Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1984-10-24, Page 4a PAGE 4—GQDERIC'H SIGNAL STAR, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 1984 DAVE' SYKES Is \ A The football pool is going poorly, the car broke down and the bedroom needs painting.. I haven't got the time ani'�ve problems seem to mount to gargantuan ;�, ;! ortions. There's so much to do and yet so fie time. In the meantime, a young girl is ; ;ing in a small community north of Toronto. Police and hundreds of friends, neighbours and even strangers with a compassionate heart search the Queensville area for an eight-year old girl who failed to return home. With fear and hopelessness etched on their faces, these volunteers beat the countryside in search of a clue that will lead to the safe dsicovery of this child. As the hours of fruitless searching tick by the desparation of their mission is evident. The kids are screaming in a determined bid for attention and are curtly chastised for, their behaviour. They are obviously hurt but fail to recognize their father only reacts to the pressures they do not inflict. It's been a day of demands and unreasonable requests from people who elevate their concerns to lofty plateaus and freely dispense with their narrow-minded prejudices. People demand, people expect and often lose sight of the human aspect of interaction. In the meantime, a community mourns the loss of yet another police officer, gunned down oh a street he patrolled for years. In the daily press we are regaled with pictures of a grieving family and the brave faces of thousands of policemen who know they could easily fall victim to the whim of a crazed gunman. Relatives, friends, the police community, even the nation launches more spirited requests for the return of capital punishment. It is a reaction to a terrible deed. Six policemen will have lost their lives in the span of a few weeks. Closer to home, a distrauglit professional kills his young secretary and attempts to take his own life. A desparate man in a fashionable district of Toronto systematically attempts to kill his family while they sleep. His wile and a young daughter cape. The daughter is killed trying to rescue her five-year-old brother who is : o killed. A seven-year-old boy is pictured in the paper in the arms of a policeman. He was not injured. And such has been the offering of this crazy world and the press that reports on Its events. —I' am drawn to these stories and can't explain whv. They at least serve to illustrate and offeir evidence to the fact that our own problems are not as severe as we originally thought. We become so consumed with our own affairs and consider them to be of such importance. I read all these accounts and am saddened. Why is man so insensitive to his fellow man and why is there so such a lack of tolerance? Sometimes it is a useful exercise to simply pause and reflect on all that is going on around us. It tends to alleviate and ameliorate ou r own problems. THE NEWS PORT FOR GODERICH & DISTRICT SINCE 1848 Founded in 1948 and published every Wednesday at Goderich, Ontario. Member of the CCNA and OCNA. Subscriptions payable in advance '20.95, (Senior Citizens '17.95 privilege card number required] in Canada, '55. to U.B.A., '55. to all either countries, Single copies 50¢. Display, National end Classified advertising rates available on request. Please eek for Rate Card No. 15 effective October 1, 1984. Advertising is accepted on the condition that in the event of a typographical error, the advertising apace occupied by the erroneous item, togethe r with reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for but that balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. In the event of a typographical error advertising goods or services at a wrong price, goods or services may not be sold. Advertising la merely an offer to sell, and may be withdrawn at any time. The Signal -Star is not responsible for the loss or damage of unsolicited manuscripts, photos or other materiels used for reproducing purpoeea. PUBLISHED BY: SIGNAL -STAR PUBLISHING LIMITED ROBERT G. SHRIER- President and Publisher aef,vort ps3• DON HUBICK - Advertising Manager P.O. BOX,220 HUCKINS ST. GiOroLT..4..\INDUSTRIAL PARK GODERICH, ONT.. N7A 4B6 S`P1/4\"*":e DAVE SYKES - Editor Member: C CNA Second class mai registration number 0716 FOR BUSINESS OR EDITORIAL OFFICES...pleeee phone [519)524-2614 Enforce penalty "'"r"" POSTSCRIPT by Pat Raftis in penal system The Thanksgiving weekend shooting spree that resulted in the deaths of two civilians and two police officers in Montreal and Woodstock has strengthened the demand for tht, return of capital punishment says the Exeter -Times Advocate. It also strenghtens the suggestion that the courts and nation's penal and parole system need some serious revamping. One of the men involved in the fatal shooting of the two policement had been released from prison under the jurisdiction of the parole board. He had served a little over a year of a sentence of four years and three months for armed robbery and the illegal use of a firearm during a jewellery store heist in Toronto. The other suspect had served two-thirds of a jail term for robbery, break and enter, assault and failure to appear m court. Neither man would have been free had the court sentences been carried out to their full degree. Obviously, someone made a serious error in approving the release of the two men, although officials attempt to explain it away as "part of the system." Well, then the system should be changed or those in charge of the system should be changed. A debate on capital punishment merely skirts the real issue and is an unproven deter- rent. Many of those politicians presently jumping on the bandwagon do so to escape deal- ing with the real problem of lenient punihsments, early paroles and a general laxity shown against those whose actions indicate they should be separated from society for the good of society. Area residents should obviously be among those raising their voices m concern. The suspect in the shooting of the two policemen in the weekend spree had once walked the streets of Exeter and had been convicted of an unprovoked attack. The accused served only a portion of the 90 -day jail term he was given for that offence and was then freed to continue his life of crime with an obvious lack of concern over the consequences. Those consequences must become more pronounced. JOANNE BUCHANAN Since coming to work at Signal -Star Publishing almost eight years ago, I have seen the company grow in leaps and bounds. With this growth, has come a lot of change which I have, fortunately or unfortunately, been a part of. The first change I experienced here was a rather minor one. It was the ire -organization of the parking lot. Instead of just parking in any spot, specific areas were marked out on the pavement and each employee was given a number. I was assigned number 10 and I became quite possessive of my spot, getting very upset wheneversomeone else had the nerve to park there. "Who's the jerk parked m my spot," .I've been known to grumble upon my arrival at work .in the morning. "Number 10 is MY number. Ge6itt of my spot or I'll have you towed away." Of course, everyone just ignores me when I talk like this but I figure if we're going to have numbers, everybody should stick to the system. If you don't protect your ter- ritory, who will? It's the principle of the thing. The next change was a more major one. The company decided to take our typewriters away and replace them with lit- tle monsters known as mini -disk terminals. In other words COMPUTERS. I figured I would have to' quit my job because I was convinced I would never learn to operate a computer. Everyone us- ing the terminals had to (earn a series of number codes and as my former math teachers will tell you, my brain does not function when it has to cope with numbers. It just shuts down. Refuses to work. The day they came to take our typewriters away, I clutched mine so tightly, it must The Goderich harbour expansion project is soon starting to take the shape of visible reality. At the public end a little mopping up is in order, as we had been liberally splashed by political waves of several kinds. Politicians and bureaucrats have a tendency to treat the public the way some grownups talk about children - over their heads, even as the children are present. It is okay to stand up from time to time, saying politely "Relax, mom, we understand perfectly well what is going on." Within two months two different federal governments announced the approval of the same harbour expansion, in their own way, while local ambitions did their utmost to benefit from the sustained publicity over a longer period. Thank goodness, the project was sound enough to have survived in one piece all these riches of partisan announcements and peptalk. One lesson ought to be clear - individuals should not mix their federal or provincial party politics with their entirely separate positions on the town council. It is bad chemistry, although occasionally it might produce a bit of laughing gas when the ups and downs, ins and outs of politics are totally unpredictable. One should readily recognize realities. The new PC government really did place our harbour expansion on hold, among other projects which had received last minute approval from the Liberals. The federal officials made that clear during the recent public open house they held on the subject. The radio announcements were accurate, even if the mayor did not like them. There was no "correction", only a subsequent new announcement (this time via our area MP) that the project now has the new government's green light. Users of party politics can hardly be offended by party politics. Although part of the town's geography, the commercial harbour is under federal jurisdiction, it is the federal government who carries out the expansion. This expansion was demanded by Domtar and Goderich Elevators, at present the biggest users of the facilities. In due course they asked the municipality for moral support for the project. That support was given in every possible way. Therefore, if thanks are in order, the companies ought to thank the council and the mayor for her enthusiastic efforts in support of the undertaking. At last week's council meeting, however, it was the mayor who startled us by thanking profusely the have taken three people to pry my arms loose. "Can't you just leave it here in case my computer breaks down," I remember pleading. "No, because then you'll be temp- ted to keep using it and you'll never learn how to operate the computer," was the cruel reI remember cautiously typing those first few stories on my new computer. All of a sudden, I hit the wrong button and it started doing crazy things. It was erasing words. My paragraphs were disappearing right before my very eyes. "Stop," I shouted, while realizing full well that a computer would not respond to my verbal commands. You know how you feel when you start talking to a voice on the telephone and then find out it's a recording. Well, that's how I felt when I started talking to my computer. Eventually though, after a lot of grumbl- ing over lost stories and other mishaps, I learned how the operate my computer and now I wonder how I ever got along without it. There have been a lot of other changes since the computers arrived. I won't go into detail about them all but I will tell you about the latest one. It's an entirely new phone system. We had to take a one-hour course from a Bell Canada representative to learn how to use our new phones. And we each received a little booklet in which we have written all the codes we need to know (more numbers! ). The new system has such handy features as automatic callback, call forwarding, call hold, call hold pick-up, consultation hold, dial call pick-up, and trunk answer from any station. One ring means an inside call. Two rings means an outside call. No dial tone means you have to push a link button. Phew! Am I confused! The phones were hooked up last Thursday. When mine rang first thing in the morning, I stared at it in panic. "What do I do now," I asked someone else in the office in a panic-stricken voice. "I think you just pick up the receiver and say hello," she replied. I thought I could handle that. I picked up the receiver nervously and was relieved when someone answered on the other end. Putting someone on hold and transferring calls was another matter though. I'm not sure how many people I cut off or simply couldn't get through to. I began to think about the good o11 days when 1 only had two or three buttons to push on my phone. Now each call is a major ordeal. Before I dial a number, I get out my little book and read the instructions and try to make them sink into my brain. I'm sure that once I catch onto the new phones, it'll be a piece of cake. And like the computers, I'll wonder how I ever got along without them. But once I do catch on, I'm also sure the company will have another progressive change in store for my fellow employees and I. I'm wondering if my resistance to change has something to do with getting older. You know the saying, "You can't teach an old dog new tricks." Maybe it's true. Maybe some day, men in white coats will arrive at the Signal -Star to take me away In a straight -jacket. As I'm being escorted out the back door, I'll be heard muttering, "I just can't cope with all this change. I just can't cope..." companies for their support. That was a bit confusing. It is always important to be polite. But a reversal of roles? In the harbour connection it was even more difficult to understand why the mayor thanked the council quite grandly for being a "good council", unless it was thanks for keeping out of the way and providing a suitable background. The harbour work by the federal government is going ahead and we are all pleased, hoping that the positive economic results will fully materialize. In the light of this event the little observations about who did what do not matter one bit to anyone; they are indeed ridiculous. However, if one looks beyond a single project, as I am inclined to do, at the wide pattern of the many items and attitudes over a council's lifetime, such cases show the public a great deal about the working relationships and roles within municipal governments. Is this council allowing itself to be comfortably downgraded? Are the council members slipping too deeply into the "good boy" category? How effectively and positively can they serve us by becoming increasingly like a mirror reflection of backroom politics, preparations and preferences? ELSA HAYDON