HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1983-03-16, Page 6editorial
LUCKNO.�SENTINEL
"The Sept* Town„
INIMINSINOW
Eetabllsb ed 1673
Lwow Sentinel, Wednesday, Marsch 16, 1983 --Page 6
THOMAS A. THOMPSON - Adverttstng
SHARON I. b1ETZ - Editor
PAT LIVIN6ST0N - Office Manager
JOAN HELM • Compositor
MERLE ELLIOTT - Typesetter
Damage fanners' credibility
Allen Wilford's fast in a Stratford jail is a
spectacular media event but it isn't doing
much to solve the problems facing Ontario's
farmers nor is it doing much to increase the
credibility of farmers in the eyes of govern-
ment or the urban public.
Wilford's concern for farmers facing
financial difficulties is commendable but
many farmers disapprove of his tactics. The
farmer, who is quietly going about his
business of farming, is embarrassed by
Wilford and the strong armed antics of the
Farmers' Survival Association he repres-
ents.
For the most part, farmers find the media
hype surrounding the "penny auction"
staged by the Survival Association recently
and now Wilford's fast, a disgrace to the
business of agriculture and to the image of
farmers.
By dwelling on the sensational aspects of
the Survival Association, the media is
ignoring the real progress being made by
farm organizations to assist farmers in their
financial difficulties. The average farmer
would far sooner support a committee set up
by the local federation of agriculture to act as
advisor to the farmer and a negotiator
between the farm and his bank, before they
will support a rally outside the Stratford jail.
The, media is also ignoring the attempts by
both the federal and provincial governments
to arrange stabilization plans to meet the
needs of beef producers and cash crop
farmers who are suffering most at present,
from the combination of high interest rates,
low commodity prices and high operating
costs.
Wilford's attempt to grab media headlines
and focus public attention on the dire straits
of farmers is a sad comment on the
association he represents and his position as
a farmer.
The farming community would be much
better served by responsible individuals who
work diligently towards realistic solutions to
the problems farmers face today.
For their part, the media can take no pride
in the role they play in Wilford's strategy.
Women are oppressed
Saturday marked the start of a week long
celebration of international Women's Day.
Thousands of women throughout the country
participated in demonstrations to voice the
concerns about problems facing women in
the present day society. Free abortion
clinics, equal pay and more day care
facilities are only a few of the issues faced by
Canadian women. The women also demon-
strated against what they term "the
oppression of women".
Undoubtedly the issues are important not
only for women but also for men who are
closely tied to the problems faced by women.
Designating a full week for women to
address these problems is essential to help
publicize the issues and possible solutions.
It does not require any deep analysis to
understand that women continue to serve a
secondary role in society. A quick glance at
the majority of advertisements that bombard
us daily reveals that women are often
considered objects and not individuals. They
clean the home, feed the kids, cook the
meals and maintain their appearance
through a wealth of beauty products, all to
please their men.
Unfortunately, the week of celebration has
not been extended to each and every day of
the year. On one particular radio station
from Toronto, the kick-off of the marches on
Saturday was depicted as a week in which
the country lets its women say their piece
and then shut up the rest of the year.
Through off-the-cuff comments made on this
particular program, women were belittled
for their efforts to achieve equal status in
society.
Efforts if only subconsciously were made
to shed a black shadow, over the demonstra-
tions and the true meaning of the problems.
Organizers were depicted as fringe left
wingers, radical feminists and lesbians, in a
an attempt to discourage other groups from
becoming involved. This awesome power of
"labelling" is designed to split and cloud
the real issues.
The facts remain. Women continue to hold
lower paid jobs. Some have made it through
the corporate structure, but they are a small
majority. Modern day sweat shops in the
clothing industry are allowed to run through
the work of underpaid and often, non -organ-
ized groups of women. There is greater
pressure to have women stay in the home
because of the poor employment situation.
Unfortunately many people do not consid-
er that women have an equal position in
society. Both men and women should be
working toward this goal to improve the
quality of life for everyone. That is why it is
significant that the issues brought out by
Canadian women are addressed not only
during this week, but throughout the year.
This can only be done through understand-
ing, not through flippant off-the-cuff com-
ments by individuals and the media.
—The Seaforth Huron Expositor
letters to the editor
To the Editor,
last year at this time, we had to pick which
Secondary School we would like to attend the
following year. if we went to Walkerton we
would have to take double Shop, Ripley
School was "falling down" and Kincardine
District Secondary School was our last
choice. We could not go to Wingham
because we lived out of the area.
This year Kincardine District Secondary
School became Kincardine -Ripley Secondary
School.
Kincardine developed a new course this
year called "Computer Awareness" since
the school was getting more computers. On
Thursday, March 10, the grade nine
students were told whoever wanted to take
Computer Awareness would have to go to
Ripley Secondary School because our
computers were sent to Ripley.
The Bruce Board of Education wants to
change Ripley Secondary School into a junior
high school with grades seven through ten.
The grade eleven, twelve and thirteen
students don't want to leave Ripley because
it is their "home" now.
The grade nine students do not want to
leave Kincardine. One out of three students
will leave Kincardine to go to Ripley. We like
Kincardine, the day one, day two system is
great and so are the seventy-two minute
classes.
If we went to Ripley, family studies,
drafting and industrial Arts would not be
available for us.
in grade eleven we would be pushed hack
into Kincardine to start all over again, in
Ripley we ,would feel like we would he in
Elementary School again.
Grade ten students from Tiverton and kids
within walking distance of Kincardine Sec-
ondary School would be bused t:, Ripley.
Talk about keeping expenses down.
The parents don't know what is going on
except their child is going to be sent to a
school they didn't plan on attending.
May 1 ask the Bruce Board of Education
what happened to freedom of choice?
A grade nine student
at Kincardine -Ripley
Secondary School.
Manager.
Busyness at.d Edttortal Office Telephone 528-2822
Matting Address P.O Box 400. Lus-Ienov, , NO( 2110
Second C-l;:s' Mail Registration Number 0847
Subwription rate, S15.25 per year in advanre
Senior Otlten rate, 512.75 per year In advance
U.S.A. and Foreign, $38.00 per year in advance
Sr. Cit. U.S.A. and Foreign, 536.00 pet year In advance
Janet Amos, artistic director of the Blyth Centre for the Arts, Mollie Whiteside, centre, of
Dungannon, Ireland, and Mrs. Mervyn Lobb of Coderich Township are shown standing in
the burned -out rubble of the offices of the Tyrone -Courier, the Dungannon and district
weekly newspaper in Dungannon, Ireland. A fire bomb had been tossed into the building
three weeks earlier by the Irish Republican Army terrorists. The printing press, which was
still useable, was moved to a nearby building and the paper published its next issue without
missing an edition. Mollie wrote Sentinel readers about the fire in one of her many letters to
this newspaper. Amos and Mrs. Lobb were Mollie's guests when they toured In Ireland
recently.
Mollie writes about Dungannon
59 Killyman Road.
Dungannon,
Co. Tyrone,
N. Ireland.
January 7th, 1983.
To the Editor:
After my stay in Canada in 1980, I wrote
an article which was printed in several
newspapers in this country. l sent a copy to
Your correspondent, Mrs. Marie Park, but 1
understand she lost or mislaid it, It was
published here only in 1980.
This same article has now been reprinted
in the Royal British Legion Year Book for the
Northern Ireland Area and 1 am sending you
a copy for your interest. If you would like to
reproduce my piece in your newspaper, I'm
sure your readers would enjoy it and 1 would
he quite willing for you to do so.
You may. however, think it's all a bit late.
If so. not to worry. I hope you'll enjoy it
yourself and perhaps keep it for reference on
your office shelf.
1 hope you had a happy Christmas and
send you many good wishes for 1983.
Sincerely Yours,
Mollie Whiteside.
(Mrs.)
0 CANADA! 0 CANADA!
By Mollie Wilson Whiteside
7-here'll never he anything to compare
with that Canadian trip, not in my life
anyway, so marvellous it's taken me until
now to get nay feet hack on the ground. The
funny thing is that going to Canada was the
last thing in my mind.
I'm a home -bird, you see. it takes a lot of
thought and organising to coax me as far as
Donagheady or even Brigh which is only up
the road. Besides, we'd had our holiday for
the year, gentle, meandering, farmhousing
through the Lake District, then down to see
our son who's a student at Cambridge.
We staved in King's College, attending
evensong, so beautiful your throat is thick
with tears, dined alongside students in hall
where portraits of King Henry VII and other
early benefactors, stained glass windows
and high vaulted ceilings carry you centuries
hack. We saw "As You Like it" performed
in the open under floodlights by romantic
young actors from Emmanuel with mallards
taking off and landing, skimming our heads,
and during the interval downed strawberries
rich in cream served up with white wine by
costumed cast. We lazed on grassy banks,
lulled by evening chamber music from a
student octet, soft winds flipping at their
score sheets, You could linger forever in
Cambridge, it's so civilized.
Like Rupert Brooke, we sat at tables under
orchard trees where yes "There's honey still
for tea" and wondered like him "what
things are done you'd not believe in
Madingley on Christmas Eve". We mourned
with visiting Americans among the flowers
and the headstones where their war dead lie,
cared for as tenderly still as if they were lost
only yesterday, and paused in National Truss
villages so exquisite you hardly believe
they're really true. After a holiday like that,
you don't want to go anywhere at all.
But then 1 went to Canada. I'd been
twinning our Dungannon with theirs for
',.care than five years. When they
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