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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Citizens News, 1980-11-20, Page 4News November 20, 1980 Wou Id you believe a hornet's nest? = 11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111I1111111111111111111111111I111111111N 111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHIII111fl iViewPoifltZ.C.N. flillllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllilllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll millllllllllllllllt NMI Expanding job horizons It's a generally accepted fact that the term "women's lib" is passe but nevertheless there re- main many areas in terms of job opportunities where women are considered second class citizens. Conestoga College is doing something about the elimination of job stereotyping in the form of a non- traditional occupations program offered at Conestoga's satellite campuses in Waterloo, Strat- ford, Guelph and Cambridge. The eight week course helps students explore the area of non-traditional occupations through classroom instruction and on-the-job exposure. According to the head of the women's division at the college much progress has been made in re- cent years in broadening the job opportunities for the other half of the population. Of the approximate- ly 23,000 occupations in Canada women are active in only about 50 of these job situations. She said women who are career -oriented, look- ing for a long-time career and who have reasonable skills in math and science can do very well in professions such as resources engineering or becoming a- machinist. One of the initial obstacles to overcome in these non-traditional fields is a lack of socialization as a result of the few female students in the courses at Conestoga. The more women who become involved in the entire spectrum of careers that are available, the better our country will be especially in the area of trades where there is a great shortage of skilled people. To give thanks One might be pardoned for wondering, what is there to' give thanks about. Statistics Canada documents what we all knew from going grocery shopping or mortgage hunting -double-digit inflation is eroding our incomes. The constitutional talks in Ottawa not only fail- ed, they united the provinces more solidly against the federal government than ever before. Disagreement between Ottawa and the oil- producing provinces on resource control and prices jeopardizes Canadian energy supplies. New tar -sands projects - necessary if we are to bail ourselves out of chronic oil shortages by our own scoop shovels have not started, and may not without an end to inter -government bickering. At the same time, the OPEC nations introduce cutbacks to reduce oil hoarding by western nations, and drive world prices even higher. Economically, Canada heads further into a recession. Struggling businesses are hard hit by a Post Office shut down again. And winter is coming. No, if we look only at ourselves, there doesn't seem to be much to give thanks for, this Thanksgiv- ing. Yet on a broader scale, we continue to be much better off than most of the world. The bare necessities of living, such as food and shelter, take a smaller proportion of our incomes than almost any other nation you can name. Our energy resources may not provide for all our extravagances, but they could fulfill all our needs, if we learned to be less wasteful; few other nations are that fortunate. In much of the world, the kind of disagreements recently seen in Canada between levels of governments, between labor and management, between leaders and the rank -and -file would have resulted in purges, executions, or military coups. Or violent revolution. But fortunately, Canada is not Poland, or Turkey, or Central America. Despite the in- convenience it causes, honest dissent is still possi- ble here. That alone should be a cause for thanksgiving. Published Each Wednesday Sy J.W. Eedy Publkations Ltd. Member: Canadian Weekly Newspapers Association Ontario Weekly Newspapers Association News Editor - Tom Creech Second Class Mail Registration Number 1385 Subscription Rates: $8.50 per year in advance in Canada 519.50 per year outside Canada Single copies 254 III/II/ININIIII1111111111111/11/111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111/1111111/11111111WOUNI. I Miscellaneous Ramblings By TOM CREECH Air pollution: everyone's concern As a general rule of thumb there's very little infor- mation which the Citizen's News receives that is very applicable to the area which the newspaper serves. For members of the farming community some info which we received from the International Joint Com- mission could have a long term effect on agricultural practices in areas adjacent to the Great Lakes. A report ).o the IJC by the Great Lakes Science Ad- visory Board presented a comprehensive review of the problem of hazardous substances in the Great Lakes basin eco system. While attention has been focused on the problem of acid rain the advisory board suggests "the problem which may have even greater impact on the Great Lakes, the broader issue of harzardous substances transported to the lakes through the atmosphere, is given little importance." Needless to say, if the residues can find their way into the Great Lakes there is an excellent chance that the atmosphere- borne chemicals may also be carried across the lakes and in our case, deposited on lands adjacent to the lakes. As was noted by local MPP Jack Riddell at a re- cent meeting of the Chamber of Commerce the white bean crop is very sensitive to air pollution. It would follow farmers in this neck of the woods should be in- terested in any action which could lessen the impact of foreign substances on their crops or livestock. * Names in the news department: The fame of Hay township has gone far and wide recently thanks to an article which appeared in a recent edition of - the Toronto Sunday Star. In the column "Tracing Your Roots" author J. Brian Gilchrist makes mention of the French Cana- dian Heritage Society of Michigan. In the Society's latest journal there is a complete index to the 1851 census of the township. While this particular item might not make a great impact on the readers of the "Star" it makes a lot of sense to the readers of this newspaper, with the very large French population in the area and the number of relatives who reside across the border in and around Detroit. Our friends at their Heritage Society know what they are doing! A belated congratulations to Miss Marie Gelinas who celebrated 'her 103rd birthday last week. It's a milestone which is certainly worth noting and it's es- pecially rewarding when the participant is in such fine health. As readers of last week's paper can testify to, Miss Gelinas is quite aware of the camera and it took little prodding for a smile from Zurich's oldest resi- dent. Once again, many happy returns to Miss Gelinas. * * * As in any other industry, we in the newspaper business are attempting to constantly upgrade the level of profficiency in our products. To that end, the Ontario Weekly Newspaper Association sponsors a number of seminars to up- grade skills and to introduce new ideas. To this end the writer travelled to Kitchener Saturday where the association was holding a photographic seminar in conjunction with Conestoga College. In the next few months this writer (and photographer) will be putting to work a few of the ideas which he picked up so don't be surprised if you're asked to do something a little bit different when ap- proached by this photographer. You would think that as the writer completes his 26th year of existence, he could find a place as large as a community college. But n0000! He forgets to read a sign which says "This way for Homer Watson Boulevard" and ends up in some postage stamp size community that goes by the name of Mannheim. About a half hour later the writer finally rolls into the College, behind a staffer from the Goderich Signal -Star who insists on decorating her auto with large, flourescent , orange plastic foam disc. Oh well, at least you can see her coming, which in the newspaper business isn't too bad of an idea.