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2 The Canadian Statesman, Bowmanville, November 9,1983 Section Two [ Editorial Comment ) Touch of Metric Humanity ..frir That recent court decision on the validity of metric measurements isn't likely to change the course of metrification now underway in this country. But by ruling that gasoline may be sold in gallons as well as litres, the Ontario courts have given metric metric conversion a touch of humanity that it so badly needs. It is high-handed on the part of government to decree that metric weights and measures shall be the only lawful method of doing business. business. If the government wishes to change units of measurement, it should do so by leading'and persuading persuading the general population that the new system has advantages. If metrification is something that must be enforced by law, then, to some degree, the new system has failed. And it's also time that the matter was put into perspective. Failure to comply with the international system system will not rock the foundations of civilization. Aside from a few civil servants, who really cares whether Canada is completely con verted to metric units this year or in 10 years time? As we understand it, the latest verdict of the courts will allow dealings dealings in both pounds and kilograms, gallons and litres, ounces and milligrams. milligrams. A nation which has adopted a policy of two official languages languages should have no difficulty with two official measuring systems. systems. But when changing a tradition that has its roots in the founding of the British Empire, the government needs to exercise some sensitivity. It should realize, for example, that those who have grown up with the old system are going to find change difficult. And there are some who resent new ideas simply because they do not represent the old way of doing things. If it intends to introduce metric measurement without ill-will and controversy, the federal government government should,be prepared to go out of its way to accommodate those who prefer Imperial measurement. It should be prepared to walk the extra kilometre, and even, where necessary, the extra mile. Be Last of its Kind As the continuing saga of Ontario's Ontario's nuclear power plants continues, continues, we learn that at one time last month almost half of the province's province's nuclear reactors were closed for repairs of various kinds. There have been ruptured tubes, leaks, and a variety of other difficulties difficulties which may not be dangerous dangerous but have certainly proved inefficient. inefficient. And a thought-provoking article article in a Toronto newspaper recently recently noted that some politicians are questioning the need for the Darlington Generating Station itself. itself. Some have expressed the opinion that $2 billion has already been poured into the project arid that it would be better to quit now and take our losses rather than continue continue to run up the total bill of some $12 billion. We wonder if a completely different different conclusion can be drawn from the recent information concerning problems in Ontario Hydro's nuclear nuclear system. We wonder if the problems at Pickering's oldest reactors are not the kind of problems with which anyone who owns a four or five- year-old car is familiar. Perhaps Pickering is just wearing out. After all, we cannot expect the Canadian nuclear industry to build a system that is indestructible, no matter how good their nuclear know-how may be. We wouldn't be surprised if the four new Darlington reactors may be needed around the year 2000 to replace those at Pickering or elsewhere elsewhere which have outlived their usefulness. And without Darlington, what alternative alternative is there but the more expensive expensive and environmentally hazardous coal-powered generating generating stations? It's true, however, that nuclear power is not turning into the miracle miracle energy source for the future. Questions about the cost of nuclear technology, and its safety have not been totally answered. Moreover, the matter of nuclear waste disposal disposal is a political and scientific issue which hangs over the industry like a thunder-cloud. So, perhaps it is not surprising that after Darlington it would seem as though very few nuclear generating generating stations will be brought into existence. We recall that this will mean declining declining job opportunities for an entire entire industry which has grown up in Canada around nuclear energy. What will happen to all of the scientists scientists and engineers who have been working on the various nuclear projects? projects? Rather than losing their talents talents to other industries, why not use this pool of skills and abilities either to develop alternatives to the present methods of generating electricity or to devise new ways to conserve electrical power? It's an option which may not get results in this century but certainly could prove worthwhile in the next one. Meanwhile, the cycle of nuclear power plant construction should be allowed to run its course. And that means completion of the Darlington Darlington Nuclear Generating Station. Station. Way Out in Left Field As time goes on, it's becoming more and more evident that President Ronald Reagan and the American forces did the right thing in launching an attack on Grenada, before it became a Cuban-Soviet base. Both NDP leader Ed Broadbent and Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau have gained little in popularity at home or abroad by condemning the operation as unwarranted. And British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher surprised most people with her negative reaction. Possibly all of them jumped in too quickly without waiting to hear all the facts. Certainly, the attack on Grenada and the death toll on both sides are scary and regrettable, especially coming so soon after more than 200 United States peacekeepers were killed by terrorists in Beirut. It's quite probable that in the back of the minds of the Americans who gave the go ahead to the Grenadian invasion were still smarting from that earlier incident and were eager for retribution when the opportunity presented itself. There appears little doubt that Cuba and Castro are completely in bed with the Soviet Union's world domination aspirations and Grenada is just the latest in their offshore excursions. Had they been able to complete their takeover of Grenada, they would have had a choice spot for extending their domination to other Caribbean islands, as well as controlling shipping routes essential to the west. One must constantly be aware that the Soviets have never deviated from their long range plan of taking all of us into their orbit and they've been doing very well in recent years, without much opposition until now. QHte Catiaiitan Statesman 623-3303 Durham County's Great Family Journal Established 129 years ago In 1154 Also Incorporating The Bowmanville News The Newcastle Independent The Orono News Second class mall registration number 1561 Produced every Wednesday by THE JAMES PUBLISHING COMPANY LIMITED 62 66 King SI. W„ Bowmanville, Ontario L1C3KB u id JOHN M. JAMES Editor --Publisher RICHARD A. JAMES Assistant Publisher GEO. P. MORRIS Business Mgr. BRIAN PURDY Advertising Mgr. DONALD BISHOP Plant Mgr, All liyouli »nd composition ol sdvsrtlssmtnli produced by Ihs employees ol The Cenedlin Statesmen. The Newcastle Independent and The James Publishing Company Limited aie protected by copyright and must not be reproduced without written permission ol the publishers. 116.00 a year -- 6 month! U.OO strictly In advance foreign -- 646.00 a year Although every precaution will be taken to .wold error, The Canadian Statesman accepts advertising In Its columns on lha understanding that II will not he liable lor any error In the advertisement published hereunder unless a proof ol such advertisement Is requested In wrlllnu by the advertiser and returned lo The Canadian Statesman business olllce duly signed by the advertiser and with such error or corrections plainly noted In writing thereon, and In lhal case II any error so noted Is not corrected by The Canadian Statesman Ils liability shall not exceed such a portion ol the entire cost ol such advertisement as,the space occupied by the noled error bears to the whole space occupied by such advertisement, ' b > U Tyrone Pond SUGAR Going Out and SPICE on a Limb There's nothing more exhilarating than going out on a limb. It begins when you're very little;;' when you eat a worm to see if he'll ' really stay alive inside you, or pick up a toad to see whether you'll wind up covered with warts. Later, it might be climbing out on a long, shaky tree limb over a deep pool, when you can't swim. Or it might be caught up in a tree, shirt stuffed with apples, while the voice of Geo. J. Jehovan thunders from beneath, "Come down, ye little divils; I know yer up there and I'll ' whale the tar out of yez and the police'll put yez away fer life." Or it might be caught in the act of swiping corn and racing through backyards and over fences, with the cobs dropping and your heart thumping and the shotgun going off into the sky. Or it might be, about age 12, smoking butts with the hoboes in the "jungle" beside the railway tracks, and having a drunk with a gallon of wine come up and start terrifying you with all sorts of obscenities you don't understand. Or it might be, about 14 and spotted like a hyena with pimples, having to ask a girl to a party, knowing that you are the most repulsive, awkward booby in town. This a rotten limb to be out on. It could be saying, "Don't you say that about my mother! " to the bully of your age and sailing into him, yourself outweighed 20 pounds, but your fists and feet and teeth going like a windmill. Or it could be a swimmingly exhilarating moment, like the day when I was in high school and kissed my French teacher up in an apple tree. She was a spinster and six years older than I, but if I recall, it was a swooning experience and I think we both wound up hanging by our knees from the limb. These are some of the limbs I've been out on. Lots of other limbs. You've had yours; round limbs, crooked limbs, rotten limbs, smooth ones, brittle limbs, sturdy ones. We hâve all gone out on a limb. When you're young, you don't really know the difference, or you just don't care. It's climbing out on the thing that matters. Even at 20,1 was climbing out on a limb, trying desperately to make the grade as a fighter pilot, sweating blood so that I could climb out on the fragile wing of a Spitfire and be killed. What an irony! Those who didn't make it were broken-hearted. And then there's the limb of marriage. Most males will climb out on the first limb that is endowed with long eyelashes or trim ankles or a big bust. Even though they know it's a very green one, or a very brittle one, out they go. I was lucky. The limb I climbed out on was firm but yielding, green but not brittle. And I damn soon discovered that when you climbed out on that particular limb, you didn't carry a saw, but a parachute and an ironbound alibi. However, what I started out to say was that, as we get older, we climb out on shorter and shorter, safer and safer limbs, until we are finally left, clutching the tree-trunk, even though we're only two feet off the ground. The old limbs (or the young limbs) creaked and swayed and cracked and dipped. They are replaced by the limbs of safety and conformity and security and enough life insurance. And the sad part is that these are the limbs we want our children to climb out on, no farther than two feet from the trunk and no higher than two feet from the ground. While the/want to climb on the swinging limbs that will sail them to the skies or break and let them fall. All this of course, is a preamble to the fact that I'm still willing to go out on a limb. If somebody will fetch a step-ladder to help me get started up the tree. October 25,1983 Dear Mr. and Mrs. James : On behalf of the East Beach Community Association I would like to thank you both and Peter Parrott for your excelent coverage of our relatively new organization and beach clean up. We have gotten great response on our efforts with the help of your coverage. We stated that any old wood from our beach could be taken by the volunteers to do with what they liked. Some readers thought they could go right up rds i an effort to keep our beach safe and clen. Bowmanville is a nice place to live so let's all help to keep it that way whether it be beach, country or town. Once again on behalf of the Association, Thank You Sincerely, Marilyn L. Brown Secretary-Treasurer on our yard i fat ; and collect wood and in fact they did, leaving a couple of residents annoyed. The persons who took the wood off the property were not even part of our volunteer group on clean up day. People are welcome to take the wood but only off the sandy part of the beach where the driftwood comes in. Many people use the beach daily and that is what we like to see. There is a saying 'It's a nice place to visit but I wouldn't like to live there.' Well, we think it's a nice place to live and we are trying to make it a nice place to visit. Our association appreciates appreciates any volunteers, new members and supporters such as anc Hubbard, Anyone can attend our monthly meetings with us in i yourselves Mayor Rickard ad Councillor Marie October 26,1983 To the Editor: Re: "PythbowMall ' Not Needed Yet" (October 26,1983) It seems patently obvious to me, as it must to your other readers, that whether or not the proposed mall is "needed" is of no concern to Bowmanville's downtown businessmen; they are trying to protect their own interests (and who can blame them) so let's be honest, ladies and gentlemen, and say so. A survey of 400 persons (living where? related to whom? with what vested interests?) can hardly be said to reflect the wishes and needs of the entire community, I wonder how many of us living in the newer subdivisions subdivisions south of King St. were asked whether or not we were in favor of the new mall. (I wasn't.) Downtown Bowmanville seems to care little that those of us in this area, without private means of transportation, are virtually cut off from downtown shopping during the day. Another factor which seems to indicate a lack of regard for the residents in the Waverley - 401 area is the fact that one of our two routes to downtown, namely Base Line Rd., is in a sorry state of repair. As well-travelled as the road is, there seems to be no intention of having it widened, re-paved or in any way fixed up for us. I am sure that I speak for many when I say that I would welcome a place to shop in my "neck of the woods" with easy access and more convenient (longer) hours. It is unfortunate that downtown business would decline, but as a consumer, I should have a choice of shopping outlets. Ixit the Merchants affected work to attract my business rather than interfere with free enterprise. (Mrs,) Fay Ingram (Mrs.) Fay Ingram 16 Ixtscombe Drive Bowmanville L1C 3S9 October 27,1983 The Mayor and Members of Council > Town of Newcastle Dear Members of Council : I am writing to you at this time in reference to the so called Bonus that is paid to certain employees. And as I am told it is for doing a good job, I say to you that on salaries that you pay I would as an employer expect that we would get a good job done without a bonus. As my research has given me certain items that do concern me as a taxpayer, I am taking the opportunity of writing to you for some answers. First of all, I notice that the bonus payments vary from $250 to Nil and that some are for $160, $190, $225, $200. This seems to be to be rather discriminating, especially after attending a banquet and hearing all members of council who spoke saying what a wonderful job this person has done and indicating that they didn't know how they would survive without him. But, lo and behold, I notice that he only received $200. Now, on the same date, a person who was listed as not applicable, and I have to assume because this reason was on leave for four or five months (approximately), was now paid as of October 3,1963 a bonus of $250 after it had been rejected on August 24, 1983. If one were to take this at face value you might come up with the answer that it was rejected by Mr. Smith, but now we have a new administrator administrator so we will run it by him to see what happens, but as these are Town employees we suspect that this is not the case, so I am asking you if you could provide me with the answer. Secondly, I would also like to know why some people did not receive any consideration and as I look over the sheet I notice that one is a person who certain staff tried to have fired but council would not go along with. Next question is as follows : Vacation time for staff. Is a week of vacation five working days or is it seven working days. The point here is that if a certain staff member has as an example, two weeks vacation, does this mean 10 working days or does it mean 14 working days? Trusting you will find time in your deliberations to supply me with the above answers, Yours truly, Ken Hooper From the hell of depression, the sanctity of church, the manipulation of politics, the cave-man clubism of strikes, Tommy moved ahead in his thinking. One day in Calgary he said: "The role of labor has changed over the years and strikes no longer serve the purpose for which they were initiated." While I went home with my purchase, I thought of Tommy and the Canadian condition, especially the labor strife in British Columbia. Far off in Taiwan there were humans dutifully at work "making a better mouse trap." Foster M. Russell Box 636, Cobourg, Ontario K9A 4L3 Telephone: 416372 9497 "Fabrique A Taiwan (made in Taiwan)". I purchased the item in a Canadian Tire Corporation Corporation Limited store for $1.29. It was the sole product of its kind on display. Recently my seventh book was published under the title "Ink In Our Soul". One reference reference is to Tommy Douglas, former Baptist preacher at Weyburn, Saskatchewan, well-known politician. A writer said of Tommy: "He's a little bit of sanity in a big asylum." Give... THE HEART FUND)