Times-Advocate, 1982-04-21, Page 4Page 4
T sres.ArvagNe, AO 21, 19112
mes
Times Established 1873
Advocate Established 1881
Amalgamated 1924
4.
dvocate
Serving South Huron, North Middlesex
& North Lambton Since 1873 '
Published by J.W. Eedy Publications Il.imhed
LORNE EEDY
Pu blisher
JIM BECKETT
Advertising Manager
BILI BATTEN ROSS HAUGH
Editor Assistant Editor
HARRY DEVRIES
'Composition Manager
DICK JONGKIND
Business Manager
1 1 Published Each Wednesday Morning at meter, Ontario
Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386.
Phone 235-1331
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C.W.N.A., O.C.N.A. CLASS 'A' and `ABS'
494
The doors are open
Education Week will be marked in most area
schools this coming week and once again, the schools
have arranged some interesting programs.
The work of the students will be on display as well
as programs that will entertain and enlighten.
The state of education is often the subject of com-
plaints, but unfortunately it is often through ignorance
of what the schools are actually doing or what they are
attempting to do. •
Education week programs give parents and other
interested parties the opportunity to see the work and
discuss matters of mutual interest with teachers and
other school officials.
r:111
The program being offered this week at SHDHS
appears particularly enlightening as it will cover many
facets of education through discussion panels, cover-
ing such topics as drug and alcohol abuse, sex educa-
tion, school organization, computers, apprenticeship
and college programs, •
Considerable work has obviously beenundertaken
by the schools to better acquaint people with the pro.-
grams
ro-grams they are offering, but the week will only be suc-
cessful if those with an interest or complaints attend
to get some first-hand knowledge.
The doors are open... plan to attend.
Bad news dominates
It's one of those good news—bad news situations!
Reports indicate that Canadian workers will pro-
bably achieve real wage gains this year after four
years of losing to inflation. That's the good news part.
The bad news is that the gains will be at the ex-
pense of more unemployment as employers will be
unable to pass along higher labor costs in increased
prices because of weak demand in a time of deepen-
, ing economic recession.
- Unfortunately, the good news aspect of the situa-
tion is far out -weighed by the bad news portion. The
smiles of many workers who will achieve real wage
gains will be turned to frowns as they join the
unemployment ranks.
One example is that of the forest workers in British
Columbia. They won average annual increases of 1.9
percent after a strike last summer and then watched
as 25 percent of their members lost jobs as the result
of the increased wages making their product too ex-
pensive for a sagging economy.
\ Prime Minister Trudeau and Finance Minister
MacEachern have talked increasingly of the need for
wage. restraint, but organized labor across the coun-
try is in no mood to listen to the pleasof government.
They have a sound basis for. turning a deaf ear to
the government plea for restraint. Tose governments,
have richly rewarded themselves and,their public ser-
vice employees with wage hikes that iamany cases ex-
ceed, those being sought by private sector workers.
But hbw many politicians or civil sell:Art.)3 end up
losing their jobs because they've pricedjhemselves out
of the market?
Until everyone starts playing under the same
rules, the necessity for restraint will beenvisioned only
as something to be preached and iiot practiced.
If policitians and civil servants had their jobs
jeopardized by high wage concessions, then perhaps
their leadership role would be more convincing.
Did you know...
In Spain, road accidents are the main cause of
child deaths and are increasing every year.
In 1978, 588 pedestrians were killed and 3,385 in-
jured in the streets of Moscow. Half of all the victims
killed in traffic accidents were drunk.
That in Belgium, children under 12 years must, by
law, sit in -the back seat of cars.
In certain parts of Australia, the names of drunken
drivers are sent to local newspapers and are printed
under the headline, "He is drunk and in jail".
In South Africa, a drunken driver is given a 10
year prison sentence, or a fine of $10,000, or both.
Every work day morning a man in Akron, ;Ohio
gets into a car and drives 240 kilometre$ to Marietta in
Ohio. When he arrives there; he turns around and
comes back without. making any deliveries or pick
ups. This man is a test driver for a tire and rubber
'- company and has been doing this for almost 40 years.
Not enough to say it's not enough
Members of Exeter council decided to
send a message this week, but unfor-
tunately it does not provide any concrete
basis on which the intended recipients of
the message can act, other than to attend
another meeting that will cover a topic
that is new to no one.
The message they are trying to com-
municate is that the neighbouring
townships are not providing enough grant
money to the South Huron rec centre
board of management.
In fairness to Exeter council, it should
be noted at the outset that there is no
definitive message that can be relayed at
this time. No dne has yet come up with a
perfect scheme that will enable
cooperating municipalities to determine
what they should be paying for recreation
facilities and programs that are shared by
their respective residents.
It is currently undertaken on a volun-
tary basis and obviously it is not working
satisfactorily, at least in the opinion of
members of Exeter council:
But the crux of the problem is that Ex-
eter council can not say what is
satisfactory.
If the neighboring municipalities sent a
blank cheque and told Exeter to fill in the
amount that would represent the fair
share of each municipality, no one would
know what amount to fill in.
Determining the fair share of each is
unquestionably complex, but it is in that
r
direction thatthe deliberations must pro-
ceed if there is any hope of coming up with
satisfactory assessments for all those
involved.
The alternative is a self-sustaining user
fee charge for all recreation programs
and facilities and that would undoubted-
ly make many activities prohibitive in
terms of cost for participants.
*
So, let's proceed on the blank cheque
theory, with the provision that Exeter has
BATT'N
AROUND
with the editor
•
•
to prove the fairness of the figure they will
write in for each of the municipalities
involved.
To merely say that the townships are
not contributing enough is not satisfac-
tory, unless it is accompanied with a
statement of what they should be paying
ori the basis of their ratepayers' use of the
programs and facilities.
In some areas the computation is not as
difficult as may be imagined.
If swimming instruction, based on all
inputs involved, costs $50 per student and
that student is required to pay $20, then
that leaves $30 to be subsidized by the
municipalities. If there are 15 students
from Stephen, for instance, then that
township should be expected to contribute
$450 to the swimming pool program. If
they don't, then Stephen students should
be required to pay the full $50 cost.
The same type of calculations should be
possible for many other programs where
the user fee does not meet the costs in-
volved and where subsidization must be
considered to make it possible for people
to participate.
Until that is done; Exeter council have
no justification for saying that the share
being paid by the neighboring
municipalities is not enough, or equally
important, what would be enough.
It is certainly not fair to expect the
board of management to pass along such
a meaningless message.
The matter must be addressed at the
political level, and while the board may
provide the inp4to determine the basis
for the negotilgrions, it is the politicians
who must come to grips with making the
final decision.
They've been hashing and re -hashing
the subject for years withouta satisfac-
tory conclusion and until the communica-
tion becomes clear, concise and based on
facts, the issue will never be resolved.
The ball is clearly in Exeter's court and
if they want to play a good game, then the
ball can't simply be served up in a ''hope
and prayer" manner.
, Enough is enough!
CC
'm afraid I have bad news for the country — the prime minister will be up and
around in no time at all."
More human than before
As I mentioned, my
daughter is correlating a
questionnaire sent to
retired teachers about to
retire. It was anonymous,
and most of the answers
were sealed. But quite a
few weren't. My wife and
I, after a brief struggle
with my ethics (women
have none when it comes
to readingletters) perus-
ed with ascination the
answers.
Some of the data proved
only that teachers, on the
whole, are not exactly the
kind of people who go off
looking for die North-West
;passage, dnd 'stumble
across Cuba as Chris CO
umbus did. basically, they
are people who yearned to
be something else:
surgeon, famous writer,
engineer. And have mov-
ed from one job, or one
town to another, once in
their lives. I thought as
much.
If one went on the data
alone, one would conclude
that teachers are a pretty
dull lot. Narrow, insular,
petty. And one would be
right if one went to a staff
meeting.
We had one the other
day, and we chewed the
same, old cabbage over
and over again. Kids are
loitering in the halls. Kids
are late for classes. Kids
are rude to teachers. Girls
smoke in the girls'
washroom, and make
more mess than boys.
Many students are not
"motivated." In plain
English that means they
are either dumb, or lazy,
or the teacher is no good,
or the subject doesn t ap-
peal to them. "Why do we
hafta take Shakespeare?
Why didden he write so we
could unnerstan?"
Students don't eat a pro-
per breakfast. That's one
nswer. usually from the
Home Ec. (1 reuse to call
them Family Studies) peo-
ple. So what? I never ate
a "proper" breakfast in
my life, and as a student,
often didn't have time for
any breakfast.
Students are lecherous.
They try to find a seclud-:
Sugar
and Spice
Dispensed By SmMey
ed Spot in the school
(caught a couple coming
out the firedoors of the
library the other day,
grinding away.) They
weren't coming out, I was.
And they were grinding,
not I, Suggested that they
go to a public park,
preferably after dark.
They weren't rude. They
thought it was . a great
idea, but pointed out that
it was Fate March. I
agreed that it was a trifle
chilly for what they were
doing.
They think they're
lecherous? They do not.
But we do. I was so -
lecherous, and unrequited
at their age, that when I
was finally married, I
kept looking over my
shoulder for a vice-
principal every time my
wife and I went into a
perfectly legal clutch.
Students have no
respect for teachers
anymore. Another cliche
as old as the educational
system. Students will
always respect teachers
who are, not respectable
but capable of respect. 1I
did and my students do.
And I, and they, have
nothing but contempt for
the teacher who demands
respect because he/she is
a "teacher"..
Students . are spending
too much time getting a
drink at the water foun-
tain. Another perennial.
How ridiculous. A girl who
has just come from
biology merely wants to
rinse her mouth out, like a
bird, A six-foot three-inch
boy who has just come
from gruelling Phys. Ed.
class can go on and on like
ruddy camel.
I could go on and on
about the terrible failures
of students. One principal
I knew spent one hour of a
teachers' meeting coping
with, and getting nowhere
with, the chewing of gum.
And about 60 percent of
the staff took it seriously.
Another principal
thought girls should wear
skirts never pants,
regardless of the weather,
and including the fact that
some of them travelled by
snowmobile 10 miles
before catching a drafty
bus to school. A show of
civil disobedience, when
200 girls showed up in
jeans, put an end to that.
Enough about students.
They have changed little
over 50 years, except that
they feel, but aren't, more
sophisticated.
My daughter also asked;
in her questionnaire;`How
have teachers changed
during your career?"
I hated to- tell her, but
she knew anyway, so I
spilled the beans.
Drastically. They do so
many things now they
• didn t do when I was a stu-
dent, that I blush to relate
them.
They no longer drive 30
miles to the next town to
buy a mickey of rye. They
walk in and- fill a basket
with wine, liquor • and
such. At'the local stdte.
They no longer keep
er prurience secret.
They talk about sex as
well as knitting and
sports. They get separa-
tions and divorcgs just like
real people.
They let their hair grow, •.
chafe against ties (the
men), and girdles and
bras (the women) . They
grow beards (the men,
that is) instead of the
moustaches the ladies us-
ed to grow.
There are few arid
spinsters any more, tak-
ing out their frustrations
on the kid> and knee-
jerking to the school
oard. Most women
teachers aremarried, and
the spinsters are no longer
arid.
The sadists and bullies
have pretty well disap-
peared from the scene.
There are still in-
competents and potential
psychological n, tt goes with
the territory.
On the whole, teachers
are much more human
than they used to be or
were forced to be. And
they are just as dedicated,
not so dessicated.
So good for the tummy
Oh, no! It's a quarter to six
already. I only have an hour
to change my clothes, get
supper ready and get going
to Dancefit: First I better
sort through this mail. Hmm
- bills, bills and more bills...
Let's see - I'll throw on a t -
shirt and some shorts and
pull my sweat suit over top.
And what about supper?
Well, 1 can 'shake and bake'
these pork chops - I'll just
stick them in the toaster
oven.
Darn - You, just can't find
anything in this freezer, I
was sure there was still some
cauliflower down here. Oh,
yes, under the corn on the
cob. Here, I'll just throw it in
the vegetable steamer. And
I'd better make up a salad -
lettuce, radishes, cucumber,
and uh, where did those
mushrooms go? Chop, chop,
chop, toss, toss, toss - throw
on some bacon bits and that
ought to do it!
I'll put the salad, in the
fridge to keep it crisp and
turn the toaster -oven on
"keep warm." And I'll turn
off the burner under the
cauliflower - don't want it to
go mushy. And I'm ready to
go.
Except for the
dog...where's the dog?
Pepper, come here, Pepper.
Oh boy, he saw me in my
sweat suit and knows that
I'm going out. Now he won't
come near me. OK, Pepper,
I'll play ball with you. There
you go, chase it. Yeah, here
you go again. And again, and
again and again. Listen, if
you don't get tired out soon,
I'm going to be really late for
dancefit. That's enough, now
you'll only be tied up for an
hour while I'm away. Be a
good boy.
Get the car in gear and
away I go. i don't want to
miss the warm-up exercises.
Just in time, they're doing
the stretches. Bend your
knees, touch your toes,
straighten the right leg,
straighten the left. Hm, not
as easy as it sounds. Enough
with the stretches, on with
the music.
Now, was that "Kick, kick
stretch" or "Stretch,
stretch, kick"? Whatever
she said, I think i did the
opposite. Oh well, she's
always telling us to fake it. i
sure hope nobody in the back
noticed that one.
Right leg, right leg -
oops' That's my left! I
never could keep up with this
part.
Mary's
musings
By Mary Alderson
The New York strut?? Oh,
yeah, that one...one, two and
one two one two ...clap,
clap. Waltz turn left, waltz
tlirn right, a person could get
dizzy.
How does this one start?
Hip bumps? And then
walkin' on air. i remember
now.
Down on the floor. Sit-up
and reach. An oblique? What
was that? On yeah, flat on
the floor, hands behind your
head, bring your knee to
your elbow. Grunt, puff,
moan...my body doesn't
bend that way. Pant, pant,I
whew!
Another 10 minutes...1
don't think I'm gonna make
it: Cross over, step, step,
reach and pull. Puff, puff,
pant.
Another dance? (U; come
on, Linda...Well, yeah, sure,
i guess we can do H.
Finally, the cool down. See
you Thursday, girls. Gotta
get the cauliflower warmed
up and see if those pork
chops are done.
Mmmm, smells good. Hi,
dear, how was your day?
Yeah, dinner's ready. What
dressing do you want on your
salad? I'm hungry.
Here, let's clear the
table...I'Il load the dish-
washer.
Ten o'clock. We can watch
"The Journal." I'll just get
down on the floor here and
practise thane obliques that
Linda taught us tonight.
Supposed to be good for the
tummy. Let's see. Roll right,
knee up, roll left, knee up.
But I'm so tired. It feels so
good just to He here on the
carpet. Maybe I'll just close
my eyes.. What's Barbara
Frum saying? Oh, I'm so
tired...1'11 just rest a
moment...'Lzzzzzzzzzz