The Times Advocate, 2005-03-16, Page 66
Exeter Times–Advocate
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
Opinion Forum News
Huron County OSPCA
desperate for new home
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Kara Gosleigh, agent/branch co-ordinator with the OSPCA Huronia Branch, shares a
little playtime with Harley who is up for adoption. (photos/Stephanie Mandziuk)
By Stephanie Mandziuk
TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF
The OSPCA Huronia Branch is located on North
Street in Goderich. It's a cramped office with no run-
ning water inside.
GODERICH — It's a
small office located on a
side street off Goderich's
famous square.
If you blink while driving
by, you may miss it entire-
ly. Most people don't even
know a branch of the
Ontario Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals exists in Huron
County. It's been around
for two decades thanks to
volunteers working from
their homes.
For the last three years
the Huronia Branch has
operated out of a tiny
space. It can only accom-
modate 12 cats at a time.
There's no room for dogs
so they're placed into fos-
ter homes.The shelter is
overcrowded and 5 to 10
cats and dogs are turned
away daily.
There is no running
water, making it a chal-
lenge for clean up and
animal care. Staff and vol-
unteers have a key to a
nearby washroom in an
adjoining building.
The space is so small,
there is no room to isolate
sick and injured animals.
Veterinary bills exceed
$40,000 a year.
The OSPCA is a regis-
tered charity. It does not
receive government
money and must raise all
of its operating budget.
This year it's $119,000 in
Huron County.
The organization is look-
ing for a new home. At
the same time it's project-
ing an operating deficit of
$63,000 this year.
With the help of Kate
McKenzie of St. Joseph's,
the charity is hoping to
raise $20,000 at its first
Dinner Auction Fri. June
17 at the South Huron Rec
Centre. Tickets are $40
each or $350 for a table of
ten.
McKenzie, the volunteer
auction chairperson, is
making this a gala affair
with some great items on
the auction block.
For example, would you
like to drive a Jaguar for
an entire weekend?
Perhaps you would enjoy a
lakefront dinner for eight
prepared by owner/chef
James Eddington? For the
special lady in your life,
there's a chance to bid on
a $3,000 diamond
bracelet.
For more information
about tickets and to view
auction items check out
the charity's Web site at
www.huronspca.ca and
click on news and events.
Chamber of Commerce executive
The South
Huron
Chamber of
Commerce
elected its new
Board of
Directors
March 7, as well
as its new exec-
utive.The direc-
tors of the
chamber are
from left: trea-
surer Fred
Simmons, vice-
president Tony
deBoer, presi-
dent Kelly
Maidens,
Odette
Pelleteir, Harold
DeVries, Paul
Ciufo, Frank
Palen and exec-
utive secretary
Fran McMaster.
Missing: Karen
Fox and Mark
Hartman. (photo
Pat Bolen)
Principal's message
EXETER — While our students and staff are
enjoying their March Break, I would like to
advise everyone of an upcoming event that
should be of interest to many
people.
On Thurs., March 24, we are
hosting another community
forum, this one on Internet
issues. The vast majority of fam-
ilies now have Internet access,
many with high speed connec-
tions. In many cases, young peo-
ple even have their own comput-
ers in their bedrooms. While the
Internet is an incredible educa-
tional and informational tool,
like most other technologies, it
also has a negative side and that will be the
focus of our forum.
Most people realize there are inappropriate
sites containing pornography and graphic, vio-
lent content, but there are several other aspects
of computer use of which parents and young
people need to be aware. One of these is chat
room use, an activity that in most cases is idle
communication between friends or acquain-
tances, but which can become an opportunity
for all kinds of problems.
One of our guest experts at this forum will be
Marissa Nelson, a reporter for The London Free
Press, who wrote an article last September
about the dangers of chat rooms for young peo-
ple. Nelson went into a chat room pretending to
be a young girl, and she was shocked at the
responses she had from adult males who tried
to pick her up online. As part of the forum,
Nelson and School Council chairperson Karen
Brown will have a live chat to show the audi-
ence just how quickly things happen in chat
rooms. We hope to show their live chat on our
big screen, and while they will only be chatting
with each other, it is likely that others will
attempt to join in, including some whose
motives are quite suspect.
Nelson will share with parents the many
things she found out about the dangers of chat
rooms and will provide parents with some valu-
able tips on how to prevent problems from aris-
ing. Young people are often rather naive and
trusting, and may unwittingly give away infor-
mation that can cause them serious problems if
it falls into the wrong hands. So, parents are
encouraged to come out and find out what they
can do to prevent this from happening.
Also in attendance will be Professor Michael
Katchabaw, who gave us a wonderful presenta-
tion last spring on the violence and addictive-
ness of computer video games. This year
Katchabaw has agreed to talk to us about
online gaming and gambling and the dangers of
identity theft. He will have some valuable tips
for parents on how to protect their computer
systems and their own personal information
while family members are online.
Members of our board's IT (Information
Technology) team will also be in attendance to
explain some of the protections we have put in
place to protect students while they are using
computers at school. They will also have some
tips for parents on how to encourage positive
computer use and prevent problems from
occurring.
Finally, we will also devote some time to IM
(Instant Messaging), such as MSN. This is a
popular form of communication among young
people, and a whole new language has evolved
with acronyms replacing phrases. Any parent
who has watched a young person using MSN
will know it is a different form of communica-
tion. We will have lists of the commonly used
acronyms and information on websites where
parents can learn more about this new form of
communication.
As you can see, this promises to be an infor-
mative session for parents and we encourage
you to attend. It may just change the way your
family uses the computer.
On a separate note, we had announced earlier
there would be an interim report issued March
21, followed by a parent -teacher interview
night March 31. We have had to make some
changes, and the reports will now be sent out
later in the week of March 21, and the inter-
view night will be delayed until Thurs., April 7.
if"
JEFF
REABURN
PRINCIPAL'S
MESSAGE