HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1978-04-20, Page 4PAGE 4—CLINTON NEWS -RECORD, THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 1978
What we think
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Can you read this?
With an ever increasing amount of
our gross national product being given
to education each year, a report from
Professor J. C. Cairns of the University
of Guelph comes as stunning news.
According to a recently published
article by Prof. Cairns, 37 per cent of
out-of-school adult Canadians are
functionally illiterate, or nearly four
out of ten Canadians can't read or
write beyond a gradeeight ei ht level.
Prof. Cairns' article is based on
research done by Audry Thomas for
World Literacy of Canada, of which
Prof. Cairns is a director.
And furthermore, nearly one million
Canadians can't read or write at all, a
very disturbing fact.
Functional illiteracy applies to those
with less than the nine years of basic
education considered necessary to
meet the demands of Canada's in-
dustrialized society.
And of those five million Canadian
adults who are considered illiterate, 76
per cent are native born Canadians,
and are between the ages of 20 and 64,
the period in life when education is
most needed to function properly in
society. -
These startling facts seem to have
had little effe' t on the general public
and the government, Prof. Cairns
contends. He feels the problem cannot
be solved by raising the compulsory
school age or by trying to make school
more meaningful.
Instead, he feels the emphasis should
bd on education of adults throughout
life, and make it easier for drop -outs to
come back into the system.
Any solution to the issue must in-
volve widespread efforts to make the
adults more aware of what they can do
individually in helping to improve their
own lives, Prof. Cairns says.
In the past, we have spent too many
of our education dollars on fancy
buildings, overpaid bureaucrats, and
mediocre teachers. It's time we looked
at the whole education system.
But the sad fact of the matter is that
of the 10 people who read or attempt to
read this editorial, only five will get'
through it, and the other five will either
not understand it at all, or won't be
able to read it at all.
Sugar and Spice/By Bill Smiley
A word from God
Last fall, when it rained for 40 days and
40 nights and then began to snow for about a
similar spell, I received a couple of pretty
stern letters from readers.
One was from an elderly gentleman, the
other from a clergyman. Both excoriated
me, in their different ways, for being
blasphethous. Cause of their concern was a
pair of columns in which I suggested to the
Almighty that we'd had enough
precipitation and He could stop dumping
it on us any time.
The-E.G. wrote a -cross' letter to his editor
and sent me a copy. The preacher wrote me
a long, personal letter telling me I shouldn't
be so "chummy" with God. He offered to
pray for me, and sent along a modern
version of the Bible, containing such words
as ','booby -traps," which rather alarmed
me accustomed as I am to the austere and
dignified King James Version.
Well, I wrote some pretty bitter columns
about the Canadian winter. But after six
straight weeks of glorious, clear, -sunny
weather, I'm beginning to wonder who is
right, me or my critics.
Maybe the Lord does read my column,
probably on one of His frequent lunch
breaks. I didn't priay to Him for some
decent weather. I told him rather snappily,
that we were fed up with what He was
dishing up. He didn't strike me down with a
thunderbolt, although I noticed my ar-
thritis became pretty keen there for a few
weeks.
Maybe the Lord mused something like
this: "By Jove, maybe Bill Smiley is right.
Maybe I did forget to turn off the taps there
for a few months. It wouldn't be the first
time. I remember a few years back .that
business of Noah and his family. I clean
forgot,. about them until it was nearly too
late.
"I get so darn sick of people praying for
better health, crops, more money, hap-
piness, and their own worthless hides when
they're in a jam that I sdmetimes turn off.
My hearing aid. I'm supposed to see the
little sparow fall, so maybe I should pay
attention when a smalltown columnist goes
out of his way to remind me that there is a
lot more than sparrows falling and a lot too
much of it.
"I'll let him sweat it out for another
couple of weeks, just show him that you
don't challenge My will with impunity.
Then I'll turn on the sun for a solid six
weeks, making the scoffers realize that the
day of miracles is not past. Six weeks of
sunshine in a Canadian winter! That beats
walking on water any day.
"Just for the Heaven of it, I'll dump some
snow and wind and ice and rain on those fat
cats who go south every winter and let
those Canadians who stayed home, not
exactly my chosen people, but at least my
frozen people, write nasty letters south,
telling their relatives of the blue skies,
radiant sun, and crystal air back home.
"Smiley's going to have to pay for it, of
course. He might as well find out, once and
for all that you don't get chummy or cocky
with Me. That's a special sphere reserved
for preachers and politicians.
"Let's see. No use increasing his ar-
thritic pain or his backache. That only
drives him to blasphemy and We don't want
to encourage that. I could wreck his golf
shot. But that wouldn't work either. It's
alrea1y so lousy he'd never even notice it.
"N , it has to be something more subtle.
Maybe I could put a bug in his wife's ear,
and have her drag him out of bed at seven
every morning and share the agonies of
that half-hour of exercise she does with that
dame on the TV. That would ruffle him
more than somewhat.
"But it's not enough. It wouldn't be clear
to him that I am an omniponent, fierce and
vengeful God. He'd probably think it was
merely his wife being obnoxious. And he'd
claim he couldn't do the exercises with his
bad back and his bad neck and his bad
shoulder and his bad knee.
"I could always rot the rest of his teeth,
which are pretty well ready for the
boneyatd, anyway. At least he'd suffer the
humiliation of going around drooling and
gumming his food for a while. But with
these blasted modern dentists, he'd soon be
going around with a fistful of big, white,
attractive molars, and thinking he could
start smiling at women again.
"Nope, it's got to be something that
would really get to him. I could easily have
him fired from his job for vagrancy, bad
shuffleboard, mopery, gawk and not
preparing lesson plans. He's guilty of all
and each of them. But it wouldn't do. He's
so lazy I think he'd enjoy being fired. And
he'd go straight on unemployment in-
surance.
"Got it! It will hit where it hurts. I'll turn
his grandsons against him. I'll make them
see that he's spoiling them rotten warping
their characters, that he swears, drinks,
smokes, gambles, and is altogether a most
reprobate and unfit grandfather.
"But ... would it take? They don't really
care if he drinks,' smokes, etc. They need
him for running across the room and
jumping on. They need him for kisses when
they hurt themselves. They couldn't care
less if he were Old Nick himself, as far as
morals go.
"Ah, well. I guess I'll just have to let him
go to hell in his own inimitable way. That's
punishment enough for anyone."
The Clinton News -Record 1s published each
Thursday at P.O. Sox 30, Clinton. Ontario, •
Canada, NOM 1LO.
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"He heard another satellite is ready to fall to earth."
Odds 'n' ends - by Elaine Townshend
Arguing with computors
I've heard that the philosophy of
merchants used to be "the customer is
always right." Of course, the customer
wasn't always right, but, if the
proprietor could make him feel as
though he was right or make him feel as
though he was getting away with
something, the happy customer would
keep coming back.
Bantering about the price was just
part of the buy -sell game. A sales clerk
took time to say more than a monologue
about a certain item he was trying to
sell. When the customer walked out the
door, the cashier's "thank you, come
again" or "have a nice day" didn't
sound mechanical.
In many modern businesses,
especially in small towns, we still find
friendly, personalized service, but in
some larger businesses, we note a
change. In today's sophisticated yet
often frantic business world; there isn't
always time for the little things that
make a customer feel like "a
somebody".
We notice another change, too. The
customer is no longer right; for that
matter, neither is the merchant. It is the
computer that is always right.
We have moved into a wonderful world
of computer cards and numbers. I don't
mind trying to memorize my insurance
number, licence number, bank account
number and postal code. It's those funny
looking little dots, dashes and punch -
outs between some of the numbers that
bother me. I know they refer to, me, but
what do they mean? It's the language of
the computer, and I'd sure like to know
what it is saying about me.
Nevertheless, thanks to the computer,
business has become streamlined and
efficient. But why do I have trouble
deciphering some cash register tapes?
Should I start at the bottom and add up
or start in the middle and subtract
down?
Bills are doled out by a computer, and
it should be reassuring to us consumers
to know that a computer never makes a
mistake. If an occasio-.al error occurs,
we are told it is the fault of the human
hand that feeds the computer. But let's
not forget it was the human hand, brain
and ingenuity that made the computer
what it is today.
Part of me admires the computer,
because it signifies the tremendous
technological progress man has made.
Another part of me resents the com-
puter, because I feel I'm being dictated
to by a machine.
How can I communicate with a
computer? How can I argue with a
computer, when I thin4 it's wrong?
One man tried a compromise. A
computer billed him for 1 cent. He sent a
penny. the penny didn't compute and
was returned. Before the computer
would give him any peace, the man had
to write a cheque for 1 cent.
A farmer near Ottawa tried ignoring a
computer, when it sent him a bill for
$00.00. He grinned, threw the bill in the
garbage and forgot it. A week later he
received a reminder from the steadfast
computer that he still owed $00.00. The
reminder also landed in the garbage. In
a few days, a second curt reminder
arrived, and it was followed by a third
note that was downright insulting.
By this time, the farmer was angry
and frustrated, but he was also curious.
He wrote a check for $00.00 and mailed it
to the company. The computer sent him
a receipt.
I'm in favour of efficiency in the
business world, but sometimes com-
puters go a little too far, and I hope they
never completely replace the personal
touch.
From our early files .
• • •
• • •
5 YEARS AGO
April 19, 1973
Craig Bowker, 6, of Clinton had
a tenious hold on a rabbit he won
as part of the fund raising efforts
of the kindergarten class of
Clinton Public School. The
youngsters of Mrs. William's
class raised $40 for the Bunny
Bundle Fund for crippled
children from the sale of tickets
on the rabbit from a rummage
sale they had at school last
Friday.
Harry Hayter, RR 2, Dash-
wood, was appointed Monday to
fill the vacancy;, on the Huron
county board of education
created by the resignation of
Jack Riddell of Hay Township.
Facing elimination from the
Zone 1 finals after.a preyious
defeat to Mitchell, the Fish and
Game Bantams put it all together
last Wednesday in Seaforth and
Thursday again in Mitchell to
capture overtime victories both
nights and the championship.
Captain R.A. Simons of
Bayfield who is employed by
Pacific Western Airlines in
Edmonton, Alberta along with
five other crew members have
recently returned from a flight to
Peking, China.
The L100 aircraft, piloted by
Captain Simons, was the first
cargo aircraft into the Peoples
Republic of China since the
Communist take over in 1949 and
carried a 22,000 pound cargo of
Electronic Equipment from RCA
in Montreal, for the Chinese
Government.
Clinton firemen were called to
extinguish a blaze in a barn
belonging to Don Hall of Queen
Street. The barn, which was
being wrecked by John Beane of
Clinton, was destroyed. Firemen
believe the fire was deliberately
set.
10 YEARS AGO
April 18, 1988
Clinton's age old traffic lights,
standing shakily on four corners
of the six street intersection may
soon be replaced.
At this month's town council
meeting it was suggested a type
of overhanging lights, which
would be more clearly visible
should be installed.
Skip Winter a Clinton land
developer and former councillor
believes Clinton is not going to
get any new industry until it has
suitable housing to Eft modate
new employees.
He has already shown that 47
percent of the employees of
Clinton's major businesses are
living outside the town. He
believes that poor housing and a
discouraging attitude by the
residents is to blame.
Mr. Winter is taking direct aim
at the Ontario Housing's report
which supposedly proves that
Clinton has no need for a Home
Ownership Made Easy Project,
or any other governmental
housing building project. He
plans to prove otherwise.
His motives are obvious - he
,alas land which he cannot sell anal
Would like to see the Ontario
government take it off his hands -
but he makes no secret of them.
Twenty-one thousand week-old
chicks died when fire swept
through a poultry barn at RR 5,
'Godericfl, Satu-r'day night.
The fire, reported to the
Goderich Fire Department about
7 p.m. by Walter Daer, RR 5,
Goderich, levelled the four story
barn in about an hour and a half.
Flames were visible from the
top of the Maitland Bridge.
Southeast winds fanned the
flames and blew sparks across
several hundred yards of fields
behind the barn, starting a chain
of small fires.
25 YEARS AGO
April 23, 1953
Miss Judy .Watkins, Clinton,
placed second in the girls' vocal
class (nine years and under) and
her big brother Jack won second
place in the boys' vocal solo class
(over nine years) at the South
i-furon Music Festival in Exeter.
The sudden untimely winter of
.this week has put a halt to
seeding operations on the farm.
The opening of Pickett and
Campbell's new store at the
corner of Albert and Ontario
Streets, was quite a success last
Saturday. The proprietors
estimate that there were up-
wards of 1,000 people who were
able to pay a visit and view the
new surroundings.
Joseph Ferrand has been re-
hired as Clinton's Chief of Police,
following considerabl' discussion
in the last weeks and a great deal
of planning by the police com-
mittee of the town council.
With spring in the air and
romance in your heart, join the
crowds' at the Crystal Palace
Ballroom, Mitchell, every Friday
night, and dance to the tuneful
melodies of Clarence Petrie and
his Night Hawks.
Thonhas Leppington is
beginning his 17th year in charge
of the lawns and gardens at the
home of Dr. W.A.Oakes. Located
on Victoria Street the property
shows the results of excellent
care through out the summer
season.
50 YEARS AGO
April 19, 1928
While complaints of bad roads
are very common the county road
not th of town is said to be in very
good shape. Mr. George Carbert
is overseer of this stretch from
the town to Londesboro bridge
and is to be congratulated on the
way it is standing up. Perhaps it
has not had heavy traffic as some
of the other roads, however.
Clinton was favored with a very
pleasing concert on Thursday
evening last when Miss Marion
Gibbings, a singer whom Clinton
is always pleased to Fear, and
Miss Marie Jackson, harpist and
Miss Joy Jackson, pianist gave
several high class musical
numbers before an appreciative
audience in the town hall.
A number of friends and neigh-
bors gathered at the home of Mr.
and Mrs. Ernie Dale on Friday
evening last and presented
themselves with a kitchen shower
and enjoyed themselves dancing
until three o'clock in the mor-
ning. Messrs. Monk Bros. of
Porter's Hill furnished the music.
A travelling company put on
"Uncle Tom's Cabin" in the town
hall on Tuesday evening.
Lost, a coon coat, between
Brucefield and the Varna on
Monday, April 9. Finder kindly
notify and oblige Murray
Grainger, Varna, Ontario. Phone
630r3, Clinton central.
100 YEARS AGO
April 23, 1878
The trees are leafing out
splendidly. Cherry and wild
plums are out in blossom in town.
How's that for early.
In one of the junior depart-
ments of the school, the other
day, a pupil told the teacher that
unless she gave him a better
monthly report, he was going to
get a thrashing at home."
On Friday, while the volunteers
were at target practice the rifle
balls ricochetted over the farm of
Mr. Graham (late Fulton's)
rather freely. Parties that were
at work in the fields could hear
the balls whistle over their heads
with a startling distinctness,
warning them of the danger,
which they were not slow to act
upon.
One of Clinton's hotels boasts a
waiter who can balance a cup and
saucer, filled, on the top of his
finger, and carry the same about
the room.
The dust and dry atmosphere
experienced up to Friday evening
last, created the hope in the
minds of many that soon we
would have rain, and soon it
came, but with the violence that
was unexpected. The rain came
down in torrents and for about an
.hour and a half one of the most
violent thunder storms ever
experienced, was witnessed. The
lightning flashed with alarming
suddenness and frequency And
peal after peal of almost
deafening thunder, apparently in
close proximity followed.
Facts
Dear Editor:
I quote from the April 3
repott from R. E. McKinley
MP, "I am sure everybody
has been hearing about the
confrontation between 'the
government and Tom Cossitt,
and are wondering just what
are the true facts. After the
Prime Minister said at a
press conference that he was
not paying attention to what
Tom Cossitt said or did, he
had the Solicitor General and
the Chief of Security Services
threaten Mr. Cossitt with
arrest if he did not turn over a
particular document that
they thought he had, because
what he was bringing to light
was the truth. What we are
faced with is that many
people in our security ser-
vices in the RCMP work
diligently, to protect our
nation from subversive
elements and when this
evidence is presented to the
Prime Minister and the
government, they refuse to
act. Therefore it becomes
necessary for these distur-
bing facts to be brought to the
attention of the Canadian
people by someone else and in
this case it happened to be
Mr. Cossitt."
Thank you Mr. McKinley
and now for some
clarification.
The honorable member of
parliament, Mr. Cossitt, had
What you
think
IIIINIIM1811lN111NIW1Iilt$Ilufl,NIIIIIIN
Not fair
Dear Editor;
Just how much did your
income tax forms weigh this
year! In last week's First
Column you quoted the
"newest joke": "Talk about
inflation! Even mailing a tax
return costs 30 percent more
than it did a year ago."
No. A rudimentary
acquaintance with
mathematics shows tha'!t a 14 -
cent stamp, as compared
with last year's 12 -cent
stamp, costs 16.66 percent
more. Just barely over half
whatYour "newest joke"
es
claims to be the increase. We
could say that this covers
only the first ounce, true
enough, but one has to start
somewhere. After all, not all
tax return envelopes contain
the same weight in contents;
nor can we assume that any
particular individual's
volume of information will
remain the same from year to
year, or even that the forms
which the government sends
out will retain the same
weight and yield of in-
formation per ounce. Even
tax JOKES have loop -holes.
Incidentally, while we are
on the subject of inflation:
your paper now costs 20
percent more than it did a
year ago, which is 250 percent
against the 8 percent
allowable increase by Anti -
Inflation Board guidelines.
Hmmm. Informationflation?
R.J. Thompson,
Clinton
(Editor's note: If one had
mailed a tax return before
March 1, 1977, the cost would
have been 10 cents, and had
one waited until after April
first this year, the cost would
have been 14 cents, an in-
crease of 40 percent!
As for the cost of the
newspaper, it was increased
from 25 cents to 30 cents last
fall, but that was the first
increase in three years,
meaning an average yearly
increase of only 6.6 percent,
well within the AIB
guidelines.)
Inflation
Dear Editor:
I noticed you published a
list of all the salaries paid out
to the town employees in last
week's paper.
I don't think it's fair, sir, to
just put in what the police and
public works are paid. Why
don't you put in your paper
the wages and salaries of the
Public Utilities Commission,
the Recreation department
and the board of education?
After all, as a taxpayer, I
help pay for all their salaries
and it's not right to centre out
one group and not another.
Sincerely,
Not well informed,
Clinton
Editor's note: It is not the
intention of the News -Record
to centre out any particular
group, in fact, in the ,,near
future, this paper will have a
complete, comprehensive list
of all the salaries and wages
paid out by all public bodies
in our readership area.
Because of the massive
amount of information
needed, we require time to
assemble a complete and
accurate list.)
persistently attempted in the
past to discredit the Trudeau
government. This, in itself is
not bad, but he dealt with
such minor matters that the
Prime Minister treated him
much as he would an an-
noying child - he refused to
pay attention. There was
before it became known that
Mr. Cossitt had in his
possession a secret
document, somehow obtained
from the RCMP which listed
various individuals whom the
RCMP had reason to suspect
of espionage activities for the
Soviet Union, and were
therefore being investigated.
- Most of these investigations
could hardly be harmed by
being publicly known, but a
few were indeed in danger of
being damaged by such
publicity. Hopefully most of
the facts in the document
were "the truth" as Mr.
McKinley calls', them. Let's
not discredit the RCMP too
much.
But, Mr. McKinley, how
was Mr. Trudeau's gover-
nment supposed to act? Pass
a bill legalizing all KGB spy
work? Make it illegal for the
RC1ytP to keep lists of people
who are working to destroy
our nation? Or maybe all
documents - none
withstanding - should be
legislated public property
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