoulder-to-shoulder. People
were lined up two and three deep
to make purchases at some of the
stores in the centre and it took
one of our lads half an hour to
work his way through the line to
secure an ice cream cone.
While many in the crowd's
were no doubt there out of
curiosity as we were, it would be
t±:lifficult to imagine the scene
come the day before Christmas.
Another highlight of our trip
was to Maple Leaf Gardens to
see the Leafs play Vancouver on
Saturday night. It was our first
visit to the ice palace since our
days at Ryerson and the Gardens
has been given a complete face-
lift since then.
Perhaps the biggest change we
noted was that Harold Ballard
and his moguls have used every
conceivable corner for seats and
we suspect they've added
' 55 Years Ago
The weather for nearly a week
was very mild and spring-like,
The snow had practically all
disappeared and the frost was
beginning to leave the ground,
Then it turned colder Tuesday
accomapnied by snow.
The choir of the James St,
Methodist Church gave a musical
entertainment in the church
Friday evening. The program
consisted of miscellaneous
numbers followed by the ren-
dering of the 'Crucifixion by
Stainer. Messers Goodwin and
Milne Rennie, of Hensall took the
solo work.
The Hurondale Women's
Institute met at the home of Miss
Jeckell Thursday afternoon last
as a surprise on the eve of her
leaving the community for her
future home in Exeter. An ad-
dress was read by Miss A. Case
and presentation of an ivory hand
mirror was made by Miss H.
Ellerington.
30 Years Ago
One of the worst series of ac-
cidents ever to happen in this
district occurred early Monday
morning when two men, Allen
Fraser and Rollie Motz were
seriously injured, Seven cars and
three trucks piled up in a
snowdrift,
Rationing of maple syrup has
been lifted this season, No
coupons will be required as in
past years,
Miss Lenore Norminton of
Hensall won the shield for girls in
the Lions oratorical contest in
this zone held in London Public
Library,
Mr. & Mrs, W.S. Cole recently
moved into the house they pur-
chased from the estate of the late
N.J. Dore.
E.D. Howey has been ap-
pointed secretary of the High
School Board.
20 Years Ago
Exeter Figure Skating Club,
featuring for the first time its
own talent, won sustained ap-
plause from a crowd who enjoyed
its "Ice Frolic of 1957" at the
arena Saturday night.
Exeter barbers bumped the
price of adults haircuts to 85
cents this week.
Carl Hewitt, Stratford PVC
employee and native of Exeter,
was killed Thursday when a
another few thousand just by
reducing the size of the old seats.
We could hardly believe the
size of the seats. It was similar
to being laced into a straight
jacket and we could only imagine
the difficulty that would be ex-
perienced by people not as slim
and trim as the writer.
Few will disagree that viewing
the actual game in the elec-
trifying surroundings of the
crowd at the Gardens is much
better than sitting in front of the
idiot box, but the latter still
provides the best coverage.
We had settled into our seats at
the opening whistle of Saturday's
encounter and the game was only
two or three minutes old when
Darryl Sittler, Lanny McDonald
and Errol Thompson raced down
the ice into the Vancouver end.
At the same time, two late
arrivals were making their way
into the seats in front of us and
when they sat down we watched
as the red lights signalled the
goal and the players congregated
to engage in their usual hugs,
kisses and embraces. Unfor-
tunately, our view of the goal had
been completely blocked and
naturally we did not have the
benefit of a replay to provide a
second opportunity to see the ac-
tion.
But then, what do you expect
for 15 bucks?
'dead' line he was reeling in
contacted a 2,200 volt primary
wire.
Norm Hyde captured awards
for best general agriculture
exhibits and Robert Down was
named champion swine showman
at Review Day at the Western
Ontario Agricultural School at
Ridgetown recently.
15 Years Ago
Vincent Ryan, 15, Grade X
student at Mount Carmel won
first place in the impromptu
division of the district public
speaking finals- -at Wingham.
George Godbolt was first in the
prepared speech.
Huron Hog Producers showed
decisively that they want to
retain their compulsory
marketing plan when they
elected a full slate of board-
supporting committee men
Tuesday.
Hensall public school board is
negotiating with three school
sections in Hay township to have
the students from, these areas
attend school in Hensall.
Oliver Jaques, Hensall, was
elected county master of South
Huron Orange Lodge at the an-
nual meeting in Seaforth.
Myrtle Ninhann, a nurse at
South Huron Hospital was injured
Friday afternoon when the brake
pedal in her car seized and she
struck a power shovel,
A few weeks ago, a friend was
telling me about a time when she
was feeling sick and depressed
and much in need of some moral
and physical support.
"So, I called my sister in
Toronto," she said, "to see if she
could possibly come for a few
days. Without hesitation, she
answered, 'Yes', and as soon as
she walked into the house I began
to feel better. Sisters are won-
derful!"
They certainly are. Sisters are
one of God's most precious gifts
and I never cease thanking Him
for mine.
My sister is a person in whose
company I feel completely safe
and comfortable, able to pour out
all my thoughts and words
without having to weigh them
first, I can do this because I have
such trust in her ability to sift
them through her faithful, loving
hands, to keep those that are
worth saving and to blow the rest
away with an understanding
smile on her lips.
Fortunately for me, she seems
to feel much the same about me
and on Valentine's Day she sent
Student view
I attended the meeting of
March 1 which was called by a
few parents who were concerned
with the morality expressed in
some of our school text books. I
said nothing throughout, partly
because I was shocked by the
atmosphere of unobjectivity and
hostility that pervaded the
discussion, and partly because I
realized the futility of doing so.
Not only were the teachers'
points of view totally misun-
derstood or deliberately
misinterpreted but the students
themselves were given little
chance to express our feelings on
an issue that will ultimately
affect us.
I felt that our presence was
overlooked, and when a student
did venture a comment or an
explanation, our statements were
viewed as trivial or irrelevant.
I have been told that I am only
a student, that I still have a lot to
learn, that I am not a tax payer
and, therefore, have few rights to
say what I feel. I cannot deny any
of these things.
There is, however, a vital point
which has been overlooked and
which gives me very special
reasons for venturing an opinion.
This is my life you are toying
with, not only mine, but the lives
of many others who in a few
years will be expected to function
within society. I think we have a
right to decide upon the course
we want our lives to follow.
Hopefully, readers will con-
sider my opinion with objectivity,
and will realize that our present
educational system is leading
students towards a healthy
existence. I hope they will give
me the chance to prove that in all
probability, I will turn out to be a
rational, thinking human being,
rather than the perverted
illiterate that some parents
perceive us to be.
Mr. Eddy and Mr. Shaw
described the criteria used and
the process involved in selecting
books for the English course. Mr.
Eddy emphasized the books were
chosen on the basis of real
situations which students are
bound to encounter in future
years, He and other teachers
stressed that these books were
not models of the roles we would
be expected to lead, but this point
seems to have completely eluded
most parents.
Parents were too concerned
with stressing the point that all
books contained nothing but filth,
poor English, and that the books
themselves said nothing, The
heated discussion on"TheCatcher
in the Rye" demonstrated that
the book meant nothing to the
— Please turn to Page-5
me the following lines. Perhaps
you would like to clip them and
send them to your own sister.
A Sister
A sister is someone you can think
more of then you'd ever admit
. .
Someone you can be prouder of
and have more fun with than
almost anybody else.
She's someone you can confide in,
and depend on when you really
need her.
A sister will be honest with you
when she tells you how you look;
You can believe her . . "that's
how you look!"
She's someone you can
sometimes see eye-to-eye with,
and then other times you wonder
how two people could be so dif-
ferent and still be related.
She's someone you want
everything wonderful to happen
to, because she deserves it.
And though she may disagree
with you now and then,
She's someone who'll stand by
you . . . and you know it
Because a sister is someone who
is Always Very Special.
Parent view
Because of an earlier com-
mitment, neither my husband
nor I could attend the meeting of
parents and teachers which took
place last week to discuss the
selection of books in the high
school English courses.
However, I whole-heartedly
endorse the idea of an
organization being formed where
both parents and teachers can
come together to discuss
reasonably what it is that is
bothering them about the school
system,
It used to be, before the days of
centralization, local school
boards kept a close watch on
what was going on in the schopls.
Though these boards may pot
have been perfect, they did act as
a kind of watch dog. They were
extremely interested in what
went on in the school because
many of them had children in
attendance. Also, some of the
teachers were their neighbors
whom they knew personally and
I'm sure there was much more
discourse between board and
teachers than there is now.
However, with centralization,
that changed and it now seems to
me we have an ever expanding
gap developing between teachers
and the board, and certainly
between teachers and parents.
Unfortunately, we parents have
sometimes come to the point
where we almost eye the teachers
-as the enemy, and teachers seem
ready to take up the defense.
Both groups claim, of course,
that they have only the good of
the students at heart. That being
so, then rather than having these
students caught in the cross fire,
it is right that we should sit down
together and discuss openly what
is on our minds.
With regard to choice of books,
I think parents have a right to
know and question who makes
the choice and why that choice is
made. I think we would be
neglectful if we didn't show
concern. But perhaps this talk
about English courses is only a
facade for a much deeper con-
cern.
I note from the report in last
week's paper that a teacher says
we live in a 'sick society'.
Another states we live 'in a world
of decadence and corruption'.
I'm sure no one will disagree with
them, and this I think, is what is
concerning parents more than
anything else.
Our world is wallowing in a
quicksand bed of rottenness. If
anyone is going to pull it up on a
safer higher level it must be the
people going through our school
system. I cannot ,believe that
— Please turn to Page 5
Amalgamated 1924
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BLUE MASON
AWARD
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+CNA
Times Established 1873
Advocate Established 1881
exelerZimes-Abuerate
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Phone 235.1331 Published Each Thursday Morning
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