The Huron Expositor, 1995-05-31, Page 44-T1111 HU ON IXPO$ITOR, May 31, 11133
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Tim's Fit
By 7im Gumming
In past years there has been a common refrain at
election time. "I don't know who to vote for...the
partia,ere all the same." Well, the people of
Huron -County have no right to say that during
Election '95. There are parties favouring direct
democracy, parties stressing fiscal reform, parties
of conservative stripes and parties of liberal
stripes, parties of the establishment and parties
against the establishment.
We also can't forget that anyone who does not
agree with the broad spectrum of political parties
had the option to run themselves as an indepen-
dent.
So, no excuses...it is your duty to vote. Exercise
your right carefully.
* * *
Have you filled out your organ donor card? If not,
please do so now. The transplant unit of Univer-
sity Hospital has the following slogan: "Don't take
your organs to Heaven, Heaven knows we need
them here..."
Anyone who knows someone who has benefitted
from the donation of an organ will realize it is the
most valuable gift of all.
Finally, it is not enough just to fill out your
donor card...make your family aware of your
wishes. Thank you.
Letters to the Editor
Not how I view democracy
Dear Editor,
After reading the writings of
John Gates, Debra Scherle and
Tim Cumming, I have come to
the conclusion that the gun
control bill, Bill C-68 is not the
issue here. The issue, as 1 see
it, is how the electorate views
the term democracy.
For those who fall into the
category of the above men-
tioned, they feel that an elected
member of parliament should
follow the party line right to
the letter and therefore score
points in their favor, so that
when the appropriate time
come they can persuade the
government to provide favors
to their constituency. This is all
well and good providing they
are the party in power at that
time. But, when they are not
part of the governing body the
reverse takes place. For
example, during the 70s with a
conservative as our elected
member and the Liberals in
power we saw the demise of
CFB Clinton and ' CFB
Centralia - a great blow to the
economy of our area.
On the other hand we have
those people that feel that the
MP is their representative at
the governing level, who states
their views to the House of
Commons, thus fulfilling the
definition of democracy. How
does he know the thoughts of
his constituents? Simple, he
gathers data on a specific topic
from the letters, petitions,
phone calls and conversations
he has had from the
conslitucnts in his riding. Then
with this data he casts his vote
either for or against the bill.
While Bill C-68 does not
affect Mr. Gates, Ms. Scherle
or Mr. Cumming, they cannot
understand the position taken
by Mr. Steckle. Mr. Steckle has
taken this position because he
believes that this is how a
member of parliament repre-
sents the people in his riding
and 1 applaud him for the stand
he had taken. However, I know
that there will be other issues
where the position of the con-
stituents will differ from my
views and Mr. Steckle will
have to represent them. This is
the democratic process.
People have said that Mr.
Steckle is puuing an end to his
career by taking this stand, but
in the last three decades we
only had one other Liberal MP
and he chose to follow the
party line. Maybe that is why
Mr. Crawford Douglas didn't
win his second term in office.
We will sec in 1997 when the
silent majority does speak, Mr.
Gates.
Murray Grigg,
Clinton
allineaDEMMED
Crunch time for schooling costs
In the late 1960s just as I
was leaving high school, core
curriculum and province -wide
testing were eliminated and de -
streaming was a catchword and
all the rage in the wake of the
much ballyhooed Hall -Dennis
Report.
Sound familiar?
Now, two -and -a -half decades
later, many of the perceived ills
of Ontario's educational system
have been more recently ad-
dressed, by among other things
the new and again much bal-
lyhooed Royal Commission on
Learning, by reverting to some
of the same notions that were
in vogue around the time that
Hall -Dennis Report came
along.
The more things change the
more they stay the same.
We have re -invented the
wheel and gone full circle.
Many hours and public dollars
have simply gone down the
drain and been wasted in bet-
ween.
So forgive me if I approach
all the acronyms, big words
and ballyhoo. in education as a
skeptic and see much of it as
expensive propaganda. 1 treat
the latest pronouncements and
"new directions" as far less
than gospel.
I see nothing as written in
stone.
And I am not the only one
who thinks education is too
expensive today and labour
costs are a culprit.
Another bias I might as well
wear on my sleeve, although
heresy in some of today's
circles, is: I also think kids in
the 1990s are no better or
worse off than we were, or my
parents' generation even more
so. They had a' depression and
war to.contend with.
Society's complications are
certainly different' but no less
complex.
Experts across the ocean are
now seriously questioning a
"sacred cow" of their
educational system, and ours;
the generally- accepted notion
that large class sizes are bad
for learning.
The biggest study into class
sizes in Britain's history found
size basically "irrelevant",
having no impact on the
academic progress of most
pupils.
It was front-page news in a
recent edition of the respected
London Sunday Times.
"The research into 185,000
lessons in Britain's schools
reveals that children who have
mastered • the 'three Rs' per-
form well, however big the
class," the newspaper reports.
The study by inspectors from
the Office for Standards in
Education analyzed findings
from nearly 1,300 schools in
Britain and found teaching
quality and methods generally
far more important than class
size, but noted there is a case
for smaller class sizes for
pupils aged five to seven: "The
sensible strategy is to try to
keep younger classes as low as
possible even if that means
classes higher up are larger."
A senior inspector said if
children have a foundation in
the basics they Ieam as well in
any size class: "They need less '
spoon-feeding by teachers,
don't have to be constantly
,reminded of things they should
have learned, and can work
better on their own."
According to the London
Sunday Times another 'un-
published international study
into mathematics by Exeter
University in England reinfor-
ces the findings of the school
inspectors. - Math pupils in
countries where classes, are
large such as Germany, Poland
and Hungary, did better than
British students in smaller
classes. So did students in
Korea, Hong Kong and Japan
who achieved some of the
highest mathematical standards
despite common class sizes of
40 or more:
More than a trillion state
primary students in Britain are
now taught in classes of more
than 30.
The controversial school
inspectors' report suggests
"modern teaching methods, in
which pupils are taught in
);roups or individually rather
than more traditionally as a
whole class, hamper progress."
"There's this absurd belief
that we have to work with the
unique individual characteris-
tics of each child rather than
accept there's a common ex-
pectation that every child has
to fulfil irrespective of their
needs," said one senior inspec-
tor, according to the British
newspaper.
As expected the class -size
studies provoked howls of
outrage from most teachers,
their unions and many parents,
who apparently have come to
equate smaller size with quality
learning as an uncontested
article of faith.
"Not a parent, not a teacher
and not a pupil would agree
with this," said the head of
Britain's biggest teachers'
union.
The findings fly in the face
of common sense, said another
top teachers' union official.
"The fact that class size affects
teachers' workloads is ir-
refutable.
Teachers' unions across the
ocean and here concern them-
selves with the interests of
teachers, as they must, not
necessarily the interests of
education or taxpayers.
Small classes equal more
teachers with jobs.
The arguments and infighting
are further complicated by the
fact that many taxpayers are of
course, also parents in 'sway of
these "modern" educators who
arc doing the "spoon-feeding".
The debate is often more
emotional than rational, com-
Doented the director of London'
University's institute of
education:
Flashback
This photo of a kindergarten class at the old Seaforth Public School is, front row, Wayne
Dennewles, Craig Willis, Eric Eaton, Ron Powell, Doug Rowcliffe, Roy Scoins, second row,
Agnes Carter, Gene Nixon, Kathy Boshart, Jerry Regele, Karen Nicholson, Joan Bach,
(unidentified), back row, Marg Reeves, (unidentified), Barb Mennel, Ellen Calder,
(unidentified), Bob Govenlock and Miss McLean. The photo was graciously lent to The
Huron Expositor by Joan Addison.
"The evidence in support of
small classes beyond the ear-
liest years is highly equivocal."
Where is the "truth" in the
midst of all the heated emotion,
posturing and inevitable
politics?
I don't pretend to know the
answer, but as one French wag
with a philosophical bent once
put it: "The exact contrary of
what is generally believed is
often the truth."
What about class sizes here
in Huron County? They are
negotiated by the board and the
various teachers' unions, and
increased slightly with the
coming of the Social Contract,
according to Jeanne Dionne,
Human Resources Ad-
ministrator for the Huron
County Board of Education.
['here arc negotiated
`maximum" class sizes, ran-
ging from a low of 26 in junior
kindergarten increasing to a
high of 37 in grades seven and
eight, and negotiated
"maximum average" class sizes
ranging from 27 in grades one
through three to 34 for grades
-even and eight. it is more
complicated in high school
where it's called pupil -period
contacts but it in general, skip-
ping the complicated
definitions and formulas and
things such as class preparation
and professional development,
varies between the accepted
negotiated figures of.15 and 30
pupils.
The time for trench- warfare
may well be in hand. Now is
the time to be getting rid of
notions and setting real
priorities educational and other-
wise, in the midst of the
economic belt tightening
everywhere in Canada, with far
worse looming on the horizon.
With the extremely high cost
of schooling these days as a
proportion of the provincial and
inynicipal budgets, this is one
'sacred cow" we all would be
wise to take a much closer
look at to ensure that we arc
not the ones being milked.
Column disgusts
letter writer
To the Editor,
I have not read a more dis-
gusting letter in a long time, to
know that the writer is an
editor of another newspaper
snakes it so much more dis-
gusting. I am referring to 'Six -
Gun Paul' by Tim Cumming.
(Huron Expositor, May 10).
It was just 50 years ago to
the week that the allied forces
put a stop to one of the most
detested 'panics' in the world,
the Nazi Party! As a matter of
fact many party members were
hung from the flagpoles in
front of their homes and fam-
ilies and how did all this start?
It started with a party that
was always right, it brought in
Gun Control, Gun Registration,
Gun Confiscation, Bicycle
Confiscation and even the skis,
the Jews and anybody else who
disagreed with the Party.. Must
1 now witness a reincarnation
in the form of Chi-dtien, Rock
itnd Tim Cumming? The Party,
The Party is always right, The
Party, The Party My Friend!
(the Nazi Party slogan).
Manfred Dierolf
RR 7 Lucknow
Wake up, Cumming! This isn't sports
To the Editor,
Wake up, Mr. Cumming -
this is not about sports! This
debate is about losing your
freedom and privileges. This
legislation is about taxing the
firearm owners out of existence
or scaring them into not own-
ing firearms.
This is about the police
breaking into your house,
anytime night or day, on a
mere suspicion delivered by
someone else. How would you
like someone to tip the police
about your non-existent Illegal
guns and the SWAT team
lands at your door? Think you
could convince your neighbours
afterwards that you had done
no wrong? You would be up
for a jail term if you didn t
help them dismember your
home in their search for fire-
arms. These are the things they
propose in this legislation, but
I suppose you haven't read the
fine print.
From the percentages you
give, it looks like they should
be looking at the other causes
of homicide (72 per cent in the
city and 59 per cent in the
country to other than firearms).
If gun owners thought for a
minute (or you could prove)
that registration would elimin-
ate or even reduce the percen-
tages you quote, we would be
all for it. Registration is about
catching someone after the fact,
not preventing it. Once you are
dead, you are dead, and we all
know how lenient the courts
and parole system seem to be
with perpetrators. Why make
potential criminals out of legal
gun owners who are not caus-
ing any problem?
Your idea of politics is exact-
ly what has put this country on
the brink of financial disaster.
The pork barrel is a wonderful
thing but you don't realize that
they have been stealing your
pork to fill it.
You are one of the people
they think that they can fool
with this legislation. They have
you believing that you would
bo safer if your neighbour's
guns were registered or
removed totally. Every time
you go out in your registered
auto, you have a far greater
chance of being killed by
another registered auto than by
an unregistered firearm.
When it come to a leader
earning respect, it is not gained
by beating people up, either
actually or figuratively. Mr.
Chrt'tien's methods rely on
fear, Mr. Cumming, not
respect, to bring people into
line.
see Your, page five
MP doesn't represent us
To the Editor,
(Do we have an opinion re:
Paul Steckle?)
Yes we do! and we have
made it known where it counts,
to Mr. Steckle himself, The
President of the Riding Associ-
ation, The Liberal Party Whip,
and also to the Prime Minister,
regarding the Focus poll.
We would suggest that 67
letters do not represent the
majority of Liberal voters. As
Liberals, we voted for Steckle
only because. he claimed to
represent the Liberal party, not
because he impressed us on a
personal level. He has since
proven that he docs not
represent any of our beliefs, or
those known as the Party
Platform.
We therefore feel duped and
angry!
Mr. Steckle should have had
the integrity w run as an inde-
pendent, or for the Reform
Party, and not ride on the
coattails of the expected
Liberal landslide.
We echo and applaud the
views of Tim Cumming, who
wrote so succinctly, (Huron
Expositor, May 10) as well as
the thoughtful opinions of letter
writer Debra Scherle.
To Harold Rces of Exeter,
we say - This is Canada, please
spare us the American right
wing propaganda. You are
scary!
Yours Truly,
Arlene and Charles Rogers,
Bayfield