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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1989-11-29, Page 4Page 4 Times -Advocate, November 29, 1989 Times Established 1871 Advocate Established 1881 . Amalgamated 1924 C Published Lich Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario, NOM ISO Sectfid Class Mail Registration Number 0386. _ Phone 519-235-1331 nes. eNA ROSS HAUGH Editor HARRY OMITS Composition Manager I� BECKETT Publisher & Advertising Manager DON SMITH Business .Manager SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada: $27.00 Per year; U.S.A.` $68.00 Special time of year hristmas is • a special time of year. It is a time for sharing, and reaching out to others. We celebrate the gift of God's Son by giving to others. Christmas can be the occasion not only to give to those we know and love, but to some whose names we will never know. . Without our help, not everyone will have a Christmas that is merry and bright: In Huron County there are single -mothers who can't afford to make their children's dreams come true, families , who have nothing left over after scram- [ tiling to pay for life's necessities," and !little ones whose wardrobes are not ade- quate protection against the cold of win- ter. We can spread the spirit of Christmas by giving to the Huron County Christ- mas Bureau. The Bureau makes sure that all the children under 16 on their list. will have new mitts and other cloth- ing, and a present - it could be a doll, a toy, a game, some jewellery, or any of the other items that delight a child's eart. In addition, the Bureau will make The announcement that 300 stu- dents havedropped out of classes at Fanshawe College certainly gives more ammunition to those who believe teachers should not have the right to go on strike. Community colleges across the prov- ince are still calculating the damage as a direct result of the latest strike. The cost will run in the millions as many students will not get the opportunity to continue pursuing the goals they brought to col- lege in September. Power struggles between teachers and education officials are not nearly as im- sure every family will have all the ingre- dients for a bountiful Christmas dinner. Besides, each family will take from the Christmas Bureau in their area their se- lections from the donated used clothing and toys in excellent condition, and a box of groceries to stock their cup- boards. All this is made possible by the good will of the community. Citizens of Ex- eter and area are noted for thieir gene- rosity, and their warm response whenev- er a- need is made known. - They will soon get their chance to once again il- lustrate the true spirit of Christmas. The 1989 Christmas Bureau will be open at the United Church from Thurs- day, December, 7 to Monday, December 11 from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. You can make a difference by making up . the difference between a sad and a glad Christmas for some of your fellow inhabitants of Planet Earth. Jesus, the reason for the season, once said "As much as ye have done it onto the least of these, ye have done it unto me." Costly rights By Yvonne Reynolds portant as the right to getting an educa- tion...a right that thousands of students were cheated out of this year. The ma- jority of students who returned to classes will find it difficult to catch up on all trk lessons missed during the lengthy dis- pute. Undoubtedly a way will be found to water down the courses to allow pass- ing grades. Many will graduate and con- tinue on with their lives but they'll be leaving school with less knowledge than they could have. Students lives are too valuable to allow teachers and administrators to use them as pawns. By Jim Beckett Letters to the editor Walker clarifies statements Dear Sir: With respect to the recent publicity and state- ments made by myself concerning the Hensall Hotel Tavern, I wish to make the following points clear: 1. I hold no malice towards thc Hensall Hotel Tav- ern, its owners or management. 2. My comments recited incidents which occurred outside of the premises of the Hensall Hotel Tav- ern. 3. I understand that, except for the incident of Sep- tember 9, 1989, the other incidents occurred in the past when the present ownership of the Hen- sall Hotel Tavern may not have owned the estab- lishiMt;nt. 4. With respect to the incident of September 9, 1989, I described a participant as the manager of the Hensall Hotel Tavern. This is based on my information. If such is incorrect, I stand correct- ed and apologize to the Hensall Hotel Tavern. Ron Walker Grand. Bend library To Wayne Proctor Re: Council Briefs I read your write-up regarding the library. It would appear that the way in which I explained the matter to council created a misconception. I apologize for this and offer a clarification. Regardless of how the project is spearheaded there will be shortfalls in the cashflow during the fund raising effort while construction is underway. This shortfall will be funded by the village prob- ably by using certain reserve funds on a temporary basis< The reference to this was due to the historical manner in which the village had dealt with the de- velopment of the recreation property near the legion by the Lions a few years ago. Bear in mind that council will have to formally accept and adopt this position and regardless what sponsors come forward to spearhead this worth- while project. Thank you for the opportunity to clarify this point. Cordially yours, R.M. (Bob) Sharen Charges and convictions To the Editor: In regards to the news item in the November 22 issue about the 24 -year-old hit and run, the driver's name was omitted. e I would like to know why. When most drivers arc charged with a minor offense their name automati- cally appears along with the charges. This 24 -year- old with eight charges against him broke every rule of the book in his driving rodeo and all you print is a hit and run suspect caught. My question is why are some names omitted and others are printed. As a concerned parent and resi- dent of Exeter and 1 know I am not alone in this complaint. I feel print all or none. Marie Brunzlow Editor's note: Some confusion apparently exists between reports of those charged with offences, and those tricd and convicted. Unless the crime is very serious, i.e. murder or ar- son, the name of the person charged is not released by the police. If we are given the name, we print it. However, this newspaper employs a court reporter who attends all sessions of Justice of the Peace court and Provincial court, held on Tuesdays in the Exeter Legion. We report the names of every con- victed person, and give details of the charges. Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lambton Since 1873 Published by I.W. Eedy Publications Limited .4"alrageirM \\ \\•\\‘;\,Ifilft:k-'.1/14: ,;.. 6 .N417.44 y�yf`�9K wAsER FEATURES I feel very sorry for Zsa Zsa Gabor. I can go along with her being sentenced to spend 72 hours in jail, and made to per- form 120 hours of community service after being found guilty of slapping a policeman when he stopped her Rolls Royce for expired plates and found open liquor in the glove compartment. However, making her put her- true' ertrue birth date on her driver's li- cence is cruel and unusual pun- ishment. My late father, bless his Irish heart, had a sense of humor about everything except his age. Even my mother did not know how old her husband was. She was about to put the wrong fig- ure in his obituary, until a sister- in-law married to my father's younger brother set her straight. I have been accused of inherit- ing his hang-up. My driver's li- cence, and all other official doc- uments are correct, but I reserve the right to divulge the number of years I have been on this earth only on a need -to -know basis. I recall being one of 20 wom- en gathered around a restaurant Ageless table one evening. A younger woman called from the other end of the table "Yvonne, do you mind if I ask how old you are?" "I don't mind at all. I don't Reynold's Rap by Yvonne Reynolds plan to answer you, but I don't mind your asking!" I replied sweetly. When someone admits to pushing 40, I say I am too - al- beit from the other side. I thought that I was waging a successful war against the ravag- es of time until I casually re- marked once to thc sharp-witted former business manager of the T -A that 1 was older than I looked. He had a one -word reply. "Impossible!" I appreciated his humour. But he also cured me of ever making that statement again. 1' was struck another deadly blow a few weeks ago. The teen -aged cashier in one of the local supermarkets asked if I was eligible for the seniors' dis- count. Even her "Have a good day" didn't help. That segment of time was ruined. It took a good 24 hours - and a beauty sleep - to recover my equanimi- ty. To add insult to injury, I came to work a few days later to find a cartoon on the bulletin board . A male cashier, hand on hip is saying to a pensive matron "It's up to you, lady: You're either old enough to get the 10 percent senior citizen discount, or you're not old enough." I am not old enough, and won't be for quite a few years. But you will never know. I have made my•husband promise that if I shuffle off my mortal coil before he discards his, my age will not appear in either my death notice or on my tomb- stone. I hope my epitaph will be "Age cannot wither her, nor cus- tom stale her infinite variety". Homework - blessing or curse "Alexander, do you have any homework to do?" "Not today." "Duncan and Stephanie, do you have any homework?" "Nothing at all. Can we have a snack?" "You may have a snack. It's al- ready laid out for you." That kind of dialogue is pretty routine when our kids come home on the bus. Just as predictable is what hap- pens four hours later. "O.K. kids, let's get ready for bcd. Now. If you don't dawdle, there will be time for a story or a talk." "Oops, I forgot, I have to an- swer a few math questions", or "I just remembered: I have a French test in the morning, and I have to study for it," or "I can't go to bed yet, I haven't done my spelling words, and I have a whole lot of colouring to do:" Do we send them to bcd with their homework undone,. or let them do their homework and miss some valuable adult - contact time? Often we compro- mise and say: "Get to bcd now, we'll wake you up an hour earli- er in the morning". After all, they need a generous'amount of sleep. I can sec two Nasi or here that need soli tlr rc should learn how to teach thcl, children self-discipline; and teachers should not overload young children (under -12) with homework. We're by no means without blame. We are strict with our kids sometimes and let them ma- nipulate us at other times. Be- cause we're busy or preoccupied or not feeling up to scratch or worried or just plain lazy. It's hard work to fit your children into a mould of regulated activi- PETER'S POINT • Peter Hessel ties. It's a lot easier to let them do what they want. But I also find fault with teachers. Many of them are par- ents themselves. They should re- alize what goes on. Our kids get up between 6:30 and 7 in the morning. They're on the bus at a quarter to eight. They're back home at a quarter past four. That's an eight-hour working day. Too long, I think. When they come home, they're hungry, tired, in need of a snack and some rest. They shouldn't have to worry about homework. After supper, they're refreshed and able to do some more work. But should they have to? 1 • � that special projects done at home, perhaps with a r,re help. But I don't think 'could routinely assign 'as, its thc primary and in- liate 'rades, couldn't the .Hwred knowledge and skills be taught in school between 9 aIld 3:30 with an hour and a half ofhk r breaks? Five hours of cducati ,five days a week, should be cn gh. If it isn't maybe the curriculum or the teaching methods need changing. Too much homework, it seems to mc,iis an admission that class- room teaching is inadequate. It is a bit like executives bringing home pile of work in the eve- ning instead of teaming how to economize their time at work. Home should be for other things. For resting, playing, re- covering from the structure ac- tivities of the day. Children should .be encouraged to show their school papers and books at home, to discuss school topics with their parents, brothers and sisters, to talk freely about what they have learned. I consider such extra stimulation at home extremely necessary. Home should be for reading and story -telling, for exploring the outdoors, for helping with adult chores. And many young children participate in valuable extra -curricular activities such as piano practice, sports, etc. For all that they need free timc. Without having to worry about homework. Perhaps son a lot of hc• ,tt. t 'c•at.., thtr Want the kids to tx: k , ` . at ' car :+nd they believe that horn( is better than watch- ing mindless TV shows. They may have a point, but 1 feel that - with proper parental guidance - a lot more can be accomplished with little or no homework. Homework might suit parents who want their children to be- come workaholics. I want mine o become happy, well -adjusted, creative adults with a thorough general education, an open mind, and good practical life kills. I don't think that a stack :of daily homework helps them o achieve these goals. ,?n •