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Times-Advocate, 1988-02-17, Page 6Page 6 Times -Advocate, February 17, 1988 limes Established 187 t Ads ut ate 1 stablished 1881 Amalgamated 1924 BLUE RIBBON AWARD 1985 Imes dvocate Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario, NOM 150 Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386. ROSS HAUGH Editor HARRY DEVRIES Composition Manager 519.235.1331 eNA CCPLA )IM BECKETT Publisher & Adsertising Manager DON SMITH Business Manager SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada: $25.00 Per year; U.S.A. $65.00 No ideal situation Commenting about abortions in a newspaper editorial is difficult when it can be argued thousands of people have already been allowed to take.this way out to end an unwanted pregnancy while thousands more have been denied the same option. Different bureaucracies in Canada have passed the buck on this extremely sensi- tive subject. No single organization wants to bear the responsibility of either approving or denying permission for the removal of a fetus, thereby ending a life. We agree it is a difficult decision. What we can't understand is the power to ap- prove or deny access to abortions being left to literally dozens of committees across the country. Try and picture any group discussing whether permission should be granted to end a pregnancy in this manner. The recent Supreme Court decision that control over a woman's body be- longs to that woman is difficult to argue with. Questions still unanswered include the differences of opinion for the maxi- mum time pregnancy be allowed to con- tinue. We believe every effort should be made to discourage abortion, especially as a means of birth control. Women who do not want to become pregnant should, if possible, have the knowledge to avoid this situation. However, if life were made up cf ideal situations, there would never be any de- mand for abortions. Once a woman has considered all her options, consulted with professionals and made up her mind to proceed, it is difficult to understand what role politicians and others have in being part of this complex, personal choice. The readers write Dear Ross; Even though this is the month of February, summer - in all its shin- ing glory - will be upon us in a few months. Even now the boaters and fishermen arc getting anxious to get their gear out of storage and hit thc waterways once again. Wayne and I belong to the group of boaters and it seems that most of our time is spent talking or at least thinking about boating and this goes on all year. We belong to the Canadian Marine Rescue Auxiliary Section (C) or CMRA (C), attended the annual convention a short while ago in Toronto and though were would share with you some of the information from that convention. W ' convened at eight in the mor, ,ing for the annual general mect.ng at which time reports were. given by the executive and the eight District Directors. All were accepted and adopted. That meeting conclud- ed at ten o'clock and we brokc for coffee. We returned to our scats at ten fifteen and until noon heard speakers, saw slides an had discus- sions on Watcr Levels, Radio Tele- communications and Electronic Aids to Navigation. Thcrc arc many factors which af- fect the water level of the Lakes and we were told that thcy were expect- ed to drop another six inches if the precipitation was normal. With such a minimal amount of snow so far this winter were arc left,wondcr- ing what will take place. Just make sure that if you are out boating this summer, you keep an sharp cyc and if possible get information of the normal water levels in your arca or you may find yourself "high and dry" unexpectedly. Radio telecommunications stress the point that a VHF radio on your boat is a very important safety fea- ture and we should learn how to use them properly. You do require an operators license to use one. The Electronic Aids to Naviga- tion made it very clear that an un- derstanding of computer operation would be very helpful in the future to make full use of all the aids they plan to install. At this time we went our own way for lunch, convened again at one thirty and were introduced to many guests from both Canada and the United States. Most of them gave a short job description and it was gratifying to have dignitaries from the United States Coast Guard there as we do work together from time to time. Ron Quick, the Regional Co- ordinator, Auxiliary and Preven- tion, Search and Rescue (SAR) re- ported the statistics of the CMRA for the previous year. When you join thc CMRA you are on proba- tion until you take the level 1 course for SAR. Of our 814- mem- bers, 75 percent now have this training. On the whole it appears Jim Beckett that the CMRA .is a very essential and viable operation. RCC Tren- ton, the Canadian and United States Coast Guard and the CMRA seem to be able to work together very well and have thc utmost re- spect for each others position. The remainder of the afternoon was an open forum with any mem- ber free to ask questions of our three top officers. Questions from licensing of hand held VHF's to Courtesy Vessel Inspection Certifi- cation were discussed. Our after- noon meeting was adjourned at four thirty. To say the least, it was a day full of information. Some of the exper- iences shared by the members real- ly made you sit up and take notice. You cannot control the weather but you can control your decisions and reactions so you don't put you or your family in a dangerous situa- tion. If making a long trip, check out the weather and water conditions. Keep your schedules flexible enough in case you have to set a day and wait for better weather. Just remember that material goods, no matter how expensive, are re- placeable but a human life is not. Thanks for your time: Sticker shock When you look in the toy de- partment of stores these days for a gift for your children or grand- children be prepared for some- thing known as "sticker shock". It's the same feeling you get when you go to buy a new car after having nursed the old one along for a number of years and finally realize that it has to be re- placed. While efficient transportation is probably one of the necessities of life these days, one has to wonder whether it is worthwhile spending a hundred dollars on a teddy bear which talks. Kids arc capable of creating games and fun out of almost nothing if they arse given thc chance. i watched thc excitement of a bunch of youngsters one day out on the school playground. it was snowing and thc temperature was just right to make it 'pack' perfectly. In no time at all they had a team organized to build a By the 7 Way by Syd Fletcher ..... ............. .t snow fort complete with thrcc separate rooms, a door and sev- eral windows. Another group across the way was working to build the world's biggest snow- man. All this activity was taking place with a perfectly cost-free commodity - snow. I can remember back when I was in Grade 5 at Chapel Strict Public School in Georgetown. Wayne and Shirley Prance CMRA Vessel "The Farmer" Out behind the school was a little hill about six or seven feet tall, just big enough to form a perfect ice slide when the temperature dropped below freezing. We'd make a bee -line out there every recess and slide down the hill hundreds of times on a piece of cardboard, or lacking that, just in our snow suits. ' Many hours too we spent after school up in the loft of an old barn, pretending to be cowboys or Indians, cops or robbers. Our only toy was a piece of stick which loosely looked like a rifle. Our imaginations were the key to our enjoyment. As parents and educators we must Ieain to give children that chance to use their minds as a creative tool instead of letting somebody else do thc thinking for them. Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lambton Since 1873 Published by ).W. Eedy Publications Limited '. %,.• • "011-‘0H, I DON'T LIKE T11E LOOKS OF TH151 " Your child and television This week we received in the mail a very interesting pamphlet from the Children's Broadcast Institute regarding Your Child and Television. More than a dozen persons have contibuted to the 23 articles covering this very important and controversial subject. The first point was for parents to be familiar with thcir chil- dren's television viewing habits, observe what programs they watch and sec how they behave while watching. Why do children watch televi- sion? Is it because they are bored, because they arc trying to avoid dealing with something else or just for amusement? Children should be encour- aged to develop other interests, participate in activities which they enjoy and spend time with friends. It is recommended programs with a lot of physical violence and those with too many situa- tion comedies should be avoid- ed.The latter . type programs present a great deal of non- physical aggression, name call- ing, sarcasm and silent treatment which children tend to imitate in their relationships with others. It suggests children should be selective in their viewing and parents should set limits to thc amount which'can be watched. Most of us would agree that television plays an important role in our Lives and most Cana- dians now spend over half of thir leisure time watching the TV set. The average person watches approximately 24 hours a week, 'which amounts to nine years in aft average life span. By the time our children reach the age of 12, they will have spent 12,000 hours watching television, more time than they • From the 'editor's disk by Ross Haugh will have spent in school. In those 12,000 hours they will have watched 10,000 hours of American programming. Television has replaced print as the major means of transmitting cultural information, attitudes and values. What our children loam from television contributes to their development as individuals and as Canadians. Any parcnt whose English- speaking children watch the American version of Sesame Street will agree that at an early age they know more Spanish and French. Parents will also tell you that it takes three times as long for chil- dren to unlearn the American pro- nunciation of the letter "Z" than it takes to learn it in the first place from viewing the program. Clearly we have reason to be concerned about the effect of American programming on the development of Canadian chil- dren. If we want our children to know what it means to be Cana- dian then we must accept the re- sponsibility to help them under- stand the relevance or irnevelance of what they watch on television to the Canadian experience. What.can we do about the situa- tion when we have more Ameri- can viewing options than Canadi- an? For one thing we can encourage children to watch the many Ca- nadian programs produced for children of all ages and also watch with them and discuss with them the theme and images they may see. If any parents arc interested in tccciving a copy of a newsletter which outlines programs being currently offered by Canadian networks they may write to the Children's Broadcast Institute at 234 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 405, Toronto M4P 11<5. Each to own taste "Each to his own taste" is a good motto to follow, don't you think? Especially in music. There is no good or bad, no better or worse, no best or worst. But there is loud, louder and loudest. I am no musician. I love some kinds of music, and I don't care for other kinds. I have no idea why that is so. Generally speaking, my favourites arc Baroque and Renaissance music, old-time jazz, and folk music. Lately I have become very fond of country and western. I also like some, but not too many, operatic arias, and I can even tolerate some, but not much, rock 'n roll. I absolutely despise modern orchestral music. Berlioz and Hindemith make my hair stand on end. And — many music lovers would considef it sacrilegious — I can't stand Brahms or Benjamin Britten. There you have it. My taste in music is definitely not very refined, And not very contemporary. At least I realize and admit it. But I refuse to admit that "the volume of music has anything to do with taste. Could it be that our kids are being conditioned by mainstream rock 'n roll to like noise instead of music? Mention music to most people under 40, and what comes to their mind immediately is the kind of stuff they're constantly listening to on their ghetto blasters and walkmcn. Some record shops have one small corner which they label tither "easy listening" or "classical", and that's where they stack everything that isn't rock, from Gregorian chant to Barbra Streisand. Or anything that is played without painful amplification. Elizabeth and I went to a dinner PETER'S POINT • and dance a few weeks ago. The room was slightly larger than our kitchen. The four -man band consisted of an electronic keyboard, an electricguitar, drums, and a singer (vocalist they call them these days). Thcy needed amplifiers like they needed a hole in their heads. I mean you could have heard their little old heartbeats across the room. When the, dinner plates wcrc cleared away, this band took half an hour to set up their huge - speakers and their hi -tech control panel. There were lights flashing, and cables strung all over the place. They tuned their instruments forever. When they finally got started, I realized why they needed all that hardware. They didn't know how to play. The vocalist had laryngitis. He also• had trouble hitting the the right' notes. So they a 1 t camouflaged their lack of talent with noise. Duncan with his beaten -up toy drum could have given a better performance. How long is noise in lieu,of music — whatever the current versions are called — going to last? Isn't it time for a radical change? We've had this noise phe;:otnenon since the 1950's now. I wish some bright young musicians would come up with a new idea and a new sound. I wish they'd change the beat, the volume and the words. Here are some revolutionary suggestions: How about a rediscovery o f melody? How about words that can be under—stood? And how about throwing out all that amplification equipment, or giving it to the Canadian Museum of Civilization (formerly National Museum of Man)? They would love to set up a section devoted to the Noise Era. And maybe for about 30 years or so the world could forget about hard, soft, folk, country, punk or any other kind of rock. Then, maybe in the 2020's, there could be a' rock 'n roll revival. i don't expect it would make too much diffetcnce to me then. Unless the sheer noise of it makes me rock and roll in my grave. Have you sent in your entry for the PETER'S POiNT CONTEST (PPC)? If you have forgotten, you better hustle! The deadline is just around the comer (February 29).