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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1986-03-05, Page 4Poole i Times•Advocpts,; March 1, 1986 imes dvocate Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario, NOM 150 Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386. Phone 319.23S•1331 LORNE EERY Publisher JIM $ECKETT Advertising Manager MU. BATTEN Editor HARRY DEVRIES Composition Manager A ROSS HAUGH Assistant Editor DICK JONGKiND Business Manager SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada: $25.00 Per year, U.S.A. $65.00 C.W.N.A., O.C.N.A..CLASS 'A' i Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lanibton Since 1873 Published by j.W. Eedy Publications Unshed I HAVEKT WORKED fOR AGES! OH? POSTAL WORKER, ARE YOU? Stubbed his toe Finance Minister Michael Wilson us- ed his traditional new shoes to take a step in the right direction with Wednesday's new budget, but stubbed his toe while taking that step. His attack on the nation's soaring deficit was essential and hopefully will have the desired result of halting the climb in interest rates and the precarious position of Canada's sagging dollar. While that attack was absolutely necessary, its deployment was suspect. Rather than moving to curtail the run -away spending of the federal govern- ment, Wilson chose primarily to throw every Canadian into the firing line by in- creasing taxes on incomes and a wide variety of products and services. Some of the income tax increases come on top of earlier increases announced in his last budget. While he may argue correctly that Canadians have to start paying for the services provided by their government, he failed to acknowledge that given the choice, most people would prefer to see a reduction in some of those services rather than in their take-home pay. That will become more pointed in the next few months when the auditor - general makes his annual report and details the many areas in which the federal government and its bureaucracy waste money. However, the battle plan has been formulated for now and there is nothing Canadians can do but dig deeper into the tax trenches in which politicians have forced them. While Wilson is being lauded for his attack on the deficit, it must be tempered to an extent by the knowledge that it is still being increased by almost $30 billion and the war, is dearly a long way from being won. Needs promoting While acknowledging that art cen- tres, museums, live theatre, recreation facilities -and the like should seldom be expected to be self-sustaining, there is a point at which the public cost has to be considered in relation to the benefits gained. Certainly, that must be the case with the Huron County Pioneer Museum at. Goderich. County council last week ap- proved a budget of $151,500 for that in- stitution and the questionable aspect is that only $16,000 has been estimated in admission receipts for the year. That represents about 10 percent of the operating cost and appears extreme- ly low in comparison to what other public institutions are expected to generate for their existence. In particular, the revenue generated:, in relation to the employee and administration costs: of about11,25,000iappear out of liner " ' There should be several remedies, among them reducing the staff and operating hours in keeping with the number of patrols, or increasing the patronage through some promotional effort. Huron county councillors need look no farther than the Lambton museum neat Grand Bend to see some of the methods used to attract more customers through a variety of special events that help bring that museum to life and make it a more viable and interesting part of the community it serves. ABSENTEE 15M BY AN. POST WARNERS iii:.Z; viaNAT/ONALt�•�,AViRAGE L �• Wil, Chcfrities broaden scope Charity begins at home, or so the adage goes, but more and more it appears that large cor- porations (and even some small ones) are attempting to cash in on charities. Hardly a week goes by, it seems, but what a press release arrives on my desk announcing that a firm or group has joined ranks with a charitable organiza- tion in fund raising efforts. On the surface, the schemes are most commendable. But on closer examination, there arises the question of just how charitable the firms are. The reason for looking these apparent gift -horses in the mouth is based on the fact that their donations are tied directly to con- sumer participation. For each product purchased, the firm promises to donate a percentage of the sale to the charitable organization. So, if you buy a turkey in March, the turkey producers will turn over a 1Ot donation to the Ontario March of Dimes. Canadian Turkey Marketing Agency chairman William Chrismas said he was en- thusiastic about the fundraising effort, anticipating it could raise as much gra $100,000 to go towards assisting physically disabled adults in Ontario. That's only one example of the promotions being undertaken by the various corporations and groups and it is interesting to note that the Canadian Turkey Marketing Agency's mandate is "to ensure an adequate supply of turkey to the Canadian market and to promote the consumption of turkey in Canada". The question must be asked whether the enthusiasm of the chairman is geared more to the prospect of fulfilling the latter part of that mandate as opposes to swelling the coffers of the On- tario March of Dimes. In effect, it is the consumers of turkeys who will be contributing the money to the March of Dimes, and while the CTMA makes no bones about the fact the idea is to promote the sale of turkey, a lOt per bird donation does not appear overly generous Batt'n Around ...with The Editor as it represents less than a one percent share of the sales to the charity. Granted, any donation to such a worthwhile venture is commen- dable, but when charities lend their status to certain groups in the market place, they should be well aware of the ramifications. Other members of the food chain, who normally donate on a voluntary basis, could see the tie- in as unfair competition and turn their charity dollars elsewhere. • • There is no intent to single out the turkey producers in this new promotional game that is being played. As stated, every week brings an announcement of some group joining forces with a chari- ty to promote its products. Among them was a recent full- color booklet from the Variety Club of Ontario which contained 63 coupons from a host of national brand products. The foreward suggested that if everyone who received the booklet was to use just seven of the coupons, the Variety Club would raise over $1,750,000 for the children of Ontario. Premier David Peterson even had a full-page message in the coupon book extending his "warmest best wishes" for the success of the venture. In addition to offering dis- counts with the use of the coupons, the manufacturersgive 15t to the Club for every coupon used. Again, the consumers are pro- bably contributing as much as the manufacturers to the charity and should look upon their use of the coupons in that light. While I have no doubt that many of the firms contribute voluntarily to some of the charitities above their promo- tional use of those charities , the proliferation of the schemes tends to suggest that some may be more intent on boosting their own sales and image. Some at least are up front by noting that the donation is made on your (consumer) behalf" and that puts the credit where it is deserved. While charities must look to every possible avenue for the funds for their worthwhile work, their move into the competitive nature of the market place should be undertaken with some caution to ensure their name is not being used primarily for the sales pur- poses of the manufacturers involved. Somehow, the story of the widow's mite comes to mind when some of the firms extol the merits of their charitable assistance and gloss over the fact they are benefitting directly through the consumers' purchase. 4. trllllEA SEMMES /J�j/f(00/1 Ar�,r• i JJ7777 A vicious attack I have been viciously attacked by a pint, or shall I say by 250 ml. of yogurt. It caused the worst damage to our house since the toilet bowl eatploded last October. The kitchen was turned into a diSaS'ter area: 'ft 'IYadugt'been cleaned. So naturally, the attack came at a time like that. Everything had been spotless: 'the counters gleamed. The floor sparkled. Yes, the kitchen had been singled out as a perfect vic- tim by this cowardly, mysterious substance. I had opened the yogurt con- tainer and placed it on the counter top, at least three inches (7.5 cm.) from the edge. Then I opened the fridge to pull out a jar of strawberry jam to mix with some yogurt. I do sometimes treat myself to a little snack that way when my wife is at an even- ing meeting. One of my very few vices. A person has to have some fun. Suddenly, without provocation or warning, the yogurt container jumped forward and leaped onto the kitchen floor, bottom up. The contents, after this three foot (90 cm.) drop, splashed upwards and in all four directions, dividing in- to 17 million molecules. I had never seen the likes of it. It wasn't natural. I swear that I hadn't come anywhere near that yogurt container. I'm wearing bifocals, but I'm not that uncoor- dinated. No, this was clearly a malicious, spiteful, treacherous act of devilry. It happens to me all the time. The floor had acquired 800,000 patches of white. And there were 300,000 on each cupboard door. Five hundred thousand- give or take a couple thousand- on the outside of the fridge. Now for the inside story. The stuff had splash- ed right.. .into the fridge door, covering ' every.. jar, :every package, every bar on every grill in that machine: The walls were oozing yogurt. The stuff was ac- tually running down in little The Peter Hesse! Column rivulets. Mercifully some of it had actually dripped right into the garbage container. But the garbage container was also ooz- ing with yogurt on the outside. OK, I know when I'm beaten. a I give up," I said looking up at the ceiing.I usually look at the ceiling or at the sky when ad- dressing Fate. "What do you want of me? My living room? Go ahead, destroy everything!" But being the incurable op- timist that I am, I already sear- ched for a speck of fortune in a quagmire of mystery. It could have been worse. The house could have been struck by a plane car- rying a load of swine flu vaccine. I do not panic easily in such situations. I analyzed the state of affairs, and planned my course of action. I stripped dow to my underwear and tipt to the bathroom, leaving white foot- prints behind me. I dumped my outer clothes into the bathtub. I tiptoed back to the kitchen to review the site. For a whileft considered ntov- ing.' Just leaye everything the way it 'was;' hire a professional cleaning agency and emigrate to New Zealand. Or should I call in a TV reporter and a camera team? Maybe I could sue somebodyior damages? Had my civil rights been violated? The new Charter of Rights and Freedoms can fix just about anything. But it would probably be too expensive. I decided to sob silently for several minutes. Still in my underwear, I became aware how grotesque everything was. I had fits of hysterical laughter. Then I rubbed and scrubbed and washed and wiped and rins- ed and dried. Three hours later, the kitchen was clean again. I was astounded to find that the yogurt container was still half full. From an optimist's point of view at any rate. Quickly I ate it all before it could jump again. Then I mopped up my footsteps in the hall and in the bathroom. I threw my pants and my shirt and my socks into the washing machine. And then I rested. God knows, I deserved to rest. When my wife came home from her meeting, her first ques- tion was: "Why do you sit around in your underwear?" Her next remarks were even harder to take: "What is wrong with the kitchen? The place is a mess! The floor is sticky, and there is white stuff all over the window." What do they put into yogurt anyway? Interesting results Last week I mentioned Bill 82, a law passed by the Ontario government several years ago to ensure equal quality of education for all the children of the province. It is interesting to see the results. Blind and deaf children sit next to other kindergarten children. Special teachers come into the classroom to help or teacher's aides are hired to assist the regular classroom teacher with the extra load that is put on him/her because of the handicap- ped child. New equipment such as Braille writers are bought is help with printing out seatwork. Where these children might have been sent away from their families to places such as the Robarts School for the Deaf at ages when they should have been with the security of their own families, they are now allowed to attend their own local schools. if the child's disabilities are so severe that they cannot be in a regular class and require inten- sive care, then that too can be provided within school settings. It is nothing new for trainable retarded classes to exist in or- dinary schools and for these By the Way by Syd Fletcher students to be included in many of the schools' activities. Courses have been laid out with very clear-cut curriculum goals for these children which teach them basic words such as recognition of stop signs, simple restaurant menu words, basic colours, rt numbers and so on. I have been constantly amazed by the quan- tity of materials that these children are able to absorb. The Developmentally Han- dicapped classes though, are a new concept for the elementary school system. These children are among the severest cases which can be found among disabled children, some of them having multiple disabilities of retardation, blindness, and deafness. Because of their multitude of problems they re- quire constant intensive care by a very dedicated staff. The ratio of adults to children in these classes may be as high as 1 to 2, and believe me, that ratio could sometimes be viewed as a little lower than ideal. Next week I'll tell you about some of the exciting things which are happening in this field of education, things which were undreamed-of not that many years ago.