Clinton News-Record, 1984-09-19, Page 4'ti g.
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Mt BLXTH STANDARD
J. HOWARD AITICEN • Publisher
SHELLEY McPHEE - Editor
GARY HAIST • Advertising Manager
MARY ANN HOLLENBECK • Office Manager
MEMBER
A
MEMBER
01e1flor olrereloIng rotes
•wllrblo on nrwurer. Ask for
UN Curd. No. 14 •ffocilro
OcroMmr 1, 1443. '
Capital punishment
is not the solution
The issue of capital punishment has been debated for years. When ever a
series of killings occur, such as the recent murders of police officers, everyone
questions whether the death penalty would deter the criminals.
Recently the Canadian Police Chiefs Association unanimously passed a resolu-
tion urging the return of ,the death penalty for some types of crimes. Members of
the Association stated that it was not a "knee-jerk" reaction to the police
murders. Chief Robert Lunney, of Edmonton, went on to explain that they are
aware of the groundswell of public opinion favoring the return of capital punish-
ment in certain cases..
In 1967, Canada abolished the death penalty with the last hanging occuring in
1962: To date, first degree murderers are sentenced to life imprisonment with no
parole for 25 years.
In the mid 1970s, the federal government in the United States gave the States.
the right to impose the death penalty. Approximately 39 of the 50 States now
have capital punishment with about 1,000 prisoners on death row. This figure
does not show the death penalty acting as a very good deterrent.
The death penalty leaves no room for error:
Sending an innocent person to jail for a number of years is a horrifying
mistake. But it is a mistake that has been made before, and in all likeliness, will
be made again.
If it is found that a prisoner is innocent, he is released, and in most cases, given
some type of compensation. Needless to say, there is no compensation which can
make up for the ordeal the prisoner and his family have gone through, but he still
has his life. More than he would have, had he suffered capital punishment.
The death penalty would place a tremendous amount of responsibility on the
shoulders of not only judges, but jurys. And jurys are made up of ordinary
citizens. Misinterpretation of evidence could put an end to a person's life.
In the case .of capital punishment, an eye for an eye is not the solution. -By,
Anne Narejko.
Heroin in medicine
Many doctors are -pressing the government for the rights to prescribe heroin as
a pain reliever. for terminally ill cancer patients. So far they seem. to be getting
nowhere.
Heroin was at one available for legal use where doctors considered it ad-
visable. Then came the widespread fear that heroin addiction might spread
throughout our society and its use for any purpose was banned. Now, despite the
fact that it is not permitted even for medical purposes, the number of heroin
users in the country has multiplied many times over.
The medical profession does not deny that there are other pain -relievers. Many
of them do, however, claim that in some cases heroin seems to be the most effec-
tive opiaterThat the drug is addictive, they do not deny, but they claim that to-
day's permitted drugs, in many cases, are also addictive.
If -the use of heroin is allowed only for terminally ill patients, what difference
does the addition factor make? Surely we have a solid majority of reliable doc-
tors and enough control of available drugs to assure that heroin could be safely
legalized for the relief of unbearable'pain. -W yngham Advar-Times.
Communication on the road
it's irritating, isn't it? A- driver suddenly
turns or changes lanes without any kind of
signal. It's more than irritating, though.
Failure to signal such movements is a fre-
quent accident factor: Communicate, states
the Ontario Safety League. Signal your
movements even when there appears to be
no traffic around. Other drivers - seen or
unseen - can then adjust their driving to pre-
vent any kind of dangerous driving.
TAILGATING .
A combination of one driver stopping sud-
denly and another driver following too close-
ly can cause one big smashup, says the On-
tario Safety League..
Behind The Scenes
By Keith Roulston
Fickle Canadian politics
One hesitates to add to the tremendous
waste of newsprint and hot air that has been
expended over the election results but the
euphoria of the bandwagon has led to so
many stupid things being said and written
that one can hardly avoid sticking his two
cents worth in.
Punsters and pollsters and politicians
seemed to have been obsessed lately in
looking at trends to the point they don't
study human nature. That can be, the only
explanation for some of the ridiculous
commentaries that followed the election.
For instance, even before people went to
the polls, one national columnist was saying
the Tories should have no trouble holding
onto power until well into the 1990s. With the
massive majority Mr. Mulroney won, that
might seem an accurate prediction but
remember 1958 when John Diefenbaker was
an even larger majority yet five years later
'was out of office.
Ah yes, the columnist says, but Brian
Mulroney is a smarter politician than John
Diefenbaker. He won't make the same
mistakes. Well, let's say that's right. Even if
Mr. Mulroney does a fairly good job in
Ottawa many people who "supported him this
time because they wanted a change, will
vote differently next time either because
they still want change or because they can
now go back to the people they normally
vote for. Probably even many of those who
did support him were wondering if they
hadn't voted for change a little on the side of
the ridiculous by Wednesday morning. The
huge majority is bound to shrink by next
election at the best of times and by the
election after that. the mood could be for,
change again.
But who says Brian Mulroney, as
inexperienced as he is, can be more
successful handling a huge majority
government than Diefenbaker, the old
professional. The right-wing westerners in
the party see this as their chance to get rid
of all the policies they've never liked, a
? lance to get what they want for the west.
ut Mr. Mulroney attracted many new
votes, particularly in Quebec and Ontario by
moving into the centre of the policy sector.
If he manages to stay there, he may have
trouble with the right-wingers in caucus. If
he doesn't, he'll quickly lose the support of
many of the voters who put him in office.
In addition, there's the expectation that
such a huge majority brings on the part of
the people, impossible expectations for any
government to fulfill. Diefenbaker found out
in 1958. Trudeau found out in 1968.
And there's the media. Having found out
that John Turner wasn't the god they'd
made him out to be (good lord the man
actually made mistakes) they jumped on
the Mulroney bandwagon. Mr. Mulroney
may hold that honeymoon feeling a few
months longer but within months, the
newshounds are likely to be snapping at his
heels. The lifespan of politicians in this age
of media overkill is shortening every year.
From talking about Canada being a one-
party state under the Liberals, some are
now predicting the disappearance of that
party but if you study human'nature you can
see that the Canadian people are a long way
from burying that party more than
temporarily.
�rn
TT
Final summer fling
by Anne Narejko
Sugar and Spice'
A small hotel
JUST a few rather dour comments on a
few things, -as summer drags to a close.
I now know what it is like to run a summer
hotel, without benefit of staff.
I undertook to take my grandboys for t'iv9
weeks. They were here for four. Their
mother joined us "for a few days',' and
stayed two weeks. Their Uncle Hugh has
been up from the city at least every other
weekend, often with friends.
Trouble is that it's beautiful around here,
with 'trees, swimming in fresh water,
breathing in clean air, and eating fresh
food; sweet corn picked today, green or
yellow beans the same, real tomatoes
instead of those hard, bitter little pellets
from Florida or California, strawberries
and raspberries and blackberries just off
the vine.
I don't blame them. The city can be pretty
gruelling in a hot sununer. But next summer
I'm going to lock up the big brick house with
the jungle in back and the massive oak in
front, and take a motel room, with one bed,
no swimming pool.
First two weeks with the boys were fine.
Made their sandwiches every night, popped
them in the freezer (the sandwiches, not the
boys). Drove them away from the television
at 11 p.m. (they have, at home, a tiny black
and white with two channels). Turfed them
out of a sleep like the dead at 7 a.m.
Supervised breakfast (kids can drink a
barrel of orange .juice in a week). Checked
to see they had sandwiches, an apple or
banana or pear; wrapped their bottle of pop
in their towels, made sure they had their
swim suits, and booted them cut the door in
the general direction of summer camp.
Tried to keep them in clean clothes, no easy
feat.
Speaking of feet, they have the happy
faculty of playing football or baseball or
basketball in the back yard in their bare
feet, just after the lawn sprinkler has' been
on for two hours, then rushing inside, across
By Bill Smiley
the rug and going for a pee, then rushing
back across it to resume activities. It didn't
seem to bother the boys, but it played hell
with the rug. I don't think I can get it
`'.cleaned. Might as well throw it out. Their
Gran would have killed them. 'On the spot.
But there are so many spots now, it doesn't
seem worth it.
Dinner was fairly simple. I didn't fuss
around like Gran, getting a wholesome.
meal, with chicken thighs, taties, salad and
dessert. Small boys love hamburgers and
chips. Needless to say, we dined out quite
often.
Thanks to Ben, the younger of the two, the
back lawn looks as though several goats had
been grazing on it, and, after eating all the
grass, had started eating dirt.
Ben, to the amusement of my neighbors,
can play any game without equipment, or
opponents. Baseball: he can take a called
strike, sc�w1 at the umpire, foul one into the
stands, tlten hit a double and stretch it into a
triple, sliding into third base. He can dribble
a basketball, flip it to a team-mate, get it
back arid drop an easy basket, walking
away, dusting his hands. He's eight, and at
seven decided his given name, Balind, was
not for him, so re -named himself Ben. Quite
a kid. Lives in his own world. And pretends
to be deaf when you try to call him out of it.
As soon as their mother arrived, of course,
the boys 'went ape. Every grandparent
knows about this. Don't ask me why. I'm not
a child psychologist.
Dear Kim has an over -abundance of
talent. She composes music, writes like an
angel, is an excellent teacher, and has been
stone-cold poor ever since she got married.
She's a bit sick of being poor. But she's an
excellent mother.
Sick of being poor, she spent most of her
time here writing new songs that were going
to make a million, and pumping me to find
out how to be a syndicated columnist within
a month, at the outside.
And we fought. She is bristly feminist, and
Kaleid�scop-e
I, as she thinks, a male chauvinist. But we
love each other and when the fights got near
the blood-letting stage, one, of us would grin
and declare truce. She took me for about one
grand this summer, counting everything,
but you can't take it with you, so why not?
Hugh is another fettle of kish. He lives in
one room in the city, with cooking
privileges, but doesn't cook much. When
he's home, he is either standing at the
fridge, door open, as he used to do when he
was 16, or standing over the stove, cooking
some infernal but delicious concoction full of
almonds, raisins, garlic and whatever, with
a pasta base. He's not an old waiter for
nothing.
This weekend he brought a friend, Elena.
She's on a very strict diet, because of
allergies, and brings her own food. Not
wanting to be beholden; she bought some
food. I came down to the kitchen yesterday,
and she had out for dinner eight huge
lambchops. I asked how many were coming
to dinner. She said just the three of us. Two
chops each and a couple to share. I turned
green. But she and Hugh ate two each and
Hugh had another couple for breakfast.
I bought some home-made bread and
Elena has six slices. Hugh ate the rest of the
loaf, at the same sitting, except for one slice,
which I surreptitiously snagged while they
were sitting around belching. Tough diet,
eh?
Threw them onto a bus to the city this
morning, laden down with plastic bags full
of corn, beans, blueberries, tomatoes and
green onions. All fresh, local stuff.
They left me with r refrigerator full, of
Elena's diet soup ( ugh! ), Hugh's dried corn,
and a lot of other delicacies from the health
food store that are going straight into the
garbage.
It's a lot of fun, running a sumri;aer hotel.
With no staff. Next summer, there's going to
be no manager, either.
Pope John Paul's Canadian tour has been
emotional, exciting and inspiring.
His presence here has united millions of
people across the nation, both Catholics and
non-Catholics.
His appeal reaches children and the elder-
ly, the sick and healthy. To these people,
Pope John Paul II is more than a man. He
represents faith and love, peace and unity,
promise and tradition.
The greatest holy man of our times, John
Paul has rekindled the spirit of religion and
Christian faith.
This man has reached celebrity status,
but he is more than that. We are drawn to
John Paul as an illustration that we want a
different world a better world.
His open hands, his white robes, his gentle
spirit, his unshakable beliefs, his great hope
for peace and solidarity, are also our visions
and desires for mankind. .
The response of the people to the Pope's
Canadian tour shows that we may be headed
in the right direction.
+ + +
Terry Fox also had a dream. Canadians
By Shelley McPhee -
responded then and are continuing to do so.
This Sunday September 23 marks the an-
nual Terry Fox Run for Cancer across the
nation.
Here, Clintonians will be joining the
cause.
The Marathon of Hope will start at Cen-
tral Huron Secondary School at 9:30 a.m.
Participants may walk or jog the 10 krn.
route.
Pledge sheets are available from the
Recreation Office, Mac's Milk, Blue Foun-
tain, Bartliff's local schools and Harold
Wise Ltd.
+ + +
And don't forget the Clinton Hospital Aux-
iliary Penny Sale.
Have you purchased your tickets yet?
They are ' now available at St. Paul's
Anglican Parish Hall, Rattenbury Street
East. The final draws will be made on Satur-
day September 29 at 3 p.m.
The tickets are only a penny each and
definitely the best buy in town.
+ + +
This week we welcome the CHSS Chroni-
or to
Mnn and beast;
living together
cle back to the News -Record pages. A group
of students at the high school will be keeping
us informed on all the up -coming events,
club activities and sports news at CHSS.
Next week should be particularly in-
teresting at the school when the annual Stu-
dent Week activities are held. Many of the
events are geared to the Grade 9 "Grubs"
and their initiation to the rigors of high
school life. Good luck Grubs! You'll survive.
+ + +
At the grand opening of B&M Rentals on
September 8, owner Bill Crump held three
lucky draws. The winners were Art Hoggart
of RR,2 Clinton, Gordon Richardson of Clin-
ton and John Wammes of RR 1, Clinton.
Bill's shop is Clinton's newest business. It
deals in the equipment and machinery ren-
tals.
+++
The Vanastra Christian Church invites
everyone to join in a musical evening on Fri-
day, September 28 when the Immanuel
Singers will be featured. As well, Rev.
Koops will be speaking on the topic,
"Understanding the times."
Dear Editor:
The great Dr. Albert Sehweitzer's creed
was °Reverence for all life". Of how many
in Huron County can that be said?
From what we see and hear, not many of
us follow his example. Folk who keep a pet
for the stunmer, leave for home abapdorurlg
the helpless creature to fend for itself must
be among the lowest of the low. The result is
the dog or cat thus left becomes a stray to be
starved, kicked away from someone's door
and experience the terribly cruel ex-
perience of being unwanted and uncared
for.
Farmers find kittens or puppies left at
their gates, deliberately left there by cruel
people. To whom does an abandoned animal
turn for food and shelter if not to the
superior (so called) human animal?
Animals were put in this world for man's
use and it is up to them to put that great
privilege in its true perspective. They are
not here to receive brutal treatment,
neglect, starvation and indifference to their
needs.
The Humane Societies of our country hand
out heavy punishment to those who misuse
animals, be they domestic or otherwise. The
difficulty is to bring to justice the evil doers
of such deeds.
Every week we read in our local paper
"Puppies to give away to a good home, Kit-
tens to give away. Many of these later no
doubt become the unhappy starving little
creatures we see so often. Three of these on
my street alone. Far better to have them
painlessly put to sleep or neutered, but
prices for having this done have become
prohibitive for many.
A dog is man's best friend but, man has
not always been the dog's best friend. Many
thousands are put to death in our Humane
Society Shelters because they were abused,
starved and unwanted. The greatest
tragedy that can happen to a loving dog or
cat is to be abandoned. Yet this should not
happen in a civilized Christian country.
There can be a compassionate loving rela-
tionship between an animal and a human be-
ing as loving as between two humans. To be
truly human has always meant to be com-
passionate.
What of the dogs in Goderich Township
dump, wild, starving and unwanted? These
are there through no fault of their own.
These are some of the unwanted, starved
and kicked out by so-called humans. -
Yet the group striving to establish a
Humane Society Shelter , meet with indif-
ference and a refusal by the powers that be
to realize that, Huron County needs an
animal shelter.
Let all compassionate people work for this
great cause - an animal shelter for the un-
wanted, abused and abandoned cats and
dogs or indeed any` animal thusused' in
Huron County. Let it not be said we fell down
in our Christian duty to those helpless
creatures who have a right to depend 'ipon
us for food, care and love.
"What is man without the beasts? If all
the beasts were gone, man would die from
great loneliness of spirit for whatever hap-
pens to the beasts happens to man. All
things are connected."
Sincerely,
E. Fingland.
A new plan
in education
Dear Editor,
Roy McMurtry, attorney -general has
been alarmed at the increase in child abuse
and Benjamin Spock claims that society is
getting sicker and sicker. Below is one ex-
ample.
What happened recently in a MacDonald's
Restaurant in Southern California had its
roots in our poor educational system which
we have been following for the past few
decades. Our present educational system
teaches basically the three R's plus some
frills and this is essential but it is not
enough.
What we are missing and leaving out is
our value system, both morally and
ethically which is not new but which has not
been brought into focus in our educational
system especially at the elementary level.
We might say that it is on the other side of
the coin and we have just scratched the
surf ace.
It appears from the report on what
happened in the MacDonald restaurant that
the person who went beserk was a misfit in
our society but he was a: person created, by
God, therefore society has a responsibility
to him. But we have not been handling our
responsibility in this area of morals and
ethics to benefit people in our society who
find themselves in difficulty. We often
dismiss them and hope they will go away but
in the above case he had just moved but his
problem went with him and we the (society)
has paid the price.
We realize that changes in any system are
difficult and most agonizing, sometimes it
takes years to bring even the slightest
change. We believe that the moral and
ethical side of our educational system needs
far more attention than we have been giving
it and so a new approach needs to be taken
and basically it would deal with the above
problems. Now I am not condemning our
present system but what I am saying that
we need to turn -the coin over once in awhile
and see what direction we are moving in the
education of our young people which we all
know is our future generation.
There is an old Chinese proverb that goes
something like this, if you are planning for
one year, grow wheat, if you are planning
for years, plant trees, but if you are
planning for 40 years, grow men and
women. Let's plan for 40 years and usher in
a new educational system for the province of
Ontario.
From the pen of
Max F. Johnson,
R.R. 2, Thedfor tL