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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1986-12-10, Page 5Page 4 Times -Advocate, December 10, 1986 imes d .0 , t . Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & _ North Lambton Since 1873 Published by J.W. Eedy Publications Unshed Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario, NOM 1S0 Second Class Mail Regstration Number 0386. Phone 519-235-1331 tl LORNE EEDY Publisher lIM BECKETT Advertising Manager BILL BATTEN Editor HARRY DEVRIES Composition Manager 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' SOMETHING FOR 68%.OF CANADIANS - THFY'RE SICK OF ME Keep benefits home Hay Township council members ob- viously failed to convince a delegation of ratepayers that their recent decision regarding the purchase of a new backhoe was in the best interest of those ratepayers. That's not particularly sprprising, because there are several aspects of the decision that are questionable. Although it was only a minor part of the heated discussion, the decision to pur- chase -the equipment in the first place ap- pears'somewhat questionable. Information given to the ratepayers was that the township contracted out only $1,000 worth of backhoe work annually in the past. Even given the added informa- tion that some work was left undone, the economics of the purchase are not satisfied when the interest on the pur- chase price alone would have increased by almost five times the amount of con- tract time that could be received. When depreciation values are added, the amount of work required for equipment to justify itself becomes even more significant. However, the main argument is over the decision to not award the contract to a local firm, despite the fact that bidder had the lowest price and met the specifications required. While acknowledging that council members may be correct in their opinion that they ended up with the best machine for the money, it must also be acknowledged that the lower priced equipment would have adequately met the needs as outlined by council's own specifications. At the very least, council had an obligation to ascertain whether the low bidder could meet the specifications unilaterally altered by council. As some of the ratepayers correctly pointed out, however, the benefits that accrue from shopping :at home should .have been given molrp„consideration; in fact, most people' would see it is a priority. Public bodies, in particular, have an obligation to support their, own ratepayers and keep tax dollars at work. locally to enable business and individuals to play their important role in the economic and social viability of their municipalities. Not only did the council make a grave error in the initial decision, they compounded it by failing to acknowledge it when a group of ratepayers drew it to their attention. It should be disconcerting to Hay ratepayers that council's failure to acknowledge the error suggests it could be repeated to the further detriment of the local economy. A fair edict Exeter council's strong backing of Mayor Bruce Shaw's call for an im- mediate resolution of the long-standing issue of South Huron recreation funding should be met with some relief by -everyone involved, even the townships at which the edict is aimed. As Shaw noted, the issue has been debated for the past four years with even less than minimum success and un- doubtedly has strained relations more than many would care to admit, not on- ly as it pertains to recreation, but also other topics requiring mutual cooperation. Certainly, it should not have been allowed to smoulder for this long. While Exeter has decided to bring the matter to a head, they have been • more than fair in the alternatives offered to the three neighboring townships to reach that goal. In fact, they have left the door open for any suitable and specific compromise from any or all of the three and have clearly outlined what action can be expected should the townships reject any present or future proposals for a solution. It would appear difficult to be more forthright or fair than that and certain- ly the neighboring councils should view the situation in that light. The challenge to them is so open-ended it doesn't even have to be answered, if that is their wish. However, that should not suggest that there is little at stake in the outcome. There is considerable and the other players should recognize the need to play their cards carefully and thoughtfully. Garage sale items One of the basic questions often forgotten by consumers is related to need. It is only necessary to peak into most closets or basements or look around at garage sales to agree with the ex- perts that it is a question that many consumers fail to give the necessary priority. In most closets, basements or garage sales there are always items still in their original boxes. Some have never even been open- ed, indicating rather conclusive- ly that the envisioned need at the time of purchase never materialized. Impulse buying remains as one of the more intriguing aspects of human nature. Sometimes the blame can be passed off on a highly skilled sales person, but more often than not, it is a direct result of the consumer failing to fully consider his/her need for the article or service. There are times when the arti- cle is flawed or merely fails to live up to the expectations envi- sioned at the time of purchase. Undoubtedly there are few who have escaped the embarrass- • ment and annoyance of realizing their money was wasted, or at least that it did not get the value that had been anticipated. While groups or organizations seldom fall prey to impulse buying, there are occasions when Batt'n Around ...with The Editor that appears to be the case. It would appear that members of Exeter council are not faultess in that regard. A few years ago, in an effort to resolve the perennial issue of employee wages and negotia- tions, the council of the day hired a professional to undertake a comprehensive and expensive study to provide his recommen- dations on how to provide coun- cil with clear sailing in the years .. . ahead. For all intents and purposes,. that purchase failed to live up to its expectations and was quickly . relegated to the closet or base- ment, or wherever council chooses to dismiss such items. • • • • • Similar to most consumers, the experience of that questionable exercise was too quickly forgot- ten by council and now they have before them another comprehen- sive report that early discussions would indicate may also end up in the closet or basement. That is the recently completed road needs study, which was a major topic of consideration. last week as the majority found even the recommendations for the first year of a proposed 15 ear course of action to their dislike. Obviously, if the recommenda- tions for year one are found un- palatable, there is every reason to assume that subsequent ones will meet the same reaction and make the report worthless. While even the most optimistic would have agreed that changes would Please turn to page 5 Giving and getting When I was a kid...How often have I said that to my children? But they're not impressed by stories of the "olden days". The time of the year when I think back to my childhood most often is the time before Christmas. It was a time of many secrets, of anticipation, of wonder. I'm sure I was very curious and expectant about the gifts I might receive. It seems - in retrospect at least - that I was just as concerned about the gifts I wanted to give. And in this alone, nothing much has changed. Our kids, too, are happily preparing for an ex- change of gifts. They don't just look forward to getting. And yet, times have changed. Primarily today, Christmas means shopping. Trips to toy shops and department stores, to bookstores and craft shops. We buy wrapping paper bargains and look for specials on Christmas cards as early as August - or even in the January sales. We choose gifts -from catalogues and ads and TV com- mercials and direct mail fliers. We window-shop. We let our fingers do the walking (the new buzz word is tele -shopping). We arrange our bank balances and credit card limits in such a way that the huge Christmas spending spree does not bankrupt us. I'm sure that many loans are negotiated in time for Christmas, and that overdrafts are more numerous in December that at any other time of the year. We all seem to equate giving and receiving of material gifts with love and affection. This I don't remember from my childhood. There was no financial pressure - I'm sure of that. The presents were never so big or ex- pensive that they would have caused much of a ripple. Typical- ly I would receive a book or two, some new component for my toy train - and that would be the ex- tent of the bought items. I don't remember ever buying Christmas presents for anyone until I was about 20, and certain- ly no one bought presents for me to give to someone else. However, there was always an incredible amount of pre - Christmas activity in my home. I remember making - or trying to make - presents for many people, not just for my immediate fami- ly, also for aunts and uncles, for my grandmother, for friends and neighbours. I was never very good at wood- working, although I had a little (useless) jigsaw. But I did manage to produce some pro- bably very crude artifacts. I must have made several dozen little star-shaped candle holders. I can see them now: the stars were never quite symmetrical. I had trouble with the glue, and the different paints would run into each other and all over me. But I somehow got them finished and presented. We didn't wrap our presents in those days. I was better at making things out of paper. For example, for several years in a row I used to make a monthly calendar for my mother. The pages were card board, sewn together with wool. Each month had a primitive lit- tle picture, an spent hours lin- ing up the da and weeks. Usual- ly I ended u with a day too many at the end, and I had to go back ail the way to February to straighten things out. When my mother died a few years ago, I found one of. these silly little calendars among her papers. She had kept it all these years. I once made a doll's cradle out of heavy cardboard for my sister. I distinctly remember that seeing my little sister playing with this rough piece of workmanship was the highlight of that Christmas for me. I have no recollection of any mad shopping sprees, rushing about from store to store. But I have extremely fond memories - not so much of the articles themselves, but of the good time from early December right up until Christmas that was spent planning, preparing and making cheap little gifts. Because while we were working away at our projects - sometimes with books piled high on the table so that a certain person couldn't see what we were doing - we were having an old-fashioned pre -Christmas time. We were trying out some Christmas cookies, singing Christmas carols, and enjoying the spirit of that wonderful season. When I see the TV - commer- cials, listen to the Muzak in the big stores, and even hear our own children talk, I'm wondering whether we aren't depriving the kids of something important. What's Christmas got to do with plastic monster dolls, armoured creatures from the Mattel Nightmare Factory, green packaged slime and "transformers"? Is it really impossible to gather our children around the big kit- chen table and let them make their own little presents for everyone in the family? Doesn't it take just as long to fight the traffic, to find parking and to wade through staggering moun- tains of hyped -up merchandise as it would to plan and execute our own little project? I guess we have to support the merchants and the manufac- turers and the ad agencies. It's probably too late to turn the tide. But don't blame me for reminisc- ing about the time when I was a kid. When Christmas wasn't stressful, but tranquil and peaceful. And cheaper. Standards do vary Something that many parents suspect but are not sure about is that standards in schools across the province do vary. This is especially true in secondary schools where a mark of 80 per Cent from one school may be equivalent to a mark of 90 per cent in another. Aware of this discrepancy, the admissions staff at two engineer- ing faculties, the University of Toronto and the University of Waterloo, have graded the mark- ing habits of most Ontario high schools. These rating reflect the differences between the students' marks from the last year of high school with their first year marks at university. The only people who see the results are individual principals. Hard -marking schools make no secret about their ratings. Soft - marking schools can and do keep quiet about low ones. If you are By the Way by Fletcher concerned about where your school stands you could ask the principal about the school's track record with the universities. I might point out though that because your school is considered to be a hard marker that does not necessarily make it a better school. There may be many ex- cellent exciting teachers within any given school who in combina- tion give your child a thorough preparation for university. The two faculties which n duct the survey are tt engineering field and are very much°interested in mathematics and science. In both of those sub- ject areas marks tend to be very straight forward and may well have much more meaning than in subjects such an english, history or sociology. In these areas the ability to write essays and to have good research skills would be more important. These skills are much more difficult to assess.