Loading...
The Brussels Post, 1980-04-16, Page 2„ IIITABS.11001 • OS anon) WEDNESDAY, APRIL 16, 1980 Serving Brussels and the surrounding community. Published each Wednesday afternoon at Brussels, Ontario . By McLean Bros. Publishers Limited Evelyn. Kennedy- Editor Pat Langlois - Advertising Member Canadian Community Newspaper Association and Ontario Weekly Newspaper Association, Subscriptions (in advance) Canada $10.00 a Year. Others $20.00 a Year: Single Copies 25 cents each. Working together. If ever proof was needed that a community could work together and come up with something successful, the proof is at the Grey Central. School right now. The Grey Central Home and. School Association has become famous for its successful productions of well-known plays and musicals and Annie, Get Your Gun was no exception. Although it seemed like a short time in which the Association had to put the musical together, members once again came through with flyihg colors. So much more.could be accomplished in other communities if they would put forth the effort and co-operation that has obviously gone into arranging the Grey productions. Of course it takes a lot of work on the part of the participants, but a thing worth doing is a thing worth doing well. Other organizations and communities should take note of what has been done here and try .to succeed in their efforts as the Grey Home and School Association so obviously has, with its newest production. To the editor:. Thanks for your support On behalf of the Brussels Catholic Womens League I would like to thank you for your coverage of our events in the past year. We appreciate your support and attend- ance at our many functions. Sincerely, Mrs. Joe Phelan, Secretary, St. Ambrose C.W.L. Advertising is accepted on the condition that in the event of a typographical error the afivertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. While every effort will be made to insure the!! are handled with care, the publishers cannot be responsible for the return of unsolicited -manuscripts or photos. Behind the scenes by Keith..Routsto Sor~eth~n~ to hate Inflation is rising, Unemployment is climbing. The populaton is restless. Time for a little good, old-fashioned hate., These are tough times, around the world. ,Faced with the hard realities, people . usually make one of two solutions. In our entertainment, our television, our movies, our books we seek happy, light-hearted topics that will take our minds off our troubles (haye you taken a look at the preponderance of situation comedies on television these dqs?). On a wider level, a national or international level, we find somebody to hate. This latter kind of escapism is easily seen around the world these days. One of the best examples of course is Iran. All problems in that country right now are easily explained: blame it on the Americans. There are border problems with. Iraq? Blame it on the Americans even though the. Iraqui army uses Russian, not American weapons. You're ?resident of the country but you feel a little insecure in your power? Make a good, angry, anti- American speech. Call Jimmy Carter some dirty names. The people' will love you again. We don't have to go around the world to see evidence of the same thing. Take a look south of the border. It's election year and it seems somedays to come down to a contest of who can scream the loudest obscenities at the Soviet Union. Times are really bad in the U.S. Inflation is getting close to 20 per cent. Interest rates have made that level. The people are frigtened by economic problems their leaders simply can't control. They have been insulted abroad with the taking of the hostages in Iran. In a way those hostages are symbolic because the American people themselves feel they are now hostages of Iran and other Arab oil-producing countries. Used to being the most powerful nation economically and militarily in the world, they now see themselves not even able to protect their citizens in their embassies. And the final indignity was the move- ment of the Soviet Union into Afghanistan. History has shown in the U.S. that when things go bad the Communists can always be found to blame somewhere. Communism took the blame for the growth of unionism in the states. Communists were behind everything that was bad in America during the McCarthy era. So right now the hardliners are the politicians getting the most support in the U.S. primary elections. It isn't at all surprising that Ronald Reagan is leading the Republicans: He was popular anyWay but with the swing to escapist hatred in the U.S., in the seat* for villains, Reagan is sure to win support. For his Part :jimmy Cartet faced with a restless populace, has had to take a,turn hiS direeti011.'He was a, promoter oflnore peace and understanding for the greater part of his presidency. But things have not gone well. The situation in Iran, the invasion of Afghanistan have changed the situation abroad. The horrible economic situation at home has put him on the defensive and the best way to take the heat off is to get people's minds on something else. We don't have to look even that far, In Quebec right now we have people being told that the solution to all their problems is to get.rid of the rest of Canada with those horrible English-speaking people who are holding, the French-speaking people down. Just choose independence, Mr. Levesque promises, and all your problems will go away. He is so persuasive that he can even convince many English. Canadians that independence is the solution to their problems. The situation in Quebec is sad and it may wreck a country but it seems unlikely, for now at least, to bring the world to the edge of war. The situation in . Afghanistan, in Iran, inthe U.S. is much more frightening: Sabre-rattling can be a way of letting off internal pressure in a country but it also has the danger of getting out of hand. We've already seen it escalate. Would there be the hostage crisis today if Iranian leaders hadn't found it convenient to take the minds of the people off the internal problems of the country by starting a new anti-American, campaign last fall? The students took them at their word and seized the hostages. There have been indications since that some of the Iranian leaders don't like the hostage situation but without the support of the Ayatollah Khomeni they are helpess. The greatest danger is that the sabre rattling in the U.S. could lead to the same `kind of situation. These international crises couldn't have come at a worse time than' a, presidential election year: American politicians following the will of the American people at this time of crisis could be backed into a corner of confrontation from which there is no way Out except military action, military action that could escalate to a third, world war. Let's hope saner heads prevail. Sugar and spice By Bill Smiley It's exam marking time for Smiley Marking examination papers brings out the best and the worst in a teacher. Any tomfool can set an examination. Any other idiot can write the thing. But marking the finished, or more often unfinished product is something else. In some ways, marking exams is the absolute anus of the sometimes creative body of teaching. It is to the teacher what an over-flowed toilet is to the plumber. Normally, a plumber's life is a fairly happy one. Whanging away at pipes. Cursing gaily as he tries to unscrew' a rusted nut. Dropping a dirty great wrench on the customer's new tile floor. And writing out a whacking great bill at $14 an hour, plus parts which must be made of 24-carat gold. On the whole, a satisfactory, fulfilling life. A plumber is usually,a smiling, affable chap, much like the highwaymen of olden times, who grinned gallantly as they stripped the passengers of the stage of their valuables. It's the same with teachers. You seldom see a teacher who is not smiling, except between the first of September and the end of June. They too have their little joys in everyday life: bullying kids; clueing the principal, under their breaths; gossiping venomously about colleagues who are having more fue than they; happily whining about being underpaid and over-worked; thanking. God that it:s.ifFriday. A challenging life of dedication and idealism. Wit both parties have one craw in their ointment, or fly in their throat, or whatever you call it. When a plumber walks in, rubber-booted, and faces a floor covered with water, sanitary napkins, toilet tissue, and semi- - dissolved feces, his normally serene mien becomes one of stony stoicism. And when a teacher finishes a term at school, utterly exhausted, empty of ideals,. drained of dedication, and faces the Marking of about 180 exam papers, his normally congenital expression turns into something resembling the agony expressed in a cheap reproduction of the Crucifixion. Nobody looks quite as crucified, stagger- ing home with both arms full of exam papers, as the English teacher. His/her thoughts about Phys. Ed. teachers, shop teachers, business teachers and others who don't have formal exams are unprintable in a family journal. Their attitudes toward sci- ence teachers and geography teachers, with their true-false exams, are barely less charitable. These ruminations, none of them original, recurred to me as I sat serenely during this year's March break, pursuing the' current drop of regurgitations, wild guesses, and hopeful meanderings that constitute the average student's exam. Thwarted from pressing into the frozen North, while so many of my colleagues were heading for the sunny South, by that common enemy, the common cold, I:shucked off all resentment, irritation, and hopes for a holiday, and marked my papers. It was my old lady who had the cold, and she stayed out of my hair for a change. I sat like Solomon, alternately amused, bemused, bewildered, and occasionally bewitched, by the outpourings of adolescence. Some were simply stunned. Others were desperate, seeking any port in a storm. Some had a clue, but couldn't solve the case. And very occasionally, there was sheer delight in seeing a keen, original mind at work. I mentioned the chore as bringing out the best and the worst in the harassed peda- gogue, peering, pencilling, pouting over the papers. One becomes a philosopher: "Oh, well, what the hell? We can't all be brain surgeons,” after reading the efforts' of one who has professed the desire for such a profession and spells it "brain surjen." One becomes a philanthropist: "He's flunking badly. But he did clean the blackboards and plug in the record players and said 'Have a nice holiday, sir', and he's going into the old man's business because there's nowhere else to go, so I'll give him 10 marks for cooperation and attitude. That'll please the' Guidance Department." One is amused. She wrote on the outside of the paper: "I did my best, .Mr. Smiley. I hope your in a good mood when you mark this." I took •off a mark because she misspelled "you're.' One is appalled. Question: "Use a sentence containing the word morale." Answer: "A hero thinks he is greater than ordinary morales." Things like this Make the young teacher panic and ask self, "What's happening? I'm not getting through to these kids at all." Not to worry. The kid will probably be a good mother. Occasionally, one is enchanted. One of those students who is a wall-flower in class, obviously shy, liiding behind drooping eyelids, flowers on paper, all inhibitions forgotten in the sheer joy of expression, and turns in a brilliant piece of creating thinking. And the teacher is momentarily elated, realizing he has kindled a flame. All in all, an enriching experience, giving the marker a good look at a good cross- section of youngsters, a few good laughs, some self-doubts, a certain humility, a delightful feeling of playing God, Jr., and the odd flash of sheer satisfaction, if not joy. To heck with holidays from now on. Spend a ,To of money getting nowhere With a lot of disgruntled fellow-travellers, get home exhausted and disappointed. From now on, I'm going to stay home and mark papers.