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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1991-07-10, Page 28Page 28 Times -Advocate, July 10, 1991 High school students act on their concern for the nvIronment By Rhonda Vandeworp EXETER - The 1990s ap- to be the de devot- ed to environmental For some, the green era is only a craze, but for two of South Huron's high school stu- dents, the concern for the envi- ronment is not a passing fad. Diane Currell and Kristi Van Dongen have both devoted some of their summer time exploring a field in which they hope to spe- cialize in, in the future. awareness. Diane Curren To prepare for a profession in forest management, Currell will be spending her summer months as an Assistant to Timber Techni- cian, a second -year Ranger pro- gram designed by the Ministry of Natural Resources. Last year, Currell was involved in the eight- week Junior Ranger program which involved outdoor work, learning, and recreation. She was stationed in Dorset at the Leslie M. Frost Centre with 23 other secondary school girls from across Ontario. On average, one out of six Jun- ior Rangers are hired back to ful- fill senior positions. Because of a positive work -performance report compiled by, the district office at the conclusion of last summer's program, Cturell was selected as a Senior Ranger with the Forest Management division in Thunder Bay. A representative of the Ministry of Natural Resources explains the goal of the program is "to provide students with working experience and educational instruction to im- prove their understanding and ap- preciation of integrated resources management." Resource management is partic- ularly important in Thunder Bay's conservation area since that crown unit supplies wood to a variety of area mills. As the Assistant to Timber Technician, Curren will be helping with the cutting and re- planting of trees used by the mills, to addition to marking boundaries. Unlike last summer, she will also have office duties such as map preparation, filing, and indexing of aerial photographs. Kristi Van Dongen, of -Grand Bend is also aiming for a career re- lated to the environment. With the arrival of the new school year in September, she will be participat- ing in a co-op program, either with the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority or at the Pinery Provin- cial Park. A more recent experi- ence, which will help her out in the future. was Van Dongen's in- volvement in the two-week Out- door Leadership Camp held at Bark Lake. Each summer, two students from secondary schools across Ontario are chosen to attend the camp in order to attain leadership skills and a better understanding of their nat- ural surroundings. Van Dongen was the only stu- dent from SHDHS selected to rep- resent the school.. George McE- wan, a science teacher at South Huron, expects Van Dongen's out- door experience and acquired lead- ership techniques will be a positive addition to both the physical edu- cation and science departments next year. Van Dongen also hopes to help with the re- establishment of an outdoors club at SHDHS in the fall. Besides environmental exercises such as wildlife studies and bush games, the main focus of the camp was the establishment of leader- ship skills which could be used back at school or in a camping en- vironment. Mist/ Van Dongen Van Dongen said "everything was tied into leadership." All of the counsellors demonstrated their form of leadership which permit- ted the campers to choose which form would be most comfortable for therm- Special events such as sing songs, games, kayaking, mountain climbing, and windsurf- ing all demonstrated the necessity of leadership in which the "high person doesn't boss around," ex- plained Van Dongen. Probably the most important leadership activity was a two-day canoe trip across two lakes, a 10 - minute portage between the water masses, and a camp -out at the end of the first day. Counsellors re- laxed while the campers demon- strated their ability to lead and or- ganize an event of such a grand scale. Van Dongen admits she does not feel as if she is now a natural lead- er or a certified environmentalist, but she believes the counsellors who told them, "In time you'll use a lot of the things learned, but maybe not right now." Bike-a-thon - The Centralia Faith Tabernacle Youth Group held their bike-a-thon in aid of the church building fund on June 26. Despite the rain, all turned out to make good on the pledges by their spon- sors. Young farmers invite new members GUELPH - For about the cost of a record album, young people in Ontario can buy membership in an organization that will give them a whole year of social activities and personal challenge, say the Junior Farmers Association. The Junior Farmers' Association of Ontario offers its members, who range in age from 15 to 29, a wide variety of interesting activities, in- cluding travel, sports, cultural ac- tivities, and leadership training pro- grams. Junior Farmers is an entirely self - governed organization, affording each and every one of its members the opportunity to take on leader- ship roles, in the local clubs as well as in the provincial associa- tion. Toward this end, a variety of programs are organized as educa- tional opportunities, ranging from a week-long leadership training camp, to executive training workshops, to communication workshops. Many elected officials and leaders in the agricultural community credit their early leadership training in Junior Farmers for their later ac- complishments. Of course, a vital organization of young people calls for a large por- tion of social activity. Besides com- munity betterment projects, which benefit their community as a whole, local clubs organize many events each year for members, in - eluding sports competitions and dances. Anyone who wants more infor- mation can contact the Junior Farmers Association of Ontario at P.O. Box 1030, Guelph, N1H 6N1 The Provincial association also carries out a number of activities for members over the course of the year. There are winter and summer games, where the sports enthusiast can show his/her talents; Culturama (a one -act play festival and debat- ing, public speaking and slide pres- entation corrtpetitions); and Sing Swing (a festival of musical and dance competitions). If travelling to new places, meet- ing new people and learning about other parts of the world interest you, Junior Farmers can offer you travel scholarships1to other Canadi- an provinces, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Western Europe. Junior Farmers also send delegates regular- ly to conferences and workshops for rural youth, in many parts of the globe. As you can see, the reasons for joining Junior Farmers are as wide and varied as the membership it- self, and best part is that the pro- grams and activities are constantly changing and improving to meet the needs of its members. Birthday party for Centralia correspondent By Mary Kooy CENTRALIA - Brent and Jean Caslick and boys spent the week- end in Cargill visiting their par- ents. Mary Kooy was a guest on Sun- day in honour of her 80th birthday at the home of her niece Joyce Sovereign of Lucan for a family gathering. Leanne Sovereign -,was also celebrating a birthday. Prize, winners at Heywoods Res- taurant on July 1, were: high score Jessie Lewis and Murray Carter; lone hands Winnie Eagleson and Charlie Rollings, low score Doro- thy Bullock and Alfred Mathers. Next gathering is Iuly 15. PETROCANADA MAKES MONEY -- so the government wants to sell it. Naturally. How are we sup- posed to sustain a 40 -billion dollar deficit if some jackass insists on making a profit? Doesn't fit the pattern. If I was in charge, which doesn't seem too likely at the moment, I'd not only keep Pe- troCanada, I'd buy up all the rest of the big oil companies, make it one humungous con- glomerate, and sell .gas for about 90 cents US per Ameri- can gallon, like in Ohio, for instance. Then we could lose jillions of dollars a year, just like the Americans do. Say what? _La/ BAILEY'S OF HENSALL LTD. FURNACES - HEAT PUMPS CENTRAL AIR CONDITIONING Highway H4 North 262-2020 Hensall 262-2626 oe4E7+ k Your Horne ConrfortPwpfe Canadian hog producers are justi- fiably elated over their recent victo- ry over the Yanks. It all began in January of 1989 when the U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement took effect. The Ameri- cans argued that grants and subsi- dies in Canada gave Canadian farmers an unfair advantage in shipping pork -- not live hogs -- across the border. In fact, as much as one-third of Canadian pork pro- duced got shipped across the line. The Yanks decided to slap a countervailing duty on all that pork, even though the Free Trade Agree- ment had been signed, sealed and delivered. Anyone who figured the trade deal was going to be a boon for Ca- nadian agriculture had to do tome re -thinking then. You sec, the U.S. hog farmers put the countervailing duties in place because they felt Canadian subsi- dies put them in an unfair competi- tive position. Canadian farmers countered that the subsidies had no impact on their export sales. Canadian farmers, in fact, argued the same thing on live hogs. The Yanks took it right to the line. They went through the entire, lengthy, time-consuming, expen- sive disputes -settling process of the Free Trade Agreement. But the Canadians won!! Sur- prise! Surprise! This marathon dispute about pork crossing the border has re- sulted in a ruling in Canada's fa- vor. The countervailing duty on pork must now be lifted. Not only that, the U.S. must return about $17 million to Canadian exporters. That is- the part that hurts the Americans. Hit home ire the pock- etbook and they get snarky but I'll wager they will think twice now about slapping a countervailing duty on other things. This so-called "extraordinary challenge" thrown up by Americans was onlysuppowd to happen if there was evidence of "gross" misconduct by the Cana- da -U.S. trade panels that could threaten the system's integrity. Our government condemned the challenge and was right in doing so. But the Yanks went ahead with it anyway and the three judges ruled last month in Canada's favor. At the beginning of this Free Trade Agreement I felt Canada would get swamped by the way our big uncle to the south would play the game. They have always played hardball if they think their own people are getting it in the car. And they know how to play hardball as we witnessed in this extraordinary challenge thing. We Canadians arc neophytes, real rookies, when it comes to such in- ternational games. But our gang stuck with it, fol - 'Owed all the rules and finally, won. But did we? I think the Ameri- cans have been stung and they will try a few other things. They do not give up easily. What can they do now that they have been beaten in the courts? They can increase their part in the ongoing dispute about meat inspec- tion. They can increase the number of spot-checks at border points when Canadian meat shipments arc going south. They can get down- right fussy in those.inspections so that next to nothing can be passed. They can increase the costs charged to Canadian exporters. They can... well, you get the pic- ture. We won the battle but maybe, in the long run, we will lost the war if Uncle Sam wants to get picayune, mean and snowy. I hope it doesn't happen. Maybe they will all walk away from this silly extraordinary challenge mech- anism as good. friends and decide to treat each other as friends once more. But don't hold your breath.. * Fast Unloading * Accurate Grades * Competitive Prices * Quick Settlements FOR YOUR '91 WHEAT CROP This year deliver your crop to the W.G. Thompson & Sons Elevator nearest you! "The Home of Augusta, Rebecca and Karena Seed Wheat" Badminton's easy and exciting! After work or on the weekend, make it part of your ganie plan! paRricipacnon Seaforlh 345-2545 Pt. 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