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The Wingham Advance-Times, 1983-04-13, Page 10Page 10—The Wingham Advance -Times, April 13, 1983 Skipping, g for the heart On Wednesday, April 6, the F. E. Madill SS was the place tobe if you wanted to skip classes! But these classes were being skipped for a very good cause — one that even Mr. Wood could not deny! The large gym was packed with over 100 skippers. Seventy-eight high school and 36 public school students (from the Wingham Public School) jumped for three hours in order to raise money for the Heart Fund. The students were divided into teams of six members and for every five minutes, one member from each team had to be skipping. This may seem like a short time but try skipping for five minutes straight and see how well you fare! Some answers to the usual question: "Why are you do- ing this?" were things like "school spirit" or "It's sup- posed to feel good" and "You get to miss classes", or "We're raising money" and "It's good exercise", "It's fun". When the skipping time was over (three hours), a whistle was blown, upon which all the skippers cheered at the conclusion of this gruelling exercise. When asked how they felt now, many replied "I'm tired" or "Hot and sweaty" and "It really hurts". Thanks go to the conveners of this Skip-A-Thon and, more importantly, to the participants. At the time of this report, .the amount raised was not yet known, but I am sure it will be quite substantial! -Liz Wilkins 8 11 Canada, One. 8.5 Nappy Fon ly t1 FboFFmun Editorial A man's world; a man 's army? A job for life! Guaranteed no layoffs. If you are under 21 and have your Grade 12 or 13 advanced level, officer training could be for you. For those who are accept- ed, the army will pay for your college education in any of the following areas: air operations, land operations, sea operations, engineering or support. You have your choice — if you area man. Women are not so fortun- ate. They are not accepted in the combat -operational or maritime engineering train- ing programs. There is a strong case of sexual dis- crimination in the armed forces. One specific example of this is that women can be responsible for the mainten- ance of aerospace vehicles, yet cannot be permitted to pilot them. It appears that the armed forces realized women would not stand for this type of treatment. Just three years ago they started a five year study on women pilots. They trained several women to be pilots and are studying these selected few. Although there are still two years left in the study, it may be cut short. With the new Charter of Rights, they may have a lot of trouble trying to keep women out of any of the pro- grams which are offered. I would like to go through officer training, but I want to be what I choose, not what I am allowed to be. Person- ally, I do not feel that any woman should take the training for what the army thinks she is capable of if she feels she could be something better. Women will find that, just as it is a man's world, it is also a man's army. But we are slowly changing that man's world, so why not the army too? —Helen Morrison 12E 101 THE PYRAMID is one of the most impressive moves staged by the cheerleaders at Madill. The squad leaves April 15 for the Ramada Inn, Toronto, where it will take part in a cheerleading competition. (Clint Pewtress Photo) Editorial P 1 uct poisoning strikes fear The recent string of death and illness resulting from cyanide -laced Tylenol has left Americans and Cana- dians in a state of shock and fear. This frightening tragedy is a deliberate at- tempt by a mysterious mad- man to harm innocent society. Since the Tylenol trauma has become widespread news, there have been other reports of tainting other medical' products and even mouthwash and bottled soft drinks with acid. It is very sad to know that some people in our world (a very small minority) have minds warped enough to hurt the helpless public. These people have no moral code. The pleasure these maniacs seek shows they have serious mental disorders. Surely they must realize they are trying to kill someone — a person that they probably don't even know. These crazed people are sadistic. This tainting and lacing with poisons is very tragic indeed and to further the seriousness of the situation, it is happening very close to Hallowe'en. Everyone knows stories or perhaps has ex- perienced some Hallowe'en nightmare involving candy. Razor blades in apples and pins in other candy picked up by little trick -or -treaters is not uncommon. So, this year there will be probably more fear and more care towards children having a safe Hallowe'en. Parents will be more careful to ensure their children do not visit strangers, or eat anything that appears to have been tampered with. It is almost a sure bet that there will be a few inhuman "sickies" who will undoubt- edly try to make someone's Hallowe'en miserable. But why do people do things like this? Could you imagine poisoning a product to hurt someone for no reason at all? These people definitely need psychiatric help. There needs to be stricter packaging laws that would prohibit such maniacs from scaring and hurting the public. And there needs to be more public awareness when it comes to noticing products that may have been tam- pered with. It is the job of health de- partments to make the pub- lic aware of the acid -tainting tragedies. The law must do the best it can to capture the mindless murderers who find thrills in hearing that someone died because of a product they had poisoned. If these tragedies persist, it will lead to a further break- down in society. It is certainly pathetic that so few can bring fear to so many. Such mishaps do no- thing to confirm trust in our fellow man. —Brent Van Osch 12H Short story A special kind of love 1 was walking down the highway, my mind heavy. I was leaving my home and family. We didn't get along and I couldn't take the pres- sure any more. Suddenly, a funny -looking, beat,up truck came rattling down the road. I stuck out my thumb and it stopped. I hopped in - the truck, then turned to the driver and stifled a laugh. A little man about 70, was staring at me with squinty blue eyes:, through tiny .glasses riAled on, tua:;long. straight i 6s Ris whiteh'alr was thinning and I could see his pink scalp.' "Hello," I said, my voice cracking slightly, "Thanks for the ride." "Sure," he answered. His voice was old and squeaky and he reminded me of a creaking door. We sat in silence for a while and listened to the rattling en- gine. "Where ya headed?" he asked. I sighed and then said, "Anywhere". I think he sensed my sadness because he asked me another question: "Problem?" Very short and simple: that really bugged me. I opened my mouth to snap at him when I realized he wasn'tbeing a nosy old man but a friend trying to under- stand. I nodded, yes, and he seemed pleased. "What's your name?" he asked. "Julie Martin," I whisper eck..thq,.4ump.in my ;throat hurting: • "Ebenezer," he said, ex- tending a weatherbeaten hand. I. took it and smiled. Then he began a story. "I left my family. We had some trouble. I was 16 and on my own. I had a lot of hard and sad times. I remember a certain Christmas, sitting alone in my shabby apart- ment, no presents, tree or friends. Mighty lonely, but I could never bring myself to Rah! Rah! Rah! Cheerleaders to compete On April 15, the pride of Madill leaves for the Ramada Inn, Toronto, to show other competing schools what Madill is made of. Yes, the cheerleaders, that small but elite band that whips spectators into barely - controlled frenzy, cheering its support for our teams. The 10 -member team as well as Ms. Joanisse and Mrs. Shaw, the supervisors, leave Friday after school on this daring trek out of the county. Liz Kaufman, team captain, says, "We're really looking forward to it. It should be a lot of fun, and the experience will do us good." Each member had to pay $10 to enter, but first prize is $1,000 — a $100 return for each member should the team win. There are also trophies for first, second and third place. There will be six judges, following a marking scheme of 30 per cent for music, mascot and experience, 30 per cent for enthusiasm and spirit, 20 per cent for ap- pearance, attitude, imagina- tion and creativity and 20 per cent for skill. The Mustangs have all the marks aced, except for music and mascot of which they have neither. What the team lacks in experience, though, it more than makes up for in effort and spirit. Good luck, girls! —W. C. Pewtress go back." Ebenezer glanced at me and I nodded. We sat in silence again and I com- pared my Christmas to his — laughing, food, presents and a huge bright tree. Most important, I had a family that loved me, no matter what. Finally, I cried. After a few niinutes, Ebenezer cleared his throat and I looked at him. He was smiling and I knew . he was waiting for me to speak. So I wiped the tears fr . ' 1y ey*a14in.,aJot clew e-doice I said,' "I want go home please!" Those old blue eyes twinkled with youth and his face crinkled into a big smile. "I knew you would do it, Julie. Good Luck!" As we headed home, 1 finally realized that I need that special kind of love only found in a family. —Valerie Ricker Chocolate bar drive From April 21 to April 29, the F. E. Madill Secondary School will be holding a chocolate bar drive. The chocolate bars are made with pure milk chocolate and delicious almonds. They come at the great price of $2. That is seven packs of chew- ing gum! To add "incentive" for the industrious salespersons, the first prize for selling the most chocolate bars is a ghetto -blaster; second prize is a black -and -white televi- sion set and third prize is a clock radio. It is hoped that this selling of chocolate bars can raise close to $6,000 which can be put towards student council funding next year. All-star sket 11 Perth won the Junior All- Star game 58-55. Ed Sweeney and Grant Weber played well for Huron. The Perth All-stars won 81- 74 in overtime in the Senior All-Star game. Phil Rintoul and Ken Atkinson starred for Huron. Ken Atkinson has been selected to the Huron - Perth All-stars. Last Thursday, April 7, was the date for the blood donor clinic held annually at F. E. Madill SS. Between the hours of 12:30 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 9 p.m., 247 people register- ed to give blood. Twenty-four people had their blood re- jected .because it did not meet certain criteria, leav- ing 223 donors, just two peo- ple off the projected total of 225. The clinic is sponsored by three Wingham-area groups. The Madill Student Council provides the facilities for the clinic; the Kinsmen provide the food and drinks for the donors and the Wingham and District Hospital Auxiliary provides the volunteers to help out at the clinic. Mrs. Noreen Gnay, one of the volunteers, explained some of the criteria for donors. They must be be- tween the ages of 17 and 66, in good health, and not on medication. They must also have a sufficient haemoglo- bin count in their blood, weigh over 100 pounds, and not have donated blood with- in the past three months. Among other criteria, donors may be interested to note that blood cannot be ac- cepted from people who have had acupuncture or have had their ears pierced within the last six months because this leaves their blood open to certain infection which can be carried in the blood. It may also be interesting to note that the whole process of giving blood takes clinic only 10 minutes, and the body replaces the donated blood within 24 hours, leav- ing no aftereffects. The blood'collected at this clinic was packaged to be used `tor vaccines and fresh - frozen plasma. It was then sent to the Red Cross in Lon- don where it is to be distri- buted to be used within 21 days. Mrs. Gnay said that she felt it was a very good idea to hold the clinic at the school. She said that this provided students with a chance to donate blood for the first time, giving them an in- centive to come back to don- ate blood at future clinics. The results of this clinic were very pleasing thanks to all of the people in the area who came to donate blood. To those of you who didn't but could have, well, maybe next year. Recycle life; give blood! —Nancy Moore MAGNETIC SIGNS For Cars, Trucks, Offices, Mailboxes Eliminates, costly lettering Removable when trading or painting LISTOWEL BANNER MOUNT FOREST CONFEDERATE WINGHAM ADVANCE -TIMES Do you hove something Tying around the house you'd like to be rid of? CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING Could help Call 357-2320 Notjst any Ckefl. We're Kentucky Fried Chicken. The best tasting chicken there is. THE SQUAD THAT'LL SHOW °EM HOW ITS DONE—The Madill cheerleaders, (back row) Stephanie Dimelow, Chris Bregman, Stacey Thomson, Shawna Thomson, Debbie Hodgins; (front row) Liz Kaufman, team captain; Tina DeBoer, Joelle Reevie, GinnyLeVan and Charlotte Cassidy, head off to Toronto this month for a cheerleading competition featuring a $1,000 first Prize. (Clint Pewtress Photo) GLAD IT'S OVER, but fully satisfied with the results, six parti ipants in the Skip for Life program take a well-deserved rest. They are Tina De$oer, Gwen Berwick, Stephanie Gaunt and Carol Belanger,' with Melissa Beeker draped exhaustedly across the front. (Clint Pewtress Photo) / 'r Mr INS Kentucky Fired Ckicken.. The Colonel's taste is best. Josephine St., Zehrs Plaza Corners of Hwy. 4 & 86, Wingham, Ontario