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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1973-09-13, Page 2yr PAGE 2--GODEHtCH SIGNAL -STAR, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1973 Let's all go Next week it is officially. autumn. Traditionally, fall has become a time for getting' back into harness, for picking up activities, for getting things done. The long, hot days of summer are past. Goderich Town Council is peginning a new season this month. After their, somewhat relaxed summer with fewer meetings and shorter sessions, council will now be getting dawn..10 the serious business at., hand. They will be deliberating over the matters which af- fect this municipality's taxpayers and they will be making decisions which will determine the future for all Goderich citizens. A council's task is never easy...but it is much more difficult when the people of a municipality do not provide the guidance and show the concern all councils must have to do their very best. And while it sometimes appears that councillors prefer to meet in seclusion as much as possible - they say they get things done faster that way - most ex- perienced elected officials will .agree that some of the best and most popular decisions are rrtade when an attentive • audience of ratepayers is in the council to council gallery every meeting to observe. Not long ago, a citizen of Goderich suggested that each of Goderich's areas (set up for election polls) should appoint a representative to sit in at council sessions on a regular basis. , These - divisional watchdogs might rotate accor- ding to a pre -arranged system but each would be instructed to report to the citizens in their own district whenever a. - issue of particular interest is raised. While this would require some elaborate organization which local citizens may just not be ready to attempt due to lack of municipal commitment+the suggestion has merit and in an ideal situation woulq undoubtedly be ex- tremely beneficial to all Goderich folk. Probably the best that can be achieved is to request as many ratepayers as possible to muster on the evening of council meeting in the Town Hall to listen and to learn. This is not to suggest that Goderich council bears watching. It is simply an invitation to sound municipal govern- ment with ratepayers and councillors fully aware of local feeling on all matters of public concern. Support Meet "OH -NO" the unsafe thing. "OH -NO" is a little, accident prone, yellow blob created by Const. Tom Jarc- zak, Safety _Officer with the Goderich Police Department. He (or perhaps it's a she) will be introduced to the school children of Goderich in grades Kin- dergarten -through 6 during the next few weeks as part of a stepped up safet' prograeh initiated by Police Chief Pat King. First, however, "OH -NO" is being in- troduced to the parents so •they will know, and be able to talk with their youngsters, about the little creature and his escapades when their children begin learning about him at school.. A letter is being circulated by the police department to these parents, ex- plaining the concept behind "OH -NO" and the program _through which he will be introduced to the school. Parents should study this .,losely and if they have any further questions contact the, police department. To be successful as a safety program "OH -NO" Must become a part of the youngsters lives as a whole, not just the part spent in the classrooms:- Safety Of- ficer Jarczak will be making seasonal tours of the schools using "OH -NO" to discuss the safety hazards of the time of year and between visits, the teachers Oh -No will be giving the program their support. The character, and what he represents, will be kept. before •the children. To make the program a complete suc- ,cess parents should do likewise at home when discussing safety with their children. This newspaper will also be involved in keeping "OH -NO" in the forefront through cartoons and contests involving his activities and misadventures. Safety Officer Jarczak and Police Chief King are to be congratulated on the time and effort they have expended, and will be expending,- on the safety program. It is an approach to safety that is Goderich's alone and one that shows the originality ,necessary to make such a program a success with the youngsters it much reach. • The local police force is fortunate to have an officer as talented, and as en- thused about his responsibilities, as QonsL Jarczak. The result of his work and imagination, combined with the sup- port and organization contributed by Police Chief King, will doubtlessly show in lives saved and injuries avoided as the result of accidents involving our most precious possessions our children. — R.S. Educational priorities Teachers throughout the province are up in arms and threatening to withhold their services if the government does not loosen the purse strings on spending in education. But when schools -opened on Tuesday, some interesting statistics sur- faced. Statistics Canada reported that school enrollment in Canada was going to drop sic and a half per cent this year. At the same time, it reported, spending on schools increased more than . six per cent last year. in other words, we are sending fewer and fewer kids to school and it is costing us more. Education is something of a sacred cow these days. Anyone who 'suggests we are spending too much on it is open to scathing criticism. The provin- cial government has been lambasted from every side for its ceilings on expen- ses in both education and -health-care. care The governrr)ent idea Is right, but the teachers have a point too, We cannot continue to let education costs mount forever. But at the same time, we must remember that the only important thing in education is the interaction between teacher and 'child. School buildings, fancy teaching aids, expensive ad- ministrators are only auxiliary devices in order to help the teacher -pupil relation- ship. If we must cut back, thecutback should be in these areas. It seems ridiculous to cut down the number of teachers while board administrators in- crease their staffs, year .after year. It seems stupid to cram more and •more students into a classroom to the point where the teacher cannot teach each the way she should, just so some flashy audio-visual machine can be purchased. It's time to get our priorities straight. Schogls, • despite what some ad- ministrators may -think are not factories. They cannot be successfully computer - r r 0 p ammed so . a little knowledge owned ge is systematically dumped ' into• each child's head at each stop on a conveyer line that ends in graduation. School is a human experience and as ,such, must remain as humane as possible. —Blyth Standard ¢rye.6ontdth SIGNAL -STAR — 0— The County Town...Newspaper of Huron --0-- " r w+iw M 1040 a.ld piiiM/Ard ;miry Thrsday al ri Wile M., OodMch, Ontario. Merabrt M the CNMA and OWNA. M.wMMM rotas ea rogroot. alrbrcrlptlons parable in advance. 00.00 M Canada, la OM conottrtee other Maw Canada; skid copies 30 contr. Memo clam *tall llogieNMlon Walker 0110 Ar1.rrNMag la aeeapNM .w the condition that, M the wont at typographical «ror, than "" Mr "hay spoon ocomphit0 by _the errslNeln11...,.togSlhor- with roottonobli agoweirar.$or aireolgero, toll not hit charged ler brit the bManoe of the imitartioornant.111 be paid for e1 tha .p- pAoabla rob. 0* the swat el a typographical error ad.erlim.g *wide or earldom N a Wrens price, ----- grade « rer.4su *lay not `e sold.- M orltri ale mon* 00 titter-tO relt-and navy be .Alhtinnot1' at ani► Nate.. • Published by Signal -Star Publishing Ltd. ROBERT a. SHRIER—president and publisher SHIRLEY J. KELLER--editor R: W. SHAW --editorial staff A.R. KELIIA`STINE • adllorlM staff , EDWARD J. RYRSKt--ad erlising manager Dust en ss and Editorial Office TELEPHONE 521.6331 area code 519 &seswd close snail resistration'wetter --0Y16 , DAVE R. WILLIAMS--advertising rsbrseint ties • Increeisecl BsneFi+s +0 Cos+To►x pokers .l"1iI l'o�ns y hJ GEE, THANKS! Y0llRE WELCOME! —AND THERE'S MORE WHERE THAT CAME FROM!! ROBBING/ HOOD .0.644i-W..,Z..sa . h ram 1DEAR READERS At the risk of upsetting smokers, some of•whom may be service men from the municipality who may refuse to enter my home to fix my television or clean my furnace, '1 wish once more to draw everyone's attention to the fact that smoking is not only poten- tially harmful to one's own health it is potentially harmful to the health of other people +_ who are not themselves smokers.' There's no better time to beat this drum than on the eve of National Anti -Smoking Week, September 16 to 23. This week has been; dubbed Smoke Brake /3 and suggests by4 its title it is time to put the brakes'. on as fa_ r as "the' weed" is•con- cerned. . Does the non-smoker have any rights? That's an in- teresting question and one which pops into my head everytime I'm forced to sit in a public place surrounded by blue haze from cigarettes, pipes and cigars. • It isn't that' smoking has .always been offensive to me. I'm one of those people who, has beaten the habit (seven years ago) and while I do not generally go about the coun- tryside preaching on the evils of nicotine, I'm apalled by the numbers of people who think nothing of polluting.my air as well as their own with cigarette smoke. Look at it this way. I chose to give up smoking because .I was convinced it was injurious to my health. Is it reasonable then to expect that I must now sit placidly by choking in the smoke of other people who. feel perfectly at liberty to light up wherever and whenever they choose? Smoking, therefore, is quite unlike many•other habits which harm only the person who in- dulges in it. Soon it must he recognized that smoking is a habit which affects everyone within range of the' smoker's oral exhaust system....and that ro a it Makes problem p b em w htch is no longer .. personal but very_:,. definitely public. The time, must soon be gone when smokers can claim it a right to smoke in a room or an area which is not specifically designed for smokers, - Can we segregate smokers? Why not? We quarantine anyone else who in any wayen- dangers the health of other people. Why can we not en- force No Smoking signs and herd all the nicotine fiends into one comfortable but closed area to puff. and to draw to their hearts' content. Furthermore, I believe em- ployers should he required by law to provide smoking lounges for workers. Smokers should not he allowed to smo a while working id the sanie ocation with non-smokers. While it may be argued that in a public place nem -smokers have the right to leave when the air becomes offensive, it is quite another matter to rule that one must give up his or her job if the man or woman at the next desk is a chain smoker and can- not or will not be restrained. I sympathize with ^ people who are slaves to nicotine and cannot function without their smokes. These people very of- ten sympathize with non- smokers whom they believe have every right to be "offended by other,, people's smoke, but they haven't the strength to refrain from smoking because they will "go bananas" without their crutch. It is this sympathy in, me which keeps me quiet 364 days out Of 365 to suffer in silence. But surely this is one of the rare•cases where one's freedom_ is lost...and surely there must be a solution to the problem. The suggestion of one smoker may not be so far wron . He suggests .n•icoti:ne pais for smokers who are "wired" to the habit. "I could pop nicotine pills in company," this young man suggests, "and be quite happy until I'm alone - or in the presence of other smokers - to. light. up." Interesting theory. Who knows if it could be practical? * * And before leaving the sub- ject of smoking, I'd like a•word with the teenagers and the pre - teenagers who think they can fool around with nicotine and walk away from it. -whenever they decide to leave it alone. That's generally what kids will tell you. 'They say that smoking just .gives them something to do v/Pith their. hands; it gives them an air of maturity; it keeps them in tune with the rest of the gang, most of whom smoke. They isay they don't smoke much - and that when they do, it is by choice.. Smoking is not a habit for them, they say, and does not become harmful until it is a habit, maybe a pack or two a day! Many of the young people I've known over the, years are wonderful kids with good minds and high ideals. They are growing up in one of the most prosperous nations of the world and living in a country with a tremendously high stan- dard of living. From the time they were babies, their parents aided by the government of Canada have spared no expense tci make certain they are healthy. Most have had expert medical attention at the slightest whim- per; they've eaten only the most nourishing diets; they've been kept clean, their surroun- dings almost sterile and .most assuredly as disease - free as humanly possible. By the time most young people are at age 12, they are, tall, straight, clear of ^ eye, strong and intelligent. If they are like most youth I know, they shampoo until their hair glistens; they bathe until they are squeaky cleans- they deodorize until they smell like new, mown hay; they dress in faded bit just laundered shirts and jeans; and they leave the –house -with everything going for them. And then : by choice --they start to smoke. They know the . physical dangers. of smoking - yet they are willing to get " * .job to finance their weakness. They know they are going to Amen possibly even get stained fingers and brown teeth and stale breath - but they aren't concerned. Smoking means one has -arrived one has made it through childhood and is now very much of the wild, exciting world of adults.. That smouldering fag between- their index finger and theone next to it, proves it, • When you put it stiles words it 1 Bg Shirley J. Keller sounds shallow and senseless, doesn't it? Yet smoking among the youth of. our nation is a. popular pastime which, very of- ten develops into .a dangerous habit which it is proven may eventually disabilitate or kill. Is it_ any wonder that moms and dads just shake their heads in horrified disbelief as their children insist upon smoking? Why choose the life of a slave? On rad io(lelic'ily Dear F,csitor: - I am one of the many people to whom Mr. McKee referred in his letter of Aug. 25, 1973. I too share concern about the expan- sion of the Bruce Nuclear. Power 'and Heavy Water Com- plex. Aside from the' possibility of excessive amounts of radioac- tivity being released in the event .of a natural disaster or human error, each nuclear reactor apparently '-releases minimal amounts of radioac- a tivity, well below the safe levels set by the experts. But what of the accumulated amounts from the releases of all nuclear power plants -over time? Add to this the radioactivity that is released at every stage of the nuclear energy process: the mining of uranium: reprocessing of the uranium to extract unused fuel and recoverable isotopes, and the transpor- tation of radioactive materials. Add again the radioactive fall out from nuclear bombs, and any other operation powered by nuclear energy. Gradually, the background radiation (the amount of natural radiation which occurs in the atmosphere and which varies fr_ om place to place in; the earth's surface) is increasing, and will continue to do so if the pursuit of nuclear power con- tinues: There is a limit to the amount of radioactivity our en- vironment can tolerate. • Consider the concentration of radioactivity as one progresses up the food chain, remembering that man is NOT at the bottom. I invite lay - readers like myself, to educate themselves, and then decide whether or not nuclear energy is worth ,,.the risk, knd any expert readers to answer the questions I have posed. Yours sincerely, Marilyn Penfold R.R. 6, Goderich, -Ont. O/wii Leifer Honourable Darcy McKeough, Minister of Energy, Government of Ontario, Queen's Park, Toronto. Dear Sir: Over the past fe* weeks, I have been reading . some material concerning -the - production 'of electricity N through the use of nuclear reac- tors. Not unlike many citizens in Ontario, I feel a growing concern about the ,much - reported energy crisis and the methods of producing ad- ditional "energy from various fuels. I chose the nuclear method to study because we are neighbours to what will become of the largest nuclear reactors in fhe world, the Bruce development at Douglas Point. Some of these readings have been frightening. In several ar- ticles, reference is made to the Hanford reactor in the United States: 1. Ritchie -Calder, in "Living With The Atom", p. 101, points out that the -water used to cool the reactor con- tains natural minerals which - become radioactive when they. pass through the system, before returning to the Columbia River. 2. Novick, in "The Careless Atom"_; p. 100, has further pointed out that, as these radioactive particles enter" the complicated natural food chains, their concentrations in- crease dramatically. As an example, algae averaged a con- centration of 2,000 times while ,certain insect larvae achieved a concentration of some 35,000 times.. The higher up the food chain, the, higher the concen- tration retained:_._ 3. Curtin and Hogan, in "The Myth of the Peaceful Atom", record that at Hanford, the lethally dangerous wastes are buried in carbon steel tanks encased in reinforced concrete. Some of the isotope apparently remain active for 250,000 years. Within 5 years of their con- struction, 9 (nine) cases -of tank failure have been reported. Could you provide some reassurance that these hideous problems can not occur at the Bruce Reactor .site?" The moss discomforting thing I read was written in 1972 by Dr. Hannes Alfven, the distinguished , Nobel 'Laureate in Physics. He commented, "Fission en?rgy is safe only if a number of critical devices work as they should, if a number. e people in key positions follow all their instructions, if there is no sabotage, no hijacking of the transports, if no reactor fuel processing plant or repository anywhere in the world is situated in its region of .riots or guerilla activity, and no revolution or war • even a "con-. ventional one" - takes place in these regions. The enormous [OOkIN Bg Il r0 YEAga apt. 10, 1 William Birnie, ror ford and Cambrid hash number peach tree, w , of e the stone. hien he Three of t are exceptionally one of them he baskets of the tusiou: season• Again they a laden this season a samples brought to measure fully eight half. inches in circa„ At the monthly the Collegiate Institu board last week it w, to purchase two t use in the commerd meat of the school. use them will be cha of $1.00 per term, Last Thursday aft: iron spikes for the r on the south pier a Montreal, shipped to of McKenzietand Ho The Nordheimer has had on exhibition past ten days at po store perhaps the h piano that has ever Goderich. It is a fu grand, the case being pleasing colonial finished in a beautif mahoganywhile round, singing quality in keeping with the of the instruments pi this well-known firm very glad to know piano will remain in will go into one of somest of the new ho are being erected in this season, 25 YEARS A - sept. g, Temperatures of week in Goderich, as recorded, were as Thurs. Sept. 2, Max. 45; Fri. Sept. 3, Max. 57; Sat. Sept. 4, Max. 60; Sun, Sept. 5, Ma 62; Mon. Sept. 6, Ma 67; Tues. Sept. 7, Ma 67; Wed. Sept. 8, Max 05; Almost one thou and boys were regi G9derieh schools on Accommodation; was the ,Collegiate insti two classes of th schools will again be separate buildings. A good rain'could do a lot of good'th. bean crop in South H the early ..fields in district are inevitably suffer by the protr:. spell that is still c. said R.G. Bennett, a: representative for Hu Huron county reps at the second annua ship training camp JuniorFarmers of 'being held at Gen' Lake Couchiching, a Lamb and Glen ASePt• 5YEAR12, I, On Sunday, Sept' 1968, a historical plaq unveiled at Sky Har port, Goderich, comm, the British Common. Training Plan of 193' plaque is one of a se erected througho province by the Depa Public Records and acting on cords an vice chaeological and Hist Board of Ontario. al• Former publisher George L. been presented W coveted Silvet Quill the Canadian Newspaper Asocial with a set of s+Iver-M the Ontario Weefl�. AsscOgaterio _service dedicated ,, newspaper industry. { Twelve runs ins e Hing gave San of the championship Industrial League night in theiven fins'. the best -of se • cord's Sports The seer&d a totaltot fins ' Sports 21 in +mei four straight g quatttitiea of e dangerous material ,get into the hands O( people or n be pear"'. of God ca Who is it th Ong guarantees the "ifs and of tomorrow? Paul Disgruntled Dear Editor, Two y ears s husband and l arta children visited God teontinud °" t