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The Goderich Signal-Star, 1981-02-25, Page 4PAGE 4 —GODERICH SIGNAL'STAR, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1981 11 clave sykes Second clbss • maTregistrotion number -0716 The fact that people are of varied and diverse cultures 'and mores makes for an interesting world don't you think? Differences in language, customs, food, dress and habits vary to extremes between countries and nations. The same would hold true with sexual habits. Some interesting news bits from the media this week would substantiate that theory in part and also suggest that many people have some weird ideas. In Indonesia, Moslem law will allow believers to have four wives at a time. Well a fellow in Jakarta took liberty with the law and married 128 women over the past seven years, Now personally, I think the poor guy deserves soine sort of recognition or the least authorities could do is erect a monument in his honor. Any man who. takes 128 women out of circulation is deserving of some sort of award or at least a,guest spot 'xi That's In credible, The poor critter had recently divorced 93 of his wives but it still left him a few short of the legal linut. For his efforts he was rewarded with a sentence of seven years in jail. Now the story did not make mention of this fellow's mental and physical condition. So it is left up' to readers to determine whether the guy trotted off to the slammer with a contented smile or suffered from acute exhaustion and required aid. One of his young brides, a 20 year-old, said she was happy and well-fed, subsisting on a diet of bananas with the other wives. Now that, folks, is incredible. Where does a respectable young man find a bride who is content to live on a diet of bananas and generally keeps to herself? Only in a zoo. The story only serves_ to .point ,nut the diverse philosophies and attitudes towards the family concept. But don't knock it if a guy wants 128 wives. Just pump him full of vitamins and send his name off to the Guiness Book of World Records. While the Indonesian is a rarity, some experts believe that our attitudes towards family and sex will change radically by the year 2000. In fact families may not be in existence at least not the close-knit nuclear • family as we know it. Some futurists claim that reproduction may be a decision of the government or an agency and that conception would require the approval of a local or federal committee. That approach takes the finality of .,a decision out of the process but hopefully, they won't take the fun out of reproduction. Now if the government was to .control reproduction on a wide scale it may lead, to serious evaluation of parents before per- mission was granted to have a child. The decision would no longer rest with the married, couple but rather they would be subject to rigorous testing. And it is not unthinkable that future parents will have the opportunity to select -sex and certain other characteristics. Genetics may make it possible for parents to choose eye and hair colour, sex and whatever other physical attributes they wish for their children. Which automatically brings to mind 'visions of thousands of children bearing a great resemblance to yours truly. Well there might be someone, who wants a skinny little kid to call their very own. Let's not discount the possibility too quickly. In order to control reproduction, gover- nments, would have to engage in an active sterility campaign that could be reversed if a couple was granted Permission to produce a child. Such an energetic approach to quality and population control Is frightening but it will remove the risk factor and make things more fun. J SINCE 1848 THE NEWS PORT FOR GODERICH & DISTRICT Founded In NON and published every Wednesday at Goderich. Ontario. Member of the CCNA and OWNA. 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PUBLISHED BY: SIGNAL:STAR PUBLISHING LIMITED ' ROBERT G: SHRI.ER - President and Publisher DONALD M. HUBICK - Advertising Manager DAVID SYKES I Editor P.O. BOX 220, HUCKINS ST. INDUSTRIAL PARK GODERICH NYA 4104 • -E-CM-gUSIan .EDAepL.OFFSCES 1ense_p aneLS19) 524-8331 Voters are losers One of the big issues of the election campaign, and the sane .held true for campaigns before, was the question of atelevised leader debate. Somehow debates are debated more among the leaders in recent election campaigns than issues. There is always varied opinion on timing, networks and formats as leaders hassle over which cameramen will work the show. The debates on the debates just pilepolitics onto politics. A strategy game. It seems doubtful that the three leaders of Ontario's major parties will battle it out on the .television screen. Premier William Davis claims that a .debate during the last half of the campaign would not sere the purpose of informing voters about issues. Premier Davis insisted the debate should have been held early in the campaign, within the first three weeks, to give voters a better sense of the issues. He added that a debate late in the campaign doesn't get down to ex- plaining xplaining the issues or give people a chance to make assessments. Mr. Davis wanted the debate early and asked that all three major Ontario television networks participate. But negotiations were suspended when CFTO in Toronto didn't want to be involved with the Global network. The CBC made a counter proposal along with global and .CFTO but the plans were shelved when the Conservatives claimed the imposed deadline for completion of negotiations had passed. The parties can legallybegin their advertising cam- paigns this Thursday and Davis insisted the debate should . have been aired before that time. The other two parties, Liberals and NDP, needed the air time of a televised debate much more than the Con- servatives. It is a known fact that the Ontario Con- servative party has a larger advertising purse thanthe other two parties put together. With a $3 million advertising budget the Conservatives will saturate the media with a polished campaign. The Liberals and New Democrats will have to rely on a door to door approach in a grass roots political approach. But that will take time and time is at a premium in this campaign. The Conservatives maintain that the issues have been before the people already and explained by the party leaders. Thus they claim there is no need to rehash those issues again in a debate. But how many eligible voters will wade through endless newspaper accounts of political platforms and promises. The percentage is probably slim. More people are likely to watch a one-shot deal on the tube and judge the leaders on the basis of their per- formance. Other than that a voter must make an honest effort to select the best candidate in his or her riding. Televised debates, admittedly, are a risky deal for any party. The leader projects the image, hopes and ideals of the entire party and a slip could be devastating. • But without a debate the real losers are the voters of Ontario. D.S. Seniors get tax break This is thetime of year when most Canadians are feverishly working away at income tax forms trying desperately to recover some money from the government. This year there are new tax laws governing senior citizens as introduced by the Ministry of Revenue in July, 1980. A new program of property and sales tax grants was introduced for senior citizens and any resident who was 65 as of December 31, 1980 will qualify. Senior citizens are no longer eligible for Ontario Tax Credits. But seniors are eligible for a property tax grant from the government of up to $500 and the first installment of half the total grant will be paid in April. If you turned 65 in the last six months of 1980 you should have received a $50 sales tax grant and an application for a property tax grant in the mail. Once the application is completed you will be issued a tax grant for 1980. Next year the first installment of the property tax grant will automatically be mailed to all eligible recipients. Seniors are finally getting some tax breaks from the provincial government and if you're" not sure about the new tax structure contact the Ministry of Revenue in- formation centre. D.S. My boyfriend has left me for another woman. What can I say? 1 am utterly heartbroken. You think you know a person, then whamo, he drops you like a hot potato for a blonde. I first met Ian 21/2 years ago when he was born. At first, we were just friends. I found the way he dribbled rather charming, the way his diapers sagged rather debonair, and the way he crawled around with his bottle hanging from his teeth rather suave. He also played a mean Fisher-Price piano. I was alwaysa sucker for musicians. But fate had us marked -and as he began to do things lite talk in real words, I would find my head reeling in confusion. I was in love. Finally, about 'six months ago, Ian told me he lbved me too. From that day on, we were an item. We played on the swings together. We ate Oreos together. We watched Mr. Dressup together. It was heaven. Then, last weekend, the axe fell as fate A played a mean trick on your despondent correspondent. Enter Melissa. Age 3. Blonde. Petite. Innocent. I should have known right then. How could I compete with that bombshell? Oh, Ian tried to include me in their little games. But it was always Melissa he let sit beside him. It was always Melissa he let hate first choice of his toys. In frustration, I threw a plastic cow at him. "You a bad boy!" he said sternly and shook his finger at me. I stormed out of the room and went in search of the five and six year old brothers of the two. But -they didn't want me. They hate girls. But then I got the brainstorm that I could take them all out and buy their love. I mean, everybody knows that children are fickle. "What say we all go into town for A Treat?" I asked slyly. They went for the bait. Ian's eyes lit up in anticipation. He would do anything for an orange pop and a doughnut. We all zipped up Waiting for summer by Cath Wooden DEAF RE BY SHIRLEY J. KELLER I just couldn't resist it. Last week as part of . my job as editorial co- ordinator for Signal -Star Publishing Ltd:, I was reading The Lucknow Sentinel letters to the editor column. There it -was. A letter .complaining bitterly about certain "news" being left out for space limitations while the paper was filled with pages of "junk". And I couldn't resist it. 1 thought, "One man's junk is another man's treasure." Or something like that. You know, not being a weekly newspaper editor is oneof the nicest things to happen to me in a long, long time. Now I have the best of both worlds. I can still write in the newspaper on a regular basis - I evep have something to say aboutthe "content= but someone else -gets to -take - all the flack and make all the unpopular decisions. Someday I think I'll write a book. I'll call it, "The True Confessions of a Community Com- municator" or maybe "What You Always Wanted to Know About Editing a Weekly Newspaper But Were Afraid to Ask". In that book I'll tell everything: I'll explain how the only really important news in the weekly paper is the one story in which the reader is involved. •- It may be the last women's institute meeting at which the ladies -Met, answered roll call, read the correspondence, ate a dainty lunch and ad- journed. It may be the tninor hockey banquet at which every. boy child who was able to lace on skates and be driven to the arena by his doting parents, each other's coats and Ian even let me do his. Melissa was left to fend for herself. Ian joined me in the front seat of the car while everyone else piled into the back. I glanced furtively at Melissa through the rearview mirror and discovered that she was being given a hard time by the older boys. The good samaritan in me took over and I stopped and let her get into the front. What a mistake. Ian immediately sidled over to her, squishing her rather violently against the door. He refused to move. "I love you," he said gruffly to The Blonde. "I love you. I love you." The boys in the back laughed uproariously. 1 was not amused. 1 was devistated. Melissa was coy. Love is cruel. What could I do but bow out gracefully and wish them the best? We all went to the park and with the four of them piled on one end of the teeter totter and I on the other, we had a grand time. I was being brave. Melissa climbed to the top of the slide and became frightened. Tan manfully went up D ERS stuffed himself with hotdogs. It could be town council's meeting where the liveliest motion was to receive and file a resolution to paint all provincial garbage cans with tiger stripes so they would catch the at- tention of a slovenly public. Or maybe its the report of the horticultural society when the members exchanged cuttings and heard a disortation on the reproductive cells of the English Ivy. See what 1 mean? Most of this "news" would bore 90 percent of the readership silly, but still each of those items has to be there in a weekly newspaper worth its salt. And heaven help the editor who doesn't find a space for every single word of it. The successful weekly newspaper editor needs a magic shoehorn for most editions. Getting every community jot and tittle in the number of pages supplied by the advertising revenue is often like getting a size -eight double E foot into a size six triple A shoe. A painful experience. I once knew a newspaper editor who found the answer to the problem. A woman and a resourceful one - she simply removed enough. advertising to make room for the news. You guessed it. She was more .tilling to face an angry publisher than the ire of disappointed con- tributors who discovered their "news" was left out: But alas, there's not many crusaders left like that now departed soul. Jobs are just too hard to find .... and publishers are getting more business minded in a more competitive market. What to do? U've tried a good many things in my time. By far the most successful method was sticking to this motto: Promise them anything, but do what you have to do. You're absolutely right. That's a stupid motto. I could mean something different in a dozen situations. But that's the beauty of it. It's completely adaptable to every set of circumstances every time. All you have to do is apply it in the manner which is most satisfactory to everyone at the moment. There's no point trying to convince someone that some "news" is more important than other "news". It just won't wash: And after all. Who's to say that Billy's guitar diploma is of less community news value than` the PVC's decision to raise the water rates again? Especially if you're Billy's grandmother and have been a subscriber since the newspaper was first born. And there's no use trying to explain space limitations to the average reader. He'll give you his assessment of your newspaper ina hurry. "Leave out the obituaries and put in some good news," he'll argue. "Or better still, make the paper bigger and give some real space to the DoGooder's door-to-door canvass to buy elevator shoes for pygmies." Do I sound cynical? I probably am. It's just minutes before my vacation and as you read this, I should be somewhere miles from here soaking up what sun rays are available on that distant shore. Maybe when I get back I'll be able to smile again ... and to lend a more sympathetic ear to the ravings of readers who claim our newspapers are filled with "junk". All I can say is, if it's junk it's the stuff that life is made of in a small town. And the community weekly, is there - a mirror that doesn't miss a reflection. Unless, of course, there's no space to print it. • and saved her though I knew he was terrified too. Love makes you blind. At the restaurant, we all sat on the twirly stools at the counter and munched doughnuts and drank pop. Ian and Me1is a sat together at the end and fed each other. How sickening. But I pretended not to notice and gainfully entered a doughnut eating contest with the older brothers who sensed my despair. Ian's brother distracted me by spilling his pop ,' and asking the waitress her life story at the,. / same time.. Home again, Melissa and Ian proceeded to have a nap together. I was beyond caring anymore. I knew the time had come to search out somebody new. Life goes on. There is some consolation however. Melissa lives far away from Ian and won't see him again for a while. They say that 'out of sight is out of minds. They also say that - absence makes the heart grow fonder. Sigh.