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The Huron Expositor, 1984-10-24, Page 2Huron Es x osstor SINCE 1860, SERVING THE COMMUNITY FIRST 4- sc A r 260010, me A RUE RIBBON' AWABq 1983 Incorporating h;ruhaejg Pot 10 Main Street 627-0240 Published In SEAFORTH, ONTARIO Every Wednesday morning , JOCELYN A. SHRIEK, Pub killer RON WASSINK, Edltols JANET L. MacDONALD, Advertising Manager Member Canadian Community Newspaper Assoc. Ontario Community Newspaper Association Ontario Press Council Commonwealth Press Union International Press Institute Subscription rates: Canada $18.75 a year (in advance) Outside Canada $55.00 a year (In advance) Single Copley -50 cents each SEA#ORTH, (ONTARIO, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 1984 Second okra mall registration Number 0696 majority A longstanding policy of the Huron Expositor is that all letters to the editor must be signed. At the request of a letter writer, a -pseudonym may be used when such letters are published. However the identity of a letter writer must be known for Expositor records. Such names will be released onllF'when a reader comes into the Expositor office and makes his or her request known. A recent anonymous letter, signed "Young and Restless", refers to'•. the fact that many teens are upset that most dances In Seaforth require age of majority. The letter states that minors are not causing problems at dances and 'teen dances usually attract crowds from elementary schools, "which leaves high school students feeling left out." The writer requests that they would be happy if the age of majority rule was lifted. Age of majority has been around for some time. Those under the legal drinking age cannot purchase liquor without an age of majority card. Minors are not allowed in hotels and taverns unless they can show proof of age. Should the same not hold true at local dances where liquor is served? Teens are caught between a rock and a hard place. It's a time when they mature, are allowed to drive, in fact some even marry and have children before they are allowed into bars or dances because they are still considered "minors". And yes, most teens are responsible citizens. And they are mature. But it's the minority who spoil it for the rest. That's why there are age of majority cards. In the past, teens have been allowed to participate at dances where liquor was served. Some were called family dances, But in'such cases, parents were to show some responsibility. Should such a practise, allowing minors to attend public dances where liquor Is served, be allowed to continue? And please sign letters, even If It's for our own records. - R.W. Immersion a breakthrough Dear Editor. After hearing recently a timely news commentary by CJBK news editor, Gord Harris, 1 received his permission to share it with the readers of the paper. it is as follows: "It's about time. Some of the most encouraging news we've heard this fall is from a Gallup Poll released fast week, showing that two-thirds of those surveyed, want French to be taught in the schools, so their children can become bilingual and almost half of those surveyed say French should be compulsory at the elementary level. "That is a cultural breakthrough that Pierre Trudeau could only dream of. Canadians it seems are growing up. Fading is the "who needs it" attitude that's kept many in the dark. Gone are the days Fovernment regulation made many say rench was being forced down our throats. In very few nations (other than some isolated Communist enclosures) do you find a uniiingual population. "Travelling through Europe as la uni• lingual Canadian is embarrassing. Most Americans, other than those isolated in the back woods or deep South. know at least a little Spanish. We, for some reason, have ignored, indeed scorned a second tongue. "Canadians. much more than most, have every opportunity to broaden their horizons and we must, if we are to continue to compete on an international scale. "Most of those surveyed in the Gallup Poll admit they'd like their children to speak French for economic reasons. But that's only part of it. A bilingual population is a more understanding population. With It, we will have not only a better economy, but more importantly, a better people." I applaud his remarks as 1 m sure do many others. Yours truly Bill Metcalfe Lung disease a cause Dear Sir: The Lung Association asks for the support of your newspaper to assist our work in the prevention of Lung disease. Are your readers aware that lung disease is the number one cause of absenteeism from work and school? Emphysema and Chronic Bronchitis are the fastest growing diseases in Canada. 500,000 new cases of lung disea3e will be diagnosed in Canada this year. Our Christmas Seal Campaign begins Nov. 1 . We are most appreciative of the space your publication has allotted to us in the past and look forward to your continued involvement. Yours sincerely. Marybelle Ford, L.C.S.L.T, Executive Director Huron -Perth Lung Association Farm strike is needed COUNTRY CORNER by Larry Dillon Everybody seems to be on strike. The news broadcasts are filled with the latest updates on the various strikes in progress. College teachers are picketing rather than teaching and 36,000 Canadian auto workers are sinking. The bus drivers in Montreal are in their 20th strifre in the last 10 years. The Burns meat packing plant in Kitchener has just been shut down because it would seem the striking workers would rather collect unemployment insurance than accept their employers wage offers. The Canadian Union of Postal Workers has said that they will not accept the contract deal that the letter carriers have worked out. They are making veiled threats about another postal strike. Those people are out there working as hard as they can to ensure that they get the biggest possible piece of the pie. Pardon me, they are not working as hard as they can - they're not even working, they're on strike. They are preventing other people from working until they get what they want. 1 can sympathize with workers who are fighting for their rights. it just seems strange that many workers who strike are already in the upper wage categories and are looking for more. The workers who shout the loudest and get the attention of the public, seem to be the ones who get the best settlements. If they are in the right jobs they can just shut down a segment of the economy. If the employer doesn't meet their demands, then perhaps the government will legislate a settlement. The strategy works. l know that when I feed the pigs 1 always feed the sow that screams the loudest first. 1 can't strand the noise. The only way I can shut her up is to feed her. The employers and the government are just doing the same thing. Our nation only produces a limited amount of goods. This translates into a limited total income to be shared among the people who are doing the work. Every time we give in to one of the unions which are making excessive demands, we increase their income and limit the earning potential of some other workers. in this case it's the farmers of our nation who are suffering. There is no strong organization that can speak on behalf of all farmers. A strike where the farmers would refuse to deliver their necessary products to the tables of the nation is unthinkable. Because the farmers are not prepared to band together and shut down food production in this country they are not a threat. The government or the unions see no need to help the struggling farm operators. It would be in their best interest if the farmers would produce a bit more and get by on a bit less. That way there would be More to share among the takers. The farmers of this country are trying to fight their way out of a terrible recession. We're being told that we are not productive enough. The modern farmer is more efficient and more productive than ever before, yet we are expenencing the highest farm bankrupt- cy rate in the history of this country. We are feeding the people of the country, and yet have difficulty earning enough to feed our own families. That makes it hard to feel any sympathy for the striking workers who are earning more than us now and still want a - bigger share. Perhaps we should talk about a farm strike. AT THE WHEEL—Ian McMillan took the driver's seat Friday when the Seaforth Nursery School' visited the flrehall. (Mcllwraith photo) Has justice been served SENSE AND NONSENSE by Ron Wassink What is this world coming to? And what about Canada? Canada used to be a relaxed, quiet country where the only worry people had was buying a second car, taking in a hockey game, and during a late winter night, playing a game of monopoly. But that's all changed in recent years --the people of this world are going crazy. Crime is on the increase, as is sexual promiscuity among many teens and in-betweeiis. Alcohol abuse continues to plague many and abortions almost -seem commonplace. Most frightening of all is the increase in crime. It's not safe for youngsters to play in their front yard, -especially in larger centres, without the threat of being kidnapped, possibly even sexually abused and murdered, And then there's the police --six dead in almost as many weeks. And that's just in • Ontario and Quebec. But there are other murders, murders that have almost become daily news items. Locally, there was the young Walton woman who was killed. But she's just one of a growing list of statistics. We get up in arms about police killings and demand the death penalty be reinstated. But what about other innocent victims? Surely their lives are just as important as those of police officers. 1 was upset when 1 read that two Quebec police officers were recently acquitted in the death of a carpet layer. After a hard day at work, laying carpet, two young men lay sleeping in their rented motel room. One never wakened because he was riddled with eight bullets from a police officer's gun. The police realized • their mistake and the resulting trial was emotional. While a similar killing would have resulted in a first, second or third degree murder charge, one officer was charged with the lesser charge of manslaughter. He admitted firing his gun through the motel door. But even after admitting his guilt, the officer was declared not guilty. The reasoning behind the verdict may never be known, However, I'm just going by news reports. Surely some information must have been left out of the story. It can't be possible that even after a man has admitted his guilt that he would be acgwitted. How can this be possible? Has justice been served? The moral of the story is that it's a tough world out there. Maybe we should all be more cautious and alert. Canada is changing. It's like a sleeping bear ready to waken. Perhaps we should listen to the warning of a police officer in a popular television police series who says --"Let's be careful out there." Crime is increasing, but let's all help fight it. Not only will it benefit us, but it will make our country a safer place to live --I hope. It's,time to get back on track BEHIND THE SCENES -- - - - by Keith Roulston it's ironic that many of the qualities of mankind that make us most admirable are the same ones which ultimately lead to our destruction. One of these is our unconquer- able drive to improve, change and reach for the unreachable. it's a drive that has taken mankind from living in caves to a comfortable lifestyle where things other than grubbing out an existence are taken for granted. The drive has given us many heroic stories of parents who have struggled against all odds to create a better life for their children. But somewhere along the way we've lost track of where we're headed. Our drive for more is still intact, but we seldom ask why we want more. We're like people who climb mountains. Once upon a time people climbed mountains because they were inbetween where they were and where they wanted to be. Today people climb moutains because they're there. The "because it's there'' attitude domi• nates our life in an era that our ancestors would see as already being as close to heaven on earth as they could wish for. It drives the businessman who will tell us, "if you don't get bigger, you're dying." I've never heard anybody ask "Why?" It's just taken for granted that business should get bigger. We see this natural tendancy in government where the drive to grow and improve has bureaucrats trying to build little empires that they can rule. We see it in our own lives where the drive to have more has led us to an ever more complicated world. A world where we must continue to work, even at jobs we don't like, to buy the latest gadget as if it will bring us happiness. And the drive has lead our scientists to keep inventing, even if there isn't realty a lot of need fot what they're inventing. While their ancestors invented drugs that saved lives, machines that made those lives more hearsb)e, many of our scientists today seem to be doing research just to prove they can do it. At the Massachuesetts institute of Tech- nology, a team of researchers are building an intelligent computer. it's a computer that works like the human brain, in not only being able to store information, but interpret it into new answers and to create the way human brains do. Another researcher at KIT. worries that If they are successful, the machines may one day take over from man. So fat there Is no demonstrated need for intelligent computers except for one area; the U.S. armed forces, The military has provided $600 million to develop a computer that can pilot a.plane, a robot that can captain a ship and an unmanned tank. But morality has no lilace for the scientists. Their job is to invent, not to decide whether they're inventions are good or bad. If this artificial intelligence is used for good, so much the better but if it is used for evil. it's not their fault. it's the same justification that has been used by the people whoinvented all the horrible weapons of the past. it isn't just the scientists but most of us in our own small way who are using it. Morality has a very small place in our modern world where people hide behind the argument of specialization. Morality is the responsibility of the politicians and the churches. Perhaps it's time to listen to the Catholic bishops and their call for a re-examination of what all the wonders of modern business'and technology are in aid of. if the betterment of mankind isn't the goal, then why are we doing it? Years go by, with wink of eye SUGAR AND SPICE by Bill Smiley 11 s peen a tong way from tnere to here. Just 40 years ago. 1 was lying on the floor of a box -car in north-east Holland, beaten up and tied up. And half -frozen. And half-starved. Today, I'm sitting in a big, brick house. with the furnace pumping away. a refrigerat- or stuffed with food, and my choice of three soft, warm beds. Forty years seems like eternity if you're a teenager, but they've gone by like the winking of an eye, as most old-timers will confirm. Back then, 1 was tied up because 1'd tried to escape. it wasn't pleasant. They had no rope, so they tied my wrists and ankles with wire. i was beatenbecause I'd managed to pilfer a sandwich pipe and tobacco from the guards' overcoat jiockets when they weren't looking, and these, along with a foot -long piece of lead pipe, popped out of my battle -dress jacket when the sergeant in charge of the guards gave me a round -house clout on the ear just before escorting me back onto the train headed for Germany. Served me right, 1 should have ignored all that stuff we were taught in training: "it's an officer's duty to try to escape," and gone quietly off to sit out the war, which i did anyway, in the long run. But the next few weeks weren't pleasant. 1 couldn't walk, because my left kneecap was kicked out of kilter. Every bone in my body ached. My face looked like a bowl of borstch, as I discovered when a "friendly" guard let me look in his shaving mirror. Worst of alt. tnere was nothing to read. When ? have nothing to read. 1 start pacing the walls. But 1 couldn't pace the walls because 1 was on the floor, and tied up. Anyway, the light' wasn't so good. One little barred window. Perhaps even the worst of all was my daily ablutions. And 1 don't mean washing one s face and armpits. 1 had to be lugged out of the box -car by a guard. since only one leg was working, helped down the steps. and ushered to the railway bank. Ever try to do your dailies (and 1 don't mean push-ups), with two hands planted in cinders, one leg stuck straight ahead, the other propping you up, and a guy pointing a revolver at you? it's a wonder 1 wasn't constipated for life. One day the guard almost shot me. i never understood why. He was a rather decent young chap, about 21, blond, spoke a bit of French, so that we could communicate in a rudimentary way. He was a paratrooper who had been wounded in France and seconded to the mundane job of guarding Allied prison- ers. He hadn't taken part in the kicking and punching at the railway station, for his own reasons. Perhaps pride. He was a soldier, not a member of the Feldgendarmerie. But this day he was out of sorts. Perhaps sick of being a male nurse. His eyes got very blue and very cold, and he cocked his revolver. An 1 could do was turn the big baby -blues on him and mutely appeal. it worsen. ne murrerea something, probaoly a curse, holstered his gun. and shoved me roughly back into the box -car. Why did Hans Schmidt (his real name) not kill me that day? He was fed up with a job on . which rations were minimal, comfort almost non-existent, and duties boring and demean• ing. There was another Schmidt in the detail, Alfred. He was a different kettle, though he, too, was a wounded paratrooper He was as dark as Hans was fair, as sour as Hans was sunny. He would have shot me. in the same mood, and written if off as "killed while attempting to escape.'' Luck of the draw. Another hairy incident in that Oct., 40 years ago, was the night the train was attacked by a British fighter-bomber, prob- ably a Mosquito, perhaps even navigated by my old friend Dave McIntosh. 1 was dozing. on and off (you didn't sleep much, tied up, on the wooden floor of a box -car) when there was a great screeching of brakes, a wild shouting from the guards as they bailed out of the train, then the roar of an engine and the sound of cannon -fire as the attacker swept up and down the train, strafing. As you can understand, i wasn't hit, and the bums in the aircraft didn't even put the train out of Commission, but have you ever seen a man curled up into a shape about the size of a little finger? That was ich. Sorry if I've bored you with these reminiscences. But they are all as clear, or moreso, than what 1 had for lunch today. Forty years. Time to complete the war, finish university, marriage, children, 11 years as a weekly editor, 23 years as a teacher, a year in The San for non-existent T.B., and 30 years as a columnist. 1 couldn't hack all that today. But 1 can go to bed and say, "This beats the hell out of sleeping in a box -car." 4