Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1980-04-16, Page 17.dave sykes Inside: The world is getting me down. It's nothing that would require serious scrutiny of my thinking ap- paratus but rather, rjust a general malaise. If you too are feeling sullen or morose these days, cheer up. There is a simple remedy at hand that this correspondent is willing to pass on for your well being. That's just the kind of pillar of the _community type guy that I am. So, if the balmy spring weather -ha you going home and biting the dog, tying up the children in the basement, asking the wife to bend down and check 'then rear tire tread as you. back out of the driveway or butting your cigar on the mother-in-law's forehead, this remedy is for you. The prescription fb'r...guch ailments is a little hugging. That's right -close in, body pressing hugging. Virginia Satir, a pioneer in human and family relations claims'that people need four hugs a day for survival, eight for 'maintenance and 12 for -growth. Life, she claims,' can -be glorious if people reach out and touch each other. Physical contact (the lady has a good .point) is very important. Virginia claims that Americans and Canadians aren't much for touching and hugging saying that most touching is. done on the football field. "I kinda like where that lady is coming from," I told a friend, "I do believe that a mess of hugs every day would keep .me in fine shape. Fine shape indeed." "I'm not so sure, about that ," my firend offered-. " Hugging can also lead to serious injury. `.`Are you crazy. Why if a fellow wore a frown all day the ladies would be obliged to apply up to 12 hearty hugs for growth and well being. That could result .in a lot of body contact if. you "hat I mean," I said with a hint of a smile and a wink. "And you know what they say about hugging. It could lead to dancing." "Well. I don'tknow," my friend of- fered with a wince. "I tried that ladle's suggestion about needing hugs to feel better and I puri all over." "It shouldn't hurt a bit," I said. "You must be doing something wrong." "When I got home last night Ithough I'd surprise the wife with a hug, snuck up behind her, twirled her around and put a king' size squeeze on. She was holding a wet bag full of garbage at the time. And little Brian could have said something about the electric scizzors," he said. "Well, you have to be careful about these things," I said. " Hugging is. meant to be a pleasurable experience." "I thought so too. And Leven tried hugging strange ladies around town thinking they would be happy to get their daily quota," he said. "But they weren't all that excited shout it. I got slapped, kicked in the shins, kneed in the groin, had my ears pulled and my nosetwisted counter clockwise. This concept of needing four hugs a day for survival is nonse:se. If I°get any mere hugs I won't survive." "Some people, just aren't tuned in to touching. There seems to be a delicate. balance between- approaching a lady for a simple hug and being labelled a pervert," I offered sypatheticaliy. "These are troubled times," I said philosophically. "And one must be very selective in .choosing a hugging mate. Not everyone is big on touching. Nudge, nudge .wink, wink." "I am going to give up hugging," my friend said. "My body can't take the abuse." "Well, I haven't given up on the concept," I replied. "I am going to wear a frown and see if anyone brightens up my day with a hug." Name the stars! Page 2A One foot in the furrow Page 3A Victoria students learn about weaving Page 4A McKay seniors hear New Horizons rep Page 8A Veterans attend Vimy banquet ' Page 10A G.D.C.I. musicians have weary lips Page 11A North Street U.C.W. meets Page 12A Letters to the editor Page 13A the derich UNAL STIAR 132 YEAR -16 WEDNESDAY,'APRIL.16, 1980 SE CONI) SECTION griPark t. BY CATH WOODEN There has been a great clash of cymbals not far from here. whose reverberations will be felt throughout Ontario and Canada. It is a clash that is going to alleviate fears of energy dependence, fears of food dependence .and fears of a weakling pr•ovino,e. More im- portantly, m=portantly, it is 'a clash that rings with optimism, innovation, and vision. In between Kincardine and the Bruce Nuclear Power Development, there is a greenhouse that sits •on a five -acre parcel of land and is surrounded by another18&0'tacres. It greenhouse. Ontario Hydro and six big . companies, are watching its progress, including Huron Ridge Limited, The Consumers' Gas Company, Ontario Energy Corporation, TransCanada Pipeline Limited, Anderson Flax Products Limited, and Weston Energy. Resources Limited. The greenhouse is the first structure :in the Bruce Agripark. This. year, nine more four -acre modules are going to be y secure future built and nine more every year after. What makes the whole project unique is • the method that the greenhouses will be heated. At the Bruce Nuclear Power Development only one-third of the heat produced by the reactors is used to produce electricity. The remaining two-thirds is wasted. Some of • this heat is contained in water at a temperature of 105 to 140 degrees Farenheit. This thermal energy can •be transferred through pipelines to the greenhouses to keep them warm at one thirdof th cost of conventi'^onaI methods. ' The eight to ten mile pipeline will ,be built this year at an estimated cost of one million dollars per mile. The prototype greenhouse is presently simulating this heating Method using borler- heated water at 105 degrees Farenheit. In it there are cucumbers and tomatoes growing. Twice a week a wholesale distributer from Walkerton picks up the • vegetables and --- .markets them locally and in Toronto. So far,. the greenhouse has not been fable to keep up with local demand. The vegetables are not necessarily cheaper than others but the quality is since they are picked ripe, unlike im- ported vegetables. More significant than the price, the AgriPark vegetables represent .jobs and in- dependence from foreign fresh produce sources. . Not only is the produce being examined, but the greenhouse str•u,cture• itself is also being scrutinized too see if it will stand up to Bruce County winters. e Three different skins are used on the prototype's six gables: double polyethylene, fiberglass and glass. The double polyethylene proved unsatisfactory and has been replaced with fiberglass, which is cheaper than glass, but has a limited life span. The structure is designed to withstand wind and snow and has coped with it thus far. Sunlight is really the important weather factor. Tests have proven that there is as much sunlight in Bruce as there Biggest stepping stone is public. image BY CATH WOODEN Ever see a cucumberor. tomato that glows in the dark? How about people from Kincardine? Do they have tails? • The biggest factor working against the Bruce Nuclear Power Development and its spin-off"energy sources is public image, according to a Huron Ridge em- ployee, Arend Kersten. "People that worry about radiation and fish that glow in the dark are just ignorant," says -Kersten. In the first place, the water that will be used to energize the Bruce AgriPark will always be totally en- closed in pipes, not; allowing anything to escape, if _there, ..-......is- anything there at all. , In the second place, it will not be used to irrigate the greenhouse Crops, just to heat them. In fish farming, the fish will not actually dwell in the waste water from the plant. It will travel through coils in order to control the temperature of the fish's water. 'There.Wa'.a man here in Kincardine who was talking about ' the AgriPark cucumbers. He said that he 'could sure taste the water in th,ern'. This is the kind of ignorance I'm talking about, "'This ' -project is common sense and we're going to make it go," says a determined Kersten. is in Leamington, where most of -Ontario's produce is grown. The' establishment of the Bruce AgriPark is not going to result in an era of corporate farming.. The developers plan to either lease or sell the con- dimini um -style greenhouses to family farmers. The farmer can grow whateVer'he 'likes in his four -acre module and, with two crops a year (for' most vegetables), he can make a• comfortable living. As a result, the greenhouses will lead to a population growth in the Kincardine area and a booming construction business. _in Jpioth greenhouse building and residential housing. And it doesn't end at greenhouse farming. The waste thermal energy from the nuclear plant can also be used in fish' farming. Once the water has been used in the greenhouses, it will still be warm enough to be Used in controlling water temperatures for 'acquaculture.'. The optimum growing temperature for fish is 56 degrees Farenheit. Farmers can cheaply keep tanks at that tem- perature by circulating the water in coils around the tanks and then finally returning it lake. , The investors in the AgriPark have corn- missroned a study to tine' Turn toto pagethe 14A .m Can produce ethanol to stretch gasoline You are no doubt familiar with the current headlines describing gasohol. as a logical stretching agent for_ gasoline. Ethanol production • is another possibility that is becoming a reality at the Bruce development. Both Brazil and Russia are producing ethanol and methanol in a major way. Sugar cane, wood fibre a'nd corn grain provide the necessary carbohydrates to -produce these products. The agricultural community surrounding the Bruce Nuclear Power Development can provide the raw. materials for a 4,000 barrel per day ethanol plant. This product, added to 36,000 barrels, of unleaded gasoline, would, because of the increased octane I've always envied people who can coherently discuss and argue world politics. I read the newspapers and everything and assume I absorb the facts, but they tend to get mixed up in my imagindtion. My grip on reality is rather infirm. You see, when it comes to world politics"I have my own unique theories of the cause and effect of events. Consider Tito. (Is that his first name or his 1ast'name or what?) The way I figure it, he is already dead. I mean, that guy has been the boss over there for 147 years. So what happened is this: Tito bitthe big one shortly after his recent illne§s, but his aides have been telling everybody that he is resting com- fortably and in good 'spirits', which isn't exactly a fib, right? In a few days we are going to get an announcement that he has finally expired. This means that his people have managed to straighten the power around so that there won't be any revolutions. ' You just gotta know how to interpret these things. Now let's examine the Iran hostage - taking crisis. On one side we got the Ayatollah and his kids holding a whole lot of Am 'cans hostage and on the other side w- got the Shah getting a suntan in the so And in the middle is the U.S. of A. sitting on the judge bench. The Americans aren't goi.g to believe anybody that wears a owei on his head, so they are going to get their guys out of the embassy their own way -- illegaly. One of these days, we are going to hear that the Shah has died of natural causes. The Iranian kids won't have any reason to hold the Americans anymore and everybody will be happy. But the Shah will not die of natural causes. The CIA or the FBI or the SPCA is going to knock him off, so that Jimmy won't have to make a decision. You gotta know how to forecast these things. And we certainly can't ignore the Russia-Aghganistan-Olympics issue. Jimmy has blown it. To my way of thinking, the Olympics is the reason Russia invaded Agliganistan in the first place. The Russians made it look like they were walking in there for highly ex- pedient reasons, but they know as well. as everybody else that Aghganistan is nothing but rocks and deserts and camels; They knew that the U.S. would get distressed if they threatened the peace of the world. And they also knew ,that the U.S. athletes would unpack their jock straps and running shoes and stay home from the Olympics in protest. See, the Russians want all the gold medals for themselves. You 'just gotta know how to dialyze these things. The current mortgage rate crisis Ile' t 1311 CalidCla stymied me for awhile, but with deep tTiought and a few beers, I managed to come up with some an- swers. The long and short of it is that it is all going to blow over very shortly -- about the same time the Stanley Cup playoffs are finished. It's like this: the boys down at the Bank of Canada have been involved in a hockey pool with the boys down at the Mint. When the boys down at the Mint choose a few winners, the boys down at the Bank of Canada have to raise the interest rates so that nobody wants to borrow any money and the boys down at the Mint don't have to work too hard. However, when the boys down at the Bank of Canada get lucky in the hockey pool, they get to lower the rates so that (a)they become well -loved and popular, and (b)everybody want to borrow money and the boys down at the Mint don't get a coffee break. That's the deal. The way I see it, after the Stanley Cup is won, things will settle balk to normal again. You just gotta have faith in things. cath wooden resulting from' the mixture, provide a combustion equivalent to 92,000 barrels of gasoline. Because Bruce County is Ontario's -foremost beef -producing _ county, the spent grain would have an immediate use in the feedlots of the Bruce. It .is imrnportant to realize that in the alcohol production, only. the carbohydrates have been removed, and most of the nutritional value remains irrtheresidue: A plant of this magnitude would require approximately $60 million to construct, would demand 250,000 pounds of steam per hour. 4 megawatts of electrical power and inject some $76 million annually directly into the economy in the form of operating costs.