The Goderich Signal-Star, 1985-06-12, Page 4M ► E4--GODEi iCHSIGNAI,!STAR, WEDNESDAY, JUNE12,1985
I feelcomfortable.
Ever since this paltry piece appeared on
one page or another in the Signal,Star (and
'they have unobtrusively tried to bury these
bon mots) I have been depicted as a laid
back type of photographer with a seagull
precariously perched on one shoulder.
The caricature was a trademark and at
the least the line drawing gave me a
measure of protection from persons who
took exception to the grey bits contained
within this space. People would be hard
pressed to recognize me from a line
drawing, I reasoned and felt reasonably
secure in mingling with the general public.
But all that's chanted now.
The seagull is gone. Forever. The last
vestiges of a relatively obscure and
uneventful reporting career eradicated.
And now I am left here to face the public
alone. The seagull, at least, was a good
Isimmani
DAVE SYKES
source of conversation. People were sure to
offer an uncomplimentary remark or two
about the bird. I realize it was nothing
personal, but after nine years we developed
a relationship.
Was there a reason for the bird? Well, in
my early days with the paper, I was rather
taken with the scenery of the Goderich area
and the resulting photo opportunities.
Invariably, several rolls of film were spent
capturing golden sunsets, sun -splashed
waters and, of course, seagulls in flight.
The bird, in flight, epitomized grace and
elegance and many frames were exposed in
attempts to capture thaa*�beauty on filen.
Thus, I was unduly ridictded for chasing the
birds about the countryside.
Being an inherent and identifiable
element of the Goderich landscape; and
having been the source of derisive
comments from colleagues, I thought I'd kill
two birds with one seagull and include it in
the caricature. It worked well.
One evening in a store, I noticed a lady
sizing me up and without hesitation she
approached and flatly asked, "Are you the
seagull man?"
Taken aback by thir ,ii 'den and fleeting
brush with notoriet\ l V%;w only able to
respond in the affirm l 'vt'. Yes, ma'am, 1
am the seagull man."
It only occured to me later the sinister and
evil connotations associated with the label,
The Seagull 'Man. It provokes visions of
townspeople hiding the children and
womenfolk lest they fall prey to the
letcherous and destructive advances of the
THE SEAGULL MAN.
But, the Seagull Man 'Nies no longer,
giving way to the more responsible
approach to journalism. My theory is that
management of your favorite weekly wants
to give the public graphic evidence of the
person repsonbible for this banal tripe.
Thus, the columnists now appear with
photographs.
It's all part of the ma limn process, I
suspect as the seagull an amara. have
been replaced by a shut an& q tie. flow
terribly Yuppyish.
Now readers can look forward to a weekly
dose of my pleasing visage, conrigi'lte with
hint of that winsome smile. l tend to get
carried away at times.
But while we effected some pleasing
changes to the,ppaapper last week, it was most
disconcerting+l.discover that my" winsome.
smile was barely recognizable. Th fact, it
was totally obliterated. Gone. Filled in with
printer's ink.
The evidence would suggest it was an
ominous sign.
Many readers have courteously suggested
the unidentifiable photo of this
correspondent was much more pleasing
than the real thing.
Where's the. seagull!
Opinion
THE NEWS PORT FOR GODERICH & DISTRICT
SINCE1848
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One of the many things that is evident from the recent tornado disaster in Ontario is that
people still care for one another. '
Sometimes it takes a tragedy to bring us to our senses or make us aware of the quality of
lifestyle we enjoy. It also makes us painfully aware of the fragility of life.
It is difficult for us comprehend how a life's work and ambition could be destroyed in the
30 -second passing of a storm, but thousands of people in central Ontario faced the total
destruction of their homes and belongings. Some lost loved ones as the tornado claimed 12
lives.
But what is reassuring from all that destruction is that people are willing to lend a hand.
to help total strangers rebuild a life that was lost in the horror of a brief storm.
That Ontarians have responded in kind to the plight of their fellow man indicates they can
empathize with the people.
• Just this week a Toronto radio station sponsored a 10 -hour call-in show that with the help
of 30 other stations across the country, helped raise over half a million dollars for the vic-
tims. In theJKNX coverage area, over $80,000 was raised for the relief fund.
People across the province are responding to the needs and a group of Mennonites from
the Kitchener -Waterloo area have sent a cleanup crew to the areas to assist in the operation.
The Mennonites effectively organized the cleanup operation and assumed a leadership role.
While the efforts have not been of the same magnitude, people from across the province
are helping in some small way.
Locally, the women of Knox Presbyterian had scheduled a barbecue for Wednesday, June
12. with proceeds being donated to the relief fund. Anyone wishing to make a donation can
drop by the church after 4.30 p.m.
Also, the Employment Centre for Students is, sponsoring a car wash at Suncoast Mall this
Saturday with proceeds going to the same fund. Give your car a deserved sudsing while
helping people at the same time. Most chartered banks have established accounts to accept
donations.
Another chance
Sometinlesyou can't win for losing.
Last wk we proudly unveiled a new format for the Signal -Star, a three -section
newspaper with a new community section. It took swrc doing but we weraproudofthe final
product and are pleased to offer a section of feature stories and community -related news
items.
But in our haste and exuberance a few minor details fell by the wayside. The date on the
front page of the Signal was not changed ( and many people noticed) and the main headline
on the front page contained a mistake as two letters in the word lengthy were transposed.
Fortunately, we get another chance this week.
In the course of life's joys, sorrows,
responsibilities and relationships, are
members of churches showing better
qualities and superior responses than in-
dividuals who do not subscribe to definite
religious doctrines?. Are religious beliefs
private, intimate and voluntary affairs of
spiritual significance or should sermons,
services and prayers be financed out of
public monies like road repairs?
"A strong Catholic education will create
the type of caring and generous human be-
ings who will strengthen the fabric of Cana-
dian society." So said Bishop Sherlock of the
Roman Catholic diocese of London when he
defended the proposed extension of public
funding to Catholic schools. The quotation is
from the front page of the London Free
Press, dated May 28 this year.
Bishop Sherlock rejected concerns that
full financing of Catholic schools will divide
our society and "insisted the survival of
Canada's culture may well depend on how
well Catholic schools do their job". Versions
of such expressions have appeared on other
occasions when the separate schools' public
financing has been mentioned. The
arguments are not tied to a particular loca-
tion.
Products of separate schools are no more
and no less "caring and generous human be-
ings" than those corning out of public
schools, as we see every day. There are
many religious beliefs, with different rites,
none having a monopoly on goodness, vir-
tue, grace and other blessings. All churches
have an equal right to exist in our country;
each individual has a right to belong or not
to belong. I would always defend these
rights without hesitation.
The point in the sch000l debate lies
elsewhere - in the separation of church and
state. There is quite legitimate concern that
Ontario is about to establish a "state chur-
ch" - interestingly enough at a time when
the Supreme- Court has struck down the
Lord's Day Act as being unconstitutional, in
view of the religious equality spelled out in
the new Charter of Rights. These concerns
would be valid, what -ever the religion in
question.
The wording of the British North America
Act of 1867 was to protect the Protestants in
Quebec and the Catholics in Ontario against
Beach explorers•
By Pat Raftis
Sugarand Spice...
HUMANS, though not as tenacious and
purposeful as the ant, nor as busy as the bee,
have much in common with them.
Ants, of course, can't swim. Or they can,
but they can't hold their noses when they go
under, so they drown. Who'd want to be an
ant?
Bees, on the other hand, can fly, and we
can't. But they are unable to jump, even to a
conclusion, and we can, so that evens out.
We don't have the singlermjndedness of
ants. They know where they are going, or
what they are doing. We don't. We go
wandering about and get squashed. They do
too, of course, but at least they were headed
somewhere.
Bees bumble, but never on the scale that
we do. They zero in on a flower. We stagger
into a cactus. They go, "Vr000m, vr000m!"
We flood our motors and go, "Ka-whtick, ka-
whunck, ka-a-a-glunk!"
There are other similarities and dif-
ferences, none of which prove that humans
are superior. Ants_ don't have sexual hang-
ups. They know that they are workers, or
soldiers or whatever. Humans don't, half
the time, know whether they are punched,
bored, or kicked in with a frozen boot.
Bees also know who and where they are.
bike us, they have a Queen, but theirs
cots . have to. e nsult-tthe,Labour ['arty
before deciding what to do abiiut unemploy-
ment. She wipes out the workers. That
automatically creates new jobs.
Imagine a worn, i' which bees had
unemployment insurance. You'd not only
have a bee in your bonnet, but a bee in your
hum, your brain and your bra.
Unlike u ants tionit wcirray about their.
ants. We have poor aunts who must be kept
under cover, rich aunts who must be toadied
to, and crazy aunts who threaten to come
and stay with us.
Bees don't bother much about other bees.
indoctrination by the other group. It did not
visualize a religiously neutral public system
for everybody else and a fully state -
supported separate system for Rornan
Catholics in Ontario.
It is unthinkable that only one denomina-
tion could operate private religious schools
with full state support. In the interest of fair
play and equality, all private schools of
other faiths and interests must be given the
same type of public funding, a stand the
Catholic Bishops of Ontario also support.
And such splitting is not divisive?
of Ontario also support. And such sptitting is
not divisive?
One objects to this kind of increased
educational segregation not because one is
opposed to specific religion or other special
interest group, hut because one is in favor of
a strong, non -denominational school system
in which, to quote from a Globe and Mail
editorial, "all children learn and grow in an
environment which treats them as equals,
and teaches them to see other children,
from different backgrounds, as equals.
That, rather than schools which segregate
They just buzz about, sucking honey. What a
life. They have no rotten kids, frigid wives,
drunken husbands, goofy grandchildren, ag-
ed parents.
So far, it looks as though we've got the
short end of the stick, and the ants and the
bees are in clover. But there's one thing that
drags thein down to our level. We all live in
cells.
You didn't know this'? You say humans
have free will?? You think we can call the
shots, be masters of our own destiny, choose
between good and evil, live as long as we
like, go to heaven or hell, decide what to
have for dinner?
Nonsense. You are sitting in a cell as you
read this. i am sitting in a cell as I write it.
Maybe your cell has a refrigerator and an
electric stove, and mine has an ashtray and
a filing cabinet. But they are cells.
At night, we move from the TV cell to the
cell with the platform where we, for no
reason, expect to go to sleep.
We wake up in the same cell, after
nightmares about being in a cell, and pro-
ceed to a smaller cell where we peer at
ourselves, shake our heads gloomily and
remove various normal blessings. Can you
imagine a bee shaving his God-given
whiskers?
Then we romp down through a vertical
cell with no windows to another self i7h
orange juice and coffee. Ants and bees get
spilled sugar and honey. No coffee, no tea,
no caffeine problems.
Next, we leave this cell for a mobile one-,-
with
ne,with 1"M radio, window wipers, and
automatic• knees. legs, windows. Mean-
while, the ants and the bees go about their
business, getting exercise, fresh air and a
keen curiosity about what's going to happen
today.
We know nothing new is going to happen
today. We go to a big cell, where ladies type
'ELBA HAYDON
students along lines of religion and ethnic
community, is where Ontario should direct
its public funds".
Many people also believe that such a
realistically evolving and steadily improv-
ing public education system of tolerance
and equality would do quite will for the sur-
vival of Canada's culture and would not at
all hinder caring and generous disposition.
At one time all schools (and hospitals,
workhouses and other institutions) were runt
in a little cell within a bigger cell. We pick
up our little cellular pieces from the ladies
and go off to our individual cells, where we
spend the entire day convincing other peo-
ple that they should be happy to even have a
cell.
Sometimes we are happy. We go to a big
cell and browse around, humming and snuf-
fling things and touching the untouchables.
But it ends all too soon. We are brought to a
tiny cell, where a young woman punches out
some tentacles that drag us back to the big
cell, where the Queen Bee informs us that
we have no taste, no commonsense, and less
intelligence than a bee or an ant.
While this tirade is taking place, what are
the ant and the bee doing? Biting, stinging?
No, they are anting around and beeing
around, with no sense whatever that they
are the lowest of the low, dumb slobs,
cretins. The words don't mean anything to
them.
. Some day, humans will rise to the level of
the ant and the bee. They will accept their
cells, instead of trying to kick the sides out
of them. They will do what they are suppos-
ed to do, without a lot of ifs, ants and bees.
Someday, humans will stop gossiping
about each other. Ants don't. Someday
humans will stop stinging each other. Bees
don't, except when you bug them.
Someday humans will stop asking,
"Why?" - he word- is riot in the vocebulary-
of ants and bees.
But humans must have a care. If they
don't, the theme song of the Twenty-first
Century might welt be, "My ceii is your cell.
Your cell is my cell. And our cell is our cell
On the other hand, perhaps s e are not lost
in the cells. Ants c`an multiply, but they
can't divide. Bees can buzz, but they can't
beam.
Maybe there's a future for us, if we can
just get out of those cells.
by churches. Cain we reasonably take public
money and go back in time in one area while
advancing in progressive development in
others?
Churches, temples, synagogues, mosques
and other places of worship are there to
teach spiritual indoctrination; they should
not replace general education, but add to it.
Homes and families are the environments
for nurturing special values and rites; they
should not eliminate knowledge, but enrich
It. Would not algebra, geography and gram-
mar, to mention a few general subjects, of-
fer suitably harmless occasions to tolerate
learning in the same room with fellow
students of different religious beliefs, if the
tuition is paid out of public funds?
When the United States supreme court
reaffirmed last week its 1962 ban on prayers
in American public schools, the judgment
said that "the government must pumila a
course of complete neutrality toward
religion". The philosophy applies here. It is
the only acceptable conclusion in a
pluralistic society where all religions are
cherished equally and therefore none can
expect special favors in public affairs.
4