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Times-Advocate, 1987-05-13, Page 4Page 4 Times -Advocate, May 13, 1987 Times Established 1873 Advocate Established 1881 • Amalgama ed 1924 imes dvocate Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter; Ontario, NOM 150 Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386. Phone 519.235-1331 cn )ne. LORNE EEDY Publisher JIM BE(:KETT Advertising Manager BILL BATTEN Editor HARRY DEVRIES Composition Manager CONA ROSS HAUGH Assistant Editor DICK JONGKIND Business Manager SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada: $25.00 Per year; U.S.A. $65.00 C.W.N.A., O.C.N.A. CLASS 'A' Sharper, quicker pencils Exeter council members would pro- bably be among the first to acknowledge that their current budget process needs some earlier attention and revamping, as do other municipal councils and bodies which draw their funds from the public purse. In many cases, a third of the year has elapsed before budgets are establish- ed and that generally creates some pro- blems and is poor financial management in that officials basically fly by the seat of their pants for the first three or four months in the current year. The need for earlier budgets has been cited by many elected officials in the past, although their good intentions in that regard seldom come to fruition and obviously needs some greater resolve to ensure that it does. This year, Exeter came down to the proverbial eleventh hour situation and that can create anxieties and- added pressures, compounded to a considerable extent by midnight -oil burning sessions that can result in moves to come up with easy solutions to get the challenge out of the way. After lengthy deliberations members still faced chopping x -number of dollars out to meet their goal and, similar to most, started looking for one item that covered that excess rather than starting all over to look for many areas where minor chops could be made to come up with the same result. The final decision to remove con- tributions to reserve funds has been criticised and defended, and while the latter is plausible, it had not even been mentioned until the eleventh hour was approaching and that made members more receptive to the idea perhaps than it would had it come at the outset of the deliberations. It does, at least, point out the pitfalls of being backed into a corner by time constraints and members hopefully will be moved to answer their own pleas that budget matters get earlier attention. * * * * * * * The budget is about one percent over the goal council had- established, and while this is obviously minor, the net result is that the taxes for general pur- poses are three percent over the inflation rate and the total tax bill increase is about double the four percent to which everyone should be striving. Property taxes may be seen as only a minor item in an individual's expenses, but those whose wage rates are pegged to the inflation rate, .find that those minor items often compound to place a burden on disposable income and the merry-go- round gets moving. Few should need reminding of the devastating effect of uncontrolled infla- tion, although this year's budgets by public officials at all levels indicate their memories need a sharp reminder in that regard. Much sharper pencils must be used next year! Idea should sink Members of Grand Bend council, who appear to be on the receiving end for almost limitless number of requests for attractions at the resort, have every reason to be concerned about a proposal for a water trampoline. Trampolines represent risks for the untrained that warrant special safety measures and one set up in nine feet of water may alleviate some of the dangers inherent with models on land, but brings about some additional hazards on its own. First and foremost, of course, is the intention that patrons have to swim to the apparatus and that is contrary to a number of water safety rules which en- courage even the most proficient swim- mers to move parallel to shore in depths where they can still touch bottom. Hopefully, the beach patrol whose members have been given the power of veto will do so. A minimum requirement for the at- traction should be mandatory transpor- tation back and forth to the site and , qualified supervisors looking after patrons during their use of the apparatus. A significant change Recently the Optimist Clubs of Forest, Watford and Brooke- Alvinston made a contribution to my school which is beginning to make a significant change for the better in some young persons' lives. The device which they helped purchase for the school is a voice synthesizer which is attached to a computer and to a special Keyboard. Pictures or words are placed on the Keyboard. When thgg child touches a specific picture 6r word the voice synthesizer is able to say the word or phrase which is 'hiding' under the picture. At my school we have a number of children who have speech difficulties. Some pro- blems will disappear as the children grow older and are able to hear the proper way words are s ken. Others need a tremen- dous amount of extra help to get their speech into recognizable patterns. Still others may never speak because their tongues just won't work properly or because there is some structural problem between the brain and the tongue. For this last group of children, growing up can be a painful pro- cess. They know what they are By the Way by Fletcher trying to say yet become very frustrated at not being able to get their points across. Imagine not even being able to ask somebody where the washroom is or to say that you are hungry or that your baby sister had a birthday party last night. These are monumental tasks for some children. The voice synthesizer can be • programmed by way of the com- puter (fairly simply I might add) to speak any word or combination of words. We are just nicely get- ting to the place with the machine where we are tailoring specific overlays on the keyboard for each of these children. At this point we have only used it with three different students but we can see where the machine is going to be used con- stantly by many kids in the school. Our major problem is go- ing to be one of scheduling it into different classrooms to make sure that all who need it get a fair share of its time. You should have seen the pleasure in one boy's eyes as he pressed the buttons the first time and the words rolled out of the machine. Believe me, he made my day when I saw that big grin on his face. I would like to publicly thank the Optimist Clubs involved in this project. When they say that they are interested in youth they certainly mean it. Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lambton Since 1873 Published by J.W. Eedy Publications Limited At4TI- SlvlOKlutj BILL UNFAIR! i &9X Perpetrating hoaxes News information is often at- tributed to "usually reliable sources" but there are occasions when that description is unjustified. Over the past few weeks, this newspaper has received bulletins from the head -offices of local chain stores, the Exeter Lioness, a post office employee and a Bell Telephone employee group war- ning, parents about an insidious method of distributing LSD to un- suspecting children. The bulletins have been head- ed "special alert" and detail the suggestion that LSD -laced tattoos are readily available in some communities and could be spreading into this area. It is reported that the tattoos have pictures of Superman, Mickey Mouse and other Disney characters and the LSD can be removed from the paper to be placed in the mouth and absorp- tion can even occur through the skin by simply handling the paper. The bulletin concludes that this is a new way of selling acid and a young child could happen upon these and have a fatal trip. It is also feared that little children could be given a free tattoo by older children who want to have some fun and"it isimportant that all parents be alerted in case their child is involved ... even innocently". The reality is, according to police and Addiction Research Foundation sources, that there is no such item available and they are scratching their collective heads in an attempt to find out .who is behind distribution of the bulletins to school grounds, bulletin boards in stores and Way Saturday is allowance day at our house. Unlike most adults, pay cheques, the money our kids earn is directly related to perfor- mance. If they do what they're supposed to, they get the full amount. If they don't, a certain percentage is deducted. ' I feel that this is the way it should be in the workplace, too. Everybody has ups and downs. Your ups should lead to bonuses, your downs to deductions. Why should employers carry the load? I may get into hot water with the unions over this issue. But to my knowledge there is no movement (yet) to organize children into labour unions. Let's just say that I believe in the principle of equal pay for equal performance. Our children don't always see it that way. They have a table of chores which they fill out every day as they do their little jobs like "turning on the yard lights", "making beds", "setting the table". And they're expected to perform certain func- tions for their own benefits like "getting up in time on school days", "washing hands before meals without being asked" "practicing piano", etc. At a recent family council meeting the allowance rate was set at two dollars for Alexander and at thirty-five cents each for Duncan and Stephanie. There was no use trying to impress these little people with figures from my past. I could have said: "At your age I got one penny a year, and for that I had to work schools and a variety of other places where they have been pro- minently circulated and displayed. - While the bulletins have been labelled as a hoax, and a matter that should be dismissed, one can understand why so many have taken the message at face value and have become concerned to the point of spreading the Batt'n Around ...with The Editor message as widely as they feel necessary. Certainly, no. blame or criticism can be attached to their efforts, although it is hoped that this report will alleviate the con- cerns and help put the matter to rest in this area. Obviously, parents have enough problems to watch out for without spending time on those which are non-existent. *a * * * Speaking • of hoaxes, Exeter Councillor Morley Hall was sub- jected to just that during his re- cent attendance at an OSUM con- vention and he's still having some trouble living it down. From those same "usually reliable sources" the writer has been able to determine that Morley returned to his room and was startled to find an "occu- pant" in the bed beside the one he was using and a pair of women's nylons and shoes on the form under the covers prompted action that one would only expect from a person of Morley's integrity. He called the hotel security people! The latter quickly appeared on the scene and after a brief ex- amination of the "occupant" burst into hearty laughter to in- form the local man that it was very much a lifeless form that had been created by some of his fun -loving cohorts. Although she wasn't at last week's council meeting when Morley relayed the story about his experience, he did mention the name of Dorothy Chapman in the prime list of suspects he was tracking down. It's a joke that he'll have to con- tend with for some time yet, it is suspected, but the bottom line is that he was referred to as "a real- ly good sport" by Clerk Liz Bell who was among those who had some first-hand enjoyment out of the hoax. * * * * * To conclude on an entirely dif- ferent note, one area resident is enjoying a recollection of an event that took place 50 years ago. In May of 1937, Harry Hoff- man of Dashwood was in England to attend the coronation of King George VI. He was not there merely as a tourist, but had been selected by Sir Ernest MacMillan to be one of 24 Canadians to be included in the 400 -voice choir from throughout the Commonwealth to perform at the impressive ceremonies. It was a distinct honor for Harry and an experience that time has probably not dimmed to • any great extent. it should be in a coal mitle all day". It wouldn't have mattered. By now they are so used to my incredible tales of "the olden days" that they tune out the moment I say "When I was a kid..." And there is no point either in telling them how hard I have to work to earn $2.70 or that their weekly allowance amounts to $140.40 a year. - Elizabeth is the judge who decides which child deserves the full allowance on Saturday. This always leads to a bargaining ses- sion. "I didn't put my dirty clothes in the han'lper on Thurs- day because Duncan wouldn't let me," Stephanie may complain, "and besides, I helped 'to clear the table on Wednesday when it wasn't even my day." "Oh ya?" Duncan may argue, "and I had to put your lunch box away because you left it sitting on the porch." But eventually all that is sorted out, the two -dollar bill and the quarters and dimes are handed over by me, the family treasurer. Sometimes I may not have two dimes and give Duncan two 0. nickels instead. "How come Dun- can gets more than I do?" Stephanie will ask. I have told that kid dozens of times that two nickels are worth as much as a dime, but she is still suspicious. I should give the twins their allowance in pennies. I wonder if we're doing the kids a favour by using the term allowance. Maybe we should call it a salary. Otherwise they may go through life expecting money for just waking up in the morn- ing. Perhaps somebody has ex- perience in teaching kids about economics. Let me know if you - do. It bothers me to see Duncan spend his entire weekly earnings on a tiny piece of candy or Stephanie invest hers in a couple of "Barbie stickers". And yet, the money is theirs, and they should be allowed to do with it as they please. It isn't easy to be a father. He is expected to be wite and easy-going, prudent and generous, Just and tolerant, firm and flexible, kind and resolute. At least those are some of the at- tributes Elizabeth lists regularly in describing the -ideal father. To teach my kids a lesson and to impress Elizabeth with my ability as a financial guidance counsellor, I have purchased a piggy bank at a white elephant sale. In it I plan to deposit quarters, dimes,.nickels and pen- nies on a fairly regular basis. Perhaps the children will follow my example. I may report back to you in a future column. 4 •