Loading...
The Goderich Signal-Star, 1979-12-06, Page 4,:-'AciLr 4 --GODERICH SIGNAL -STAR, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1979 �Goderich—®- SIGNAL -STAR The County Town Newspaper of Huron Founded in 1848 and published ovary Thursday at Goderich, Ontario. Member of the CCNA and OWNA. Advertising rates on request. Subscriptions payable in advance '10.00 in Coni do, •05.00 to U.S.A„ '.$S.00 to all other countries, single copies JS', Display advertising rates available on request. Please ask for Rate Card No. 9 effective Sept. 1, 1979. Second class mall Registration Number 0716. Advertising 1i accepted -on -The comittlen that toithe. - evnnt--of 4.ypogrophlcat error, the advertising space sccupted- by the erroneous Item, together with reasonabfe attowanco for signature, will not bo charged for but the bolanco of the advertisement will bo paid for at the applicable rate. In the event of a typographical error advertising goods or services, at a wrong price. goods or service may not bo sold. Advertising Is merely en offer to sell, and may bo withdrawn at any time. The SignalStarIs not responsible for the lo'ss or damage of unsolicited manuscripts or photos. Business and Editorial Office TELEPHONE 524.8331 area code 519 Published by Signal -Star Publishing Ltd. ROBERT G. SHRIER — president and publisher SHIRLEY J. KELLER — editor DONALD M. HUBICK • advertising manager Mailing Address: P.O. BOX 220, Industrial Park, Goderich Second class mail registration number 0716 Need student page It's time to be thinking about new year's resolutions. If the teaching staff and the student body at GDCI are making any resolutions for 1980, they might like to consider a high school page in The Goderich Signal -Star. • Actually, GDCI is the only high school in Huron County that doesn't take advantage of the local newspaper's offer to include a page once monthly or so,' written and edited by and for high school students. A few weeks ago, The Wingham Advance -Times carried an editorial about The Madill Mirror, F.E.Madill's page within the Advance -Times. According .to the editorial, the idea for the page was proposed 16 years ago by the Wingham editor and in the intervening years, The Mirror has become an established part of the school's activities. The Mirrorwas one of the first student -produced pages in Canada and in the United States. Since that time, though, many high schools and their weekly newspapers have co-operated in a venture which provides "a medium of expression for young people". The Wingham editorial pointed out that one of the most valuable articles on the school page is the editorial corrnment, "a column of opinion which always proves to be worth reading". The editorial notes: "The student editorials reveal the trend in the thinking of young people - something we adults are all too prone to disregard." Goderich young people also want to heard. That is evident every time there's an issue of importance to ' discuss. Remember the teachers' strike? Remember the very mature, very articulate young people who spoke out then? Young people have a fresh, new approach to ' living which is always good for adults to study. In the current Canadian struggle with inflation and high interest rates, for instance, some of the most hopeful and fearless attitudes are being expressed by the young people. Why not? This is their country and they intend to stay here and make it a good place to live. They are the future and they are enthused about it. ' This newspaper is always interested 'in the viewpoint of young people, particularly the students at GDCI who are young people on their way up. This newspaper asks.onee again that the teachers and students at GDCI consider the possibility of a student produced page in The Signal -Star on a basis to be decided by them. It would be worth the effort. SJK Red tape for safety A new ruling by' the Ontario Ministry of Tran- sportation and Cclmmunications for school bus operators to keep a daily inspection log of their vehicles will be a pain in the neck for the drivers, but an extra mea,sureof_ safe.ty_for-:th ra incu_. children who must ride a school bus each day. MTC Minister James Snow says the purpose of Bite the bu11eti • shop Canadian There's a word this week for Christmas shoppers. It's simple. Shop Canadian and do your part to held drive down interest rates. It's all part of what Finance Minister John Crosbie calls "biting the bullet". Crosbie says Canadians can expect a tough winter. He backs Bank of Canada Governor Gerald Bouey when he claims that without record high interest rates Canadians face- "an economic and social break- down". So this winter - and certainly while Christmas shopping is making a big dent in the family budget. you can "bite the bullet" by resisting that full length coat of natural Russian silver fox priced at $17,000; or that luxurious calf leather qday -into -night bag from Italy that sells for a mere $275. Instead, buy Canadian. According to some economic advisors, it could alleviate Canada's balance of payments problem as well as provide badly needed jobs. As one businessman put it, "The difference between a winter vacation in Quebec's Laurentians and a couple of weeks in Florida is important to the country. In the same way, so is buying a Canadian, made sled, rather than the imported model." It's worth considering. - SJK this new regulation is to ensure a daily check of school purposes vehicles in addition to the com- prehensive 'semi-annual inspections. Beginning January 1,1980411 school bus drivers will need to —1i'ave slog book containing the vehicle identification number, make, model, year, and 'a list of the items to be inspected. Drivers will carry out a daily inspection of each item listed in the log book, record any defects and to whom those defects were reported. The person responsible for maintenance is required to sign the log when a defect has been repaired,. If there is a fly in the ointment, it will be the fact that the MTC is leaving it up to the operators to make up their own log books. No standard log book will be supplied by MTC, although all school boards and school bus operators licensed under the Public Vehicles Act in Ontario will receive a list of items that should be included in the log book. White there does seem to be some wisdom in 'aalowing each county school board, for instance, to `determine what goes in the log book, it does remove some of the punch from the regulation and makes the order appear less necessary from the outset. There may even be a tendency on the part of some school bus drivers to rate the regulation as foolish, There's little•doubt that school bus drivers • who are attentive to duty wi]'lalready have been, on their own, making a regular inspection of the vital operating and safety features of their vehicles. But sad to say, such "bureaucratic red tape" —becomes essential when a percentage of the work force shirks its common sense duties. And it does happen in every line of endeavor. r' While for the majority of bus drivers this will be a routine matter becoming an edict requiring mounds of expensive paperwork, for a few bus drivers it will be the men to make them final] 75 YEARS AGO The parade to Knox Church on Sunday m.bt rr;ng 13-y the r3}embers of the Inverness Camp, S.O.S., in honor of St. Andrew's Day, was not as largely attended as in former years, doubtless owing to the snow storm which prevailed. The annual meeting of the Children's Aid Society will be held in the Law Library of the Court House tomorrow to elect officers. and receive reports. An earnest appeal is made to all those who feel an interest in child rescue work. The directors of the Huron Poultry Association met on Friday evening and discussed matters in connectionwith the forth- coming poultry exhibition.. of good music LOOKING BACK will have a treat in the organ recital and sacred concert which is to be g +fir Knox -church. -_- dember 1.6__ under the management of Mr. George Lethbridge, organist and choir leader.- A meeting of all in- terested in curling is called for the town council chamber tomorrow to reorganize the Curling Club here. On Friday evening Robert Elliott, the well- known apple buyer of Goderich, was invited to the King Edward on Kingston Street and entertained at a banquet. 25 YEARS AGO By more than two -to - one majorities, Reeve John Graham was returned to office and Ernie Fisher was elected deputy -reeve of Goderich in the municipal election held here on Monday. A newcomer to civic politics, James Donnelly, gQnderi-eh- lawyer, headed the polls in the election of councillors. Other councillors elected were Frank Walkom, C.M. Robertson, Reuben Besse, John Vincent and Frank Skelton. John W. Deeves was named the new reeve of Goderich Township on Monday. The winter fleet at Goderich harbor will hit a total of 17 boats this season, according to R.G. Sanderson, general manager of the Goderich Elevator and Transit Company and this will make up the largest winter fleet here since 1928. Interest in obtaining a franchise to supply natural gas to Goderich was expressed by Lakeland Natural Gas 4 Company last Friday night in a letter to town counc i1 L.O. "Nip" Whetstone of Goderich, was chosen "Mr. Hockey" ' of the Ontario Minor Hockey Association this year. He has led the organizing of five successful Young Canada . Hockey Week tournaments in Goderich. 5 YEARS AGO The two overwhelming favorites at the polls in Goderich this year were Stan Profit, elected 'for reeve and Harry Worsell, elected for PUC com- missioner. The two politicians received more than 2,000 votes each. Goderich's new mayor is Deb Shewfelt. He defeated his' only op- ponent, newcomer Harry Bosnell. Due to the closeness of the contest between Bill Clifford and Eileen Palmer, the deputy - reeve's votes will have to be•recounted. Construction on the two shopping , plazas is progressing gradually without problems, ac- cording to Bert Alexander of Suncoast Estates and Gord Smith, vice-president of Rockledge Properties Ltd. Robert McKinley, M.P., Huron has in- formed the Huron Country Playhouse that their application for a $22,000 L.I.P. grant has been successful. A 29-22 recorded vote of Huron County councillors showed that members were not in favor of hiring a planning trainee at a salary of $8,500 in place of a qualified planner as previously agreed. NNW DEAR EDITDR. Healthunit wants to assist refugees e g es Dear Editor, country and their homes The Canadian gover to these unfortunate people immigrating to Many of you, already We would welcome the nrnent, church and„..' -vie homeless people, A small Canada will have been involved in sponsoring opportunity to assist groups, exposed to illnesses much refugees, will have been sponsoring families or € ' p', and individual number of refugees have different than the through much required q groups and will make this responding to the current County. citizens have been already located in Huron illnessesprevalent in red tape. The Health Unit process as easy as C plight of Indo-Chinese - I would ask sponsors of anada. It is important does not wish to add to possible for all con - for their- sake thattheythis but rather to assist cerned•.., refugees- In the most refugees to inform the re c e-rye. a er cLa ung as n i La w=ay l --I= ccib:1 =County- He--a1+11hea'fT1s—care as part to the refugees in the Yours sincerely, possible, n a m eTy Unit error to or when , art of maintenance of their own a their acclimatisation to good health and to ensure Brian Lynch, M.D.; opening the doors of the, refugee arrives. These Canada. the residents of Huron D.P'H County that they may MedicalHealth, Officer safely assist them. of Heuron County of Huron i_ Continue Nestle.boycott Dear Editor: boycott groups and the "Nestle in the past five , It was with con medical profession on the years has continued siderable interest that I subject.,of the promotion activities that WHO says read in a recent issue of of'baby formula in Third should be banned, like your newspaper, "a letter World countries. free promotional samples from the Nestle Com The United ('h pang professing .,.compliance ,yvith the World Health Organization and UNICEF guidelines issued on October 12 following their. meeting with representatives from industry, Third World governments, Shocked by delivery Dear Editor, First of all, call the police. We cannot take the shock: Your issue dated Thursday; November 8 was delivered by the mailman on Friday, November. 9. When something like this happens, people say it should be mentioned, so urch of and medical represen Canada', the AngirCan 'Ca -Elves or 'milk nurses' in Church of Canada, the the health care system. Canadian Council of. What Nestle seems to be Everybody wants to be an editor. So here's your Churches as well as many doing is to talk loudly chance. U.S. churches have in about the one form of Signal -Star Editor Shirley J.Keller invites you, recent months endorsed a promotion that they have . the reader, to have your say in the final edition for boycott of Nestle as the stopped (i.e. direct 1979 on December 27. most blatant violator of consumer advertising) the spirit of these and let the public assume Needed are editorials, columns, stories and guidcl Ines-. , And now they have withdrawn the feature items about the year just past. Nestle would have us other forms as well Maybe it will be a review of yourclub in 1979, believe that they have, in ('milk nurses', free Maybe it will be your impressions of Goderich fact, been in compliance samples, promotion to town council, township councilor county council for for some time. the medical profession). 1979• They are, in effect, The WHO meeting was a Maybe it will be a roundup of the baseball season saying, "Why pick on great boost to our efforts or the new records set at the golf club. us'?" but we cannot relax until In reply to this claim, a very specific and en- Maybe it will be your impressions, of provincial let me quote Mr. David forceable agreement is affairs or federal matters. Hallam, United Church reached. .Maybe it will a viewpoint on the energy crunch, Co-ordinator for the "In 1975 the Inter- the problems of inflation, the severe unemployment Nestle Boycott, who, in a national Council of Infant throughout the country, the national unity question. letter to all United Food Industries (ICIFI) Maybe it will be something funny. Something sad. Churches dated produced a code of ethi.c —_Something warm, Something human. Something November 5, 1979, says: which they claimed was serious. Something wonderful. "IS THE BOYCOTT ' based on suggestions of Whatever it is you would like to see in The Signal - STILL ON? YES! There th e Protein -Calorie Star's final edition for 1979, write it down and send it seem to be mixed Advisory. Group of the along with your name and address and telephone messages;,tlgcoming . from UN...If the code had before Wednesday, December 12 to: I Want To Be An Editor, The Signal -Star, Box 220, Industrial Park; Goderich. N7A 4B6. All submissions must be identifiable by the editor although pen names may be used for publication. All submissions will be judged by the editorial staff of The Signal2Star for their suitability for publication. All will become the property of The Signal -Star but not all will necessarily appear ih ' print. Come on, readers. Get involved in this special Come on folk"s! Participate �ici to no w, here itis. d done Nestle these days. On the . what the industry I even knew the title of one hand they are saying claimed it would do, the Sunday's sermons in that they will abide by the WHO -UNICEF meeting Goderich. WHO recommendations. would not have been However, it was not On the other hand, in an necessary. We don't want quite so fast the following interview subsequent to the same thing to happen week, but it came on the WHO -UNICEF again - this timee-we want Mdnday. meeting, the head of a specific, enforceable And now that you have Nestle said, 'We don't feel code accept the full responsibility for their jobs.' y that bomber out„,trf there, restricted by the WHO The boycott” will not be If it saves even one school bus disaster. the new . just keep the town on an recommendations. On the lifted until agreement has aggravation. SJK • regulation has been worth the a even keel in ]980. contrary, changes In- been reached on Si Y, troduced by Nestle in the 1) a specific and en- wrap-up edition for 1979. Indulge your urge to tell it J.Watson Straiton last five years agree with forceable end• to ALL like it is. Be an editor and become a leader. Toronto these recommendations.' Turn to page 5 • DEAD READS BY SHIRLEY J.KELLER Children are children wherever they live. And they are naturally carefree, which can lead to carelessness. So teaching children safety in traffic is just as important in Switzerland as in Ontario .... and just as difficult, too. In recent weeks, I've been thinking about ways to demonstrate to kids the seriousness of adhering to the laws of the land in safety as in all things. An.d I think there's a couple of interesting examples to relate that will set everybody thinking. One police officer in Northern Ontario, for instance, said he im- -presses children with the importance of safety by obtaining the 'permission of parents to "punish" the kids for en- dangering their own lives in traffic. This officer said that when he finds children riding their bicycles in bun- ches on the road, or when he sees thein darting in and out among parked cars, he gives them a mini-lecture'"on their particular offence and then reinforces the 'lecture with some "punishment" such as having them report to the police station to wash police cruisers. Naturally, this kind of special ;punishment has to be meted out in agreement with parents, but I would suspect that if mom and dad thought it would help junior learn to be more respectful of traffic, it would be a simple matter in a good many in- stances for the police officer to get that kind of co-operation from the parents. In Sweden, as another example, it is against the law for children to ride in the front stat of the family automobile. While it is a slightly different topic from children in traffic perhaps, it is interesting to note that while parents can be fined for having their children in' the front scat of the car, Swedish authorities:: also "punish" the child if the child is of a knowing age. That "punishment" is extra school work - more arithmetic homework, more reading assignments, more projects. Sounds fascinating, doesn't it? As a parent, I'm highly `in favor of punishment that teaches. I think that children (and adults too) should be taught useful lessons when they have It sounds like a good dea to me for broken the law. the police to work out a system of It used to be that fines were a deterrent. Money was hard to come by and if a person were called upon to pay $50 out of his pocket, it would teach him faster than anything else not to put himself in the same position again. ,Not so any more. Money no longer is a meaningful club to use on anyone. Fines must be huge to provide the same clout they did a few years ago. That's particularly true of young adults for whom money often comes too easily in the first place. In the case of fines, parents sometimes pay the shot making it more of a hardship for mom -and dad than for the youngster. And even if the youngster pays the fine from his own resources, it is rarely a dif- ficult or ."punishing" situation. What's a $30 fine to a youngster earning $50 a week working parttime? When it conies to younger children, fines are quite out of outer. So more often than not, punishment for breaking safety rules is just not given by police. That is left p to parents, many of whom never g! t around to it "punishment" with the parents, with the schools and with the municipality in the case of young children who break safety rules. Maybe kids who drag on bumpers this winter could be called out to shovel the police station's walks for a day or two. That should help to make youngsters think twice before doing something silly. Certainly the police would need the parents' approval, but moms and dads • who are serious about the development of children who have strong civic pride and some respect for the law should be willing to co-operate. e Perhaps the biggest bug in the oin- tment 'would be the policeman's own reluctance to accept the responsibility for handing down this kind of "punish- ment". It could be a real aggravation for policemen and that could be a serious drawback. But if the police, the schools, the pdrents and tlhe municipal officials in G rderich could work out a suitable pl'nishm nt policy, who knows what miracles could be wrought - for now and the future? t