Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1981-04-08, Page 4PAGE 4-GODERICH SIGNALSTAR, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8,1981 dove sykes Second class mail registration number -0716. Impressions. Everyone has them, gets them, for- mulates them and then discovers their impressions were wrong or misleading. There are first impressions, wrong im- pressions, lasting impressions, vague im- pressions, surface impressions ...well, readers can judge from the partial list that several types of impressions exist. But the one I like best are impressions about other people's jobs. I mean everyone is convinced their job is insufferable toil while the other guy always seems to have a soft, cushy job withlarge paycheques and afternoons off. The sort of job that everyone is searching for but never finds, But if no-one ever finds such a job, how does the other fellow manage to find it. Interesting. Anyway, our impressions of jobs have become somewhat stereotyped over the years, as has the type of person who enters SINCE__ 84 ,:._ THE NEWS PORT FOR GODERICH & DISTRICT , Pounded la 1848 and published every Wednesday at 6oderlch. Ontario. Member of the'CCNA and OWNA. Adver- tising rotas on request. Subscriptions payable in advance '17.Si In Canada. °OS.N to U.S.A.. '0.00 to all, other coun- tries, single copies W. DI#play advertising rotes available on request. Pleasecak for Rate Card No. 1I effective Oc- tober 1, 11U.. Second class mall Registration Number 8716. Advertising Is accipted on the condition that In the ° event of typographical error. the advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with reasonable allowance for signature. will not be charged for but that balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the ap- pllcabie rate. In the event of a typographical error advertising goods or services at a wrong price, goods or services may not be sold. Advertising is merely an utter vo Fella and may ihe withdrawn at any time. The Signal -Star Is not responsible for the loss or damage of unsolicited manuscripts, photos or other materials used for reproducing pur- poses. PUBLISHED BY:SIGNAL-STAR PUBLISHING LIMITED ROBERT G. SHRIER-President and Publisher DONALD M HUBICK Advertising Manager DAVID S'YKES-Editor P.O. BOX 220, HUCKINS ST. INDUSTRIAL PARK GODERICH N7A 4B6 .FOR BUSINESS OR EDITORIAL OFFICES please ,phone -( i 9) 524-4231 e time to stop Considering the number of vehicles on the highways today, the odds of having an accident are increasing. Each day, in this county and across the province, thousands of youngsters are bussed -to -and from school, taking chances on the highways. Drivers are trained people and take every precaution la picking and discharging students along the roadside. But . udiiotunately, aU:..&;precaution is useless if an im- patient or negligent driver ignores.. school bit i'signals. There have been recent reports relayed to the OPP concerning drivers passing stopped school buses as children were being discharged. The potential danger of the situation is obvious.. As -a childleaves the school bus and attempts to cross the road, he or she expects that cars behind the bus have also stopped. That hasn't always been the case. There have been complaints about drivers ignoring the flashing signals and only alert reactions by students has prevented a tragedy. And there is nothing under the law that can be done about a situation like that. Unlessthe, bus driver can identify the driver of the car that scoots by a stopped bus, nothing can be done. • Eric Gosse of the OPP said if the driver can't be iden- tified a charge cannot be laid. It would be a different matter if the bis driver recorded the licence number and police were able to lay a .charge against the ow ner of the vehicle. • Even if the bus driver is alert enough to record a licence number or get the description of a car that disregards signals, the police can't prove the owner was the driver. Little can be done. Gorse saidhe hears horror stories from childrbout drivers who pay no heed to the flashing lights of a stopped bus and he' is convinced that sooner or later there will be a serious accident.x Safety educationhasbeen pounded into children at school but it is the drivers that need the education now. But then the children are educated in bus safety procedure and for the most part are. sincere in their ef- forts. Drivers, an the other hand, think more of their time than the life they may be endangering by passing a bus. Gosse said it is conceivable that a fuse could malfunc- tion on a bus and the flashers could not work at a stop. He says.drivers should have the.courtesy to stop behind a mo- tionless bus, to see if any students are discharged before making any moves. It would require a change in the Highway Traffic Act to charge the owner of a vehicle without having to prove he or she was the driver. Gosse says such a change is worth pursuing so charges could be laid and people would begin to realize that passing a stopped school bus is a serious offence. If there is an accident it will be labelled senseless and tragic and people will scream for better laws and a review of safety procedures. Why not now?. D.S. Strap rarely used The strap may still be as much a part of school as books, pencils and desks. The Huron county Board of Education has recom- mended that the use of corporal punishment should be a matter for each board to decide and will inform Education Minister Bette Stephenson that it is in opposition to the general abolition of corporal punishment. For the past month, Director of Education, John Cochrane has been soliciting comment and opinion from ','�m-t the county's principals, teachers and ratepayers on the question of the use of corporal punishment in schools. The opinions and comments were to be the basis of the board's decision. The response was ` disappointing both from the educators and especially the public. Not all schools were. heard from and only one letter was received from the general public. t I can relate to good of Charlie Brown and his unsolvable kite -flying difficulties. And I can relate to his feelings of inadequacy. Maybe they just do not make kites like they used to. There we were, my friend and I, on a windy afternoon with nothing to do. "Let's get a kite!" I brainstormed and im- mediately headed for a five and dime to purchase the latest model. I emerged, proudly bearing your basic diamond-shaped assembly -required 'kite with a picture of Goofy playing basketball on it. My friend rolled his eyes in a disgusted fashion. I am not very good at reading and following instructions. They bore me to death. Attach Part B to Part A and vice versa then tie string two-thirds of the way down Part C, securing it to hole in plastic; make sure Part D is where it should be, don't rip the plastic, and enjoy your kite. Right, While the response was paltry, the general consensus of the submissions was that the use of the strap should not be abolished and each board should have the right to regulate corporal punishment. In Huron County the strap is not used much to begin with. But it is there as a last resort and does act as a deterrent against deviant behaviour. For that reason, most educators would like to have the strap on hand. The prospect and humiliation of being strapped, not to mention the pain, keeps many kids in line. A decision to abolish corporal punishment or use of the strap would eliminate the last resort tactic. Of course, teachers were quick to point out that all alternate methods of discipline are exhausted before the strap is used. The. question of discipline in schools can be debated forever without any concrete Solutions but educators obviously see a genuine need for its retention. D.S. We assembled the thing more or less the way it looked in the picture in about 30 seconds and carted it outside with 8,000 feet of kite string. At this point, team work broke down. "O.K., I'll hold the string and you run with the kite into the wind," I instructed. "Wrong. You're supposed to run with the wind to your back, dumb -dumb," my friend corrected. "Look. This is my kite and I'll run any damn way I please! " I grabbed the kite from him and attempted to hold it, the string, and run into the wind at the same time. When I felt that the wind was taking hold, I let go of the kite. Since I lack basic manual dexterity and coordination I dropped thye string also. The kite rose about 20 feet in the air then nose-dived to the earth at 750 miles an hour. I swore violently. "Here," offered my partner. "I will that profession. toiow everyone knows that doctors and lawyers golf on Wednesdays or Wednesday afternoons at the least. It is taken as com- mon knowledge. There are undoubtedly doctors and lawyers who don't even indulge in the game but that's our impression of the profession. Save a few lives, throw in a bit of intestinal bypass surgery and whisk off to the golf course with.a fat _wallet.. And women have been battling stereotyped impressions of their work in many fields. Take the secretary for example. The secretary has been much malinged as a person who makes the coffee, goes to the dry cleaners for the boss, buys presents for the boss's wife and then slides into the boss's office for a probing session. All wrong impressions. I especialiy appreciate people's im- pression of nyy own job. Journalists have been labelled as an obnoxious, rude, com- petitive and heavy -drinking lot and for the most part, it's probably an accurate desiption. Naturally, I represent a sen- sitive and compassionate exception to the profession norm. But many people are of the opinion that a journalists job in the weekly trade is limited to' making mistakes. Drive around, take a few pictures, get the names wrong and then write a slanted story with spelling mistakes and misquotes. Not a bad. job eh? Do you know how dif- ficult it is to be in error on a consistent basis. It does take time to hone such skills. ' izi'his banal tripe was brought to mind this week when a gentleman suggested that an elected body of officials was being .led astray and manipulated by the press. In offering his impressions of the weekly newspaper business, the same gentleman remarked "if they (the -press) had a week to print the Lord's Prayer theywould still make a mistake." Readers are obvioulsy cringing with compassion knowing your sensitive correspondent was crushed by the irn petuous attack on this nobletrade. Not so. 1'n ft>I1:4I'm rather flattered. You see this „ntleman at least conceded that the press is familiar with or cognizant of the Lord's Prayer. It is nice to get credit for something once in a while. And the same man, in voicing hie displeasure -with our work, suggested that . . given a week to print the prayers„.iere would still be a mistake. Only one mistake. There would be much glee and back slapping about the newsroom if .our list of faux pas was limited to a single mistake. , Truly a milestone in the jour- nalism field; • But that's the way impressions go. If you . don't try to impress people they may be impressed and I would like to impress thant point upon you. EAR READERS BY SHIRLEY J. KELLER Life does have some very embarrassing moments for unwary columnists. One of them reared its ugly head in last week's Dear Readers column and I've been hanging my head in shame ever since. Whatever possessed me to call corporal punishment capital punishment is something I -have yet to discover. But there it was in living black and white for all to see. Shirley Keller recommends capital punish- ment for the schools of Ontario. Somebody suggested it was a Freudian slip of a former school teacher. I can hear the jokes in the teachers' lounges around the county. c `What an appealling idea. Let's call Keller and ask her to speak at our next professional development day. At-last_somebody uiyderstands_. the terribly sinful urges teachers get from time to time to permanently remove the disruptive elements in the classroom." I can imagine the stir at the board of education office. "First we had the people who wanted to ban the dirty books. Now we have some nutty woman claiming the only solution is to snuff out the kids who make waves in the schoolroom. Is there no end to these over -zealous disciplinarians in Huron County?" I can guess how the Home' and School Association would view it. "It's high time we get to see Bette Stephenson. To allowzniversity tuition fees to be raised is one thing, bull to consider such drastic measures to cut future enrolment is downright unthinkable." I had a delightful telephone call from one young Goderich mother. She told me she had two mischievious boys in the Goderich public school system. She asked me if she should really worry about them playing some childish prank and not ever arriving home from school. When I assured her that her children were safe despite my column, she told me she and- her husband had a good laugh over last week's Dear Readers. And then she asked, "Was it just a slip? Or was it an April Fools Day joke?" I suppose the fact that the paper was dated April 1 could have left some readers thinking it was a tacky editorial trick. It wouldn't have been the first time The Goderich Signal -Star carried a shock story on April Fools Day to elicit strong reaction from among readers. A few years ago, the Signal -Star editor of the day ran a story about the Maitland Country Club having been sold for a fertilizer factory. Not too many residents were amused by this frightening fabrication, and I learned then it isn't wise to use this kind of sick humour in the news. Another reader also wondered if it was an AprilFools joke. This person is an avid reader of The Wiarton Echo and he claims that a gold rush story in that paper last week with no April Fools disclaimer, duped quite a number of people. Just for fun I called the Wiarton editor this week. He tells me the paper got a million dollars worth of publicity out of that story - several television interviews and stories in daily papers as well as radio mention. But what's more important to him is that the Wiarton people are still talking about The Echo story - and that's reason enough for him to believe it was all worth the few angry reactions he got to the nearly full -front-page item. Alas, my attention -getting column was purely and simply a mistake. Well timed maybe. But an ordinary error nevertheless. A Clinton area reader telephoned me at home to ask why I hated children so much. He felt I needed professional help and gave me the name of a doctor who was willing to take my sad case. Who can blame him? With the continued in- vestigations into unexpected baby deaths in a Toronto hospital and the growing fear because of the unexplained murders of several black children in Atlanta, no wonder he wanted me to get treatment early. But I think the worst criticism I took was from my eldest son who said in that derisive tone that sons often use with parents, "Mother. How could you?" So I've had my lumps, dear readers. I have been properly chastised. As Joanne Buchanan reasoned, "You need to write something like that once a year to keep you humble." Let this clear the record. I am not recom- mending that children be put to death for minor misdemeanors in the classroom. Maybe after the threat of such a harsh sen- tence, (though pronounced through my error) we can begin to see corporal punishment In school as a reasonable way to deal with boys and girls who ,consistently cause problems for teachers and other students. Maybe we can see the strap or other physical .correctives a little less emotionally after last week's faux pas. Maybe we can 'view it as a proper measure to take when judiciously applied by a conscientous teacher for the sole purpose of actually in- structing children to behave in an acceptable manner. And a special thanks to all those who took the time to talk to me about my column. My faith is restored that I still cis have some readers out there. show you how to do rt." He sprinted across the field, watching the kite flutter behind him then disappeared into a ground hog hole. He swore viloently. Althoughour collective knowledge of physics is highly limited,we decided the kite required a tail and retreated inside to fasten one. Our spirits rose, but the kite didn't. Back and forth we dashed and up and down the uncooperative kite bounced. Perhaps it was afraid of heights. Swearing violently, we jumped up and down on Goofy and his basketball until he was a crumpled, tangled piece of plastic. We had been defeated. i am hoping that there was something deeply wrong in the . deceased kite's technical design, but I fear the problem lies in my ability. I regret to admit that I have a long history of experiencing the Charlie Brown syndrome. As a younster, I would build very elaborate and totally unflyable kites. The end product would weigh about five pounds after I made a frame with yardsticks and wrapped it in newspaper and garbage bags. The bigger the better. Naturally, the wind had to be of hurricane calibre to lift the darned thing out of my hands. And when it did, my homemade kite would inevitabley land in a tree or bust into little pieces upon en- countering the earth. Perhaps my lack of success with kites is the reason I have problems trusting air- planes. I mean, if I can't make a little kite stay in the air how in heck does an airplane that weighs tons and tons disappear into the blue? Naturally, you will understand that my self-worth takes tremendous blows each and every kite season. Just like 'Charlie Brown, I refuse to give up. One of those suckers is bound to stay in the air one of these days and when it does, I'll be so happy I'll be right up there in the clouds with it.