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Clinton News Record, 2014-03-12, Page 44 News Record • Wednesday, March 12, 2014 www.clintonnewsrecord.com Clinton News Record VOL. 153 - ISSUE 00 PUBLISHED WEEKLY — EST. 1860 53 Albert St. P.O. Box 39 Clinton ON NOM 1L0 (519) 482-3443 www.clintonnewsrecord.com SUN MEDIA A Quebecor Media Company NEIL CLIFFORD Publisher neil.clifford@sunmedia.ca GERARD CRECES Editorial cl inton. reporter@sun media.ca MAX BICKFORD Advertising Manager max.bickford@sunmedia.ca DAWN JOHNSTON Sales Representative cl inton.ads@sunmedia.ca CHRISTY MAIR Front Office clinton.classifieds@sunmediaca SUBSCRIPTION RATES 1 YEAR $50.00 (47.62+2.38 GST) 2YEAR $95.00 (90.48+4.52GST) SENIORS 60 WEEKS $50.00 (47.62+2.38 GST) 120 WEEKS $95.00 (90.48+4.52 GST) Advertising is accepted on the condition that in the event of a typographical error, the advertising space occupied by the erroneous item together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged but that balance of advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. In the event of a typographic error advertising goods or services at a wrong price, goods or services may not be sold. Advertising is merely an offer to sell, and may be withdrawn at any time. The Clinton News -Record is not responsible for the loss or damage of unsolicited manuscripts, photos or other materials used for reproducing purposes. Publications Mail Agreement No.40064683 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES: CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT 53 Albert St., Clinton ON NOM 1L0 (519) 482-3443 We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canadian Periodical Fund (CPF) for our publishing activities. Canada Aocna Member of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association and the Ontario Community Newspapers Association From the headlines to the dinner table, it's time to talk sex A while back, I wrote a column addressing University of British Columbia students who took part in a frosh week chant about sex with underage girls. At the time, it was the first such story to break and my gut reaction told me the pendulum of public outrage would swing further than the solution required. I figured it was an isolated and ignorant incident. It's not the best feeling admit- ting I was that naive, but I believed the students' own morality would eventually kick in and they would embrace the lesson learned. Then another story broke at St. Mary's in Halifax. It was the exact same thing. And now, we have the Univer- sity of Ottawa's student leadership in the headlines after sexuallyvio- lent comments were made public about Student Federation presi- dent Anne -Marie Roy. The same university's hockey team is under Column Gerard Creces investigation for sexual assault. It's easy to say, "kids these days.." but they all learned it from somewhere, and while they must deal with the immediate reper- cussions of their actions, the rest of us need to look at our own roles and responsibilities in eliminating sexual assault in all its forms, from crude comments in the street to rape itself. I was never a big fan of the terms "rape culture" or "slut - shaming': They just sounded too harsh and perhaps alienated peo- ple who spoke softer while still knowing right from wrong. To have a culture of rape seemed to me like everybody does it and everybody is okay with it. They don't and they are not. But with one in three women experiencing some sort of vio- lence or sexual assault in their lives, maybe we do have a culture that doesn't so much promote rape, but is quick to look for excuses for it and rationalize the statistics. How we judge things depends on many factors, some learned, some adapted and some just repeatedly advertised. Consider that the very same factors go into making a guy a stud and a woman a slut. Consider that stories about celebrities' bodies, weight gain, workouts or diets are actually con- sidered news. Consider that sex itself - the most important factor in the sur- vival of the human race - is considered a right to some and a duty to others. Where do we even begin to tackle or determine this cause/ effect situation? The simplest way is to just talk about it. Talk about it with your kids, with your friends, your fel- low students. Talk about unrealis- tic standards, about the difference between fantasy and reality, the difference between being playful and being hurtful. For many peo- ple it will be an uncomfortable task, partly due to the huge sense of shame we put on something as basic as sex. This past Saturday was Interna- tional Women's Day, and I wish I could have printed this column last week in advance. But again I have to be honest - this was a hard one to write. This goes far deeper than sim- ply "no means no" but if we don't talk about it, we'll never get any farther than that. letters to the editor Bayfield ice removal furthering demise of hockey Dear Editor: Thank you to the councilors that voted to give us a chance to come up with a proposal to keep the ice surface in and make a four season facility. To those of you that voted against it shame on you. To the councilor that stated it was like closing some of the schools around here it had to be done you're wrong. The Board of Edu- cation made room at other schools for the displaced student you have not made room for the people that you displaced using the ice surface. The people I play hockey with most come from Goderich because we can get prime time, you can't get prime time at the Goderich, Clinton, Hensall or Zurich. We were told that room would be made for us at other arenas (Hensall or Zurich). From the schedules I have seen of the Hensall and Zurich arenas there is no room unless you want to play after 10 p.m. To the coun- cilor that made the statement that the experts predict 200,000 kids will drop out of hockey maybe that is right, but why are they dropping out? By removing the ice surface here you have helped move that along. One of the main reason kids are dropping out is cost not because they don't want to play. There was an article on the CBC news Monday night about how RBC has sponsored two schools of Grade 3 and Grade 4 students with new skates so they could learn how to skate and have fun at it. You have taken that away from the young people of this town. The hours of usage where given from the surrounding towns are- nas and they ranged from 44 hours per week to 58 hours per week. These towns are three to five times larger than Bayfield. These towns also have their own minor hockey system except Hen- sall. If BCH decides that they will be cutting hours rented at Hensall arena 20 to 25 hours per week it will be closed. I don't disagree the ice surface is small but I think it is a good size for kids to learn to skate and play hockey. It has been stated that council is not there to promote the arena to bring in more usage but from what I have heard you are really promoting a seniors com- plex only. I would like to know who the staff is or was that recom- mended removing the ice and repurposing the surface. I have read the proposals of the Bayfield Optimist, Bayfield Cham- ber of Commerce, Bayfield Mews and Bayfield Ratepayers Associa- tion from this I take it you would have us build a new facility. Some of the activities you would like to see at this facility are fitness classes, pickle ball, badminton, basketball, billiards, floor hockey, winter indoor soccer, gymnastics, tennis, dance classes and many more activities. You would like space for the farmers market, flea market, business conferences, dances, and weddings and much more. Is council going to hire some- one to organize all these activi- ties? In closing if some councilors want to build a new facility to accommodate all these activities that would be great but please put an ice surface in and make it a complete facility to accommodate all. I would be happy to help with fundraising for this but I will not support a facility that does not have an ice surface. R. Wayne Pollock Bayfield LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The News Record welcomes letters to the editor. All letters must be signed and include a daytime phone number for verification purposes. Letters can be sent care of the Internet at clinton.news@ sunmedia.ca, sent via fax at 519-482-7341 or through Canada Post care of The Editor, P.O. Box 39, Clinton, ON NOL 1LO. 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