The Exeter Times-Advocate, 1976-10-14, Page 4Welcome news
Education minister Tom Wells has an-
nounced some significant changes in On-
tario's education policies and they should
be lauded by every concerned person.
Critics of the present educational
system have been pointing out some drastic
weaknesses in the past couple of years, and
faced with a growing amount of statistical
evidence that all was not well, the minister
has sensibly moved to correct the situation,
The lack of compulsory subjects was
showing some bad effects, both from the
standpoint of education and society.
Students just weren't able to cope with the
challenges of the wide freedom they were
given and many opted for the easiest sub-
jects available. It was fostering an attitude
of "take it easy" on the part of many secon-
dary school students and this was being
reflected in their attitude towards life in
general.
No one wants to see students held back
due to a lack of intelligence in specific sub-
jects, but likewise no one wants to see
anyone held back due to a lack of initiative
brought about by a lack of challenge.
The emphasis in education in recent
years has tended to show a concern for the
slow learner, and while that concern is
justified, the concept must also include a
similar concern that the balance of the stu-
dent body must be challenged to the limit of
their capabilities.
The addition of more subjects to the
list of those being made compulsory en-
sures that students have the basic fun-
damentals to continue their education. In
the past, some came to a dead endleeeause
of a poor choice in their personal
curriculum.
Too much government
The unseemly bickering that goes on
between. the various levels of government
in Canada for greater slices of the tax-
payers' pie has reached a point where few
of us know how much we pay to whom for
what purposes.
Three and sometimes four levels of
government compete for the taxpayers'
allegiance; control and regulate his life and
tax his personal wealth. Yet the overlap:
ping bureaucracies of federal, provincial
and municipal administrations have
blurred the responsibilities of each that the
taxpaper — who is also the voter — has lit-
tle idea for what each level is responsible.
Work, the citizen-taxpayer no longer
has any standard by which to judge
priorities, or measure the effective use of
his money. We are over-governed to coin a
cliche.
Granted that most of our money goes to
provide services which the politicians
would argue we have voted for, it would be
refreshing if the various levels of govern-
ment would try to tackle their problems on
a basis of need and efficiency. Instead we
too often are treated to the tiresome dis-
play of each trying to grab the biggest
share of the communal pot.
For instance we have federal and
provincial ministries of labor, natural
resources, health, social security, environ-
ment, consumer protection and business
regulation. Add to this municipal involve-
ment in health, social security, en-
vironmental protection, transportation and
education and you find how the taxpayer
supports enormous bureaucracies which
overlap in dreadfully wasteful manner.
How does the beleagured taxpayer-
citizen choose within three jurisdictions?
Surely the time has come for governments
to co-operate rather than compete for the
privilege of spending tax dollars and free
the financial resources needed for one level
to do things well.
se:4444'4444's • "•:,:::::ss9-1:
Not football ... but sanity
;
Times Established 1873 Advocate Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924
tratefearimesittuocate
SERVING CANADA'S BEST FARMLAND
C.W.N.A., O.W.N.A. CLASS 'A' and ABC
Published by J. W, Eedy Publications Limited
LORNE EERY, PUBLISHER
Editor -- Bill Batten
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Business Manager — Dick Jongkind
Phone 235-1331
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SUBSCRIPTION RATES:
Published Each Thursday Morning
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September 30, 1975 5,420
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ifogryipmmurarerzyze
CIGNA
OLUE 1111190N
AWARD
'11 1974
"May I borrow the chauffeur tonight, dad?"
A solution must be found'
News Item- MOM' BAN SOMIIT FOR TEEN DittYritS
Page 4 Times-Adyocate, October 14, 1970
41919,1199999. ...11994499999199149994499.99919.9.9444945,
• ,
''' .... ..........
ey're
Today's the day! What day? Well, the
day all laborers across Canada are to sit at
home as a form of protest against the
federal wage controls.
Indications are that the day will see
many dangerous confrontations. People
are sick and tired of labor's antics and they
may well express it today.
Take the case of a couple of Toronto
businessmen. They've been placing adver-
tisements to indicate that they are fed up
with the way unions are trying to run the
country.
They're telling CIC president Joe
Morris they've had enough. "For the past
10 years you and your friends have stopped
our planes, trains, ships and grains. Made
us walk to work, Go without our mail. Piled
up garbage in our streets and left our
schools unattended and dirty. You've clos-
right, Joe
ed our hospitals, turned out lights. Kept our
kids out of schools. Put prices too high for
export and lost us jobs. Closed plants, clos-
ed stores, stopped law enforcement. The
list is endless. And you call this progress?"
They're right, Joe . . many Canadians
have lost sympathy with you and in fact
would suggest that your actions over the
past few years have created the need for
wage and price controls to a greater extent
than most other contributing factors.
What concerns Canadians most is the
fact that many of your actions have been
outside the bounds of the law. In fact, your
plans for today are not justified and adds to
your loss of favor in the eyes of many
Canadians who have supported you in the
past,
Me thinks thou lost protest too much!
Actions speak louder
Now that the hockey hysteria
is over, we armchair athletes
can settle into the football
season, and lend our expertise,
so lately freely offered to Scotty
Bowman and the Canadian team,
to those who really need it, like
the hapless Russ Jackson and the
hopeless Toronto Argos.
I must confess that I'm not as
keen on football as I once was.
When I was a young buck, I was
crazy about it. I knew all the
players in the big league, all the
standings, all the records.
When I was a kid, we lived not
too far from Ottawa, and I saw
some of the greats in action —
Dave Sprague, Bummer Stirling,
Tony Golab.
When I was about 14, my big
brother took me to a Grey Cup
final, a classic between Winnipeg
and Ottawa, with the great little
Fritz Hanson, one of the first
American imports, scampering
around on the field like a water-
bug on a pond until he was finally
crushed by some huge
homebrew, a behemoth like Bun-
ny Wadsworth of the Rough
Riders.
Those were the days when peo-
ple went to watch football games
because they loved the game, not
because it was a status symbol to
have a ticket, and also a great
occasion for a weekend binge,
My first Grey Cup game was
also my introduction to rye
whiskey. I sat between two
French Canadian gentlemen,
knowledgable about football.
They had a mickey of rye. After
a particularly great play, they'd
have a polite swig each, to keep
out the bitter November chill.
With Gallic grace, they offered
me a slug. My Methodist
background and teetotal parents
made me exclaim with horror.
But my 14-year-old spirit of
adventure made me wet my lips,
with one eye on my brother. I've
had AL warm spot for the com-
bination of football, French
Canadian gentlemen, and rye
whiskey ever since. My mother
would have killed me, if she'd
seen.
Nowadays, a kid like that
would probably have a mickey of
his own. Or worse, he'd be
bludgeoned to death by some
drunken woman behind him,
pounding on his head and
screaming: "Go, Stamps, Go!"
even though she didn't know the
difference between a wide end
and a big bum.
In high school, I played junior,
then senior football, My best
friends were the jocks on the
football team, rather than the
academic types, the boys in the
school orchestra, the members
IF 7005503
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109 70 vim E. 9MT
5T1139 m en
Some people may have
questioned the need for the
Exeter police department to have
enlarged facilities, but if they had
been at the old town ball last
Friday night they would have
viewed it first hand.
The facility was over-crowded
with teenagers. They weren't
there as part of a new program to
get acq'iainted with the members
of the police department. A few
of the students' council.
Autumns were not school
work. They were long months of
crisp fall afternoons, tackling,
running, throwing. passing. Then
the hot shower, and the painful
limp a mile home through an Oc-
tober dark, with a sprained ankle
or a loose tooth. And the oc-
casional day of glory, when we
stuck it to Smiths Falls or
Carleton Place, and the cheers
were like manna.
In those days, there was no
money for fancy uniforms and
buses to out-of-town games.
Most of us wore home-made pads
with felt from the local felt mill,
There were about half a dozen.
helmets for the two teams. When
we played out of town, parents
and teachers transported the
team in their own cars. When we
played a home game, every stu-
dent and lots of townspeople
were out to cheer. The coach was
a volunteer.
Times change. In the high
school in which I teach, with a
student population of 1,600 (my
own high school had 400), it's im-
possible, this year, to muster two
teams, senior and junor. We'll be
lucky to have one. Because of
education cut-backs, there's no
money for buses to transport the
teams. When we do have a home
game, the students leave in hun-
dreds to walk the streets, or just
goof around.
It's sort of sad. Football used
to be character-building, even
though you wound up with a tooth
or two missing, and a gimpy
knee. But if you weighed 140 and
tackled some brute of 190, you
knew you were on your way to
being a man.
In my day, the emphasis was
on offense: running, passing,
trick plays. But with the massive
influx of the American game, the
emphasis on defense, and televi-
sion to show it all, the game has
become almost dull, except for
the odd brilliant outburst of
speed by some guy who is being
paid a phenomenal sum for his
skill.
And the main idea now is "hit-
ting." That is, the player tries to'
collide with an opponent with
such force, and in such a way,
that the latter will be injured.
And if it requires breaking the
rules deliberately, as I've seen it
done, for example, on kick
returns, then go ahead. Take the
penalty, as long as you can "hit"
and injure the kick returner
when he's not set for a collision.
It's dirty, dirty.
I went to university, and I
played there. And I watched Joe played
and Royal Copeland and
company, and it was still great.
But after the war, the Yanks
took over. Now it's mechanized.
You have an "offensive" and a
"defensive" team (we used to
play 60 minutes, both ways), and
the chief aim seems to be to dis-
able the Opposition.
No wonder it's losing its pop-
ularity with today's students.
They are not so dumb,
One of our high school coaches
revealed the new attitude. When
he remonstrated with one of his
rookies, "Hit 'im! Hit 'im!" the
kid retorted: "Why should I hit
him? tie's my friend,"
Another kid started walking off
the field in the middle of a play,
"Hey! Where you going;?" the
coach wanted to know, The kid
said: "I'm gonna have a rest."
It may not be football, and it
may make coaches grind their
teeth to the jawbone, but it's
sanity.
30 Years Ago
George Rether, a fifth former
and a newcomer to the school was
elected president of the student
council of Exeter High School
with vice-president Elsie Geiser
and secretary Helen Leslie.
Mr. Rowe Dinney who has been
in the staff department in the
head office of the Royal Bank of
Canada has been transferred to
Vancouver, B.C.
Tuesday evening the Exeter
Badminton Club held a local
tournament arranged by the
sports director, Art Campbell,
20 Years Ago
Prices for haircuts have gone
up. Exeter barbers have in-
creased the price from 36c to 40c
effective last Saturday.
This week Leavitt's Theatre is
celebrating the fifteenth an-
niversary of the new theatre and
their thirty-fifth year in the
moving picture business in
Exeter,
Mr, Tom Walker of town, who
took up photography as a hobby
several months ago, has decided
to open a small photo studio at his
home on Main Street.
year olds as the "near group"
and many of them took up the
habit which once was the role of
the 19 and 20 year olds.
The change in age brought
many high school students into
the legal age and this is another
basic problem. Their high school
peers, although they may
younger, feel they too should
have the same opportunities.
+ + +
While that may be an over
simplification of the problem, it
is now abundantly clear that
underage drinking (as well as
over-indulgence by those who are
of age) should be of prime con-
cern to everyone in this com-
munity
When high schools can't stage
dances due to problems
associated with alcohol, it is a
deplorable and frightening
situation.
But cancelling those dances
does not provide a reasonable
alternative. It only serves to
move the problem to a different
location.
The time has obviously come
when parents in the community
must band together to assess the
situation and take steps to
correct it.
It may be that they should be
asking the school board to initiate
programs making young people
more aware of the dangers of
alcohol, It may be that they
should be asking the provincial
government to increase the
drinking age again.
Whatever action is to be taken,
it should be taken quickly. While
some parents were made aware
last week of their child's use of
alcohol no doubt many more
weren't because their offspring
eluded the police.
In the long run they may be the
unfortunate ones. The next time
the police all on them, it may be
to report the tragic consequences
of an accident caused through the
use of alcohol.
If that happens they have no
place to shove the blame. They
have now been fully aware of the
problem and obviously have the
choice on how they plan to deal
with it.
Viewed on those terms, the
choice shouldn't be too difficult.
Surely someone in this com-
munity can show the leadership
necessary to get the discussions
and actions underway!
15 Years Ago
This year's area corn crop
easily grew "as high as an
elephant's eye" and some of the
cobs came close to matching the
size of an elephant's trunk.
Don Cann, son of Mr. & Mrs,
CarfCann, Exeter, was elected
editor of the SHDHS, annual
publication, the Inkspot at a
recent election at the school.
Construction progress on the
$31 2 million hospital being
erected near Goderich is well
under way. The hospital is ex-
pected to be completed next year.
5 Years Ago
Norman Lewis, 25, a
McGillivray township farmer
suffered a broken pelvis, other
splintered bones and a smashed
knee when a tractor backed over
him.
A committee of Reeve Derry
Boyle and Councillors Merv,
Cudmore and Ken Ottewell was
set up by Exeter council Monday
to bring in ideas for a new town
hall before the end of the year.
Mr. & Mrs. John Etherington of
Medan, 'Sumatra Island, spent
last week with his parents Mr. &
Mrs. Archie Etherington.
"Fine Christian lady, that!"
stormed a clerk about her pious
employer who had torn into
another employee stripping her
of her dignity in front of several
customers.
She continued, "If anyone is
going to talk about their religion
as much as she does, they'd
better be prepared to live it,"
I guess the old adage is true, 'I
can't hear a word you're saying,
your actions are speaking so
loudly'.
It's a shame and frightening
that many people gather most of
their ideas and impressions about
Christianity from those who
profess to be Christian. We don't
usually judge a whole family by
one member who may not turn
out too well, but for some reason,
people who aren't Christians
judge Christianity by what
Christians are like,what they can
and can't do, what they believe or
don'tbelieve. It never occurs to
most of them that Jesus Christ
himself has something directly to
do with being a Christian. Instead
of looking at the Central Person
and what He offers and teaches
they look to the fringes to see and
condemn the weaknesses of those
who follow Him.
However, there's no doubt
about it that those of us who talk a
lot and make our stand known
publicly for Chjristianity are
always in jeopardy of being
criticized more than most people.
The non-Christian world scans us
searchingly to see how we stand
up in the nitty-gritty of life and
not on how well we talk, preach
or write.
And perhaps this is how it
should be and what Christ wants.
After all, we talk a lot about being
renewed or born again and surely
this would indicate to anyone that
the old persons we once were with
all those temper tantrums, the
biting tongue, the greed, the lying
and cheating etc, have been cast
out forever. Indeed, with God's
help, they can be, too.
However, most Christians, with
their human fraility, find it a
battle they fight every day. For
most there is not just one great
laying aside of these damaging
habits and characteristics. It's
more usual that these have to be
turned over to God many times
before they are finally brought
under control. Unfortunately,
some Christian's never get them
under control (even partially)
and these are the ones who do
irreparable damage to the name
of Christianity.
Here's a little poem that says
something of what we're talking
about:
Religion
Religion is telling the truth in
your trade
Without even counting the cost,
And having the courage to
stand by the right,
Though fortune and friends may
be lost.
Religion is thirty-six inches per
yard,
And sixteen full ounces per
pound;
And sixty whole minutes of other
men's time . . .
Not watching these minutes roll
'round,
Religion is giving a bright word
or two
To those whose dark clouds hide
their sun,
If you've got the kind of religion I
mean
You'll find your day's labors well
done.
(Anon.)
ceptionally, hearing or sight
handicapped children in their
charge?"
"Unless you are able to show
me studies which have been done
to dispute this," she added, "we
believe that this is one reason
why the needs of the children
with learning disabilities though
certainly not ignored, can not be
met."
In presenting her brief Mrs.
Van den Broeck suggested that
innovative and highly specialized
programs and follow through
were needed so that these
students, who are mentally
capable of learning, may make
the adjustment within them-
selves which will allow them to
continue effectively within the
system.
"We are painfully aware of the
fact that children elsewhere are
receiving the help they need in
order to learn how to read," she
said. "Will our child be denied the
right to an education because
these specialized programs are
not available in Huron County?"
Recognizing that the highest
school board expenditure goes
toward salaries, "is it not
reasonable for us to expect a high
levelof efficiency in the regular
classroom and specialized help
for those who need it?" she
asked,
In her brief she also asked what
criteria is used to evaluate a
teacher? "Are your reports.
which you use to evaluate a
teacher's worth as vague and
sometimes misleading as the
report cards our children bring
home? Are you paying teachers
simply on the basis of their own
education or on the basis of their
ability to teach?"
' Mrs. Van den Broeck ,asked
what incentives there were for a
teacher to be encouraged to
become a better teacher. She
suggested that Board policy of
recognizing university courses to
be of greater value in the long run
that Department of Education
Courses on teaching methods
created a feeling in teachers of,
"Why take a course to be a better
teacher when I. can take a
university course that is going to
give me a better salary whether
or not it has anything to do with
teaching."
She went on to point out that the
best salaries in the school system
were in administration.
"Therefore I would like to know
how many of our best teachers
are aspiring to administrative
goals instead of teaching goals?"
she asked,
In view of the tremendous
differentials in pay between
teachers and administrators she
suggested that the Board was
creating incentives to make
administrators out of teachers.
"A tremendous amount of
energy is now being directed
towards testing and evaluating
children," she said. This is of
particular concern to us and I
would suggest that this policy, as
it now stands, is questionable at
Please turn to Page 10
were drunk, while the remainder
had been hauled into the office
because they had been found
drinking.
The reason for the crowded
conditions was the fact the
teenagers were being held until
their parents could come to the
office and pick them up.
It was not a happy scene. In
fact it must have been very
disheartening for anyone wit-
nessing it to see so many young
people from the area running
afoul of the law.
It was a scene that indicates
quite clearly that the community,
has a serious problem. The
majority of teenagers were under
the legal age and that was the
basic reason they had been taken
to the police station.
Many of the young people had
been in attendance at a school
dance, Reports indicate that in
addition to the drinking problem,
there were acts of vandalistn at
the school. Windows were broken
and other damage inflicted on
the building. Most of the actions
were no doubt related to the
..booze being consumed by the
young people.
+ + +
This is not a problem solely
related to local high school
students. In fact, most other high
schools have been forced to ban
school dances due to the
problems created by those in
attendance. In most situations,
alcohol is responsible.
Some people will immediately
blame school officials for the
problem. But is that fair? Most of
the drinking takes place outside
the building and officials have
little control of what goes on in
parked cars off the premises.
Obviously, the police are doing
their job. The number of young
people picked up is clear in-
dication of that.
The problem basically rests
with the young people them-
selves, although their attitude
and actions must surely reflect a
neglect of parental control as
well.
However, the basic problem is
the allowable drinking age itself.
Drinking has always been a
problem, but when the age of
majority was reduced, it
magnified the problem.
It immediately gave the right
to drink to those between the ages
of 18 and 21. That added
thousands and thousands of
young drinkers to the list,
In addition it added the 14 to 17
On Monday afternoon the
Huron County Board of
Education was asked to initiate
an independent study into special
education needs in the County,
Joan Van den Broeck of
Goderich, who told the board she
had a son in grade four who
"could not read", said she was
speaking for herself and many
other parents in the county whose
children were not getting the
special help they needed to cope
with learning disabilities.
Mrs. Van den Broeck told the
board that such a study should be
done independently by someone
outside the system, that the study
should evaluate not only what is
being done in Huron but also what
is being done with similar
problems elsewhere and that the
study provide recommendations
based on its findings.
"As parents," she told the
meeting, "my husband and I
have watched with growing
alarm the effects that an ap-
parent lack of policy in this area
has had on our child over the past
four years."
"We believe that until such
time as the Board acknowledges
the need for Special Education
Policy and is willing to establish
guidelines and programs geared
to the need, the educational
rights of many children in Huron
County to realize their full
potential will be denied," she
said.
In presenting her plea, Mrs.
Van den Broeck said 'she
recognized the national scope of
some of the problems which the
board faced. She said she had
been told that there are students,
even at the secondary school
level, who are unable to read. She
noted concern being expressed by
universities who a ck nowledge tha t
they are receiving students from
the system lacking in basic
language skills and, who need to
upgrade themselves 'in order to
cope with university.
"But," she added, "may I ask
you, because the problem ap-
pears to be so complex and wide
spread, does that excuse you (the
board) from taking any course of
responsible action?"
"Is it not time for you, as our
representatives, to take a close
look at what is happening in our
own schools?" she asked.
Mrs. Van den Broeck asked if
remedial teachers were not being
flooded with students who require
upgrading of basic skills because
they are not stressed enough
in the regular classroom.
She went on to suggest that the
skills of , special education
teachers were being used as a
substitute for re-inforcing basic
skills in the primary grades.
She asked if "special education
and remedial teachers are being
faced with having to make the
choice of offering a little bit of
help to a fairly large number of
students to supplement what
should be done in the classroom
instead of expending their
energies on the specialized needs
of the smaller group of per-
Requests study on
special education