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Home My WebLink AboutThe Times Advocate, 2005-06-01, Page 44 Exeter Times–Advocate Wednesday, June 1, 2005 zkxna =CNA Editorial Opinion TIMES ADVOCATE PUBLICATIONS MAIL REGISTRATION NUMBER 07511 We acknowledge the Financial support of the Government of Canada, through the Publications Assistance Program (PAP), toward our mailing casts. Jim Beckett Publisher and Editor Deb Lord Production Manager ti Published by Metroland Printing, rt Publishing & Distributing Ltd. Metroland 424 Main Street South, P.O. Box 850 Exeter, Ontario NOM 1S6 • (519) 235-1331 EDITORIAL Get a life Ars most readers know by now, Exeter fell prey over the Victoria Day weekend to a ash of graffiti at the skateboard park, the ag building, South Huron Rec Centre, Exeter Public School and South Huron District High School. More graffiti showed up at the baseball diamonds May 26. Much of the graffiti contained racial epithets and obscenities that can't be printed in a family newspaper. While OPP suggest these aren't hate crimes, but instead the senseless acts of teens with too much time on their hands, there's no place for this kind of stupidity. Hate crimes or not, many people would find the kinds of disgusting mes- sages spray -painted last week as hurtful and offensive. Unfortunately, not only do the perpetrators realize this, they more than likely don't care. It's time they grow up, get a real hobby and stop defacing public property. These aren't the only examples of racist graf- fiti around town — if you look closely enough, you'll notice "4/20" in many locations around town. "4/20" apparently has two meanings — it's used by pot smokers as signifying a time to light up a joint, but it's also used by neo-Nazis honouring Adolf Hitler's birthday. And when "4/20" is accompanied by the word "Jew," as it is on some locations in town, you can bet the numbers don't refer to pot smoking. And yes, while there isn't much for teens to do in small towns, that isn't an excuse for spray - painting obscenities and racial epithets all over town. Read a book, maybe, or even do your homework. Good response On a happier note, last week's public meeting on the doctor shortage drew a larger -than - expected crowd at the Rec Centre and was a good example of the public getting involved in an important issue. Too often members of the public show apathy when they can make a dif- ference, choosing to complain about an issue after it's too late. Getting involved now and showing interest in South Huron Hospital's efforts to bring addi- tional family doctors to the area is a great start to ensuring health care meets the needs of South Huron residents and remains strong. With friends like these .. . I'm filing this under the "What Were They Thinking?" category. I read in bewilderment last week a grey wolf had been killed by a wild grizzly bear in a pen at the Grouse Mountain Refuge for Endangered Wildlife in British Columbia. Organizers at the refuge — whose job is apparently to "protect" animals, not kill them — decided it would be a good idea to put the bears and wolves together in "an effort to keep the animals stimulated and to fight com- placency." Yeah, there's nothing I hate more than com- placent bears and wolves — let's give these self-satisfied slobs something to worry about. I'm no animal expert, but I see a couple of problems with this experiment. First of all, the last time I checked, bears and wolves don't usually hang out together in the wild. In fact, wolves — one of the greatest creatures on this planet — tend to stick to their own pack. Secondly, the bears in question were wild, while the wolves were hand -raised and recently retired from the local film industry. In other words, the wolves weren't exactly in fighting shape. So the inevitable happened — a grizzly bear, affec- tionately known as Grinder, was munching on a cow bone when an alpha male wolf decided he would try to take the bone away from the bear. With one swipe of Grinder's massive paw, the wolf was dead and nearly decapitated. End of experiment. The other "good news" part of this story is that mem- bers of the public watched it happen. I imagine small children especially enjoyed the horror show. At least now visitors know what kind of people are trying to "protect" animals at the Grouse Mountain Refuge. Said spokesman Chris Dagenais, "No one was pleased to see the wolfs demise, particularly right in front of them. The irony is that we've been try- ing to provide people with the most wild setting possible. Our goal was to have the animals behave as much as wild animals as possible. And we delivered." SCOTT NIXON AND ANOT THING HER Well, how nice. Give yourself a pat on the back. The three surviving wolves, by the way, have now been separated from the bears and will remain in their own pens, I'm assuming until Grouse Mountain decides to let hunters in just to see if wolves can dodge shotgun blasts. Maybe next time they feel like attempting an "inter - specific cohabitation program" they should toss some people in with the animals, just to see if humans can outrun bears, cheetahs and lions. What happens when a tiger and a human reach for the same chunk of meat? We can start with whoever decided to put the bears and wolves in the same pen. Now that's something I'd like to see. About the Times -Advocate Address & Office Hours Times -Advocate, 424 Main Street South, P.O. Box 850, Exeter, Ontario NOM 1S6. Our office is open Monday to Friday, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. Closed on Holidays. 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For example, Jim Beckett's e-mail address is <jbeck- ett@southhuron.com> Our general e-mail address is ads@southhuron.com. The Times -Advocate Team Publisher/Editor Jim Beckett ext. 109 ADVERTISING Deborah Schillemore ext. 112 REPORTERS Scott Nixon ext. 105 Pat Bolen ext. 113 Stephanie Mandziuk ext. 107 CUSTOMER SERVICE Sue Rollings ext. 101 Kim Hern ext. 102 COMPOSITION DEPARTMENT Manager Deb Lord ext. 114/103 Sharlene Young, ext 103 Heather Bilcke ext. 103 ACCOUNTING STAFF Anita McDonald ext. 104 Ruth Slaght ext. 106 Christina Scott ext. 108 Marg Pertschy ext. 111