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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Times Advocate, 2004-10-06, Page 66 Exeter Times -Advocate Wednesday, October 6, 2004 Opinion Forum News Seniors' perspective Continued from page 5 Oct. 23, 1943. Private King was the son of John Joseph King and Edith Hope King. Besides his mother, the young soldier was survived by a step sister Doris May Foley, at home. At the time of Arthur's death, he was engaged to Miss Betty Keller in England. Next week: Andrew Jordan Laing TRUTH OR HUMOUR: INFORMATION FROM ONTARIO BEEF Is it just me or does anyone else find it absolutely amazing that the U.S. government can track a cow born in Canada seven years ago, right to the stall where she sleeps in the State of Washington, and determine exactly what that cow ate? They can track her calves right to their stalls, and tell you what kind of feed they ate. But they are unable to locate 11 million aliens wandering around the country, including people who try to blow up important structures in the United States. My solution is to give every illegal alien a cow as soon as they enter the country. A POLICEMAN'S CONCERN: A policeman was patrolling a local parking spot for lovers overlooking a golf course. He drove by a car and saw a couple inside with the dome light on. There was a young man in the driver's seat reading a computer mag- azine and a young lady in the back seat knitting. He stopped to further examine. He walked up to the dri- ver's window and knocked. The young man looked up, cranked the window down and said, "Yes officer?" "What are you doing?" the policeman asked. "I'm read- ing a magazine," the young man replied. Pointing towards the young lady in the back seat, the officer then asked, "And what is she doing?" "She's knitting." "And how old are you?" the officer then asked the young man. "I'm 19," he replied. "And how old is she?" asked the officer. The young man looked at his watch and said, "In about 12 minutes, she'll be 18." COFFEE FACTS AND SECRETS: There is a 60 per cent greater risk of heart disease if you consume two to five regular cups of coffee per day, and a 120 per cent greater risk for over six cups per day. Caffeine causes chemical changes in cells that cause excess triglycerides to be released into the blood stream. One cup of coffee or one cigarette will cause a rise in blood pressure. Withdrawal symptoms will appear if caffeine is discon- tinued. These usually start with headaches. Caffeine reduces the body's ability to handle stress. The first people known to use coffee were Arabs, who would not allow the beans to be exported. They were finally smuggled to Holland in 1660 and then to Brazil in 1727. Hills Brothers was the first commercial company to sell vacuum packed coffee in 1900. Coffee trees require 70 inches of rainfall per year. Ground coffee oxidizes very fast and coffee is best pur- chased in vacuum cans. Americans consume 4,848 cups per second, 24 hours a day, per capita. A coffee tree produces approximately one to 12 pounds of coffee cherries from a six-year-old tree. Approximately 2,000 coffee cherries are required to produce one pound of coffee, the crop of one tree. The U.S. is the largest consumer of coffee. About three billion pounds are used annually. When reheating coffee, never boil it, as this will cause an undesirable flavor. Dripped coffee has almost twice the caffeine as instants. The U.S. imports approximately 72 per cent of its tea from India. At present, there is no risk factor related to drinking tea and heart disease. An experienced tea picker can pluck 40 pounds of tea leaves a day. Answer: In 1949, Canadians spent 22 per cent of disposable income on food purchases. Since then, these expendi- tures have dropped to only 9.8 per cent. Reunion Committee needs your help Dear Editor: There will be an All Years Reunion for all former stu- dents, staff, teachers, custodial, etc. of St. Marys DVCI July 29-31, 2005. The reunion will feature an informal meet and greet, wine and cheese, variety and talent show, barbecue, dance, breakfast and Faith Alive Church service. Please submit in writing any names and addresses of former students to the High School Reunion Committee, Box 970, St. Marys, Ont., N4X 1B6. Sincerely, CO -CHAIRPERSON LITA MIANDRO Compassion lacking Dear Editor: Once again the senior citizens in Exeter are dumped on. The same people who have paid taxes in this town for 50 to 60 years are now having another privilege taken away. Our taxes go up, our water rates and sewer go up, and now this. The mayor and councillors of this town should hang their heads in shame, asking 70 -year-old and 80 -year- old senior citizens to cart their compost and branches three miles out of town to an old dump road covered with nails and wire, with the possibility of backing over the bank, to dump their waste. These same seniors have made this beautiful town of Exeter what it is today through their dedication and hard work. You knew the culprits were contractors who were being paid by homeowners to haul their trees, shrubs and branches to the dump on Highway 83 and not at the works building. Did you say anything to them, warn them, fine them? No. It is much easier to pick on the senior citizens who are all on a limited fixed income. The same seniors who keep your boulevards cut twice a week — using their gas and their lawnmowers to mow that 10 to 12 feet of land belonging to the town, from the sidewalk to the road. Why? Because we like to keep our town looking neat and tidy. So what do you think it would cost if the town had to hire someone to cut all the boulevards? Take some time and talk with your older workers at the works building. They will tell you it was much easier and quicker with the cement bunkers with two bins than the messy dumpsters, where everything blows into the soccer fields. It is quicker and easier to drive a tractor into the bunkers, load and haul it away. We the taxpayers own the truck, we own the tractor, we own the cement bunkers; so, the only cost per day is two men, two hours each per day, very little diesel fuel and gas for four trips to the dump per day and maybe a couple more on a Monday. The grand total comes to $100 a day, compared to $375 per day for the dump- sters, a savings of $275 per day. The town payed $30,000 for four months for the dumpsters; if we went back to the cement bunkers the town would save $22,000 for the same four months. It makes you wonder who is looking after our taxpayer money. Speak up seniors and people of Exeter: write let- ters, phone the people responsible. Don't let them get away with cancelling our compost bins. We deserve bet- ter. BEv LINDENFIELD, Exeter Principal's message EXETER — his Friday, SHDHS will celebrate the aca- demic achievements of our students from last year. The celebration starts with our Academic Awards Assembly at 10 a.m., where we recognize the students who earned the top marks in individual subjects in Grades 9 through 12, as well as the students who earned Honour Roll status, and the top three students in each grade. These award winners, of course, are students who have returned to South Huron this year. Parents are welcome to attend the awards assembly, held in the large gn• On Friday evening, we recognize the students who graduated from South Huron last year with the presentation of Ontario Secondary School Diplomas, Certificates, and awards for academic achievement. The annual Commencement ceremony starts at 7:30 p.m. in the large gym. Graduates and award presenters are asked to be at the school by 7 p.m. to gather in the cafe- teria and staff room respectively. Commencement is the most significant academic celebration of the school year, and we greatly appreciate the generous support of the businesses, industries, and community service groups that sponsor our many awards and scholarships. On behalf of the staff and students of SHDHS, I would like to thank them for their contributions. While I am on the topic of academic success, I should mention that one of the most reliable predictors of stu- dent success in high school is daily attendance. Students in class regularly generally achieve better results than students who frequently miss class. This observation should not come as a surprise to anyone, and yet, stu- dent absence from school continues to be an ongoing concern. Presumably that means some students do not appreciate the importance of daily attendance at school. Parents can play a key role in this area by encouraging their kids to be in school every day and to do their homework daily. Obviously, there will be times when students are unable to attend school due to illness, medical or dental appointments, or other unavoidable circumstances. In these situations we would appreciate it if parents would JEFF REABURN PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE call the school and let us know that the students will not be able to attend. If the student knows in advance (for example, for a dental appointment), a note brought in the day before would be appreciated. When a student is absent and we are unaware of the reason, we generally phone home or phone the parent at work to find out the reason for the absence. Sometimes this results in a number of phone calls and/or phone messages; so advance notice by the parent would be helpful. We also try to make safe arrival calls in the morning after we have gathered first period attendance. We would like to be able to make safe arrival calls for every absent student, but that is not always possible, depend- ing on the number who are absent. We start with absent Grade 9 students and work our way through Grades 10, 11, and 12 if we have time. If we already know the rea- son for the students' absence, we don't have to make as many calls, and this could be an important factor in the event something happens to a student on the way to school or after the parents have left for work. So, once again, parents can assist us by informing us in advance or on the day of the absence. There is usually someone in the office by 7 a.m., but if no one answers the phone, parents can always leave a message. There is one aspect of attendance that is troublesome every year. While there are many legitimate reasons for a student to miss school, going shopping, getting a hair- cut, or working on school projects or assignments are not considered to be valid reasons for missing class. Again, parents could assist us by ensuring that students miss school only for valid reasons. The expectations and procedures regarding student absence are explained in greater detail in the student planner all students should have received in the first week of school. I encourage parents to read pages one to seven in the planner, which cover most of our expectations, procedures, and rules. As always, if you have any questions or concerns about any of our policies and procedures, please give us a call and I will be happy to discuss them with you. Panther Profile EXETER — Last Friday was a really great day at South Huron. Apart from being a Friday, which is amazing because there's no school the next day, it was hat day! Students could pay $1 at the door when they came to school in the morning and wear a hat all day! Thanks to all the prefects who dedicated themselves to come to school early Friday morning and stand at the doors and take money and stamp stu- dents' hands. All the money from hat day goes to Student Impact's fundraising efforts for the victims of recent disasters in Haiti. This is a highly worthwhile cause, and this week Student Impact will be collecting loose change in period one classes, and I'd encourage everyone to remember some loose change, or even more than that. We are a fairly spoiled society, and I think bringing a bag lunch instead of eating out and donating your lunch money to Student Impact would be an admirable move. One thousand, five hundred fifty people are dead and 900 are missing. Give what you can. On a lighter note, some of the hats I saw were highly amusing. Also, a big reminder to students to get their student fees into the office as well as information sheets. Just remember — no student fee means no student card. If you haven't picked up your pictures either, you can do so in the office as well! Here's a look at what exciting things school has in store for us in the near future! Wed.. Oct. 6 • Conestoga College presentation, 12:40 p.m. • Girls basketball at Stratford Northwestern, bus leaves at 1:15 p.m. Thurs.. Oct. 7 • Cross Country team to Wildwood • Lambton College presentation, 12 p.m. • Boys Volleyball at Goderich, bus leaves at 1:15 p.m. • Field Hockey at Goderich, bus leaves at 12:40 p.m. Fri. Oct. 8 • Awards Assembly, large gym, 9 a.m. • Commencement, 7:30 p.m., grads please meet at the cafeteria at 7 p.m. Mon., Oct. 11 • No school! Tues.. Oct. 12 • Boys Volleyball at South Huron, players excused at 1:20 p.m. Wed.. Oct. 13 • Blood Donor Clinic in the small gym • Girls Basketball at South Huron, senior players excused at 2 p.m. Thurs.. Oct. 14 • First semester interim reports with parent -teacher interviews October 21 • Ring Days (Oct. 14 and 15) AMANDA ZEHR PANTHER PROFILE