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Times-Advocate, 1981-09-16, Page 4so Times -Advocate, September 16, 1901 Times Established 1873 Advisee.. Established 1 881 dvocate SERVING CANADA'S BEST FARMLAND CWNA OW N.A. CLASS 'A' AND ABC MEMBER ONTARIO PRESS coupcI1 Published by 1 W. Eedy Publications Limited LORNE EEDY, PUBLISHER Editor — Bill Assistant Editor — Advertising Manager Composition Manager Business Manager — Phone 235 - Batten Ross Haugh — Jim Beckett — Harry DeVries Dick Jongkind 1331 PCNA Amalgamated 1924 1 :. Vay.,.::.oa vaovav»wxaaaameLea�vaa* aJaoon • P SBON A ,', A PD 1980 Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada 517.00 Per Year; USA $35.00. • Welcome new readers As you'll notice this week, the Times -Advocate has expanded its coverage to include the Zurich Citizen's News. With the increasing costs of labor, printing. newsprint and all the various related costs of production, the Zurich Citizen's News has reached the point where income from declining subscrip- tion levels are not meeting costs. With many of the under 300 Zurich subscribers also receiving the T -A, it is no longer feasible to publish the Citizen's News as a separate publica- tion. So with this week's paper we welcome the Zurich readers to the Times -Advocate coverage area. And to T -A readers we introduce news and features from the home of the famous Bean Festival. Our reporters will still cover the Zurich area with notebooks and cameras so you'll read and see more of Zurich events like the annual bean festival and the Zurich fair. Correspondents will continue to pass on news and social items previous- ly only seen in the Citizen's News. Now you can check out what's go- ing on to the north and follow the ex- ploits of some of the area's best sports teams. For readers of both the T -A and ZCN, it is a step forward: expanding the T -A coverage area and bringing Zurich closer to its neighbors. Missed one point People tend to believe what they want to believe and agree with those items which are in keeping with their opinions. When the minister of municipal af- fairs and housing spoke to the recent founding conference of the Ontario Association of Municipalities, he didn't have any difficulty gaining support for his suggestion that the terms for municipal councillors be extended to three years from the present two. He also gained support for monthly payments of grants, more seminars for elected officials and less interference from civil servants, plus several other suggestions which were as popular with delegates as the proverbial apple pie and motherhood issues of the day. However. his suggestion that elected bodies would be called upon to make all their meetings open, was not received as enthusiastically or with any Inflation Our existing laws and most labor agreements have all but guaranteed that galloping inflation will be with us forever, Inflation is not created by those who ask high prices; it is the product of those who pay the high prices with little or no argument, says the Wingham Advance -Times. As long as labor agreements and employment policies contain any form of escalation clause or indexing, by which wages are guaranteed to in- crease at the same rate as inflation, prices of goods and services will rise forever. When wages definitely fall short of inflated prices and consumers start to shop around for better savings, then. and only then. will goods and services begin the long slide back to find a saleable market price. dy SYD FLETCHER We visited a model home in a subdivision recently and were struck by one feature of it which has certainly changed from homes of previous generations. I swear the bathroom was big enough to enclose all our living room furniture and a king-size bed thrown in for good luck. You could easily i immediate results. Obviously, he'll have to legislate that, or more correct- ly. enforce the legislation that is already on the books to give the public more access to meetings. Exeter council's reaction to the suggestion. for instance, has been less than encouraging. Since Mr. Bennett told elected officials they'd have to clean up their act, and quit meeting behind closed doors the local council members have held three special meetings without notifying the public or press of those sessions at which public business was discussed. Bennett's appeal obviously fell on deaf ears in that regard, although it should be noted that Exeter council is normally more open in their approach to the public than many elected bodies. However, there is obviously still some room for improvement. forever? Any person who travelled away from home this summer must have been impressed by the vast number of expensive vacation vehicles, trailers and boats swarming along the highways - every one of them drinking up gallons of expensive fuel. There is, as yet, no indication that most Canadians are really feeling the pinch. Appliance retailers. car dealers and those who sell the more costly kinds of goods all report very high sales levels. We all cry about inflation and high prices. but we are quite obviously still shelling out our earnings at record rates - because we are, or at least many of us are quite sure that earnings will continue to rise at the same rate as the prices we must pay, concludes the Advance -Times. Perspectives swim in the bathtub which was raised up like a throne, with shag carpet up the ;ides. while the throne itself was streamlined enough to act as an astronaut's seat on some spaceship In one cor- ner was another appliance which the real-estate agent referred to as a bidet. I didn't have the nerve to ask what it was for You know. I think that a great deal has been lost from the experience of children today by not getting a chance at the outhouse. We were at Ontario Place recently and I realized the great lack .of education on the part of youngsters. There was a whole series of wooden garbage Cans, each a perfectly -carved replica of the old one-holers. The kids had not a glimmer of an idea of what those cans really looked like Probably the youngsters who designed them didn't know either. Think of all the good times they've missed- the excite- ment of reading the catalogue 'and knowing it would always act as a good hack -up in case of need). or the thrill of the winter dash in a howling storm. These kids never knew the fun of pushing over the neighbour's three-holcr on Hallowe'en or of slipping out there at three in the morning. so scared at the hoot of an owl that you burned a piece of the catalogue for a bit of light. I guess though that all that's past now and all these future generations are plump out of luck. • Let's get the calendar changed While school kids and teachers welcomed the late date for the opening of the halls of learning this year, those of us in news gathering business have been finding September almost im- possible to get organized. For some reason, most area councils and groups choose to meet on the first or second Monday or Tuesday of the month and this September with its start on a Tuesday has us reeling. To compound the problem, those councils which normally -meet on the first Monday. delayed their schedules one night due to the LaborDay holiday. So we end up with the rather strange phenomenon whereby groups which normally meet on the first Monday of the month and those which meet on the second Tuesday actually ended up stag- ing their sessions on the same date. Of course. there was also the situa- tion where the group which meets on the first Tuesday held their meeting prior to the group which meets on the first Monday. When someone gets around to rearranging the calendar, and it has taken a long time with little action as yet. it is to be hoped he/she will decide that each new month will start on the same day of the week. Take your pick, but let's be consistent. Such a scheme has numerous advan- tages for most people. Businesses which want you to pay bills on the 15th or 20th will not have to be concerned over the situation where that date may fall on a Saturday, Sunday or holiday Monday in a particular month. It's surprising how that three day - period can play havoc with some organization's cash flow position, to say nothing of the fact that people often miss the deadline for discounts because the payment due date is actually two or three days beyond that which is noted on their bill and then they end up forgetting about it entirely. There is one word of caution. When the new system is implemented, it should be sure not to have Friday fall- ing on the 13th each month. A couple of those a year are more than enough for those superstitious souls in our midst. Of course, a result of such wide -scale changes would require that each month have the same number of days. That Rhouldn't be too difficult to handle and just think of all the problems that would eliminate. No longer would you have to recite that "30 days has September, April, May (or is it June?) and November" rhyme in your head when you're con- fronted with the problem of knowing how many days there are in the month at hand. Oh sure, the moon and the other con- tributing factors in the current calen- dar, would have trouble making the adjustments, but the way the weather is going it doesn't really matter what the calendar says anyway. Last January turned out to be warmer than April, while August of 1981 brought forth the monsoons that normally don't arrive until Exeter fall fair day, or the weekend you plan to put up the storm windows. By rounding off each of the 12 months to a uniform 28 days, we'd lose 29 days a year (30 on leap years) and eventual- ly the seasons would be totally in- terchanged. There'd be the unusual (and refreshing) change of staging Christmas during the heat of the summer and enjoying a refreshing swim at the lake or backyard pool in December. The big advantage, of course, is that nothing would be cons- tant. January, which is now probably the most maligned month in the year and also the highest suicide month, would periodically enjoy the rapture of spring Sugar and Spice Dispeiteed by Smiley or the colorful sights and sounds of fall. No longer would you have to look at a calendar and automatically try to obliterate January from your mind. The benefits in organizing would be tremendous. You could look at any current calendar and know that the date you want in any subsequent year would be on the same day of the week. If you look in your Bell Telephone book, you'll see that there are 14 different variations at the present time. The current year, for instance, won't be duplicated again until 1987, but don't be fooled into thinking the same sequence occurs again at the end of the next six years. Oh no, the 1981 and 1987 dates won't be back into effect until 1998. By keeping the same calendar, the designers can improve things even more by allowing more space in which to write those important dates to remember. Of course, when the year ends. it won't be necessary to transcribe that information onto a new calendar. You just flip back to the first page and start all over again, and the valuable information is already record- ed. A little grease -streaked perhaps, but nevertheless still readily available. Not only that, the calendar will still cover the same space on your wall, en- ding the problem of not being able to find one quite as big for the new year and then learning you have to repaint the whole room to cover up the unsight- ly spot that has discolored. If you use your imagination, you can come up with hundreds of added blessings in a more consistent dating system, although I can already hear the cries of opposition from my friends who look forward to their new Playgirl calendar each year. Oh well, ou can't please 'em all! Delighted to be back, despite grumbling Regardless of their public grumping about going back to school in September. I firmly believe that both students and teachers are delighted to get back into some sort of routine, es- pecially those who have had rather an aimless summer, as I have. The first day hack is a grand reunion for the students, a rehash of all the scandalous things they did all summer, and a chance to Iook around for a new girl -friend or boy -friend. For teachers, the first day is a holy terror, with snow storms of memos and regulations and forms to fill out. But generally. except for the new. young teacher with no experience, for whom opening day is akin to a day in a mental hospital. we get sorted out and stagger off into the next ten months of what is smarmily known as "the lear- ning process." Usually. I'm happy to exchange the light but firm harness of a long vaca- tion. the reins held by my wife, the whip applied by my grandboys, for the heavier but perhaps more comfortable harness of head of the English Depart- ment. This year. heading into what is almost assuredly my last year of teachi-g. I'm a little sad. Not because it's my last year. Lordy, no. When I leave. it will be with the largest grin possible for a guy with a partial plate. I'm a little sad because the vigilantes are popping up on our school board and harassing the other members of the board about the books that students 4 should read. or not read. This situation occurs from time to time and place to place and is almost at the rampant stage in some parts of the U.S,. where pressure groups are lean- ing heavily on sponsors of TV shows to which they object. Fair enough. I per- sonally think most of the stuff we see/hear on TV stinks. It is full of dou- ble entendres. sexual connotations and sheer brutalization of the human spirit. Some movies are worse, catering to the most bestial aspects of man, using foul language for no apparent purpose, and exploiting the medium with horror, with the bizarre, with the perverts - anything to drag in the bucks. Maybe I'm beginning to sound like Egerton Ryerson or dilly Graham. But I'm not quite there yet. I'm an English teacher, and it makes me mad, and sad, when I see a highly vocal minority, through pressure tactics, trying to eliminate materials from schools and dictate what shall and shall not be available to other segments of the pop- ulation. There is absolutely nothing wrong with citizens, especially parents, ex- pressing interest in instructional materials available to school children. That is democracy. In fact there's something wrong with palrents who don't care what their kids are reading or seeing or hearing. Nor should students be forced to read something they find offensive. Last year. the brightest English student I've ever had, didn't want to read one of the books on the course. She thought it was "rude". And of course it was. It was a satire on war, which is often a somewhat rude business. I didn't make an issue of it. I respected her opinion and gave her other books, not as good, in my opinion, but of high quality. But when the self-appointed censors begin to attack every book that con- tains profanity or sex or something else they can find to object to, my hackles rise slightly. I consider myself a professional, as do all teachers of English. I am not about to introduce my students to the works of the Marquis de Sade, or Henry Milles. On the other hand, I am not going to try to force them to read Silas Marner, which I had to do as a child. Nor Anne of Green Gables, which should be en- joyed in private. I delibertely choose books that will get them interested in reading, that will give them a broad look at human nature, that will perhaps give them an insight into the glories of the human spirit. I will not feed them pablum in their teens. Huckleberry Finn, the first great American novel, was deemed unfit to be in public libraries by certain lof- tyminded censors of the time. Why don't we throw it out of all the schools? Surely it offends blacks. Chuck out The Merchants of Venice because it offends Jews. Same with Oliver Twist, by Dickens. Macbeth Mainstream Canada These taxes are "nuisances" By W. Roger Worth A lot of small firms in Canada have a legitimate complaint about the failure of governments to seek remedies for the "nuisance" problems created by double-digit infla- tion. Consider what's happening in the general area of sales taxes, which operators of businesses are forced to col- kct. (Alberta, which happily has no sales tax, is the obvious exception). In most provinces, sales tax need not be collected on candy, confections and soft drinks if the value is less than a predetermined ceiling. In Ontario, for example, items costing less than 49 cents are not taxable. The low sales tax exemp- tion ceilings, of course, create a great deal of hardship for the tens of thousands of entre- preneurs operating busy smal- kr retail and confectionary outlets across the country. For instance, a customer purchasing two 35 cent cho- colate bars for 70 cents Is taxed. Yet if the individual pays for the items separately, no tax applies. More and more, it seems, retailers are forced to double their efforts by com- pkting two transactions rather than one. And that's a nui- sance, particularly when other customers are waiting for ser- vice. The solution to the prob- km: all provincial govern- ments should consider increas- ing the sales tax exemption to at least Si to keep pace with Inflation. People operating the na- tion's restaurants, dining rooms and eating establish- ments have similar difficulties. The ceiling on sales tax ex- empt meals has remained low, while food and operating costs, which control the prices of meals, have risen steadily. These days, It is not un- usual to find customers asking for separate bilis (which beats the system in some provinces), or refusing to order an addi- tional coffee or dessert be- cause the bill would become taxable when the amount sur- passed the predetermined ceil- ing. The solution: raise the sales tax exemption ceilings to higher levels to keep pace with escalating costs. Both operators of smaller firms and their customers would be delighted to get rid of these "nuisances". CPO feature Service ENERGYSCOPE Organizing an Energy Club Is a Valuable School Project If you're not a student and want to learn more about ener- gy, why not form an energy club at your school? Not only can you discover ways to save energy, you can teach others as well. And while you may not be paying energy bills now, some- day you will. Learning to use energy wisely will instill habits that will stay with you a life- time. Don't forget that any energy , saved will help make Ontario's future energy supply a little more secure. Many schools across Ontario already have energy clubs. All you need to start one is a lot of enthusiasm and a wide variety of talents. You'll need artists in your club, public speakers, science enthusiasts, actors, designers and count- less other talents. Ask a teach- er to represent your club and act as a resource person or advisor. • ' Then you can go to work. Promoting energy conserva- tion is easy. Urge fellow stu- dents to use energy wisely — turn off lights in empty rooms, ride a bike to school instead of begging a ride. If club members are anxious to try more ambitious projects, here are some things you can tackle. Set up a paper recycling depot at your school if your community offers a paper re- cycling service. Help cut down waste in the school cafeteria. A grade five class at McNaughton Avenue Public School in Chatham analyzed garbage in their cafeteria on five random days and came up with some fright- ening statistics — 800 lunch bags tossed out in an average week, 250 slices of bread, 75 apples. Find out how your cafeteria tch, Energy Ontario rates. Then do something about it. Suggest ways to cut food waste and perhaps use partially eaten sandwiches and fruit in a compost plot at home. Urge students to re- cycle lunch bags — they can often be used several times. Do a survey to determine how students use energy and if they can improve their habits. Then, once your club has tracked down ways to save energy, ask the principal if you can share them with the rest of the school through regular public address an- nouncements. Invite a speaker with an energy message to come to your school, someone such as a local power utility official or a community resident with a heat pump or solar system. There are almost endless ways your club can promote energy awareness and conser- vation, including: •writing and performing a play with an energy theme; • organizing a poster contest using energy topics; • challenging students to build the best solar cooker or solar heater, • setting aside a corner of the school library and dedicating it to energy issues; • meeting with school main- tenance staff and discussing ways to reduce the energy consumption of the school building. You can even move outside your school to encourage bet- ter energy use throughout your community. Write letters to the local council or area news• paper suggesting ways to cut energy waste. Encourage your parents to conserve energy. For more information, write Energyscope, care of the Min- istry of Energy, G.M.S. 37. Queen's Park, Toronto M7A 2B7. ENERGYSCOPE is prepared by the Ontario Ministry of Energy as part of Energy Ontario gives a very poor picture.of some Scots. Julius Caesar proves that many Romans were assassins. Moby'Dick is about a one -legged maniac who had an affair with a whale. Far better to teach Jaws. The Bible is} full of adultery, "begatting", whatever that is, and violenb4 Out with It. When I go to a doctor, I accept that he knows more about medicine that I do. I don't say, "Why are you sticking that thing up my nose?" When I go to a dentist, I don't say, "Never mind the decay; just paint them all white." There's a little more to English than grammar and writing essays on How I Spent My Summer Holidays, Let') leave it that way. And let's hope there are trustees and teachers with guts, and especially, thousands of parent* who want their kids educated, not indoctrinated.