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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Times-Advocate, 2002-10-09, Page 5A reality check Dear Editor: Approximately three weeks prior I noticed an adver- tisement in an area publication referring to violence against women and children. As I recall, it stated that 53 women and children were victims of violence in Huron County. I have to assume, as it was vague in detail, that is was written with a gender feminist bias. Therefore, I am compelled to write the truth about domestic violence based on scientific proven fact and not based on the lies, misrepresentation, and adulteration of police reports by the gender feminists. I am going to start with the recently released statistics as provided by Stats Canada, with specific reference to spousal homicides. No matter how hard the gender femi- nists try to distort reality with their blatant lies - the homicide rates do not lie and cannot be denied. 2000 2001 Men 52 69 Women 16 16 Same sex 0 1 Two million men were assaulted by their wives, and girlfriends or companions. This ranged from shoving and slapping, to stabbing and shooting. A study by Brinerhoff and Lupri, Canadian Journal of Sociology found the rate of severe husband-to wife vio- lence was 4.8 per cent, while severe wife-to husband vio- lence was 10 per cent. You do not have to be a rocket Wednesday, October 9, 2002 5Exeter Times–Advocate Editorial&Opinion 10 YEARS AGO October 7, 1992 - In a series of commemorative stamps being issued shortly, will be one featuring the portrait of the late Albert “Babe “ Siebert of Zurich as he appeared in his Montreal Maroons uni- form. 20 YEARS AGO October 7, 1982 - Despite wet weather conditions, the recent 1982 edition of the Exeter Fall Fair was successful. Debbie Taylor representing Ellison Travel and Tours was crowned Fair Queen. Each man, woman and child living in urban centres in Huron and Perth counties pays an aver- age of $60.18 per year for police protection. Loss was estimated in excess of one million dol- lars in a spectacular fire at Dashwood that destroyed a huge warehouse shared by Arc Industries and United Plastic Components, a house owned by Ivan and Shirley Grigg and a barn belonging to Elgin Kipfer. 25 YEARS AGO September 29, 1977 - While rainy weather cur- tailed attendance at the Exeter Fall Fair Saturday afternoon the largest crowd ever to attend a Friday night performance made their way into the new South Huron Rec Centre. Secretary Garnet Hicks set Friday night paid attendance at 1,476. Large Chinook salmon were readily available Tuesday night at the Exeter Dam. Pete Anderson landed a 22 pound Chinook and Bill Simmons’ catch weighed in at 15 pounds. Ontario Scholars honoured at Friday’s Commencement exercises at South Huron District High School were Nancy Underwood, Lynn Baptie, Blake Palmer, Sue-Anne Schroeder and John Van Gerwen. 40 YEARS AGO October 9, 1962 - Gary Wedlake, son of Mr. and Mrs. Douglas Wedlake is president of the SHDHS Student Council. Vice-president is Helen Hendrick, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Sam Hendrick. 45 YEARS AGO October 8, 1957 - Myrland Smith, who operates a beauty salon in Exeter was chosen Harvest Queen at Exeter Kinsmen’s Harvest Jamboree Friday night. She was crowned by club president Irv Armstrong. Nearly 800 attended the annual jamboree which lasted until four in the morning. Kay Ondrejicka, of R.R. 1, Crediton, a 1956 gradu- ate of South Huron District High School has received the award for the highest marks of any girl student in any course at the University of Western Ontario. 55 YEARS AGO October 7, 1947 - Mr. W.F. Abbot picked five ripe strawberries this week and Mrs. Herman Powe has an Arizona cactus that is over nine feet high. 60 YEARS AGO October 8, 1942 - Winners in the market hog divi- sion at the recent Exeter Fall Fair were Harold Fahner, Crediton; W. Dougall, Hensall and Charles Prout and Harry Coates, both of Centralia. The Women’s Institute at Hensall have prepared 1,300 pounds of jams and jellies for the Canadian Red Cross and are optimistic of reaching their goal of 1,600 pounds. Aunt Jemima pancake flour is 16 cents a package at Southcott Bros. and Stewart Bros. Garage now provides prompt taxi service to the airport. 80 YEARS AGO October 8, 1922 - The Public Utilities Commission of town has purchased from Mr. P. Frayne the build- ing on Main street presently occupied by Mr. A.M. Quance as a harness shop. Mr. Quance is selling out and returning to work for W.J. Beer. 110 YEARS AGO October 4, 1892 - Members and friends of the Crediton Methodist Church intend to have a Harvest Home Treat on October 13. Dinner will be served by the ladies from 5 to 8 p.m. Admission is adults 25 cents and children 15 cents. Government grants received by area fair boards in the Riding of South Huron are: Stephen and Usborne $140; Tuckersmith $128.21; Stanley $83.19 and Hay $69.56. Mrs. John Sweet of Exeter has sold her 50 acre farm on the north boundary of Stephen township to Mr. William Dearing for the sum of $2,800. ROSS HAUGH BACK IN TIME The Turner Report A SURE SIGN OF THE BOTTOM:FEAR VICTORIA - It’s hard to tell the economy is in trouble when my room costs $400 a night, and the hotel is jammed with visitors. In the BC capi- tal city, a nice house goes for well over $600,000 and the retail strips around Government Street boast world-class shopping. For all the Americans who flock here, spending their $1.50 US dollars, this most British of Canadian cities is a gem. But despite their idyllic setting on the edge of the Pacific Ocean, sur- rounded by towering old growth and safely protected from the rest of the country by miles of water, folks in Victoria are pretty much like every- one else I met on my recent cross-country jaunt: Worried. After all, Victorians are generally older than the rest of the country, with a higher propor- tion being retired. They can hardly watch retirement savings evaporate as the stock market melts, without wondering where it will end. In fact, as the Queen moved into my hotel on Sunday, there was lots of time to reflect on a partic- ularly bad time. The TSX index has fallen to below the 6,000 mark, which is roughly where it was six years ago. The Dow Jones had just finished its worst three-month period since 1987, when the market tumbled 22% in a single day. The mutual fund industry had just reported that investors stampeded out of mutual funds last month to the tune of $1.1 billion. Since June, about $3.5 billion in funds have been cashed in. Meanwhile the big $6 million promotional cam- paign for Canada Savings Bonds has started. In any other time, when the bond yield (2%) is less than the prevailing inflation rate (2.5%), such an offering would be a joke. After inflation and taxes, investors will see a negative return of more than 1% - actually losing money. But this year the prevailing sentiment is that CSBs will rake in billions, simply because they are “guaranteed.” There is no doubt, many people are disgusted with the markets and are throwing in the towel. The real estate boomlet that’s been inflating house prices since last September the 11th shows little sign of abating, as a lot of mutual fund money streams into bricks and mortar. In fact, the whole mess on Bay Street is certain to lead to more fund industry con- solidation and layoffs. Many financial advisors have simply stopped talking to their clients, and fund company marketing budgets have dried up along with the crops in southern Saskatchewan. So, is it time to panic? Sell out what you’ve got left at a loss? Rush into cash or cash equivalents like GICs and savings bonds? Bury the bulk of your net worth in residential real estate? Join the thousands who have redeemed their fund units? Well, make up your own mind, but you’d have a hard time convincing me this is the moment to capit- ulate. The investment pendulum has swung to an extreme of fear, after careening to the extreme of greed two years ago. Folks who are bailing out of Nortel at less than a buck are just as nuts as those who bought in at $124 a share. The last thing you want to be guided by right now is emotion, especially if you are thinking about RRSP money - which, in most cases, is sitting there for use a decade or two from now. Logic tells us that with inflation under complete control, with the lowest interest rates in a genera- tion, with the economy growing smartly in Canada, and with some 400,000 new jobs created so far this year, that the market is disconnected from the real world. It will snap back, particularly as US corpora- tions regain their profitability and as the memory of Enron, WorldCom and Martha Stewart fades. The bear market has been deeper and longer than any- one predicted, however there is simply no logic in selling anything at this point, unless you think we are going into another year or two of decline and despair. The keys to investing success are the same as they have always been: Be diversified in what you hold, be disciplined in when and how you buy, don’t sell anything unless absolutely compelled to, buy great companies when they are on sale, stay invested for the long term, don’t try to time the market, hitch up with a qualified financial advisor and never take your investment advice from the day’s media head- lines. GARTH TURNER THE TURNER REPORT See VIOLENCE page 6 Education Matters Randy Wagler,Trustee, Huron Area 4 - South AVON MAITLAND DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD The provincial government is currently reviewing the formula used to fund school Boards throughout our province. The Education Equality Task Force, which is headed by Dr. Morechai Rosanski, is cur- rently accepting public input on ways to improve it. The Avon Maitland Board has given input to the Task Force through participating in a roundtable discussion of rural boards, providing a written sub- mission, and making an oral presentation to the Task Force on Sept. 26 in London. Our Board made many suggestions to the Task Force, and the three main points concern salaries for teaching staff, spe- cial education, and transportation. Currently, school boards bargain individually with the teachers' unions. However, the province decides how much money to allocate to teachers' salaries and benefits, and has chosen not to include any provision for cost of liv- ing increases. We have recom- mended that teachers' salaries and benefits should be negotiated directly with the provincial teach- ers' unions, and that the govern- ment provide funding to cover school boards' actual costs in these areas. Individual school boards would still negotiate local working conditions. Special Education is seriously underfunded. Changes in funding for Special Education are slated for September 2003, and our Board has clearly demonstrated that we will receive hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional funding when the change is finally imple- mented. The Board's recommendation is that we should receive this funding now, and not wait until the next school year. Transportation costs the Board roughly $1.2 mil- lion more than we receive in grants, despite the fact that our bus routes, shared with the Catholic Board and area private schools, are extremely efficient. We have recommended an immediate change from a per-pupil funding arrangement for transportation to one that recognizes the actual costs of bussing students to and from school. In addition to these main points, we have also made recommendations about other issues such as funding for small rural schools, adequate funding for maintaining schools, and funding for mandated government initiatives such as criminal background checks and the Ontario Disabilities Act. Dr. Rozanski will deliver a preliminary report to Queen's Park in November, with the final report to follow in January. Our hope is that some of our rec- ommendations will appear in that report, and that interim funding will flow as a result of the report's conclusions and recommendations. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at 235-4445, or email me at randy_wagler@fcmail.avonmaitland.on.ca. RANDY WAGLER EDUCATION MATTERS