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Times -Advocate, February 29, 1984
imes -
Times Established 1873
Advocate Established 1881
Amalgamated 1924
dvocate
Serving South Huron, North Middlesex
& North Lambton Since 1873
Published by J.W. Eedy Publications Limited
LORNE EERY
Publisher
JIM BECKETT
Advertising Manager
BILL BATTEN ROSS HAUGH
Editor Assistant Editor
HARRY DEyRIES
Composition Manager
DICK JONGKIND
Business Manager
Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario
Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386.
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C.W.N.A., O.C.N.A. CLASS 'A' and 'ABC'
Pride becomes reality
The idea of Exeter council having an official card,
to honor citizens, is a credible one. The provincial and
federal governments have, for many years, sent cer-
tificates to those celebrating notable birthdays and an-
niversaries, and it's bound to add pleasure to the oc-
casion by receiving a further acknowledgment from
one's home town. It will only be successful, though, it
residents remember to inform council of up -coming
events.
It's interesting to note that the front of the card -shows
a very fine sketch of the old town hall, Exeter's most
prestigious building. One cannot think of another local
ediface that would be as suitable.
*CNA
Yet, less than 10 years ago, Exeter citizens were em-
broiled in a pitched battle about whether to tear down
the badly deteriorating hall, or restore it. Can anyone
imagine the town's new congratulatory card having a
picture of a parking lot on it, which was the alternative
to allowing the almost 100 year old hall to remain
standing?
In October 1977, a reporter of this newspaper wrote
an article predicting the day would come when all
citizens would point, with unabashed pride, at the
restored, historic town hall. That now seems to be
reality._
For what purpose?
A news report last week recounted the decision of
the Allied powers to spend $50,000 to provide an
elevator for the convenience of Rudolf Hess in Ger-
many's Spandau prison. Hess, at 90 years of age, has
become so feeble that he is no longer able to climb the
iron stairway from his cell to the room where he is per-
mitted to visit with members of his family for one hour
a month. Incidentally, he is the only prisoner in the
huge building.
For a whole generation of people who have scarce-
ly ever heard of Rudolf Hess, the explanation sounds
little less than insane. He was Adolf Hilter's No. 2 man
when World War II broke out. In the mistaken belief
that he could talk the British into an alliance with Ger-
many Hess flew to Scotland and landed on the estate
of a man whom he had met in previous years. Instead
of gaining a hearing with the British government he
was promptly imprisoned. He was obviously misin-
formed about British attitudes but of all the Hitler
crowd he did less harm to the Allied cause than the
lowliest corporal in the German forces. Yet 43 years
later he is still behind bars. For what conceivable
purpose?
Wingham Advar>!ce Times
The computer age
We listened to an interesting conversation the
other evening, which centered around the contention
that the computer society of the future will totally
change all our lives,whetherwe like it or not. One man
said that a few years hence much of the world's
business will be carried on from offices in private
homes. The businessman of the future will conduct all
his affairs by means of two-way computer without ever
having to take his car out of the driveway.
The second man did not agree. He contended that
men and women are social creatures; although the
technology may exist to make trips to the downtown
office unnecessary, human beings will not be content
to hole up in their private burrows. Most of us, he said,
do not want to be isolated; we need the presence of
other people to reinforce our decisions, possibly even
to correct our errors. We want to look the other fellow
in the eye when we make our deals or sign our
contracts.
There is considerable truth in the latter contention.
Those of us who have had the responsibility of handl-
ing staffs in our business know how much the interac-
tion of human beings means to the success or failure
of a successful company. True, the human element
can, at times, be highly disruptive. Jealousies and pet-
ty grievances can be costly and annoying barriers to
efficiency.
On the other hand, the spirit of good-natured com-
petition which a good manager can foster is one of the
most effective ways to achieve production goals. A
good staff becomes, for most workers, a second fami-
ly, a working climate which makes the tasks of the day
pleasant rather than boring.
The man who contended that society will fall apart
when there is a computer in every home may be cor-
rect - but, we hope he is wrong.
Goderich Signal Star
The strange world of the ham
My husband is a ham. This has nothing
to do with porcine posteriors or thespian
excesses. Don is a radio amateur, one
small link in a million -strong chain that
encircles our global village.
His interest in this engrossing past -time
was first arousedwhen one of his sister's
boyfriends showed kid brother his
amateur radio station. The memory of all
those mysterious black boxes equi
with quivering needles, flashing lightss
and intricately calibrated dials helped
determine Don's choice of career as a
Radio Officer in the RCAF. (The former
boyfriend went on to study law, served as
an MPP, is now a provincial judge and
still an active ham.)
Becoming a radio amateur is like con-
tracting an incurable disease - one is
marked for life, and seeks solace and
comfort regularly with other similarily
afflicted sufferers. The symptoms include
heads tilted up at 45 -degree angles, eyes
constantly scanning rooftops for inverted
vees, dipoles, and cubical quads pinpoin-
ting the abode of a fraternal brother, and
fingers nervously drumming out
messages in Morse code on any handy
vertical or horizontal surface.
Ten months after we moved to New-
foundland, part of Don's "ham shack"
was converted into a nursery. (At the
time I blamed the prevailing winds from
Conception Bay but am now wondering if
I was the victim of gamma rays, solar
flares, or errant radio emissions. )
Often as Don bent over his Morse key
he became aware that he was being
observed. He would turn around to see a
little boy standing up in the corner of his
crib, wide-awake brown eyes impishly
reflecting the glow from the radio
receiver. We waited anxiously for Colin's
first words, firmly convinced that instead
of "da da" they would be "dah-dit-di-
dah".
Hams recognize each other by signs as
unmistakable as a lodge member's secret
handshake. One of our most cherished
friendships began when a newcomer to
Ottawa walked past our house and spot -
Reynolds'
Rap
by Yvonne Reynolds
ted a big insulator on our clothesline.
Frank knew he was hot on the trail of
another radio amateur.
Hams talk to each other in acronyms,
abbreviations and Q codes. A wife is an
XYL (ex young lady, get it! ), 73s and 88s
are "best wishes" and "hugs and kisses".
Hams refer to each other as OM (old
man); Europeans and South Americans,
being more emotional, preface this with
"dear". The bulk of the conversation is
technical and dull, dull, DULL. Don might
discuss aerials with a Jesuit priest in the
Amazon jungle, or exchange readabili-
ty and signal strength with a Russian
operator in Northern Siberia.
Talking on a ham set is cheaper than on
a phone, but has its drawbacks. With a bit
of help from Ma Bell, I can converse with
my Vancouver son for hours on such
diverse topics as whether the Treaty of
Versailles'sowedthe seeds of World War
Two, or if Margaret Latlrence's The
Diviners should be on the required
reading list for Grade 13 English students.
I
After Don, with the help of fellow hams,
establishes a phone patch with my son,
and 1 realize that every radio enthusiast
from Bonavista, Newfoundland to Bella
Bella, B.C. and from the Argentine to the
Arctic can listen in, I ask for my child's
name, rank and serial number and hang
up. And he's not even in the army!
Now that we live in the country, Don is
in his glory. He spends one-third of his
time building antennas, another third
erecting them on a high tower, and the re-
maining third trying to figure out why
they don't work.
What should have been a guest bedroom
is a ham room instead. Equipment fills
tables and desks and overflows onto
bookcases, boxes and the floor. All clocks
are set to Greenwich mean time.
I hardly dare leave our six acres. The
minute my back is turned my husband is
boring holes in floors, taking slices off
doors, tunnelling into walls and putting
wires through, under, over and around
anything that can be bored, drilled,
soldered or demolished.
Last year Don was able to put our
neighbour's brother-in-law, visiting from
Germany, in touch with relatives back
home. As Hans designs test gear for radio
and radar equipment carried on Lufthan-
sa aircraft, Don hoped for a convert.
"Ever consider becoming a ham
yourself?", he queried.
Hans threw up his hands in horror.
"Nein", he said emphatically. "I have
friends who have become hams, and they
have spent so much time with their hob-
by their marriages lasted an average of
five years."
Well, I have passed the five-year mark
six times, and being a ham's XYL does
have its rewards. I always know what
time it is in Greenwich, England.
"I was turned in to Revenue Canada's computer for cheating on my taxes .. .
by my own home computer!"
To thine own self be true
There's a great hoo-haw
these days about confor-
mity, which has become a
dirty word. Educationists
and editors, social
workers and sob sisters
warn us that one of the
great threats to freedom
in the modern world is
conformity.
These Cassandras claim
that we're turning into a
nation, a world, of confor-
mists. They threaten that
the golden,age of the real
individual, the rebel, the
non -conformist, is nearing
an end, and that very soon
we shall all be slaves,
eating what everybody
else is eating, wearing
what everybody else is
wearing, doing what
everybody else is doing,
and thinking what
everybody else is thinking.
I find myself
remarkably calm in the
face of these prophecies.
In fact, I think they are
pure poppycock.
In the first place, I see
nothing wrong with con-
formity. It merely means,
"compliance with
established forms". In
short the individual ac-
cepts the responsibilities
and the restraints which
society imposes on him.
The vast majority of
people have always been
conformists. If you hap.
pened to be a cannibal,
and the piece de
resistance was roast mis-
sionary, you sat down with
the rest of the boys and en-
joyed the preacher. You
didn't say, "Gee, I don't
know, fellas. Maybe we're
making a mistake. Maybe
we shoulda boiled him."
Sugar
and Spice
Dispensed By Smiley
No, sir. You conformed.
You went along with the
crowd.
If you happened to be a
Roman Legionary, happi-
ly hacking up Gauls and
ancient Britons, you didn't
stop in the middle of the
orgy andask yourself, "Is
this the real me, or am I
just doing this because
everybody else is?" If you
did, you were a dead non-
conformist.
Equally, if you happen
to be a modern man, and
your kids and wife are put-
ting you over the jumps,
you conform. You don't
take a two-by-four and
pound your kids into sub-
mission. You threaten to
cut off their allowance.
In the second place, the
deliberate, or conscious,
non -conformist is a simple
pain in the arm. He is the
type who thinks he can't
be a painter unless he has
a beard, who thinks he
can't be a poet unless he
needs a hair -cut badly.
Perhaps the greatest
conformists in the world
today are teenagers. In
their desperate attempt to
avoid conformity, they
become the most rigid
conformists in our society.
They dress alike, do their
hair alike, eat the same
food, listen to the same
music. All this, in an effort
to revolt against society,
to be non -conformists!
Not that there haven't
been great non-
conformists. Beethoven,
Tolstoy, Gauguin come to
mind. But they were
great, not because they
were non -conformists, but
in spite of it. They had
talent, Mac. On the other
hand, Bach was a church
organist, music teacher
and had children.
Shakespeare worked
atrocious hours, lived an
exemplary life, and never
missed getting his hair cut
regularly.
Alexander the Great,
Napoleon, the Marquis de
Sade, Hitler and Lee
Oswald were non confor-
mists. You know what
they contributed to the
world.
Does this mean every
non -conformist is a nut?
Not necessarily, though
probably. He is usually an
unhappy chap who, for
some deep -buried reason,
must attract attention.
Trouble is, the people
who constantly warn us of
the dangers of conformity
have confused the non-
conformist and the in-
dividual. The former is to
be pitied. He is seeking
firm ground in a
quagmire. The latter is to
be envied. He has found a
prune (himself), in the
porridge of society, and he
chews happily ever after.
Perhaps old Polonius
put it best in Hamlet. His
son is going away to col-
lege. The dad gives him a
lot of advice about confor-
ming. Then, in an unex-
pected and untypical
flash, he adds, "This
above all. To thine ownself
be true; thou can'st not
then be false to any man."
Injustice in job market
One of the things that
the feminist movement of
this century has created is
an awareness that there
has been a great deal of in-
justice done to women in
the job market. Many oc-
cupations which have
been traditionally male
are now being done by
women.
Medical doctors, truck
drivers, welders, soldiers
and school principals are
areas ..WWfi are gradual-
ly being broken into by
women. It's going to take
time, of course, but
hopefully there will be a
distribution of men and
women in jobs ap-
propriate to their ratio in
that field.
Teaching is a good ex-
ample of a profession
which has fallen behind
the times in placing
women in areas of respon-
sibility, although efforts
are being consciously
blamed for this
imbalance.
School boards have
Perspectives
By Syd Fletcher
made to change this.
In my own county the
ratio of elementary school
teachers is about four
women to one man. The
ratio of elementary school
principals is about 20 to
one (and as you might
guess, it's not 20 women
principals to one man).
And I don't think the
women can be totally
traditionally hired men for
and more women have
become qualified and
have taken the first
necessary steps of apply-
ing for jobs which are
available and of getting
the necessaryqualifica-
tions for the obs.
I think it is within the
elementary schools
themselves that the.irst
steps will have to be taken
to make girls more confi-
dent and sure of
themselves in the job
market -place of the
future.'
Simple things: sending
girls instead of boys Sown
to set up the chairs for an
assembly; having co-ed
sports (many girls are far
more athletic then boys
and can excel at sports if
given the chance) ; having
girls try technical subjects
at an early level (home
economics and industrial
arts are already being in-
terchanged at the grade
seven level) ; encourage
girls to be the president of
a group instead of the
secretary.
If things like this are
done then perhaps at-
titudes will gradually
become different.