Loading...
Clinton News-Record, 1978-04-06, Page 15(1) = Central 1 (Philip Street editor • secondary school news Editorial Strike has gone too far by Philip Street If you feel as I do, that the strike of Huron County high school teachers has gone on too long already, you may be looking for some way to in- fluence the parties involved If you are a ratepayer, I'm afraid that very much of the sesponsibility for ending the trike ends on you. It is in your name that the Huron Board members are drawing full salary to sit around while your son and daughter is not in school. It is for your (or, rather your money) that the board makes sure that it won't have to spend an extra $1,000 here or there on education; while it hires a professional negotiator at the cost of $15,000 to do a job that the board itself is elected to do. What is the net saving there? In the meantime, that ratepayer knows that fewer than half (274 out of about 600) of the employees of the board are teachers? That leaves over 300 people in administration and main- tenance. No wonder the.board is beginning to consider education as a frill. As for the teachers - well, I've always been a bit more sympathetic towards them because they, at least, are fighting for the quality of education. In that sense they are fighting for me, and I do appreciate the sacrifice of salary that they are making on my behalf. But the teachers' negotiating team must accept responsibility for one-half of the corn- , munications breakdown and if the board won't take positive action to come to a settlement, the teachers must do so if they are to maintain credibility. Besides, there comes a point at which the stakes are too high to continue. I hope that when the education of Huron County's 4,000 plus students is hanging by a thread - some would say it's there now - that the teachers will return to the classroom and fight the board another year. It is no secret where my sympathies lie - but I'm just a kid. I only go to school, I don't pay for it. Students have demonstrated during this strike, but we don't have any clout. WHERE ARE THE PARENTS? Thatch out when school starts by David Liebold Students of Huron County are, you bored yet? Have some of you been to Florida -- TWICE? Are you being driven up the wall by Sesame Street, Edge of Night, Mighty Mouse or even Johnnie Walters singing mountie love songs to the long distance operator?? And even against your wishes, do you long for school?? Take heed, fear not and read on. Many strange laws have been developed - Murphy's Law states that "Anything that can go wrong, will." "Then there's the non - reciprocating constant of negative theory: "If you think positively, a negative happening will occur. If you think negatively, a negative happening will occur." Now you are probably affected under the relative, three-way, easy -to -screw -up, no holds permitted, "Balance of Time". Very simply it con- sists of a balance between work (or school), free time and sleep. It states, "Should one factor of either sleep, free -time, or work be disturbed, the others will be effectively disturbed". Now, if you don't lose any sleep over this, there will be fewer days of school. In fact, by the time this gets out, 25 days of strike will have passed - almost 13 per cent of the school year - believe it or don't. When (or if) school goes back, you will be shocked to find that you have six hours of homework every night. There will seem to be more tests and a higher concentration of work. Now, don't you regret those days you were stormed out? What I am trying to prove is this: now that you have lots of free time you will go back to school finding that you have less free time and little sleep. Depending on the factors at work. we may not get hack until September --1991. Let us hope that the strike will be settled soon so we can save whatever we will have left of our lives and maybe to save our year. And to finish, I will present another law - Bor- den's First Law: "When in doubt - Mumble!" Adults should grow up BY CATHY WOODEN To my way of thinking, there is more at stake here than just issues. There must be. Teacher -pupil ratio and sick leave gratuity seem hardly worth striking over, especially for this length of time. For the first week or two of the strike -lockout, the hard issues were the main topics of discussion and dispute. Huron County was suddenly forced into the province -wide limelight; Mr. Hill and Mrs. Weary found themselves grinning absurdly into television- cameras - every day. But slowly, almost pur- posely (though I • don't think the parties involved are quite so intelligent) the issues began to change face. We no longer heard about teacher - pupil ratios, we heard about "quality education". We no longer heard about board refusals; we heard about "right to management". The issues were no longer clear. They turned into fuzzy, vague cliches. It was almost as if the two parties were too em- barassed to mention the precise issues that they had just about given up trying to resolve. Now, even the cliches are taking a back seat. Board and teacher priorities seemed to have taken a complete about- face. Because of the province - wide publicity, both the board and teachers are finding themselves obliged ,to set precedences. The board will not back down for fear of losing respect from other boards. The teachers refuse. to give in because they feel they are blazing a trail for their fellows. Students do not seem to matter anymore. Perhaps the changing face of what is at stake in this dispute is the reason con- cerned parents are finding it so difficult to step in and dc something. They can only pound their kitchen tables in frustration, wondering what on earth they should be for or against. In my mind, this strike is going to drag on for a long time yet. If issues are all that is at stake, then they would be resolved by now.- No, pride and professional priorities have taken over - com- mendable, perhaps, if in- nocent parties were not being stomped on. CONTINUING EDUCATION COURSE CLINTON CAMPUS Spring /Summer 1978' The following courses are being offered this spring/summer ' semester at the Clinton Campus. Students are already enrolling. To ensure yourself a place in the course of your choice, please telephone 482-3458 Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. or visit our campus on Vanastra Road in Clinton. Bookkeeping - Basic to Advanced Bartending Techniques Introduction to Coronary Care $23 $33. $53 Pick up one of our spring/summer tabloids at the Clinton Campus. Conestoga College of Applied Arts and. Technology "We've got a lot to share" CLINTON NEWS -RECORD, THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 1978 PAGE 15 The women of Wesley -Willis church realized over $600 profit from their annual noon luncheon held last Thursday in the church basement. The event was completely sold out. (News -Record photo) Stanley Twp rec. news There were six members present at the Recreation Committee meeting in Varna on Wednesday, March 29. Plans were begun for the summer ball program, with Ross Whittaker again ap- pointed co-ordinator. Registration will be held at the Township Hall on Saturday, April 22nd and Saturday, April 29th from 9 a.m. to noon. ° You may register with your closest Recreation Com- mittee member prior to these dates if it is more convenient. Registration notices will appear in this paper on April 13th and April 20th. The fee will remain the same as last year, $3.00 per child or $5.00 per family. If you would like to help by coaching a girls' or a boys' team, please contact Ross. Tickets are still available for the recreation dance at Hully - Gully on April 15th from any recreation member at $10 per couple. • Daffodil sale a success Clinton's first daffodil canvass for the Canadian Cancer Society turned out to be an overwhelming success with over $1,000 raised plus donations. "For a first time venture it was ecstatic," explained Vivienne Roy, organizer of the canvass. "We would like to do it again next year." Some 6,000 daffodils shipped from Vancouver arrived in Clinton last Wednesday and in two days, with the co-operation of the Exemplar Sorority of the Beta Sigma Phi and the Girl Guides, the flowers were sold door to door, in stores and at the town hall. "The men also helped," Mrs. Roy added. She noted that by Saturday the flowers selling for $2 a bunch of 10 were almost sold out. Only 30 bunches were left. "People were calling and asking for flowers but we ran out. The response was just terrific though," Mrs. Roy said. Although the daffodil campaign is finished the Canadian Cancer Society will continue to canvass for donations throughout the remainder of the month. The Clinton area target has been set at $6,800. MORE NEWS MORE FEATURES Keep informed with the News -Record sin 2E will give you better beans ...more easily Afesin 2E is a clear liquid herbicide that's given excellent results as a preemergent spray for over seven years now. It can be used alone or in combin ition to give you control of broadleaf weeds and grasses in all major bean* and potato crops ... the easy way. *White beans *Lima beans *Soybeans *Snap beans *Kidney beans *Yelloweye beans Now available at your Pfizer dealer. Agricultural Chemicals & Seed Division, 1 Wilton Grove Road, London, Ontario N6A 4C6 Telephone (519) 681-2173 Afesin i. a Reg TM of Hoechst AG You've thought about it... and decided you want it... right now! �' `.✓nom Come to us for the money. We're flexible... Full amount. On approval you'll get the amount you need for the period you need it, with repayments to comfortably fit your budget. Flexrhtht v. I t 's our personalized approach to lending. Flexible rates. We have a range of good rates to suit a range of circum- stances. And you get life insurance at no extra charge. Fast service. We can have your application approved usually within.24 hours. ROYAL BANK MAIN CORNER. CLINTON 482-3477 Mery Dill ASSISTANT MANAGER We're ready to, help you.