HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Citizens News, 1978-11-09, Page 4Page 4
Citizens News, November 9, 1978
It's time to remember
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A lack of oral leadership
Murdering all of the people in one family is
wrong; murdering the same number in a variety of
families, at random, is acceptable.
That, essentially, was the moral message
presented by the Ontario government when it
decided that the International Nickel Company of
Canada (Inco) could continue to pump 3,600 tons
per day of sulphur dioxide into the atmosphere.
Originally, Inco was to have reduced emissions
to 750 tons per day by end of this year. That order
has now been changed... Government spokesmen say
the research on which the 750 ton figure was based
has been superseded; Inco's new stack, at 1,250 feet
the world's tallest chimney, has produced "accep-
table" sulphur dioxide levels in Sudbury and
beyond. Acid rains that have been affecting lakes
and vegetation in northern Ontario can't be blamed
•entirely on Sudbury's emissions, they say much of
it results from other industrial polluters.
Now, no one would imply that emitting sulphur
dioxide is the same as committing murder. The
damage is not intentional, for one thing. But the
facts remain: sulphur dioxide gas.is a poison which
has caused industrial deaths, has harmed health in
Sudbury, and has converted lands nearby into a
wasteland used by U.S. astronauts for moonscape
practice. Combined with moisture in the air, sul-
phur dioxide gas becomes an acid which, in falling,
gradually alters soil and water conditions, upset-
ting delicate ecological balances. And Inco's Sud-
bury stack, emitting 3,600 tons of sulphur dioxide
every day, is North America's largest industrial
source of sulphur dioxide in the air. The new 1,250
foot stack distributes emissions over a far wider
area, protecting Sudbury itself. It still supplies
three percent of North America's total emissions,
or about one percent of the total world emissions.
And that's just not good enough; Canada ought not
to bold such an unenviable distinction.
The Ontario government has ruled that 3,600
tons per day of pollutants are acceptable now that
they're spread around more thinly.
As an economic verdict, or a scientific assess-
ment, that may be "acceptable". As an indication
of moral leadership, it is not.
Crippling strikes
The recent strike of inside postal workers, like
all work stoppages in the public service, demanded
a final opinion and decision from the nation at
large. Public service strikes are not the same as
strikes against private employers.
Basically the CUPW leadership was intent on
creating such a crisis that the government would be
forced to accede to union demands in order to get
the mails moving. It was a gamble and CUPW did
not win. Government rightly sensed that the public
(the voters) wanted a legislated end to the strike.
Thus, it was the Canadian citizens who made
the decision. But if the ordinary citizen is to res,
pond intelligently to situations of this kind, he has a
right to .much more, definitive information about
the demands and counteroffers which are exchang-
ed between union and management. Most of us out-
side post office and government believe that postal
workers are already overpaid for short hours. Is
this true? Were the union demands occasioned by
any real hardship or, indeed, by unfair working con-
ditions?
Most Canadians are fair minded people. They
don't believe in sweatshop conditions and it is our
belief that if they felt the union workers were being
badly done by they would not be happy at a decision
which forced them back to work. But how are we
supposed to know?
Parliament's decision to legislate an end to the
strike makes a mockery of strike privileges in vital
public services. Certainly competent and impartial
labor tribunals must be established to make sure
that public employees are treated fairly, but it is
very evident that this country can no longer afford
strikes which cripple our whole economy.
Wingham Advance Times
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Miscellaneous
Rumblings
By
TOM CREECH
Huffing and
puffing
to happiness
I'm out of shape.
In fact in some areas. I am pitfully out of shape.
In other areas, I was borderline or that one word
which seems to pervade society today "average".
But the sum total is I'm out of shape.
One might wonder how I determined this lack of
physical well-being; it doesn't take any particular in-
telligence or insight to determine one's state of
physical prowess when the last time one exerted any
'physical effort on a sustained basis was two years ago.
This writer was not aware to what lousy shape he
was in, until the fitness assessment program operated
jointly by the London YMCA -YWCA and the ministry
of culture and recreation rolled into Exeter this past
week for a one day promotional stop.
According to a press release the program was in-
itiated in 1977 when it became apparent that the only
part of the averageOntarian 's physique that was getting
any exercise on a regular interval was his derriere.
"The aims of the program are to motivate the in-
active to become fit by providing individual fitness ap-
praisals, to provide general lifestyle information, to
motivate community members to promote fitness in
their region and to provide a provincial data base
regarding fitness of adults in Ontario," the release
stated.
What confronted this writer and another
gentleman member of the press when they entered the
South Huron Rec Centre in Exeter Friday morning
was a plethoria of dividers and equipment.
The main purpose behind the appearance of the
fitness van was to drum up some publicity for the
van's two day stay in the area this coming Monday and
Tuesday.
The test consisted of five sections: a lung function
test, an aerobic capacity (efficiency of the heart and
vessels) test, a test of muscular strength and en-
durance, a flexibility test and a determination of
percentage body fat and ideal body weight.
The first business to be undertaken was the filling
out of a few forms to ensure one was healthy enough to
take the test.
I made it through that portion of the test without a
hitch.
I also made it through the test which discovered
the percentage of fat which your body weight entails.
For a person my age and weight the percent
should be around 16 percent. Old skin and bones
Creech kicked in with a figure of 10.5 percent, a figure
somewhat below average but according to the testers
nothing to worry about.
Testing the health of the lungs was an interesting
procedure.The aim of this test was to inhale deeply and
blow as much air as possibleinto a devicewhich deter-
mined the amount of air expired.
Once again Creech performed reasonably well,
with my lung capacity of 4.63 litres being 84 per ee ,t
of normal. If my figure had been below 80 percent I
would have been considered to have a below average
lung capacity.
In terms of forced expiratory volume which in-
dicates lung efficiency, I scored 90 percent which
was 10 percent above the accepted norm.
The one section of the test which I did atrociously
on was the testing of one's aerobic capacity. This test
involved having three electrodes attached to the body
while stepping up and down a set of steps.
This test consisted of progression is three stages;
ifyourlevel of fitness reached a certain level of attain-
ment one could proceed to the next step.
After the first stage, this writer flunked.
To paraphrase somebody "oh what a blow to the
— Please turn to Page 1 l
IIESI WIIN LOCAI NEWS
Published Each Wednesday By J.W. Eddy Publications Ltd.
Member:
Canadian Weekly Newspapers Association
Ontario Weekly Newspapers Association
SMA News Editor - Tom Creech
Second Class Mail Registration Number 1385
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