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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1997-06-18, Page 41' ,;1' 4 Times -Advocate, lune 18, 1997 Publisher & Editor: Jim Beckett Business Manager: Don Smith Production Manager: Deb Lord Advertising; Barb Consitt, Chad Eedy • News; Heather Mir, Chris Skalkos, Brenda Burke, Kate Monk, Ross Haugh Production• Alma Ballantyne, Mary McMurray, Barb Robertson Brenda Hein, Joyce Weber, Laurel Miner Transportation: Al Flynn, Al Hodgert Front Office & Accounting; Elaine Pinder, Sue Rollings, Ruth Slaght Ruthanne Negrijn, Anita McDonald, Cassie Dalrymple ,qd PRllt.:•n NNEkS 0%AN COMM,.. 1919 - 1994 At ,P*RS ASSD CS 1 •YS ."'i HS(.OM P\ The Exeter Times -Advocate is a member of a family of community newspapers providing news, advertising and information leadership 111111111111111111111111111111/011111* EDITORIALS Tough new Jaw isn't the whole solution hree strikes and you're out. The third impaired driving. conviction means no more driver's licence. In the past, unpaired conviction number one meant a driving prohibition and a fine, the amount depending on a number of factors. including how far over thelegal limit the person was, Number two meant a driving prohibition and a few weekends in jail. Number three meant the driving prohibition and considera- bly more jail time. Those who have been fighting for tougher penalties for impaired driving regard the change as a triumph. And in many ways it is. For most of us, having no driver's li- cence means employment possibilities are narrowed dramatically. A tempo- rarS -licence suspension can'often be coped with - getting rides to work, or even hiring a driver. But losing that li- cence for life means permanent life- style changes: We live in a highly mobile society, and being prohibited from driving lim- its not only employment, but reduces the options for housing, recreation and - more. You have to live where/there is public transit or depend on a spouse for rides. You have to do some real fast talking when you are asked for "suita- ble identification" - usually driver's li- cence plus a credit card. , Although the lifetime licence suspen- sion -iia success-ofsorts, it alsomarks a failure in the extensive public educa- tion programs -over the last decade.or so. The figures show the message is get- ting through. The number of deaths on our roads where alcohol is a factor has been dropping. But some people will -'- never learn. And those are the people who will lose the privilege of holding a driver's licence. • Despite the apparent harshness of the lifetime licence suspension, there are people who will say it isn't enough. A . glance at the police reports in this news- paper will indicate that for a certain seg- ment of society, a licence suspension is no real problem. They get nailed for -im- paired driving and the first thing you know, they are back on the roads: The next .time they get caught, they get = nailed for impaired driving plus driving whi „ ul, ler - ispensio.. or those who will not learn through education, enforcement must be the an- swer. -And no matter how harsh the pen- alty, no matter how strict the law, en- forcement.still depends on the person in the police car with the roadside breath test machine. Right now, police departments are stretched to the limits as far as manpow- er is concerned. Officers spend a phe- nomenat amount of time sitting in court, and transporting prisoners to and from court. The proposed closure of many of our jails will only worsen an already bad situation. And some of the. problem is a result of • municipal budgets getting tighter and tighter. Police departments are growing smaller and positions are not being ' tilled. Tougher laws might be one answer to _ the problem of impaired_ driving, fins . _ they- aren't the -entire -answer. -Which is niore likely to make a drunk call a cab • or phone a sober friend for a ride - tougher impaired driving laws, or a po- lice cruiser sitting just around the corner at closing time'? Police need strong legislation to back thiquf a law which can't be enforced is worthless. What's on your mind? The .TimesAdvocate continues to welcome letters to -the editor as a . forum for open discussion of local issues, concerns, complaints and kudos. The Times -Advocate reserves the light to edit letters for brevity. Please send your letters to. P.O. Box 850 Exeter, Ontario, NOM 1S6. Sign your letter with both name and address. Anonymous letters will not be published. Publications Mail Registration Number 0386 SUBSCRIPTION RATES; One year rate for Ontario subscribers - $35.00 + GST Two year rate for Ontario subscribers = $63.00 + GST CANADIAN ADDRESSES OUTSIDE ONTARIO One year subscription - $63.00 + GST Two year subscription - $119.00 + GST OTHER RATES Outside Canada - 5102.00 Published Each Wednesday Morning at 424 Main St., Exeter, Ontario, NOM 1.S6 by J.W. Eedy Publications Ltd. Telephone 1-519.235.1331 • Fax: 519-2350766 O.S.T. /R1062101135 Student Employment By Carrie McCone The next step The next step ,after writing .your -resume. -is-designing a cov- er letter-. A cover letter is an important marketing tool that tells the employer -why you are the right person for the job: The design of a cover letter is pretty general. The following is a list of information and'the-or- der that they should appear in your cover letter. • ADDRESS: • Address your covering letter to the person re- sponsible • for hiring. DON'T- - use . Dear Sir/Madam or To Whom It May Concern. . Call the business and get the exact name and. title of the person and alsoask for the • correct spelling. • PARAGRAPH ONE: - State your -interest in the company and the type of job you :want. . If you learned of the job. through an advertisement.. refer to it the opening paragraph. • PARAGRAPH TWO: High- light the experience and -skills. you can offer the company. Use dynamic verbs. Refer them to your resume for further de- a cover letter tails. PARAGRAPH—THREE: -Re- quest an• interview and number where you can be reached. -Have others check*it for spelling or grammatical errors. . - • When you are finished prepar- ing your cover letter. drop off both the resume and coffer let- ter in person. If possible.- wait lora rj.onvenient time avoiding meal time for restaurants and .peak shopping hours for stores. Bring your SIN. card and list of references with you: Tell .the manger who you are and what kind_of work ytiu want and fill out an application • form. if asked to do- so. Never forget¢ to thank the manager and ask if ' you can call back in a few days. • ff you do not hear back from thecompany within one week. call to make sure the manager received - your resume. remind • them who you are and what job you applied for. If they tell you the job is. filled orno jobs are available, politely thank them for considering your resume and say you 'will remain in touch with the company to learn -about future job openings. Some cover letter.. tips include making it concise -only -include relevant information, making it. visually appealing and. unless otherwise requested. type word process your covering letterus- ing the best printer you can rind.. Make it focused; study thequal- ifications and job qualifications and match your skills :ind expe- rience with them. Make it inter- esting! Show your enthusiasm* . and uniqueness in a warm but professional manner and finaHy. make it perfect! Have someone proof-read- it for you to make sure there are no spelling or grammatical. errors. Finally, never give up! ,Cover letter and resume -writing are both two' very extensive procedures. No matter how tough it may seem • to make that perfect resume and cover letter. it truly will pay off in the end. Next week l will.be focusing on references. Until then, good luck and don't ever give up! A View From Queens Park By Eric Dowd _ 1 'I ORONTO -- Premier Mike Harris is being attacked for refusing to give support to his par- ty's federal leader in the election. but it is doubtful it would have been worth enough to make a difference. -• Progressive Conservative federal leader Jean Charest feels let down because fellow -Tory Harris sat on the fence and refused to endorse him or the other right-wing party. Reform. The federal Tories would like to blame their weak showing on Harris, but there is a lot of evidence that provincial premiers do not help federal leaders much with their endorsements. in the federal campaign, Tory premiers Ralph Klein of Alberta. re-elected only months ago with a huge majority, and Gary Filmon of Manitoba both endorsed Charest with fanfare and Klein threw in the bonus of knocking Re- form. . .But Klein's laying on of hands did not get a single Tory elected in Alberta, which Reform almost swept, and Filmon got only one Tory' elected in Manitoba, which suggests voters rec- ognize there are differences between parties federally and provincially and vote on the is- sues in front of them. Similarly. during the election campaign Lib- eral premiers Frank McKenna'of New Bruns- wick, who holds 47 of 55 seats. Brian Tobin of Newfoundland and John Savage of Nova Scotia held a news conference pleading for the re- election of Liberals, but theirs was the area where the Liberals lost most. Hams does not even have the popularity of some of these premiers, obtaining only 3'5 per '• cent in the most recent poll. and the federal To- ries and Reform between them were able to col- ' lect more votes than this in Ontario without any, nudge from Harris. Ontario also has a long history of even popu- lar premiers being unable to transfer their suc- cess to their federal parties. Tory William Davis, the longest•serving pre- mier of recent years; was unlike Harris a con- sistent supporter of his federal party and cam- paigned for it in five federal elections, and even Federal Tories blame Harris trotted from retirement to speak at two rallies for Charest and phoned Harris urging him un- successfully to speak up. But while Davis campaigned for his federal party in Ontario its vote was inconsistent and up and down and there was nothing to prove he had much impact. Davis won his first provincial election by a landslide in 1971, but next year could not sway . enough votes to help Robert Stanfield become • prime minister. Davis campaigned again for Stanfield in 1974, but because of his own government's scandals was booed at one rally and the federal Tories lost seats. Being connected t� Davis may even have hurt them. In 1979 and rehabilitated, Davis spoke at five. rallies for Joe Clark portraying Liberal prime minister Pierre Trudeau as divisive and a strain on national unity, and it might be argued helped Clark to form a minority government. In 1980, when the Clark government fell, Da- vis was feuding with Clark over his increases in oil prices. but like a good soldier still endorsed Clark "totally and overwhelmingly." But Onta- rio voters were more impressed by higher oil prices and the Tories lost; - Day.is lent staff and spoke at rallies for Brian Mulroney in 1984 and Tory veteran George Hees told one,. "it's nice to see the best political campaigner in Canada." Mulroney -said "thanks, George." and Hees replied: "I'm not talking about yout Brian. I'm talking about Bill Davis." Notwith itaittling-the compliment, it could not be argued'that Davis won it for Mulroney. • In 1988, Liberal premier David Peterson,• • fresh from a landslide victory, attended prob- ably a record 22 events for federal leader John Turner, delivering such melodrmatic lines as. when opposing free -trade with the U.S.: "This - country is too important to trade away for a few pieces of silver." • But Peterson's popularity could not translate into a win for Turner and it became'another re- minder that -federal campaigns are decided on their own merits.