Loading...
Times-Advocate, 1984-06-06, Page 41 Page 4 Timos•Advocote, Juno 6, 1984 Ames - Times Established 1873 Advocate Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924 dvocate Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lamblon Since 1873 Published by LW. FediPublications Limited LORNE EERY Publisher BECKETT Advertising Manager BILL BATTEN ROSS HAUGH Editor Assistant Editor HARRY DEVRIES Composition Manager DICK )ONGKiND Business Manager Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada: $22.00 Per year; U.S.A. $60.00 C.W.N.A., O.C.N.A. CLASS 'A' and 'ABC' Marks improved In recent years, school teachers have not enjoyed particularly good marks from taxpayers. They've generally been viewed as the major cause for the high cost of education with their seemingly endless demands for higher pay. Those who have held that attitude will have to reassess it in view of the recent announcement pertain- ing to the elementary teachers with the Huron -Perth separate school system. � Last week, those teachers announced_they would be "handing back" three percent of their recent salary -increase to the board to help finance building projects in the system. One of those projects is taking place at Precious Blood in Exeter, so area SS taxpayers will be direct benefactors of the teachers' generous action. The teachers gave up a total of $135,000 in the deal, .but the board actually saved considerably more by not having to debenture that $135,000 for the -building pro- jects..Estimates suggest the cost to the board to repay a debenture would have amounted to about $300,000. Teachers' repesentative Terry Craig said it was a difficult decision for most members, but noted that "teachers are dedicated to the system and the kids and for one year are willing to do that (forego the salary • increase)". s. Employees in the private sector have made con- cessions in the past year or two to protect their jobs, but this may ' be the first time that public sector employees have shown a willingness to become part of the solution to a particular problem. They deserve unqualified commendation. Waste of effort When the Huron board of education members make a decision on the reports of their school accom- modation review committees, they should consider a review of future handling of such reports. After almost three hours of presentations last week, the executive committee decided to refer the issue to the entire board. That's not a particularly questionable decision, but does lay to waste the time involved in that three-hour session. If the executive committee members are of the opi- nion that the decision on the school accommodation review committees should be handled by the entire board, that should be reflected in a change of policy. There's little to be gained from having the ex- ecutive committee hear the reports initially if they aren't going to make a recommendation. Last week's meeting would have had some value if it had been conducted before the entire board. Now, it appears, most of the information presented will have to be repeated. Not minor force Small business is not a minor force in the Cana- dian economy. That's a point John Bulloch, President of the 64,000 member Canadian Federation of Independent Business, has been making for years, and now many of the country's policymakers and business leaders have accepted this view. Governments at all levels have started to develop policies that deals with small business problems, and more of the financial institutions and major companies are tapping the small business resource. Indeed smaller firms are finally being accepted as equals. The reason: research conducted by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business in- dicates that all of the nation's net new jobs are being created by smaller companies. What's more, the U.S. government indicates that the same thing is happening south of the border. Here are a few of the startling facts included in a recent U.S. report : • During the period from 1980 to 1982, 1.7 -million jobs were lost in U.S. firms with over 100 employees, but 2.6 -million new jobs were created in firms with fewer than 100 employees. • New small businesses accounted for 43 percent of the net increase in jobs during this same period. • The rate of growth of new business formations is accelerating in the U.S. New business births between 1980 and 1982 added 2 -million more new jobs than in the period between 1978 and 1980. • In the most recent period, from November 1982 to November 1983, the number of self-employed workers increased 6.6 percent, compared to a 3.7 per- cent rise in wage and salaried employees. • During the Period from September 1982 to September 1983, in the six major industries for which small and large business -dominated industry subsec- tors can be identified, small business -dominated subsectors registered net employment growth of more than double the rate of large business -dominated subsectors. The point of all this? Small and medium-sized businesses are not only important job creators, but the success or failure of these firms will dramatically af- fect the health of our economy and our standard of living. In future, job growth will not come from big business or big government. Indeed, these sectors are already reducing employment. • Instead, smaller'firms will play a leadership role as the economy grows. Area residents basically generous A letter written to this newspaper last week was mildly critical of the fact that only six children showed up for a fund- raising bike-a-thon in Dashwood to help support work at the St. Jude Cancer Research Centre in the United States. The letter sudested that other children, and perhaps their parents as well, weren't interested in helping in this worthwhile project and questioned whether parents realized that children from anywhere in the world can get cancer. U was perhaps rather ironical that they letter appeared directly opposite a picture of a group of children from Precious Blood Separate School engaging in a skip - rope marathon for the Heart Fund. The rather vivid point is that area students, similar to their parents, have numerous appeals made on their time and financial resources and there are limits and priorities that they must establish. There is no question whatever regar- ding the valuable work conducted at St. Jude, but officials there would probably be among the first' to admit that contribu- tions made to the Canadian Cancer Socie- ty through the campaigns and special pro- jects staged in this area each year are of equal importance, because both groups basically have the same goals in mind. By the same token, Cancer Society of- ficialsrecognize that area residents must also be targetted for the appeals made by the Heart Fund, Ability Fund, Flowers of Hope campaign, CNIB, and the myriad of r • other canvasses which are staged to raise funds for equally important health and social work. Due to unfortunate experiences of fami- ly members or friends, some area BATT'N AROUND with the editor residents ear -mark all their annual dona- tions to one particular cause. Others spread their contributions around to several of the campaigns. As a whole, the area is generous in the amount of money donated,' and while few give to the point of it hurting, there is evidence that their generosity is probably above average, not -only in financia. terms, but also in the time and talent that is given to aid those less fortunate. • • • • • A discussion regarding charitable dona- tions gives rise to the point thIL there is a change in the income tax situation this year. No longer will people be given the automatic $100 deduction for such dona- tions and medical expenses. It will be necessary in this tax year to document all donations with receipts, and that is probably as it should be. In the past, even those who made no contribu- tions whatever were given the deduction, while those Who contributed in excess of the $100 were only getting credit for the actual amount. The new system will continue to provide a tax break for those who are generous, while eliminating the deduction for those who, in many instances, didn't deserve it. So, those who were riding free, will hopefully be spurred into getting off their pocket books and making sure that they reduce their income tax payments by be- ing generous to the many worthwhile campaigns that take pla`Cethroughout the area. • • • As noted in last week's edition, the Ex- eter Lions and Lioness have a huge heap- ing of faith in the amount of community spirit and support in this area. The cru s are staging this weekend's Ilomec ing program and they've alr approved the installation of the lights at the tennis court for which pro- • ceeds from the event are ear -marked. Judging from the program, the two clubs have ample reason for being op- timistic regarding the support they 11 receive. The fun -filled weekend h>;s ac- tivities for all age levels and should at- tract good crowds. So, a portion of each dollar you'll spend enjoying the festivities will provide benefits for you and your neighbors. Don't let them down and make them question their faith in the community! 116 Getting on the hit list Because I write a syn- dicated column, I've been put on the hit list of some public relations outfit in New York. As a result, I received a stream of gar- bage mail containing fascinatingmaterial about some p , t or other that is being pushed by the PR firm. Usually, I spot it right away and toss it in the round filing cabinet without even opening it. Today came one of these missives and, distracted by something else, I had opened the thing and read a paragraph or two before I realized it was just another piece of puffery. It was headed NEWS FROM: The Hamburg Group. For Release: Im- mediately. All press releases say the latter. Anyway, I thought it would be a pitch for Mac - Donald's or a string quartet. It wasn't. It was a series of little articles about Hamburg and Ger- many, touting that city's great variety of attractions. Such junk has about as much place in this column as an account of the origins of bee -keeping in Basutoland. And I'm sup- posed to print it free. What dummies thee PR people are. However, I'd already read enough to hook me on the first article, entitled: Brewery's Waste Energy To Heat hospital. It didn't make sense at first. Why should breweries waste energy to heat a hospital, unless they're trying to make amends to all the people who wind up in hospital with cirrhosis of the liver from drinking their poison? I took another look at the heading, spotted the apostrophe, and now it made sense. A brewery will deliver heat and hot water to a hospital. As "part of its brewing pro- cess, the brewery used to end up with a lot of excess heat- that must- be cooled Sugar and Spice Dispensed By Smiley before it is released into the air. Now, instead of be- ing wasted, that heat will be channeled into the hospital where it will be put to good use. Cost of the deal, equip- ment and stuff, is about 400,000 marks, to be assumed by the city. The debt will be liquidated through the savings on energy that would other- wise have to be purchased. Are you listening, Labatts, Molsons et al? In- stead of pouring money in- to sports and all these phoney ads, about assub- tle as a kick in the ribs, in- dicating that beer - drinking will make your life macho, full of fun and beautiful girls in skimpy swim suits, why don't you channel your heat into hospitals? Think of the free publicity! Ain't them German something, though? If they didn't start a war every so often and get clobbered, they'dgwn half the world, with their resourcefulness and hard work. Last time I saw Ham- burg was in 1944, and it was literally hamburg. The RAF had firebombed it be night and the USAAF had pounded it by day un- til it was a heap of rubble. J was a prisoner of war and saw. it from a train window on my way to an. interrogation centre in Frankfurt. Forty -odd years later, it has risen from the ruins like a phoenix, and is a booming city, visited by over a million travellers in 1981. • But Hamburg- Schmamburg. I'm not go- ing to urge my readers to go there. It was the article on heating that caught my eye. Aside from the breweries in Canada, this country has another in- dustry that could produce enough heat so that, if it were properly channeled, we could thumb our collec- tive noses at the Arabs. I'm talking about politics. Town and city councils produce enough hot air to heat at least one hospital within their limits. Provincial legislatives produce enough hot air to replace half the oil u,ed in their provinces. And from that vast deposit of natural gas known as Ottawa issues daily enough hot air to 4 heat Montreal's Olympic Stadium, even though it has no roof. And that's only touching the bases, without going to the outfield or the infield. Think of all the hot air produced by teachers and preachers, union leaders, abortionists and anti - abortionists, public rela- tions people, medical associations, school boards. And there's lots more where that comes from. The squeals of those caught with a mortgage to be renewed, the moans of farmers who are losing their shirts, the bellows of angry small - businessmen: all these are wasting energy by ,blowing hot air into our rather frigid climate, there to be dispersed into nothing. Add to this all the hot air that is poured into our telephone lines, that is bat- ted back and forth over business luncheons and at parties and over the breakfast table. It's perfectly simple. All we need is a means of bot- tling. the stuff somehow, and distributing it to the right places. If our scien- tists can send a missile to Mars, surely they can find a method of storing and channeling the incredible quantities of hot air that rise in clouds over our country: Peter Lougheed might have to cap some of his oil wells, but if 'somebody came up with the solution, we could not only tell the Arabs what to do with their oil. We could pro- bably buy Saudi Arabia. Maybe I'll drop a line to the Mayor of Hamburg, see what he suggests. A creative solution With the high cost of baby-sitting people have come up with some amaz- ingly ingenious methods of taking care of their kids. Why just the other day I was going in for my lunch at ji restaurant situated in a big shopping plaza and heard a baby crying. Two cars down from mine was parked a big new Buick and in the back seat firm- ly strapped in was a cute little urchin of about two years old. As soon as he saw me he stopped crying and grinned broadly. When I left though , he started crying again. Just down the street I could see a lady hurrying along pushing a stroller with a in the Buick. In I went for my lunch. Twenty minutes later I Perspectives By Syd Fletcher small baby in it. Aha, I thought, there's Mom heading back for baby number one. Sure enough she opened upthe trunk and depositedthestroller came out. The Buick was there, minus the mother but now there was a duet as the small baby and the two year old cried together. Now there you have a mom who has solved the whole babysitting pro- blem. She knows the kids are safely strapped in (can't hurt themselves or something else) and her costs are kept to a bare minimum. After all the car is a necessity in order to get out to the mall. And as for the other pro- blem, that of the policeman standing there waiting for her to come back out of the store, maybe she has some creative solution for that one too.