HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2003-04-16, Page 5THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 16, 2003. PAGE 5.
Other Views
Scrolled any good books lately?
If you’ve had the dubious pleasure of
fighting your way through any of Canada’s
larger airports lately, you may have noticed
a brand new booth tucked in amongst the
sunglasses, ball caps and t-shirt boutiques.
It’s a service called Teleporter. For 20 bucks
or so they’ll let you rent a DVD player along
with a copy of the movie of your choice. You
take them on board, watch the movie during
the flight, then turn the player and the movie
back in at your destination airport.
There’s an even cheaper piece of
entertainment hardware that’s been available at
airports for years. They don’t need batteries,
cables, modems or discs. What’s more you can
jam them in your hip pocket, drop them, kick
them, even spill coffee all over them and they
still work like a charm.
They call them paperbacks.
Remember how a few years ago some
cybertech gurus were proclaiming the death of
books? They assured us that it was only a
matter of time before the only paperbacks or
hardcovers around would be in museums and
we’d all be reading - make that ‘scrolling’ -the
latest bestsellers on our laptops.
Well, sure. Who wants something cheap and
portable like a pocketbook when you can give
yourself carpal tunnel damage and a five-alarm
migraine staring at the phosphorescent screen
of a $2,000 temperamental piece of gadgetry
that’s fragile, needs a power source and is
prone to crashing unexpectedly?
The success of electronic books has been
highly underwhelming while the death of the
The Cardinal hard-nosed politician
Representatives of Ontario’s opposition
parties must have wriggled uncomfort
ably in their pews as they listened to the
eulogies for the province’s most politically
powerful religious leader in memory.
Former New Democrat premier Bob Rae,
Liberal leader Dalton McGuinty and several of
his MPPs were in the Roman Catholic
cathedral for the funeral mass of Gerald
Emmett Cardinal Carter.
So were Premier Ernie Eves and most of his
Progressive Conservative cabinet, but the
Tories did well out of the cardinal and his
incursions into politics.
The opposition parties have more painful
memories. The cardinal as bishop of London
was a leader in lobbying a Tory government to
extend funds to the last three grades of
Catholic high schools in the 1960s.
Funding then stopped after Grade 10 and
parents struggled to keep their children in them
or switched them to the alternative, public
schools.
Ontario’s Catholic bishops including Carter
asked the three parties to support extending
funding and the Liberals and NDP, after much
internal debate and hesitating, agreed in 1969.
Their stand was risky politically, because
there was still some animosity toward Catholics
among other religious groups, as well as a
more reasoned view the school system should
not be fragmented further.
The opposition parties asked that the issue
not become partisan, but this turned out to be
naive. The Tories under Premier William Davis
waited until five days before calling an
election in 1971 and announced they
implacably opposed extending funding.
The Tories had searched for an issue they
could win an election on and found through
polls most residents opposed funding. They
timed their announcement .so it would be
topical in an election, raised it often and
crushed the opposition.
The Tories even re-introduced the issue
when no-one else was discussing it in an
election in 1975, warning their opponents
would “reopen the divisive question of public
support for separate schools and destroy the
foundations of the public school system” and
again the opposition parties lost.
conventional book has, to cop a line from
Mark Twain, been greatly exaggerated.
As a matter of fact, the simple book is
turning out to be more durable than anyone
ever suspected.
Sixteen years ago, in the first flush of
cyberphoria, the British Broadcasting
Corporation grandly announced the
inauguration of The Domesday Project. It was
to be a computer-driven multimedia version of
the famous, thousand-year-old Domesday
Book.
The idea behind the project was to
bring some pizazz to the fusty old pages of
the famous book and at the same time
showcase Britain’s growing electronic
sophistication. Big thinkers were hired and
computational brainiacs were charged with
developing special computers to handle
videodiscs of text, photographs, maps and
archival footage.
That was back in 1986. Earlier this year, the
Domesday Project was officially declared
dead.
Why? Because the technology used to create
the project has been eclipsed. Everything
Eric
Dowd
From
Queen’s Park
Unenlightened lay thinkers may feel the
Catholic hierarchy owed the Liberals and NDP
one for sticking up for its dream and losing
elections because of it.
But Carter was now ascendant in the church
as archbishop of Toronto and cardinal and took
a different tack of cozying up to.the Tory
government.
Carter stunned a dinner celebrating his
appointment to the latter post by saying Davis
deserved praise for being open-minded to
Catholics’ needs and he believed this tradition
would long continue. Several Liberal and New
Democrat MPPs almost fell off their chairs in
surprise.
Carter also went to a dinner to raise funds for
the Tories and called for “a blessing on our
premier” and to a fundraising picnic for the
influential minister called “emperor of the
north,” Leo Bernier, who explained the
cardinal just happened to be in the
neighbourhood.
Carter did not drop in at any gathering of
opposition MPPs, so Catholics naturally would
assume he considered the Tories more worthy.
The cardinal’s wooing of the Tories paid off,
because Davis had a conversion and
announced in 1984 he would provide funding
to the end of Catholic high schools because it
was now the right thing to do. He also would
have been influenced by the rapid growth of
Catholic voters through higher immigration
and birthrate.
Carter almost beatified Davis, saying he was
a statesman and, when the premier announced
soon afterwards he was leaving politics, he
was honoured to call him his friend, sad he was
leaving and hoped he would not be lost to
public life.
But Carter was notably lacking in public
praise for the opposition parties, who lost two
developed for the project is already obsolete.
Unreadable.
As opposed to the real, 11th century
Domesday Book, which is in near-perfect
condition and available to the reading public in
The Public Record Office in London.
That’s one thing the Webheads didn’t count
on: incompatibility. As Katy Hafner wrote
recently in The New York Times, “In an ideal
world, all the information from an old machine
would float effortlessly, invisibly, over to the
new one with the click of a mouse. But the real
world has other plans. New software is
incompatible with the old. Ancient cables
won’t fit the latest machines.”
Tell me about it, Katie. I’ve got a
Commodore 64 in the closet that I plan to use
very soon —just as soon as I can figure out
how to weld it to an anchor chain.
As for books, I don’t think they’ll ever die.
Mind you there’s a good chance they’ll be
forgotten by a large chunk of the internet-
infatuated public.
I am reminded of the story told by an
instructor for an adult-education program at a
community college not far from here.
One day a young student walked into the
library area of the school and did a double-take
when he saw a wall of Encyclopedia
Britannica volumes in front of him.
“Whoa! What are all these books?” he asked
incredulously.
Encyclopedias, he was told.
“Awesome,” he replied. “You mean
somebody printed out the whole thing?”
elections fighting for his cause long before
Davis came on side, and the Tories went into
another election with the cardinal cheering
them on.
If the cardinal was a politician, this would be
called a double-cross - would it be sacrilege to
suggest a man of God carried out the most
spectacular double-cross in Ontario politics in
memory?
Letter
THE EDITOR,
On behalf of the Epilepsy Huron Pert'.
Bruce, I would like to take this opportunity to
extend our gratitude and appreciation to the
community for their participation during our
first annual Lavender Ribbon Campaign.
Special thanks to our volunteers, who
remain dedicated to support our efforts to raise
awareness regarding epilepsy. Special thanks
to Blyth Public School, Blyth Apothecary and
Grand View Restaurant who allowed us to sell
our lavender ribbons and offer resources.
Epilepsy is the second most common neuro
logical disorder, only behind headaches. It is
estimated that over 300,000 Canadians suffer
from this disorder. It is increasingly recogn
ized that people with epilepsy may be affected
more by stigma than the seizures themselves.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has
highlighted epilepsy as a global priority. Their
declaration is entitled Global Campaign to
Bring Epilepsy Out of the Shadows.
Fear, misunderstanding and the resulting
social stigma and discrimination surrounding
epilepsy often force people with this disorder
“into the shadows.” In our nation, this disorder
is still hidden and people prefer not to revea! or
discuss their condition.
By raising awareness about epilepsy we
have assisted in eradicating some of the
commonly held misconceptions about this
disorder. For more information about epilepsy,
call 1-866 EPILEPSY or 482-5527 or e-mail
us at epilepsy@tcc.on.ca
Once again thank you, your support is much
needed and most appreciated.
Sincerely,
Caroline Simons, Executive Director.
Bonnie
Gropp
The short of it
Just go for it
I went to my son’s concert on Friday
night. Now those who have heard my
son’s band, which for those who haven’t
happens to be a punk band, will at^his point be
thinking, niiiice.
But this was different. The conceit was the
end of the year performance for the students of
the intro to commercial jazz program at
Humber College. It was actually music, an
incredible auditory pleasure.
This past weekend as well students at St.
Anne’s Secondary School in Clinton were
rehearsing for their drama production. Also the
kids at F. E. Madill entertained during the
annual Coffee House for Cancer. It is almost a
certainty that among these groups there are
those who dream of a life in theatre or the
music industry and will enter post-secondary
education in an arts-related field.
Parents can often be a little apprehensive
about this decision. There are so many other
choices a young person could make which
would offer more security. For instance, few
would argue that teaching isn’t a good
profession. Or why not be a doctor or nurse?
Not academic? They’re looking for people
in trades.
Then again, with so much of the population
aging isn’t geriatrics the way to go?
What, parents ponder, is someone going to
do with a career in acting or music?
In an episode of the television sitcom
Everybody Loves Raymond, the father was
proud of himself that he had discouraged
Ray’s interest in piano and encouraged him in
sports. That his son went on to a career as a
sports columnist he saw as a personal victory.
The mother, however, always felt that her
son had missed the boat, that he had a talent
never realized. She had wanted for him that he
have music in his life.
Thank goodness for the people who do.
Where would we be if everyone was too
cautious to pursue their dream of being a
musician, or for that matter an artist or actor?
The other evening during a lull in the dinner
conversation, the music which hid previously
been a soothing backdrop, took centre stage.
Listening to its melodic nuances, I was
entranced. And found myself thinking about a
quote from German philosopher Friedrich
Neitzsche. “Without music life would be a
mistake.”
Obviously, I wish for all my kids a secure
future. But, I also recognize the benefit in
doing what you love. Not making a whole lot
of money is a lot easier to take when you are
doing something you find so fulfilling.
Which is why I guess I’ve never been overly
alarmed about the ‘impracticality’ of certain
career choices.
I believe that when most people set a goal
for themselves they can achieve it. I also
believe the majority of today’s young people
are capable of following many career options
and will throughout their lives. Studies have
said today’s graduates will have 10 different
jobs before they retire, with some careers
taking them on paths they never envisioned.
Use the imagination and even the arts offers
possibilities.
Few would argue that when a person has a
gift they should make the most of it.
Unfortunately, in the arts, it’s not always the
best who succeed. Yet, watching the
performers at the concert, whose passion and
talents were in turn a gift to the audience I
couldn’t help thinking how wrong it would be
for them not to take the chance that it might be
them.