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Home My WebLink AboutTimes Advocate, 1993-04-28, Page 4Page 4 Times -Advocate, April 28,1993 f: lien Beckett *,a Ir: Adrian Harte: Mehlwtltlt1111111er: Don smith r: Deb Lord CCI. Ilatilleettona MallitsgilarationtluMbertreats -VON01 : to s km.) ailidrissiellid wow illtopiraMer41100isieras 000.00 pens .0itWT. (400m.) or any letter oantery heats 4101101110/111101 *00100 60.00) + 4,20 G.S.T. 0.111110•00411100 111100.00 Jook to the future irTheadecisionlo close Centralia .College -ear'ly'next year is bound to be debated -at length over the 'next few months. - Some will argue the college never -achieved the attendance it had hoped for,.andwuas thus an asset too -ex- pensive for the ministry --to support. Others will insist . The ..announce me nt nothing more than -a knee{jerk reaction to a steamroller provincial- deficit with- out full consideration of its Meet on the agricuiuiral; sector inthis, one of the strongestfarming ...:, n u s of tete nation. Once the --college. is._gone, it 'will. be gone for good. 'There :is virtually -no chance of :seeing itn should -the province improve its -financial ,situation in the future. Atudents interested in ag- ricultural Tontines will::have to go else- where. Ttarmers -:and industries which .had :relied -on research .and laboratories at 'Centralia will. also~bave to look to other :labs in the -province. -Life will .go on. 1 . But the :economic -ripple effect on:the 1 South 'Huron orna is.certainto bekitty udDS jour local communities. Many of those who now work at the college will be leaving to -seek employment elsewhere in :Ontario, and local businesses which ',had contracts or dealings with the col- lpgewvill :tel the effect also. The end result won't be as dramatic as -25 `ears ago when _the Air Force base -was -closing .and :governments were scrambling AO :find -a use 'for the build- ingsand land-xhat it ght qtfierwaise stand vacant. An industrial park and college were born anlhafptoperty,-and-a quarter century tat er.wefmdaou Telvesin-a simi- lar situation. It is bardao.ittueginete:itpptte sivefa- cilities builtap.amund.LLantz glia _College being mothballed :by -the -province. As part of= the -intdu nisi park, can -there be a . :use for -them that will -not only -prevent them from, going to waste, - but.also gen- erate new employment in -the: a? These .are issues that need to -be :ad- __dressed,.and we hope'tutrpoiiticianswill ibe investing 'some thought into corning up with somesolid,-positiveanswers. ADE. 4.008:40k Otlit, ull marks -go to South Huron District -High ..School teacher -:Bib :o - billiard and -the students and (volunteers of the twojazz bands.which made Sat- urday'evening's .dance.at the Exeter Le- gionpossible. This tis just:the kind :of event Exeter needs,anditis to -'be hoped .tthere.murbe more such musical: programs in the fu- ture. - Although the -=porter's schedule did not allow a full appreciation of the eve- ning's schedule, a brief visit made it plain that the bands :,and Abe audience ► were both fully enjoying the progzarn. hands With no need for pretense or avant garde..aspiration.s,:the-band were clearly having bu ying mu is that the audi- ence appreciated equally. Even the hall lent itself. well to the event - nicely sized for the occasion and outside the confines of.the school. While some can scratch 'their heads and wonder why something like this has been missingin Exeter for so long, it is perhaps more important to make sure this kind of event gars full support from the cormnunity and can be looked for- ward to at least once a year. A.D.t1. NMI) f a 1!1r'3o likely tosettle a question rightly as when they atiamyss It freely." . - Theftvi suley ,_"NOM /Be M 1 *. r 14$ .2t)bi •t 424 Main 3;., Publication 1 ltd, •.a.7. 91,10321,11,3 5 rear • c.utu' After Hours Cafe entertaining Dear Editor: For the people who missed the Atter Hours Cafe last Tuesday, you really missed something. It was a very enjoyable evening of improvisation and musical skits put on by a number of -South Hu- ron District High School students. Dear Editor: A comment on a most rewarding evening on Saturday. Hopefully the public will be seeing a photo report elsewhere in this issue of the "Canadian Sunset Dance" at the Exeter Legion featuring the South Huron District High School Jazz Band Twenty-seven area y ple put a lot of energy into a time. fund raiser that was a success not only financially and musically but spoke volumes about the youths themselves. The tact they bad put on six one hour shows at Hensall, Bch, Stephen, McCur- dy, Usbocne and Exeter Public schools on Thursday and Friday didn't wear then[ out. 'that's a lot of loading and unloading! These students have shown a dedication l hey all deserve a round of ap- plause for their talents and creativ- ity. As a parent of two of the students present 1 may be somewhat preju- diced, but from where I was sit- ting, everything seemed well orga- nized right down to the soft drinks and donuts, so all that can be said now is "Don't miss the next After Hours Cafe." Richard Peckham, Hensall Jazz Band full of energy to keeping music interest high among these upcami ig secondary students by making the effort to do their "Public School Tour" each year. With cost cuts an increas- ing threat they are already tak- ing steps to insure music stays alive at South Huron - just Check any rnuxic,students calendar of events! Accepting the financial realities of the education system doesn't cense easy. A walk through tete band members during intermission was a • testimony to the quality of these teens - a neck 'massage, a thumbs -up sign, a hum -through a difficult passage. They arc very vis- ibly the{e4or each other, without reservations about sharing their tal- ents or the spotlight. .The &toter legion C uairntaity Jazz Band provided a break for s..:dents but have been inspirauot and support since their formation. With practises for the upcoming drama "Bring Back Birdie" ma 12-15 and the Spring Music ;inn- cert May 26 our community will have to chance to enjoy and sup- port these young people. Are there many teachers willing to match this kind of energy? Thanks Bob for being one! Congratulations for showing such talent and a dedication to what you believe in. Your first dance was memorable. May there be nanny more! 1, Sending mixed messages to teens Thete,has tiopa:a-:#it of t at - 1 iggarritrAmstalling condomil chines in high schools. Now, I'm no expert on dealing with teen- agers, yet, but it doesn't take an expert to apply a little common sense and point out the obvious errors in this latest attempt to protect people from themselves. By allowing condom machines to be installed in the schools, we, as adults, are sending stu- b dents the message that it's OK for them to have sex, as long .as 'they follow a few sexy rules. We are telling them.that it's fine to treat sex as a form of 'recrea- tion. And, to add an element of dan- ger, we are telling them that pregnancies and sexually trans - mined diseases can be avoided by using condoms, when we know that it is not a foolproof method. I don't agree with the argu- ment that says, "lb's a fact of life that many teens are sexually ac- tive so we may as well accept it and do what we can to protect them." It is also a sad fact that many teens do drugs so what's next? Machines to dispense clean sy-. riuges so the dnig users can maintain their habit easier'? , I read an article in which a fe- male student from British Co- lumbia high school said she felt insulted to discover that adults just assume that most teens are sexually active. She feels pc deserves more credit for having higher morals and ,better judgement than that. _Placing condom machines in )ools signifies to the students t we have given up on them td make the right decisions re- garding sex. It's no wonder that some kids get confused, with all the mixed messages they are ree:eiving.'On the ouc hand, adults are tcllitag them not to do it, then on Use Barb Passmore other handowe.are pi e tools toilee'it with. ,sa.rrrwrk, We wouldn't tell our toddlers not to play with matches and then hand them a book of match- es and hope that they don't start a fire. We wouldn't give a small child a sharp knife and say, "you can play with this but don't cut yourself." Surely our teenagers deserve the same kind of care and pro- tection. They still have some growing up to do and can still benefit from parental or adult guidance. We are led to believe that kids will actually use condoms from these machines because they can obtain them easily and privately. They won't buy them in a drug- store because they are embar- rassed and afraid of who might see them. Shouldn't these feelings tell Went something? It seems to me that a person shouldn't have to sneak around a drugstore, wor- rying about who sees them if they are not doing anything le- gally or morally wrong. I'm going to go way out on a limb here and suggest that, be- sides educating kids about the dangers and problems of sexual activity, we could also be telling them about the "A" word. Yes, .abstinence; the best method of avoiding all those problems. Some of you may be laughing at this point and saying, "Where has this woman been? Doesn't she know abstinence has gone the way of the dodo?" I suppose it is an old- fashioned notion but that doesn't mean it isn't any good. Some- times old-fashioned ideas are a lot better than new ones. I be- lieve it is an idea worth reviving and supporting. I don't care If it sounds corny, I'm still going to tell our chil- dren that they should wait for real and true love before becom- ing sexually involved. There's a chance they will lis- ten and there's a chance that they Wright say, "Get a mitt and get in the game, Mom", tend not take my advice. Being a parent can be a very humbling experience at times. You soon learn not to say "my child would never do such a thing." because you just never know what your chiid might do someday. We can love them, educate them, guide them and set good examples, but sometimes they will still go astray. After we've done our best and it comes dowp to their judgement, we can hope and pray they will make the tight choices. I can't guarantee what our chil- dren will do but at least 1'11 know 1 haven't encouraged them in any way to regard sex as merely recreation. If they can enter a marriage believing that a sexual relation- ship is very special between married couples and is a major bond that keeps marriages strong, then they will have a bet- ter chance at lasting happiness with no regrets. I would rathter they have last- ing happiness than brief accep- tiutye from their peer's. *Am* oaf tet: LAI;v• The Times Ackteaste conUnues to welcorne letters to the editor os a forum for open oscossion of loco, Is- sues, cameras, complaints, and kudos. The Times Advocate reserves the right to edit letters for brevity. P4eaee trend your letters to P.O. Box ab0 Exeter, 0,010,419M i1.6. gn,ypyr ►t tr_ppme and .address. 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