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/ The Canadian Statesman, Bowmanville, February 1,1984 Section Two Readers' Comments BHS Band in Jeopardy 14 Meadowview Blvd. Bowmanville, Ont. L1C 2H1 1984 10 25 Dear Mr. James: It is said, and there is supportive data to disclaim any doubt to the contrary, that the greatest single portion of our tax dollar is allocated allocated to education. The Northumberland and Newcastle Newcastle Board of Education has been charged with the mandate of holding holding the line on expenditure in terms of the tax dollar. It would seem, Mr. James, that the current Board of elected officials has been successful successful in that vein, although they have been neglectful in their responsibilities responsibilities for our children. In their efforts to maintain a reputation for having one of the lowest educational educational budgets in the entire Province Province of Ontario, they have forgotten forgotten the real focus of their deliberations: deliberations: our children. We witness the cut-back and even elimination of educational programs, both newly instituted and long-standing ones. One of these areas concerns me with a passion: the music program , at Bowmanville High School. For years "B.H.S." has been synonymous synonymous with the "B.H.S. Band". Parades on special occasions in Bowmanville Bowmanville and outside of town all have attracted visibility and support for our town and our school through its band. The Statesman, Mr. James, and other press and media have focused focused on B.H.S. at its many band functions, and thus, you have made residents and neighbors of the Northumberland and Newcastle Board aware of the high quality of musical talent and direction in Bowmanville. Now, it would seem, this tradition is no longer valued at the Board level. Your readers must be informed, informed, Mr. James, that our Board has duly deliberated and resolved that, in the best interest of the tax dollar, Bowmanville High School will no longer have a Head of Music. If this decision shocks you as much as it has me, perhaps you should voice your displeasure. And while you are reacting to this, you might think about becoming involved involved with the B.H.S. Band Parents. Parents. This group has recently re-organized re-organized for the purpose of supporting supporting a program that it perceives as too valuable to die a natural death, which it surely shall if the present philosophy continues. Many high school bands have parent groups who embark on mammoth fundraising fundraising extravaganzas to finance their band on a European tour or perhaps an exchange across Canada. Canada. At the moment our B.H.S. Band Parents face a more immediate goal. Firstly, you should be aware that the annual music budget for B.H.S., as allocated by our Board, is in the neighborhood of $2000.00. Secondly, are you aware that this line has been held and maintained since the early 1970's? Thirdly, in September of this school year, the music department was presented a bill for approximately $4000.00, twice the annual budget, for the repair repair of some of the instruments over the summer. Now you can see the Band Parents' short-term goal. Fund-raising is necessarly merely to operate the music program. Sheet music and instrument replacement replacement are at the top of the list as many of the materials are antiquated. antiquated. I wouldn't be surprised, Mr. J ames, if my French Horn from 1959 is still in circulation. It is no wonder wonder that many of our parents have purchased their own instruments. How soon will the choice of a music option as a credit toward and Ontario Ontario Seconday School Diploma (O.S.S.D.) depend upon one's parent's parent's wallet? In summation, I encourage your readers, Mr. James, to be concerned concerned about not only the value of their education dollar, but also about the values of those who are spending their tax dollar. Sincerely, Eleanor J. Colwell R.R. 1, Bowmanville, L1C 3K2 January 28,1984 Dear Mr. James; There would appear to be considerable interest from individual property owners in the Town of Newcastle to regain some control over the way they are treated as property taxpayers. Although it is certain that individually we - have widely different interests and incomes, we all expect to receive value for the property taxes we pay. The market-value assessment system, introduced by Sam Cureatz's government and brought to the Town of Newcastle five years ago, is creating greater disparity than that which it was to correct. The property taxes collected on a home no longer have any relationship to the services provided. Although the municipal and regional services provided to homes in a neighborhood are the same for each household, market- value assessment collects large amounts of property tax from some homeowners and small amounts from others. In some sections of the town the services provided and the quality of those services are substantially less than in other sections; yet market-value assessment does not recognize this fact. The inequities previously present for school taxation are now grossly accentuated. Market-value assessment is placing artificially high values on the lands and dwellings of many homeowners. Market values have been driven up by speculators, developers and real estate brokers whose ultimate objectives are profits and commissions. Settled homeowners do not participate in this profit-taking. Market-value assessment has homeowners scared because no longer do they control the factors upon which their property taxes are calculated. Many homeowners are seeing new staggering market values arbitrarily placed on their homes, and consequently staggering new levels of property taxation for which there appears to be no justification. Many homeowners in the town are developing a fear that although they have already worked hard to establish equity in their homes, eventually they may no longer be able to afford to retain them. Market-value assessment instills fear and resentment into respectable homeowners because not only are they punished for their diligence but they also could be driven from their homes by uncontrolled market values as speculators and other profit-takers infiltrate neighborhoods. It is my recommendation, Mr. James, that the Cureatz government move quickly to abate these fears; that his government release property taxpayers in the Town of Newcastle from this insidious form of property assessment; that his government replace it with a method which assures that each homeowner receives reasonable value for taxes paid. Sam, are you listening? Sincerely, James Slyfield ®1je (Eanabian Statesman 623-3303 (J£na Durham County's Orest Family Journal Established 130 years ago In 1854. 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 St. W., Bowmanville, Ontario L1C 3K9 .1'0 0 tV JOHN M. JAMES Editor -- Publisher GEO. P. MORRIS Business Mgr. BRIAN PURDY Advertising Mgr. RICHARD A. JAMES Assistant Publisher DONALD BISHOP Plant Mgr. All layouts and composition of advertisements produced by the employees ol The Canadian Statesman, The Newcastle Independent and The James Publishing Company Limited are protected by copyright and must not be reproduced without written permission of the publishers. 515.00 n year -- 6 months $8.00 strictly In advance foreign -- $45.00 a year V Although ovory procoulion will bo taken to avoid orror, Tim Canadian Slato'jrmm accepta advertising ir) its columns on the understanding that it will not bo liable lor any error in the advertisement published hereunder unlu-j. a proof ol suet» advertisement is requested in writing by the lidvorlisor and returned to The Canadian Slatcs'ifm business otlice duly signed by the advertiser and with such error or corrections plainly noted in writing thereon, m that case it any error so noted is not corrected by Tiro Canadian Statesman Its liability shall not exceed such a poriyn ol the entire cost ot such ndvertistmont as the space occupied by the noted error bears to the whole space orfupiod by such advertisement F mi ll l • MS, San Juan Spanish Fortress, El Morro ■ by Donna Fairey SUGAR and SPICE A Saying I Hate r i > Sam, Are You Listening? If you read in the papers one of these days about some middle-aged guy going beserk and punching a pretty young waitress or bank teller right in the mush for no apparent reason, you'll know it was I, driven finally over the brink by that inanity to end them all, "Have a nice day." It may happen in a restaurant. It will be just after that waitress has served me lukewarm soup, followed by filet of sole. The filet will turn out to be of the boot variety, rather than the sea variety, and I will just have broken a tooth on it. As I am fumbling fragments of bone out of my face, she will sashay off to serve another customer, hips twitching, and toss over her shoulder at me a gay "Have a nice meal, now." That's when I will let her have it. Or it might occur on a Friday afternoon, in the bank. The weather forecast is for blizzards, I'm in a snarky mood, on my way to have two teeth extracted, and my arthritis is giving me a fairly lively foretaste of hell. And this young teller, her feet aching, slaps down my withdrawal, summons an exhausted smile from down around her pantyhose, and chirrups, "Have a nice weekend, eh?" It's not the grammar or the verbiage I object to. It's the utter insincerity of the suggestion. It means just about as much as if the speaker blew his/her nose and spat into the wind. And it's pretty obvious where it came from. It's one of those American imports that should be ^banned at the border. It has crept across via the airwaves, issued in treacly tones by signing-off disc jockeys and game show MCs. And it has been copied by Canadian media people, who ape automatically the mispronunciations mispronunciations of their U.S. counter-parts, such as eggsacution for "execution" and noshus for "nauseous." From there it has spread like the Black Plague into our airlines, hotels, restaurants, and even our sacred institutions like the banks. I haven't been in a bordello lately, but I'd be willing to bet that when a customer totters off shaky and unshaven into the cold dawn, the madame will coo after him in dulcet tones, "Have a nice day, now." I have a strong suspicion the damn thing originated in the deep south, along with such heart-felt maxims as "Y'all come back real soon, y'heah." Which means, roughly, if you want to be ripped off again in our joint, we'll be happy to oblige. I refuse to believe all those waitresses, air stewardesses, bank clerks are spouting this garbage from deep in their hearts. Those gals are tuckered out. They don't give a diddle whether we drop dead, as sill long as we do it in front of somebody else's wicket. No, they've been coerced into this phoney farewell by the Simon Degrees they work for, the type who think that if the clerks utter such slop in the Holiday Inn in Texas, they should do the same in the Holiday Inn in Toronto. And they're the guys I have it in for, not the poor underlings, forced to soil their lips with an artificial, cynical so-long that raises the hackles on the likes of me. At first I responded to this silly utterance with a reluctant and very concise "Thanks. You too." As I became more disgusted with the obvious falsity of such as the dentist absentmindedly muttering "Have a good day" just after he'd drilled two and yanked one, my response subsided to a grunt. Next step will be to look one of the idiots who issue this inanity right in the eye and calmly ask: "Are you kidding? Who told you to say that? Do you mean it? What do you care what kind of day I have? I don't really care what kind you have." This might make a few of the more sensitive ones blush. But most of them would just drop their jaw and wonder whether old Smiley had got into the sauce, to make him so snarly. It may take stronger measures, and I hope many of my readers who agree with me will join in putting a halt to this pernicious poop. If it happens in a public place, perhaps we should call the manager and say "This young lady/man is interfering in my private life, in my democratic right to have a rotten day/weekend if I feel like it. Now you, buster, just tell her never to insult another customer with that silly saying, or I'll take my business elsewhere." This is the only language understood by the type of turkey who thinks such garbage as "Have a good day" is good public relations. Hit him where it hurts. In the P.P. panic pocket. Perhaps I am overreacting. I have been known to do this in connection with Celsius, metric, politicians of every hue, greedy unions, misleading advertisements, town engineers, school administrators, and about 12,000 other things, including the highway robbers known as garage mechanics. Maybe jt will pas away, along with other such worn-to-the-heels expressions expressions as "That'll be the frosty Friday" and "All righty" and the ubiquitous "Turkey," which seems to cover a multitude of mental and physical abberrations. But in case it doesn't happen, keep your dukes up, you purveyors of "Have a good..." 'M r Dear Johnnie: If this cold weather doesn't let up and the wind stop blowing we are going to spend a lot of money just to keep the place warm. However, things aren't all bad. I was downtown downtown for a very short time and three people said they enjoyed my last letter, one even agreed it was time for a change. (Big Oaks from little acorns grow). Then on January 18 the last Christmas card arrived, rather tired, as it was mailed in Florida November 30. Then I open the Statesman and find I am recognized by (lie Mayor, so what more could a person ask? Now my Helen does not read "letters to the editor;" as a matter of fact she usually doesn't read mine, So I got out the Mayor's forecast (January 11 issue) headed "Moderate growth here forecast by Mayor in first address to council," read it to lier twice and asked what I he Mayor was referring to by "growth." Her reply was "increase in population." Question - "You don't think he might have meant economic growth?" Answer - "Of course not - if he had meant' that he would have said so." I am glad an opportunity for explanation has been afforded the Mayor. Since we have moved to Bowmanville wc have had "growth" talked about all over the place and until this time it always referred to population. I will have to mull over that net worth per capita versus the provincial average as I think at this time I have never seen such a document. I did read, not too long ago, that our treasurer said the amount of overdue taxes was abnormally high for a town of our size. When the fitness centre opened I said I thought it was a worthwhile addition to (lie town and in my opinion the town might subsidize it $28,000 yearly, the rest of the cost to he paid by the users. I have- not changed my mind, though I might raise the ante a hit if it could he called "Town of Bowmanville Fitness Centre," At the time of Hie opening Hie Mayor was on a "zero financing" hit for the centre and for the arenas. These sports centres should be scrutinized very closely at budget time. I see the Mayor did not agree with or support "The Diamond Study" but it still cost us $25,000 which could have been better used. In his "Heply to Morgan" the Mayor states "I now have said that renovating the existing town hall completely to office space is impractical and would not accommodate our present staff, etc., etc." My letter of January 18 referred to the Mayor's suggestion of January 11 which was rather different than the above quote, The January 11 report was "Mayor Rickard suggested that Hie existing Bowmanville Town Hall would barely meet the demands of the present even if an addition were added to Hie structure. Which is ridiculous as a building of 25,000 sq. ft. (The Diamond Rian) will accommodate a staff of 150 if the space is properly utilizied. This is fact, not conjecture. My wife asks if I won't get in wrong writing letters like this. : -V ' I assure her it is all good natured banter. And I remind her we were out the other night (an event) and the other fellow present said he had been phoned and advised to tune in Channel 10, "Council is on and it's better than a circus," ' Morgan , m ifSi 'k* R. R. 5, Bowmanville, Ontario. L1C3K6 January 29,1984. The Editor, The Canadian Statesman, 62 King Street W., Bowmanville, Ontario. L1C 1R4 Dear Sir: You would he doing a great service to many hospital patients if you would kindly publish this letter. Over the years, we have become accustomed to Hie playing of pop music at varying varying decibel levels in public places as well as In business and professional establishments establishments of nil kinds, Often, this music Is of u discordant nature, and unfortunately it has now invaded the very intensive care units of our hospitals. Recently, a good friend of mine collapsed in her home and was taken by ambulance to hospital, where she was placed in the I.C.U. Her condition, condition, involving her heart, was serious and she needed all the rest and quiet one would have expected from such a place. Such was not the case, however. In the bed next to hers was a woman whose transistor transistor radio blared non-stop, My friend, being disturbed by the din and unable to sleep, politely asked the woman if she would lower the volume. This request was ignored. When the situation became unbearable, my friend called a nurse and asked her if she would intervene. The nurse seemed doubtful but said she would do what she could. She eventually told my friend that she could promise her one- hour of relative quiet, lint no more, She apparently had no authority to request silence in the circumstances. The result was that my friend, ill as she was, asked to be sent back home where she would be assured of the peace she so desperately needed. Although she was still far from recovered when her request request was granted, it was an enormous relief to her to be away from that place which had certainly not brought about any improvement in her condition and might possibly have aggravated it. I think an investigation should be conducted into prevailing prevailing hospital conditions where noise from T.V.s and radios is concerned. If earphones earphones are not worn, they should be banned, especially in places like the I.C.U. Selfish pop music fans must be made to realize that not everyone appreciates the particular brand of torture inflicted by them, especially on helpless and often very ill hospital patients. Sincerely E. A. King