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Tiiiies-Advocate, March 22, 1995
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ccM The Exeter Times -Advocate is a member of a family of community newspapers
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•" 40, providing news, advertising and information leadership
•
•
pinion
School safety is a p• •
riority
eaching a decision on what
action should be taken after a young
SHDHS student had a pellet gun fall
out of his clothing in class will be a dif-
ficult balancing act for school officials.
Finding the right combination of dis-
cipline and deterrent for future occur-
rences can only be arrived at after care-
ful examination of the act and the
circumstances which led up to having a
weapon at school. Also, an important
factor must be the attitude of the stu-
dent. Is bringing a gun to class part of a
longer series of problems, or, was this
event a prank that started without the
student thinking of the consequences?
School officials are on the front lines
every day with an obligation to educate
the so-called "problem" students as
well as the majority who are serious
about school and who are entitled to at-
tend classes without fear of violence of
any kind. They understand a message
must be delivered to parents, who are
also taxpayers, that certain standards
must be maintained in our schools.
There are many people already who
have been very quick to react by sug-
gesting the much talked about "zero tol-
erance" concept be called into action.
The most extreme measure that could
be taken at SHDHS would be immedi-
ate expulsion.
Principal Herb Murphy and Vice -
Principal Keith Allen obviously cannot
appear to be soft when recommending
what action the board should take, but
Allen appears to be keeping the matter
into perspective. He has confiscated
weapons he terms as "much more dan-
gerous" and is quoted as saying "some
knives are far more lethal."
Perhaps suspending the student for a
few days will be all the punishment the
school board's Action Committee will
demand. In a perfect world the student
would accept responsibility for the ac-
tion, apologize to classmates and teach-
ers and focus on getting an education.
The major part of any punishment
should be handled by the parents.
SHDHS is no more operating in a per-
fect world than any other school across
the country where the discovery of a
concealed pellet gun might not cause as
much excitement as it did in safe and
friendly Exeter. Events of this nature
happen routinely in other communities.
The fact this incident is getting priority
attention here is an indication of how
fortunate we have been by not having to
face a large amount of violence in our
schools. We expect there will be a larger
than normal turnout at a general meeting
scheduled for Thursday, March 30 at
SHDHS.
Reverse a restrictive policy
f you're a contractor from Ex-
eter, Hensall, Grand Bend, Stephen
Township or any community other than
Hay Township you can forget about
submitting a tender on the building of
the new Hay municipal office.
In a three to two vote Hay councillors
Don Oesch, Blaise Ducharme and Ge-
rald Shantz supported a motion exclud-
ing all contractors other than those who
are paying taxes in Hay from participat-
ing in the traditional way of getting mu-
nicipal work.
The tendering process is one that has
been in practice in Granada for genera-
tions and is a certain way of guarantee-
ing taxpayers get the most value for
their money. The estimated $200,000
project will now be built without hav-
ing the benefit of competitive bids from
dozens of good firms who deserve a
chance. The council decision could
backfire and cost more than it would
have if there had been a larger number
of people sharpening their pencils to
compete for the job. With the announce-
ment that only Hay businesses are eligi-
ble it will never really be known how
much the project could have been built
for.
Both Reeve Murray Keys and Deputy -
Reeve Jim Love opposed the motion but
apparently they couldn't spread their
spirit of free enterprise to one of the oth-
er three. We can only imagine the noise
these councillors would make if all other
municipalities refused to give the Hay
contractors a chance. And, who knows,
even with a totally open process a build-
er from Hay might have actually won
the work on a fair competition.
Council should admit a mistake has
been made and reverse this regressive
policy as soon as possible.
TORONTO - Premier Bob Rae keeps re-
writing his script for the election he is expected
to call almost any time.
The New Democrat premier with only 17 per-
cent in polls is looking desperately for an issue
that will attract voters and juggling so many in
the air at the same time they may have lost
track.
A month or so ago Rae was putting most
stress on the claim he has a higher intellect than
either Liberal leader Lyn McLeod or Progres-
sive Conservative leader Mike Harris, which
many would agree with, and electors should
hold on to their bargain.
This reasoning has been shot down a bit by
recognition that having the highest I.Q. is not
everything and policies also count.
Rae also has been eager to portray himself as
the architect of jobs particularly in construction
and taken this to extraordinary lengths.
The premier wants to build two more subway
Queen's Park
Jay Eric Dowd,::;
C C•464
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On the road again...
By Ross Haugh
Pardon my tongue
As anyone connected with the
communication business knows,
what comes out of your mouth
or appears in a story isn't always
exactly what you meant to say.
This week how about some rem-
iniscing and reporting on bloop-
ers or (slips of the tongue)
which have been read in news-
papers and heard on radio and
television.
We will start on the one that
we remember the most vividly
from the pages of the Times Ad-
vocate. This happened when
yours truly and the late Bill Bat-
ten were the lone editorial staff.
Mary Rader, our Dashwood cor-
respondent sent in an item that
said six young people were con-
firmed at the Lutheran Church
in Dashwood.
In those days, one of us would
write the proposed heading on a
sheet of paper and it would go
to the headline operator to be set
ready for pasteup on the news-
paper page.
I don't remember which one of
us wrote this particular heading,
but it said, "Six confirmed at
Dashwood'. You can guess what
happened. The next day the
heading read, "Sex confirmed at
Dashwood".
It's a given rule in the newspa-
per business that no one should
proof read their own copy. In
this instance the error got by the
typist, the two people who were
likely doing pasteup at the time,
someone who is supposed to
check each page and personnel
in the dark room.
The upshot of this incident
turned out to be quite humorous.
The next day we received phone
calls from two ministers (who
shall remain anonymous) asking
if they could be transferred to
that church.
Now on to some other bloop-
ers that we have heard about
over the years.
We will start for the benefit of
the many former baseball fans
who have only fond memories
of happenings on the diamonds
of North America what with the
present strike still going on.
"The American league standings
show the Cleveland Indians in
first place with the New York
Yankees close up there behind."
"The proceeds of the annual all
star game go to the indignant
ball players. I beg your pardon,
that should be indigent ball
players".How close was that
original statement to the present
truth?"
From the public address sys-
tem at Ebbetts Field in Brooklyn
came, "Ladies, another com-
plaint has been received. Will
those of you in the front -row
boxes please remove your
clothes"".
"There have been many ball
players who have been able to
handle the bat from either the
right or the left side of the plate,
but I think most sportswriters
will agree that Mickey Mantle
was the greatest swish hitter of
all times".
A baseball fan came in from
Philadelphia to New York to
watch a game and was
asked,"Are you cheering for the
Yankees or the Indians?" and
his reply was, "Neither, I'm an
Athletic supporter."
From a radio crime reporter, "
Police authorities are finding the
solution of murders more and
more difficult to solve because
the victims are unwilling to co-
operate with police".
Same reporter, "Credit for the
discovery of the stolen automo-
bile was given to Captain Blank,
a defective of the Los Angeles
farce".
On a church bulletin board "
Don't forget next week's sermon
entitled,'Do you know what hell
is?'. Come in and hear our or-
ganist".
From a weather forecast, "Of
the 29 days in February, 126
were clear".
And, finally, a partial weather
and sports scores report,
"Cloudy and 4-3."
extensions in Metropolitan Toronto costing $1
billion and paid for mostly by the province on
top of $2 billion -worth already agreed to.
The municipality, which ought to be best
judge, argues there will not be enough passen-
gers to justify the extensions and money would
be better spent improving the existing system,
but Rae has threatened to dig away even with-
out its blessing.
Rae hoped to win support from construction
workers and transit riders, but is seen instead as
prepared to build anything to win votes. His
proposal looks like it should be referred to the
Better Business Bureau and his largesse toward
Toronto also is beginning to annoy residents of
other areas.
Rae has pulled a more useful issue out of the
hat by promising to reform education, moving
it from lai sez-faire attitudes and back toward
basics with province -wide exams, curriculum
more under provincial control and stricter mon-
NDP looking for an Issue
itoring of the system and teachers.
The NDP is partly to blame, because in oppo-
sition it was all for the learn -if -you -like system
a Tory government set up in the 1960s, and the
NDP's reforms have been welcomed by Liber-
als and Tories, which knocks a few decibels off
them as a battle -cry.
But the NDP did set up the commission
which recommended the reforms and has
adopted them, while the Tories in government
up to 1985 and Liberals from 1985-90 snoozed
at their desks, so the NDP is entitled to claim
credit.
These issues have been superseded by the
Liberal federal government's unprecedented
cuts in spending in its budget, which will dras-
tically reduce its payments to Ontario for
health, education and social assistance.
They will make it tougher for the province by
forcing it to reduce services or impose much
higher taxes, which no government facing an
election wants to contemplate.
Rae has warned melodramatically the federal
reduction 'literally means the end of the Cana-
da that we know...the campaign and fight for
Ontario have just begun.'
Rae is trying to tie McLeod to the federal cuts
and claim she is too friendly to the federal Lib-
erals to object to anything they do, so that On-
tario needs the NDP to defend its interests.
Provincial parties in the past have profited
from attacking Ottawa in elections, but voters
are now indicating overwhelmingly their priori-
ty is cutting costs, most Ontarians in a poll ap-
prove the federal cuts and provinces that cut are
suddenly much more popular.
Rae will miss the boat if he fails to identify
himself in some way with this mood for cost-
cutting, although whatever script he writes he is
stili very much a long shot.
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