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Section Two The Canadian Statesman, Bowmanville, January 30,1985 3 Editorial Comment Long Career for New Premier When you have a party as firmly entrenched in power as the provincial provincial Tories, leadership conventions are especially interesting. A regime which hasn't been out of the driver's seat in four decades doesn't have to worry very much about the opposition offered by New Democrats or Liberals. The real battles occur within the party itself as left-wing, right-wing and central factions struggle to decide decide which brand of conservativism will gain the upper hand. Judging from the recent provincial provincial leadership convention, it would seem that there isn't such a thing as a single individual who embodies embodies all the traits of a good Conservative. Conservative. A Tory may be anyone from a big-city sophisticate to a small-town businessman or a farmer. farmer. The recent convention allowed us to see what goes on when these people get together in caucus rooms, committee meetings, and other private gatherings not readily accessible to a few million television television viewers. .The name Progressive Conservative Conservative alone should tell us something about the tensions that exist within a single party. At any given time, it will lean towards either the progressive progressive side or the conservative side. The selection of Frank Miller as the new premier of Ontario should come as no surprise, given the party's ability to not only gain power but also to keep it. Mr. Miller has been seen as the most right-wing of all candidates. But, on the other hand, he is not a man without the kind of social conscience conscience that would appeal to the leftward leaning members of the party. Miller, the self-made man from a small Ontario town seems to embody embody the growing small "c" conservative conservative ethic which is popular today. People are once again idealizing the individual who works his way up from obscurity. They are seeking greater rewards for those who show initiative. They are demanding a more efficient government that does not look upon public spending as a cure-all. It's not surprising, therefore, that the new standard-bearer is Frank Miller. At a time when ideas are generally turning to the right, the Tories have chosen to stress the conservative half of their title. By contrast, in the years of heavy activity in areas such as construction construction of new schools or development of healthcare facilities, it's the progressive portion of the name which gained the upper hand. In short, the party has shown a remarkable ^ability to control the broad central spectrum of public opinion. It holds a broad band of support in the centre and then moves left or right as conditions require. require. Probably the only think that could ever defeat the Progressive Conservatives is the party's caution and its unwillingness to take anything anything that resembles a risk. For example, a sudden change in political ideas would catch the party napping. It's questionable whether its slow-but-sure, conservative, conservative, approach would be good enough to cope with radical change. But so long as Ontario politics remain remain relatively tame, you can expect expect a long life for the party in power. In short, it looks like Mr. Miller could have a lengthy career ahead of him. A Corner for Poets Where Were You? The easy thing to do on a rainy Sunday morning Is to stay in bed and rest. I could have, and part of me wanted to Because I was fighting a sore throat But I chose to get in gear and obey. There is always a choice and two ways to go, Forward or reverse. Some may think there is a neutral gear But not so. What many refer to as neutral is actually reverse. Falling away from the flock is easy to do. That's why it is important to set goals and reach upward. Then . . . rainy weather, sore throats, a run in your pantyhose, Wrinkled suit, dead battery, tired kids, sleeping in, and little tiffs, Will not stop you from marching forward. me so tenderly As He assured me He understands how I'm feeling right now Because there've been times when He's felt the same way too. That's why He has the compassion I need. And that's just one reason I look to Him for help; I know He is the source of my every need. Yes, He could have hugged me, through a person But He did it this way, and there's no greater hugger than He. I didn't see Him, it was done spiritually. If you don't understand, I urge you to come too; Ask God to lead you to the church He wants you to attend. Don't lean to your own understanding, just go, And never limit Him because there is much He wants to do! -- Linda Blumbergs You will have the zeal needed to press on. Your eyes will not be on the problems and circumstances. Wild horses couldn't keep you away Because you'll be determined to plough through. Obstacles, barriers and divisions will not overcome you. Besides, you know God has opened the door, Prepared the way, called you forth; And He honours obedience So let Him have His way. Choose to allow Him to bless you. I did, and it was so beautiful and special, While the congregation was singing I felt Jesus hug me. His arms of compassion encircled Lagging Winter Deep winter snow, lovely to eyes Of those who haven't much to do But bitter-white cold for those Who must work to clear it, through Necessity of those who walk and drive. Unlike birds and bears who hibernate, Workers in this climate, wait For returning spring, with impatience, With growing restless ambivious- ness, For energy returning with Glorious, gentle spring. Hose A. Lilley 0% (Eanabian Statesman 623-3303 (*CNA Durham County's Great 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 SI, W., Bowmanville, Ontario L1C 3K9 ,1*0 JOHN M. JAMES Editor -- Publisher GEO. P. MORRIS Business Mgr. RICHARD A. JAMES Assistant Publisher BRIAN PURDY Advertising Mgr. PETER PARROTT Associate Editor DONALD BISHOP Plant Mgr. All layouts and composition ol 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 ol the publishers, $15,00 a year -- fi months $0.00 stilclly In advance foreign -- $45,00 a year AUhoinjh I'vmy |imi:milinn will tu» Mkpn to avokI Mini. Tho Cnn.iduin St.ilor.m.in accents mlvmtismg in its columns on ttio undoi'-Und'iK) Huit H will not tin liable lor any mini in tho advmlisomonl published hemundm uninr. r , «I prool ol Midi ndvmii'.omitnt is rorvuvili'd m wnlmr) tty tho advmhr.m and roliimod lo Tim Canadian StalM-man tiusmer.s olhr.n duty Mtjnut) by tin? advorlism ami wall Mich mini nr ronoclions plainly noted m writing thmuon, and m that cast» it any mini mi nntnl is not (tnimli'd t>y Hm t'niMilutn Shir,man its liability shall not uurml such a pnition ol tlm vntno r,osl rif Midi 'idvmtisimiml as tlm sp.icn occupied by pin noted mro» Ihmmi to Mm whole spaco occupied by such Frozen Scenery SUGAR and SPICE Remembering My Teachers v _ Isn't it odd how well we remember remember our teachers: the old battleaxe who whacked us over the head with a pointer; the math teacher who never scolded, but rolled his eyes to the heavens when you put your answer on the board; the sardonic art teacher who would sit down beside you and polish up your "painting," which was the same one you had done last week and the week before? I remember distinctly almost every teacher I ever had. The only one I almost really "had" was my high school French teacher, but she was too fast for my gropings. Some I remember with warmth, some with sadness, some with pity, and a few with hatred. I think that's about par. Until she died, I corresponded occasionally with my Grade 1 teacher, teacher, who still thought of me as a sweet little boy with big blue eyes. She kept an eye on me through this column, and occasionally remonstrated remonstrated with me about my choice of language. One of my favorite favorite high school teachers has done the same, and we keep in touch. Every so often I receive a letter from a former student of mine. I have yet to get one that was not warm. Those who hated me can't write letters. Warm letters are one of the rewards, intangible but important, important, that a teacher receives. Have you ever written to your old minister? What about those other nouns: pity, sadness, and hatred? I pitied a few: my other old French teacher who used to put her head on the desk and weep loudly and wetly, when we drove her over the edge; a science teacher with a Ph.D., a good and kindly man persistently bullied by some cretins in this class. I was saddened by the fate of some teachers who sickened or died or became mentally ill under the unrelenting pressure of the classroom. Hatred? I never hated those who clobbered me or strapped me or bawled me out. There was only one teacher I hated. He was a flying instructor instructor with a permanent sneer, a hectoring manner, and not a decent bone in his body. I swore I'd kill him some day. I still half-hope that he crashed in a stoney field while bullying some frazzled student pilot. And the student escaped with a bloody nose. All my other flying instructors were tops. These vagaries came trickling into my skull-bone when two of my favorite university profs were featured featured in the newspapers recently: E.J. Pratt and Northrop Frye. I have never written either a warm letter, but have always had a feeling of warmth and awe for each. E.J. "Ned" Pratt was a gentle man and a gentleman as well as a scholar. scholar. Son of a Newfoundland minister, minister, he worked his way into the groves of academe, and became one of Canada's "great" poets. I use "great" in the sense of vast, grand, epic. Pratt wasn't interested in the usual preoccuptions of modern modern poets: examining his own navel; imitating, badly, the poets who lacerate lacerate society, who are still hung up on Freud and sex, who think that ugly is beautiful with a few four-letter four-letter words tossed in. Rather, he chose big themes, and had a gift that enabled him to make them into works of art. He was either behind, or ahead of, his time. The building of the C.P.R., the martyrdom of the Jesuits in Huronia, the evaculation of Dunkirk, Dunkirk, the sinking of the Titanic: these were the massive bones on which he built, with consummate skill, his epic narrative poems. At the same time, he was capable of writing the most tender, delicate lyrics, or such precise pictures as "Shark", which many a student has studied in high school. As a professor, he was a delight. He didn't give a diddle about such nonsense as attendance, and when he went dreaming off into Shakespeare Shakespeare or one of the great poets, his dreams and insight rubbed off on his students. He personally wrote for me a recommendation recommendation that I be accepted into graduate school, after another professor (by the way, I still hate him) had refused. I believe he thought that because I was a veteran, veteran, I deserved a chance. A decent, lovable man. Northrop Frye, a generation younger, but a close friend, colleague, colleague, and admirer of Pratt, was another cup of tea. He was no kindly, gentle, elderly scholar and poet. He had a mind like a well-honed razor, an intelligence and learning that used to make us wince, and a brilliant lecturing technique that drew crowds from all over the university. university. He has emerged as one of the finest critical minds of this century, at least in North America. He has probably converted more people to his theories than Jesus did in his limited time. His disiples, rather watered down, have spread across the land. In lectures, he had a cutting wit that reminds one of the Ghurka soldier soldier who took a swipe at a Russian with his kukra (blade). The Russian laughed, "You didn't even touch me." The Ghurka replied, "Yeah? Don't shake your head." Yet "Norrie" Frye, too, behind the scintillating mind, the scathing wit, was and is (and I speak from personal experience) a gentle, sympathetic sympathetic person, to who each student student is a treasured human. He is intensely shy, away from the podium, but intensely decent, as a human being. I can only be humble when I remember remember that I, one of the great unwashed, unwashed, intellectually, was exposed exposed to these fine minds and persons. persons. More Asparagus Under the Hollandaise University of Guelph research continues to benefit asparagus lovers. The longterm longterm asparagus research program directed by Horticulture professor Herman Tiessen recently received a $147,290 boost from the federal government, Starting in 1979, the research received a grant of $300,000. The new money will fund an extension and development program over the next three years. Prof. Tiessen explains that putting more and better Canadian asparagus under (lie Hollandaise sauce on Canadian plates is a time- consuming business. It takes years to produce new varieties, but so far about 150 Guelph hydrids have been developed and are under assessment. These new hybrids, developed in a genetic program at Guelph supervised by retired University of Toronto geneticist, Dr. Lon Huiler, must now be identified to sec which are worth propagating, "The real problem is lo pick mil the superior material over the next three or four years, then discard the rest," Prof. Tiessen says, Hybrid development is going ahead in the University greenhouses and at the nearby Cambridge Research Station. In the past two years a seed bed of the variety Jersey Centennial was established to produce hybrid seeds from parent plants supplied by Rutgers University of New Jersey, and cloned on the Guelph campus, This part of the research was sponsored by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Pood and the Canadian Food Processors' Association under the auspices of the Canadian Horticultural Council. Prof. Tiessen expects that seed from Ibis bed should he available for Canadian growers as early as 19110. The University is already producing clones from superior plants obtained from asparagus fields throughout Canada, a program that has proved so successful over the iast two years that 0,000 cloned plants were set mil at two locations in southern Ontario farms Iasi summer. In spile of on-going research in traditional varieties, Prof. Tiessen thinks the fill lire may he in the relatively new all malu varieties, lie explains Hint seed propagation of asparagus normally produces both male and female plants from normal parents. However, super male fathers produce all male offspring, regardless of mate. These plants arc sturdy, heavy croppers and, of course, do not drop seed in the field. At present, the University has some super male stock from Rutgers University and is also developing its own super males from plants grown in the seed bed. Trials with an all-male German variety, Lucullus miilseason, have proved very successful in many parts of the country, and will now he used by growers. However, Prof. Tiessen is hopeful that evenlally Guelph will produce varieties that arc superior to the best grown at present. Nevertheless, all options are being kept open as research continues in both anther culture and tissue culture. By choosing Hie best plants, and using both these sophisticated techniques, Prof. Tiessen thinks it should be possible to improve production per acre from the current 1,70» pound average lo close to 7,Hill) pounds, With growers currently receiving about $1 per pound for their crops, improved productivity would result in dramatic increases in income. Cloning of asparagus plants, a technique that is carried on in the laboratory of Horticulture professor Pat Harney, results in a hardy offspring identical lo the superior parent plant. Technicians run an assembly line production of new plants produced by removing buds from under the triangular bracts of the asparagus shoots. The clones are rooted in a sterile medium in a controlled atmosphere growth chamber. This technique has been improved through the research of graduate student Yves Desjardins who developed an improved medium for tissue culture which lias resulted in stronger plants and an increased survival rate, Next summer, as a result of constant industry in the cloning lab, Guelph will have the biggest planting anywhere of Jersey Centennial, a very desirable asparagus hybrid variety developed at Rutgers University. In tho future, the old asparagus plantings will be replaced with new fields using the University's own lines amlelinie material. Variety trials of the super male crosses and clonal trials will be carried out in the major asparagus-producing areas of British Columbia, Quebec and Ontario as will herbicide trials for better weed control. Since the University's asparagus research project began five years ago, asparagus production in Canada lias increased dramatically - 70 per cent in the past three years alone -' due to research programs, government support and the backing of the growers' associations. However, Canada still imports twice as much as it grows. Tho Guelph program is helping put more green spears on your plate, through l he development of higher yielding plants and more effective use of herbicides. Support for the Guelph research comes from the federal government, and also from the government's tariff rebate program on imported asparagus, and from the Ontario Asparagus Growers' Marketing Board, The provincial government provides support in the way of facilities, and finances some of the research and technical personnel. Letter to the Editor Girl Guides of Canada Da-IIon-Neh Area Trenton Divison Dear Sir: Due to the continuing mobility of our society locating people has become a major problem and we are hoping that a letter in your paper will reach those with whom we have lost contact but who would bo interested in our plans. A "Homecoming Weekend" will be held in Trenton, Ontario, April 27-211 of ibis year for all former Guiders and Guides ele. (now adult) of Trenton Division of tho Girl Guides of Canada to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of Guiding in Canada. There will he a wide range of activities and time for looking hack and reminiscing. The Registration fee is $10.1)0 to he received by the undersigned undersigned no later than April 1st. Further information is also available upon requesl. Your cheque or money order should he made payable lo Trenton Divison, Girl Guides of Canada. Yours sincerely, "Homecoming Cnnunitloe" IM Stanley Street Trenton, Ontario KlIV 4V5 1