Loading...
The Goderich Signal-Star, 1983-03-16, Page 4At In. the last decade there has been a great sexual crises. .A man was not .considered a man. unless Made in the mould of a John Wayne or Clint Eastwood ,and women. were once thought to be delicate flowers whcr bore children and spent much of the day worrying about getting the wash clean. Time has a habit of eroding images and expectations and the role of men and women is changing in the 1980s. Most Women now hold jobs outside the home and men are allowed to be sensitive, caring beings without being labelled sissys. But, while menu„_ and womenstruggled to carve out a suitable identity, real men and women books hit the market, poking fun at the sexes. Bruce Feistein's famous volume, Real Men Don't Eat Quiche, made light of what's acceptable for men in our society while.a female counterpart produced "Real Women Don't Pump Gas." In the settle vein, the following separate the men from the 'boys in the game of hockey, . Real men don't play non _eontact-no 'slapshot hockey. Real men always try to It their own goalie in the mask or groin ith'•a slapshot during the pre -game warmup. Real- men thrive on body contact and enjoy .scraping an opponents face along the boards. Real men' never wash their equipment through an entire season' a take great delight in pointing, that fact" but to team- mates. Real men' also never take their hockey equipment out of the' trunk of their car for the entire season. They prove their manliness by putting on frpzen underwear and jocks. Real men never go onto the ice=through the gate, even if some wimp af, a trainer holds„ it open. They jump over the boards instead::. • Real men •don't ,fall down when they' jump overthe boards ontothe ice surface• Real men don'tiuirt water into their mouths from a plastic bottle with a- Skinny tube they pour the li!ater out of the bottle andover their faces: 1 ealmen don't havetheir own teeth. .• Real men have had theirnoses broken 15 dines: Rea men throw their faces in front an opposing player's slapshot and then pretend it didn't hurt• i • Real men don't blow their noses in hankys but use the thumb of a hockey glove to cover one nostril while expelling matter through the other nostril. "Score bonus points if the above is done on caixiera. Real men always Spit in the faceoff circle or when skating neat' the opponents bench. Real men spit between their teeth or through gaping holes where teeth used to be. Real meal don't ice the puck, they drill it intothe opposing team's bench. • Real men Make ocene gestures to the referee after an offside call -even if it was blatantly obvious to everyone in the arena. Real men make rude gestures to the crowd after they've been sent to the penalty. box for dismembering an opposing plaYer: Real men don't grab and hug each other nor do they accept the ."high five" from jubilantteam-mates after scoring a goal. - Real men don't writhe inagony on the ice after slamming head first into the goal post. They just getup and skate to the bench. Real men don't say "who me?" to the referee after they've busted their stick over an opponent's head and are in the process of being penalized for slashing. Real men don't wear helmuts or jocks. Real men love to listen to the moans of an opponent after breaking his nose with a bruising elbow. BLUE RIBBON AWARD Second clan, mail registration number, 0716 SINCE 1848 THE NEWS PORT FOR GODERICH & DISTRICT Founded In 1060 and published every Wednesday at Ooderlch, Ontario. Member of the CCN* and OWNA. Adver. tising rates on request. Subscriptions payable In advance '19.90 In Canada, '30.00 to U.S.A.• '30.00 to all other count. 'tries. single copies 50c. Display advertising rates available on requeit. Please ask for Rate Card No.13 effective Oc- tober 1, 1982. Second doss mall Registration Number 0116. Advertising Is accepted On the condition that. In the event of typographical error. the ,advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for but that balance of the advertisement Will be pald for at the ap- plicable rate. In the went of a typographical error advertising goods or services at a wrong price, goods or services may not be sold. Advertising Is merely an offer to sell, and may be withdrawn at any time. The Signal -Star is not responsible for the loss or damage of unsolicited manuscripts, photos or other materials used for reproducing pur- poses. PUBLISHED BY: SIGNAL -STAR PUBLISHING LIMITED ROBERT G. SHRIER-President and Publisher DONALD M. HUBICK-Advertising Manager DAVID SYKES-Editor P.O. BOX 220, HUCKINS ST. INDUSTRIAL PARK GODERICH N7A 4B6 FOR BUSINESS OR EDITORIAL OFFICES please phone ( 9) 534-8331 Budget is fair If there was a catch-all word that typified or exem- plified the municipal election campaign in November 1982 it was restraint. The wordwas on the lip of every political hopeful and, no doubt, every citizen who cared enough to cast a ballot. During a time when the economic climate was somewhat unhealthy and unstable, restraint was uppermost on the minds of politicians and the electorate. A few members of council reiterated that fact when council finalized its budget March 7. Through the use of a healthy surplus and reserve accounts, council was able to hold spending to a two per cent increase for 1983. From council's point Of view, they feel they did a fine' job in holding municipal °spending to an.incr.ease. of two_.. _pet:_._ There is little argument in that. Some boards and committees of council will have to live with less money in 1983 than they did the previous year. When the target for most municipalities is an increase of five per cent, the town of Goderieh may be in an en- viable position. However, council did pare the budget to a zero increase but tacked on $31,000 to be used for sick leave gratuity. Some councillors argued against the in- crease, but planning for the town's, future liability is wise in this case when the general municipal increase can be kept to a minimum. Another sore spot in thebudget for some councillors was the five per cent pay increase council voted itself. Overall, the increase translated into less than $2,000 on the total budget but there are some principles involved. " . Only Reeve Harry Worsell spoke in favor of the increase claiming council would just have to play catch-up in a few years. It's aboor excuse for apay raise. ,. Traditionally, pay raises haye been awarded for meritorious service and not longevity. Simply because a council has endured another year of service is no reason for an automatic pay raise. . • That does not mean council is not entitled to the fi4e per cent increase. For the most parte in.embe-rS .s►f council_ deserve the < modest increase. Thanks to a sharp ad- ministration, they have held increases in the general municipal portion of the budget to acceptable levels over the past number of years. However, while a few councillors contended they owed it to the public to decline.a pay raise, their concerns died in a. minority voice. Those voting in favor of the pay raise offered no reasoning for the manner in which they voted. If council:votes in favor of a pay increase, members. could at least have the conviction to enunciate their position. It's who you know It's not what you know, it's who you know! That charge has travelled through government circles for years and prompted Prime Minister Trudeau to establish conflict-of-interest guidelines in an attempt to establish some integrity within the system. It now appears that the move was more for public relations than an intent to end allegations ,of pork barrel politics., Two of his own cabinet ministers have beenfoundin. contravention ..of the guidelines in their dealing with a former colleague, Alastair Gillespie, over a Nova Scotia project. The ministers have admitted their participation in the affair, but backed by Prime Minister Trudeau, have continued to act as if it is defensible. The question is not whether Gillespie used his former cabinet friends and his intimate bureaucratic friends to gain some advantage in the deal. The issue is whether the government's guidelines were breached and, if so. what action should be taken. It probably comes as no surprise that there will be no action taken by the government towards the cabinet • ministers -and the bureaucrats involved. After all, they just make the rules for other people, not themselves. People shouldn't be too upset. They escaped having the issue handed over to some other Liberal party friend to be studied at a cost of $800 a day. Exeter Times Advocate. Extend benefits The concerns of Canadians are changing and with justifiable cause. , A recent Gallup poll indicates that for the first time in more thanes decade, Canadians are more concerned about unemployment than inflation. The poll was conducted in early February and indicates that more than 40 per cent of the population see unem- ployment as the most important problem facing this country. Inflation was a close second. Canadians have a right to be concerned. Since November 1981 the unemployment rate in Canada has risen from slightly over eight per cent to 12.5 per cent. The. percentages translate into a post -Depression record 1.5 million Canadians who are out of work. Last year Canadians paid out $8.6 billion in unem- ployment insurance benefits and the plan is $2.4 billion in the hole. ,.Despite that, Employment Minister Lloyd Axworthy should be looking at ways to increase payments to thousands of Canadians without jobs. Too many people have exhausted their unemployment insurance benefits, merely shifting the burden to the welfare rolls. If Axworthy decides to move on the matter, changes could be made by summer and he has hinted that rules may be eased on maternity and sickness benefits. The press has recently uncovered a couple of horror stories relating to the regulations governing. unem- ployment i> trance benefits. One man was to forfeit a • clay's benefits while attending his wife's funeral. Officials. reasoned that the man was Unavailable for work and therefore ineligible to receive payment. A young father of four was denied three -days' benefits for serving, on jury duty recently. The man accepted $70 in jury pay but was docked $113 from his benefits for the three-day absence. The man didn't want to collect from both parties but wanted to be paid the $43 difference. Officials are ruling that clients unavailable for work must be docked pay. It's a ludicrous regulation as the previous examples indicate and Axworthy has promised some flexibility. If Axworthy is serious in his attempts to make change, to the unemployment insurance system, he should extend payments to people unable to find employment. Welfare rolls are increasing in every city and county in Ontario, shifting the burden to the taxpayer and not the working populace. Being unemployed no,longer carries with it derogatory connotations or a social stigma. For more than a million Canadians, it is a fact of life. Those leaving the unem- ployment benefit system and joining the welfare rolls/ may feel more conspicuous about their new status. If the minister is planning changes, they should be swift. Unemplo'h ent will plague this country for quite a while but we can not simply resign ourselves to the fact and do little about it. Reflections otwinter By Dave Sykes DEAR READERS SHIRLEY ELLER We didn't rea we? We knew must be high friiends and r marriages. The fact. fort end in divorce' might even ha4 that. ly need the statistical report did he divorce rate in the country,- rom the numbers of our own atives who are ending their percent of all marriages now oesn't suprise us one bit. We estimated it to be higher than Of course, tel best way to reduce that statistic is to make m rriage more difficult to get into in the first place There's a great deal of wisdom in the suggestion that marriage licences should cost $1,1500 - a d divorce papers should cost $25. It's just the re erse at this point. Everybody '•s wondering what's causing the epidemic of d'vorces in Canada today. Having been married for nearly 30, years .now, I have some ideas of 'my own - none of which will be very popular with my readers. First off, I believe that modern marriage generally doe - l't carry with it the same lifetime commitment i' once did. Oh I know - Today's brides and grooms have the Same ' stars in their eyes and the same hope that` their marria'e will be the most exceptionai union'of the a ;fie. That hasn't changed. But the co mitment I'm talking about is more than that. It' got nothing to do with romance. It has everythi g to do with the couple's common belief that arriage is a sacred promise made by two peop before God, and that to break that promise is a ery serious offence. You've g l to admit there's not much of that kind of com fitment left in marriage these, days. Consequep ly there's no commitment either made by th couple to live according to God's. plans for arried people. God instituted marriage fir some very special purposes. among them serving God and His church here on earth. What we 1 ave in many modern marriages, in my opinion!, is people without any commitment to God and His Word entering into an . estate ordained by Hirn for His purposes. And it doesn't work. That's obvious. So as I've said before in this column, marriage as we know it should be- abolished except for those who understand it and are willing to live • according to the rifles. Some otherNee;ggal arrangement should be available to other couples who want to live together decently until they get tired of each other. and then be. able to part company with some rights to the property that has been acquired during, the union. Not very romantic, but highly practical. F6xperts who are researching,. modern marriage have somediffering views than mine. That doesn't surprise me either. The experts cite all kinds of society changes as the culprits in the increased number of marriage failures. One of those changes could very well be. the pressures and the payoffs of•the dual income families of today. Let's face it. It'•s normal now for women to work outside the homee. Statistics show that 23 Years agq in 1960, less than 30 percent of women over 25 . were in the labour force. Nov it is estimated that nearly 60 percent of women over 25 are in the labour force. And that figure 'is growing by leaps and bounds despite the unemployment in Canada. What's developing, of course. is a severe conflict between men and women in the work force ... and consequently, in the hones of the nation as well. The Family and Consumer Studies Faculty at the University of Guelph had this to say 'in a recent paper on the subject of dual income families: "Husbands of working women often feel' that their role as family head and bread- winner is being .undermined. They have dif- ficulty coping with their wives' increased in- dependence and economic clout; the wives try to live both the traditional role and carry on with their jobs." The . study found that fewer and fewer marr7•ages are failing for economic' reasons; As well, fewer women are citing isolation and loneliness as reasons for divorce. But roles that should be changing because more and more women are working are not really changing at all: Most working women still contend with the laundry, the cleaning, the shopping, the cooking and the family scheduling. If one of the children gets sick, it is still the woman who IS usually expected to adjust her schedule. And working revives are often dismissed as not economically important° because'"gnarly people assume (incorrectly) that they have husbands to support them. Not so. In by far the majority of cases, studies document the working woman's pay cheque is as important to the family asher husband's pay cheque. As wom n become more independent.. it is easier to di s e a marriage contract. Women are learning hey can indeed care fox themselves and their children if necessary: The pressure is on husbands. They can either shape up or ship out, to put it bluntly. Without the commitments we spoke of earlier - commitments on the part of both husband and wife - there's no reason to stick together through thick and.thin and work things out. It's- just too much hassle, especially now thatdivorce has become so acceptable to the majority of society. And make no mistake about it. Divorce is expected to happen. Forty out of- every ,100 women married this year will divorce or sepia Atte within the first. 10 years" of their m rriage. ' And it will likely be exactly as predicted - if not worse. These prophesies are always, self- fulfilling unless people make a conscious effort to change things. And that brings us right back to commitment Ernotlons' get in way of concerns about homes Dear Editor: I attended the public meeting about group homes and feel that due to the ex- tremely emotional approach taken, a number of 'fiery real concerns were not ad- dressed. The government's five- year plan contains the in- formation that they intend to "Convert 100 existing group home beds to accomModate more difficult clients." Now at the meeting it was quite clear that some of the neigh- , boors of the existing group home are not upset by its Proximity, they should be aware of the fact that the residents may be moved to more 'independent settings, and their places taken by the "hard -to -serve" residents. These are elsewhere in the pian described as those having Multiple handicaps, psychiatric and -or behaviour problems. • In addition parents whol are being told their son or daughter will be ac- coisnmodated in the proposed new homes, should likewise be aware that the govern- ment intends group homes "to provide transitional programming to , prepare facility residents for com- munity living,". Thus instead of being a permanent home, they can expect further uprooting at a later date. Another, consideration appears to be funding. While people at the meeting were told there would be no problem, the five year plan "I. Relies heavily on low cost options. 2. Does not address demand at the same level as previous years (70 percent) ." It is clear that while we are being told funding is assured, their plan aims at 70 percent of current demand. One needs to ask, ,who, makes. up the def• ference, or do the retarded have to get along on less? Also what happens if current demand is exceeded in the coming years? In the light of the prospect of a more difficult type of client, and a lower level of funding, the concern about the site on a truck route should be examined with great care. In addition the concern of prospective neighbours is quite un- derstandable. Some of these "hard -to -serve" individuals may have sexual, hygenic, and aggressive behaviours Turn to page 5 a