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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Times-Advocate, 2002-10-09, Page 6scientist to see that twice as many women are inflicting violence on their partners as men are to their partners. Women who kill can count on getting off completely, or getting substantially lower sentences than men in similar situations. So much for feminist propaganda and justice for men. Women often receive anywhere from two to seven years for murdering their husbands - whereas a man will receive 25 years. Our current legal system appears to be fueled by femi- nist propaganda and newspapers (Newspapers, which only print half the truth and often out right lies in order to stay with the status quo and to be politically correct), Men today have their rights as guaranteed by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms totally ignored or com- pletely done away with. Rights that are routinely ignored: Section 11 (b) To be tried in reasonable time; 11 (d) Presumption of Innocence, 11 (3) Not to be denied bail without just cause, 12. Treatment or Punishment, (As demonstrated earlier: Where a woman receives a much lighter sen- tence than a man, it could be deemed that a man’s sen- tence is “cruel and unusual” because it is so dispropor- tionate to be excessive or arbitrarily imposed. A woman should get 25 years for murdering her spouse. That would level out the gap in our legal system.) Section 15 (1), Equality before and under law and Equal protection and Benefit of law: Where is the equality when it is obvi- ous that the woman is beating on the man and it is the man who is thrown in jail? Where is the equality when gender feminists are allowed to publish over 95,000 pages of hate literature on the web against men? Where is the equality when newspapers will print an article telling how a man assaulted his spouse but strangely neglect to write an article when the woman has assault- ed her spouse? The one violation of mens’ rights which makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up, is Section 11 (d) Presumption of Innocence. So often a man is tossed in jail and has to prove himself innocent. The burden of proof lies on the trier of fact, not the defendant. What I want to know is - Where is the outcry? Where are the shelters, the grants and special programs to help men? Rev. Sam and Bunny Sewell of Naples, Florida state: “The misdiagnosis of the family-violence problem is so pervasive that churches and charities are unwittingly supporting programs that make things worse. Local gov- ernments, the courts, law enforcement, prosecutors’ offices, mental health clinics and other tax-supported agencies fund programs based on gender politics rather than responsible scientific studies.” It is time for our society to wake up. My humble opin- ion is that our legal system is in total disrepute when it comes to dealing with men and womens’ issues. It is a disgrace that our legal system is based on political cor- rectness, gender politics, and a total lack of leadership by our politicians rather than justice. I may have come across sounding like a man who is curmudgeon and temerarious - but, it is long overdue that some one stepped up to the plate and publicly stat- ed, “Enough is enough.” Sincerely, MICHAEL R. FOREMAN 10 years of service Dear Editor: In 2002, the VON Palliative Care Volunteer Program celebrates 10 years of serving the South Huron Area. Our main event, ‘The Covered Mirror’, an original drama about end-of-life issues, was held Sept. 26, 2002 at Playhouse II in Grand Bend. The success of the evening was due to an energetic planning committee comprised of Jim Tomlinson, Cathy Dack, Dawn Murray, Pat Down, Lynne McDonald, Ian Young and Nellie Evans. Huron County Playhouse II, Grand Bend and Barbara of Catering by Barbara added their professional touch to the celebration. The event was hosted by a very capable M.C. Janice Hayter-Oke. Following the play, a well informed panel of local pro- fessionals answered questions and added to the topic of end-of-life issues. Thanks to panel members Dr. William O’Connor, Joyce McBeath, Elly VanBergen, Mai Young and Cathy Dack. Staging of the play was made possible by the following generous sponsors: Blue Water Rest Home, Hopper Hockey Funeral Home Ltd., J.M. McBeath Funeral Home Inc., Queensway Nursing Home, Scotiabank (Exeter) and T. Harry Hoffman & Sons Funeral Home. Thanks! Your support made the evening possible. A special thanks to the VON Palliative Care Volunteers who gave of their time adding ‘that special touch’ for each of their patients. Finally, the support of the community is most reward- ing and encourages us to continue VON’s valuable work in palliative care. KAREN LEHNEN 6 Wednesday, October 9, 2002Exeter Times–Advocate Opinion&Forum &News Panther Profile EXETER — An awards assembly will be held Friday at 9 a.m. Included in this assembly are aca- demic awards for the 2001-2002 school year. Class times will be changed to accommodate this event. Period 1 10 - 11 a.m. Period 2 11:10 a.m. - 12:10 p.m. lunch 12:10 - 1:10 p.m. Period 3 1:15 - 2:15 p.m. Period 4 2:25 - 3:20 p.m. Friday at 7:30 p.m. is com- mencement for the graduates of 2002. Thanksgiving Monday is Oct. 14. No classes are held for this holiday. The Student Health Clinic is vis- iting Tues., Oct. 15. Appointments can be made in the Guidance Office. The Halloween Dance is Oct. 30. Start finding or creating your own costume and come and see everyone else all dressed up! Students missing jewellery, clothes and other personal articles can check for their items at the office. Students planning to graduate in 2003 and plan- ning to apply to university or college are reminded to sign up for post-secondary school presentations. Coming Events: Oct. 9 - Girls Basketball: St. Annes at South Huron Oct. 10 - College Presentation: Conestoga Oct. 11 - Awards Assembly at 9 a.m. -Commencement at 7:30 p.m. in large gym Oct. 14 - Thanksgiving Day Oct. 15 - Student Health Clinic 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. - Boys Volleyball: at Central Huron - South Huron vs. Central Huron - South Huron vs. St. Annes - College Presentation: Sir Sandford Fleming Teen corner The Importance of the Arts In the senior grades, it becomes more and more evident to me that the arts usually take a back seat to science and math in regards to importance. English remains compulsory, of course, but courses like music, dramatic arts, and visual art seem to be taken less and less seriously. Of course sciences and maths are an incredibly important part of society today. Technology is advancing at an almost alarming rate, and we are always striving for a safer and healthier world. However, the arts are equally important in my mind. Without philosophy, now considered an "arts" class in schools, science would never have existed. Philosophy is the love and study of knowl- edge itself, and a lot of the greatest minds and first scientists in history, Aristotle, Plato, Democritus (the theorist behind the first idea that matter is composed of atoms), were all philosophers. Dramatic arts is important for a lot of reasons. First of all, from an educational point of view, it teach- es students to state their ideas orally in a clear and concise way. It teaches one to be aware of the messages they are sending with their body language (politicians are masters at this skill), and it pro- motes self-confidence and the exploration of new ideas. Besides, the entertain- ment value behind watching someone else's come- dies and tragedies is amazing. Visual art is a powerful subject in itself. What you see in ads, photographs, even television, affects the way people think and feel. A well balanced ad can convince someone to buy a product, even to join the armed forces. To be able to use the visual arts effectively is a skill that some of the most powerful people in the world possess: Advertising executives. English, obviously, is the grounding point for success. To be able to communicate your ideas effectively and convincingly will lead you anywhere you want to go. To understand the ideas of others is just as important. All those books we have to draw conclusions and theses out of help us to reflect on our nature as human beings and subse- quently grow from our newfound knowledge. The arts are important, and they have to stay. JENN BAKER TEEN CORNER BETH HUNDEY PANTHER PROFILE Principal’s Message EXETER — This week is one of the most impor- tant weeks of the year at South Huron as we hold two events to celebrate the academic success of our students. On Friday morning at 9 a.m., we have our annu- al Awards Assembly, where we recognize the achievements of our returning students. Students who earned the top marks last year in individual subjects in Grades Nine to Twelve and students who made the honour roll with an average of 80 per cent or better are presented with certificates in recognition of their achievements. The certificates are awarded in front of the entire student body so we may all join in the celebration of their academic success. Parents and family members are certainly welcome to attend and we encourage you to do so. On Friday evening we have our annual Commencement Exercises to celebrate the success of our graduating class of 2002. Graduates will receive their Ontario Secondary School Diplomas and we will also recognize the outstanding academ- ic achievements of our top students through the presentation of awards, bursaries, and scholar- ships. This really is a community event, as the majority of the academic awards are sponsored by local businesses and community service groups. The proceedings begin at 7:30 p.m. in the large gym. A number of questions have arisen about next year’s commencement and the impact of the “dou- ble cohort.” As you know, we will have an increased number of graduates this year as stu- dents in the new Grade Twelve program graduate along with students in the OAC program. One of the concerns is whether or not the gym will be large enough for the commence- ment activity. We believe it will be and we are in the process of trying to deter- mine how many graduates we will have this year. Some students in the academic stream are opting to return for a fifth year and some are not sure whether they will graduate after four years or five. We expect to have a reasonably firm number shortly. In the interim we have made a tentative booking of a larger facili- ty just in case. Another concern is the number and value of our academic awards. For this year only we have two groups of students headed to university from two different programs. It is our intent to have two sets of academic awards, one for the students graduat- ing from Grade 12 and one for those in their OAC year. This will mean raising a significant amount of money. For example, the Moncur scholarship is presented to the top male and female in the OAC class. The funds for this award come from the interest on a large bequest from the Moncur family. The value of each award is close to $2,000, but the money available is limited to the interest earned each year on the original bequest. We hope to offer this award to the top male and female in each aca- demic class but we will have to raise the additional funds. We have begun this process by soliciting for donations from the school staff and we already have several hundred dollars in donations. We will be asking the various businesses and ser- vice groups to consider an increased level of sup- port for one year, but we do so reluctantly as they are often being asked to contribute funds to local community projects. If any readers would like to consider helping us out, your support would be greatly appreciated. Donations for this purpose will qualify for a tax receipt and may be made at the school. We hope that with the support of the community we can raise sufficient funds so all award winners receive suitable recognition for their achievement. JEFF REABURN PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE Domestic violence Continued from page 5