Zurich Citizens News, 1981-07-09, Page 4Pape 4
Citizens News July 9, 1981
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Board of ed news: jargon
News from our local boards of education is
often full of jargon. Despite the best efforts of
reporters writing about board decisions (they too
must plow through complicated reports, stay up
late, meet tight deadlines) we sometimes have the
feeling that readers give up on what's happening
with education because it's too darn complicated.
Stories, and decisions, full of half -teachers, .8
teaching time, Bill 82 and exceptional children,
ratios and steering committees are hard to follow.
And baffled people tend to give up.
Part of the fault lies with us, the news media,
the communicators. We've got to dig behind the
often over -powering phrases to write about what's
actually happening in the schools in a way that peo-
ple will understand. Part of the fault too lies with
the boards and their adminsitrative staff. Perhaps
there's a feeling that expensive people should use
expensive words, combined with the tendency any
big business has of talking in code words, in jargon
that obscures instead of reveals what's really being
discussed.
lalinlitilOWNW
Miscellaneous
Rumblings
By
ROB CHESTER
I was presented with the perfect opportunity to
make a fool of myself this weekend. (Well perhaps
several opportunities.)
But, under pressure from groups of parents like
CAGE in, Huron County and the Dublin area group
who met with the Huron -Perth board last week both
the media and the educational establishment are
trying to respond with more openness and clearer
information on board decisions.
Meanwhile, we ask that you don't give up on
this newspaper as your source for school news.
Huron readers in particular should make special
note of the story on the committee their board is
setting up to decide what schools should be closed
and when. Though you won't find the issue that
simply put in the report from the board- meeting,
that's what the committee, eventually in these days
of spiralling costs and declining enrolment, will do.
So please read a ut it, talk to your board
trustee (Frank Falconr or John Jewitt represent
most of our readers and give your input (a very pop-
ular jargon word) now.
The Huron Expostior
While waiting for the anniversary parade to
begin, a car pulled up and parked on the Goshen
Street by the Dominion Tavern.
The occupants proceeded to pull several
wrapped ice cream cones from a bag and began to
feed. The wrappers of course ended up on the main
street.
I slowly fumed and thought of carefully picking
up the wrappers and handing them back to the peo-
ple.
"I'm sure," I planned to say, "that you can
easily find a garbage can for these".
I did nothing, and niether did anyhone else on
the street watching this happen. And then second
ice creams came out of the bag and their wrappers
too landed on the road.
My shutter finger was twitchingtotake a picture
of these offenders. My approach would now be, to
Canadian
Published Each Wednesday By J.W. Eby Publications Ltd.
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News Editor Rob Chester
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pick up the wrappers, toss them in the car's back
seat and exclaim "Look, here's a trash can right
here."
Again I did nothing and again I fumed. I made up
my mind that if the people got out of the car,. I
would saunter over and pleasently ask them where
they were from.
"Oh, that's nice," I would say. "Do they throw
garbage on the streets there, too?"
• Then the parade started.
Clowns tossed candies to the kids, pails of
styrofoam packing got sprayed about and the
horses, well... suffice it to say the candy wrappers
suddenly became insignificant.
Still unforgivable,but insignificant.
I didn't take pictures of the pig chase. At the
time, I wanted no part of it.
In my opinion, it was unproductive, . un-
necessary and unchallenging. Twelve kids against
a tired little pig is neither sporting nor humorous.
But I wish I had taken pictures. After the event
I was asked (warned?) not to use the pictures. The
asker then argued both sides of the issue by telling
me the pig was not harmed and was in no danger,
but printing the pictures might cause problems.
If it Nwere safe (for the pig a challenge
would have been greasing up one of the organizers
and letting the kids chase him!) the pictures would
cause no harm. If ' the pictures would cause
problems, then it was not safe.
In any case, it was news, and printing it is no
worse than the fact that about 100 people watched
it.
Why so negative?
I'm not negative, I'm just more positive about
next time.
Fun and tradition don't necessarily have to be
productive, but they also don't have to be destruc-
tive.
By the looks of things, and the facts and figures
aren't all in yet, the anniversary did well.
The events were well run and well attended.
The organizing committee and all those who lent
their support deserve our congratulations.
I managed to attend most of the events and it
was good to see old friends greet each other and
have some fun together at dinner, at a dance, or at a
ball game.
Saturday's parade was like a Christmas
smiling faces everywhere.
In a sense the parade was what made the
weekend for me.
While a reporter and a photographer form Lon-
don's Free Press and three guys from CFPL raced
around taking pictures and getting names, I calmly
wandered about and took pictures.
After the parade, I borrowed the list of names
the announcers used.
It pays to be a member of the community.
On behalf of the Citizen's News, I would like to
thank all those who assisted in our coverage and
attempts to promote the 125th anniversary.
Best wishes Zurich on the next 125.