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The Canadian Statesman, Bowmanvillc, May 27, 1998 Pace 4 Œlie Canadian statesman Former Publishers and Partners Rev. John M. Climic and VV. R. Climie 185-1 - 1878 M. A. James, 1878 - 1935 • Norman S. B. James, 1919 -1929 G. Elena James, 1929 -1947 • Dr. George W. James, 1919 - 1957 'N» Produced weekly by James Publishing Company Limited Also Publishers of The Clarington! Courtier Independent P.O. Box 190, 62 King St. W., Bowmanvillc, Ontario L1C 3K9 Tel: 905-623-3303 HOURS: Monday to Friday 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Fax:905-623-6161 lnternot-slatesman@ocna.org Publications Mail Registration No. 07G37 For 144 Years, Our First Concern Has Been Our Community Publisher - John M. James Assoc. Publisher - Rick James Plant Manager - Rick Patterson Ad. Manager - Brian G. Purdy Editor - Peter Parrott Production Supervisor - Ralph Rozema, Suzanne Bennett, Tim Bowers, Kevin Britton, Sharon Cole, Laurens Kaldeway, Barb Patterson, Tyler Sellick, Jim Snoek, James Stephenson, Vance Sutherland, Jim Tuuramo Advertising Editorial Laverne Morrison Brad Kelly', Lorraine Manfredo, Laura J. Richards Office Supervisor - Angela Luscher, Junia Hodge, Grace McGregor, Nancy Pleasance-Sturman, Marilyn Rutherford, Libby Smithson Editorials To Test or Not? There's a lengthy process currently under way to test the math and language skills ol" grade three students across Ontario. Like so many things in life, there arc compelling reasons reasons lor and against. Those in favor of the testing process will argue that it gives the taxpayers an easy reference point for evaluating evaluating education in Ontario. It also lets'the community and parents sec how local schools measure up against a particular particular average. Moreover, it lets schools sec their own strengths and weaknesses and make any adjustments necessary. Detractors will declare the testing process puls too much pressure on young children and also places too much attention on passing exams and not enough emphasis on genuine learning. There is also the argument argument that test results will mean unhealthy competition among schools. Arguments against standardized testing in schools arc also pretty good arguments against individual tests of students. In both cases, the arguments of undue pressure, unwarranted competition and studying to pass exams 'rather than to learn can be applied. So, if we arc unwilling to test schools and grade levels, levels, we probably should stop testing individuals. In some respects, that would not be a bad idea. However, you would be left with the fact that most parents still want some kind of benchmark to see how their child is performing at school and to look at ways of improvement or to recognize worthy achievement. In the best of all possible worlds, exams and report cards would be replaced with careful observations and individual feedback on each assignment, complete with extensive involvement of parents and guardians in the learning process. In a society where education must be mass-marketed, such personalized craftsmanship is unlikely. It's especially unlikely, given the constant pressure pressure to keep costs under control. x The best way for a community to evaluate the accomplishments accomplishments of its local school would be for individuals to visit the classroom, talk to staff and students and form their own opinion. But, since that's not generally practical or possible, we're left with the testing process. As with any testing process, we can only hope that the final results are properly interpreted when they find their way into the hands of the general public. Who Pays for GO Transit? Published reports suggest that there's- a simmering controversy over the question of whether 905 regions are paying their fair share of the GO Transit bills. A report commissioned by the City of Toronto claims Toronto pays $23 million per year to cover the transit costs of people who use the GO system but reside outside outside the city. Naturally, Toronto's mayor has suggested it's time the 905 municipalities paid that portion of the costs. The argument is that, since citizens from municipalities surrounding surrounding the GTA are using the GO system, their municipalities municipalities should pay more. But, is such a move really in the best interest of Toronto? Look at it this way: Those citizens from Durham Region who use the GO system to travel into Toronto for shopping arc contributing to the city's tax base. Those from Durham who travel to Toronto to work arc helping the city maintain its status as the head office site for countless Canadian firms. Without a good transit network, network, companies would find it just as advantageous to locate their factories and offices in the 905 area or perhaps perhaps somewhere else in the province. Finally, let's suppose suppose all those folks from Durham Region, Peel and York who currently rely on GO Transit decided to drive their cars to work. This would put more pressure on Toronto to build parking garages and additional roads to handle the excess traffic. You cannot build many parking garages or many miles of highway for the extra $23 million million which Toronto believes it is paying. It's difficult to say where this squabble over the GO costs will lead. But, a compelling case can be made to suggest that Toronto's benefits from being part of the GO network exceed the amount it apparently pays towards the cost of transporting people who live outside the city. If you want to get to the root of the problem, you can look to the recent decision by the provincial government to download GO Transit costs onto the local municipalities. municipalities. The difficulty is that a service such as GO Transit transcends municipal boundaries and should be controlled controlled by an agency such as the Province of Ontario which can sec the big picture. Otherwise, the transit system serving Canada's biggest metropolitan area could break down in a series of petty squabbles based on local boundaries and the never- ending question of who pays for what. No Benefits from Crime A proposed private member's bill ensuring that criminals criminals cannot profit from their deeds may be quashed by the Senate. The problem is that the bill which would prevent criminals from making money with books and movies about their crimes just won't stand up in the courts. The intent, however, by MP Tom Wappcl is well- meaning. And we'd be surprised if anyone would seriously seriously disagree with the concept. If a mass-murderer decides to write his memoirs, should lie be entitled to thousands of dollars in royalties if his book is a best-scll- cr? Should he also earn a few million dollars if the book becomes a successful movie? Most of us would say no. However, it's the enforcing of such a statute that might he a problem. For instance, the law would fly in the face of the many provisions which guarantee citizens the right to freedom of expression. Frankly, it seems odd to us that you can lock up a convicted criminal -- which clearly takes away his freedom -- yet you cannot stop him from publishing memoirs. Or you cannot prevent the criminal from benefitting from the proceeds of those books. It seems to us that, given the number of lawyers on the staff of the federal government, it should be possible to draft a law which would have the desired impact, A **»*«-,. .. , t 1 a .rx % j iVJ V- .Y';. - = . ' 'JÇ* f --v. ^7 ' l„. >**;*.; *7- x! : A i s 'lv V - i. i V V' /X ■ i-->":■■ " a C"*y ■ "xXV - %< ■■.yS 'f v• ?. . \ v yj ;v,>;?.• • . ** '•* * V - : - ' j" * * A ÿ v spiy 1 - -aXvX ..Lx, X ■ Fvy,' v L "'Yt vJ:->A Yv,> - . . > jt .'•tuX'y " " '- 'y?** * Y 'Y i. 'T* * » k r • V- r:v t -, V. -, .<»•, , .• A i*.- XT -Ç..V.-ÜV :-A v - >, 5: - -Vt ; -r •*" ' f . vC x Y* , ■ 'i'-x'y; ■ Y '> - fti ;* * . : ; -, Y ■ V- a ..- x-- " YfYY YYY A-'-' .' ' 7 . . The West Durham District Gubs enjoyed a weekend of camping on the former Orono Forestry Station May 22 to 24. About 138 boys, along with 50 leaders and adult volunteers attended. The theme was "Pre-Historic Times," with the Cubs FY'YxY V -- T. ^ "■ .'•■••■j' , iavV .. x /v . -... .. ... . . . Yiÿ •> enjoying "primitive;" fun such as log-rolling, carefully- super- jYYv • - - v -/Y Y'i vised slingshots and a tug-of-war. In this çvent, the Cubs were ---- ■rA-rL-'ÙJi:-- ^ - 11 v ... . .. . .. .. yisuQ oiingsnoia ana d lUg'Ui'Witr. in inih yvtnij uit xjUus wcit searching for "dinosaur bones" at a site set iip to resemble an * archaeological dig. ' . ' , 1 f ÉÉniüifiÉÈm Letter to The Editor Cyclist Relaxes In Home Province "It's a good day, ch?" I am all of a sudden aware I am back in Canada. The use of 'eh' which is so typically Canadian greets me at every turn. That and the clean roads arc features features which make us distinct. distinct. Gone arc the littered ditches with empty bottles, bottles, cans and paper cups plus a wide assortment of other debris. It is good to be back in clean Canada. The weather is just great and the sun shines brightly on Lake Ontario, the green countryside and the Loyalist Parkway. Once again I am playing playing the role of the tourist as I visit historic Kingston, picturesque Picton and wonder at the phenomena of Lake on the Mountain. This is a time to renew old friendships ■ speak at churches and social clubs and recharge my energy for the trip home. I have travelled 16,000 km on an old second hand bicycle and experienced a lot of unusual experiences and so I am reviewing and mentally processing this Continued on page 5 Letter to the Editor Anti-Casino Resolution from Clarington Council Dear Sir: At its regular meeting on Tuesday, April 21, the Oshawa Presbytery of the United Church of Canada passed a resolution congratulating congratulating the Council of the Municipality of Clarington for rejecting the establishment of a charity casino in its jurisdiction. The Presbytery was particularly pleased about two particular aspects of this decision. First, it was unanimous which strongly suggests suggests this decision is final. Second, the rea sons councillors gave indicated they understood understood the issues and were not taken in by phoney promises of jobs and charity promotion. promotion. Gambling was, and is, exploitative and economically destabilizing. That promotion of gambling has become government policy is a major civic shame. That it is not receiving receiving public support is enheartening. Sincerely, Rev. Dr. Mervyn Russell Minister Thoughts Unlimited by Rick James Too Much Dr. Suess I had forgotten about the infectious rhyming nature of Dr. Suess books until daughter Morgan started receiving them through the mail recently. I'm not sure we even ordered them, but some book club obviously knows we have a six-year-old who loves to read. So, Mommy and Daddy became the audience and Morgan's nightly nightly reading stirred childhood memories of green eggs, ham and Sam I am. After listening to a few of them, I found myself speaking in rhyme. To my wife, on the phone, or while watching the news, I found myself talking like the good Dr. Suess. Sec, I'm a Suess junkie! But, I may have to get help if it doesn't stop soon. While working on my Year 2000 computerizing accounting system late one night, this crept into my head. If Dr. Suess were to write computer manuals, manuals, it might sound something like this... If a packet hit a pocket on a socket on a port, And the bus is interrupted as a very last resort, And the address of the memory makes your floppy disk abort, Then the socket packet pocket has an error to report. If your cursor finds a menu item followed by a dash, And the double-clicking icon puts your window in the trash, Then your situation Is hopeless, you 're running out of cache You might as well acknowledge that your system 1$ going to crash. If the label on the cable on the table at your house, Says the network is connected to the button on your mouse, But your packets want to tunnel on another protocol, That '.v repeatedly rejected by the printer down the hall. If the copy of your floppy's getting sloppy on the disk, And the microde instructions cause unnecessary RISC, Then you have to flash your memory and you 'll want to RAM your ROM, Quickly turn off the computer and be sure to tell your Mom. If your screen is all distorted by the side effects of gauss, So your icons in the window are as wavy as a souse, Then you may as well reboot and go out with a bang, 'Cause sure as I'm the poet, the sucker's going to hang. Philosophy 101 Many of our veteran subscribers will remember Liz Armstrong who worked here as a reporter about twenty years ago . She moved on to feature writing for magazines and recently published her own book about cnvironmenlully-fricndly household products. But, judging by the e-mail I received from her by way of my brother, brother, John, she must he taking some philosophy courses or has far too much time on her hands. Consider this... • If a man stands in the middle of the forest speaking and there is no woman around to hear him....Is he still wrong? • If someone with multiple personalities threatens suicide....is it considered considered a hostage situation? • Is there another word for synonym? • Isn't it scary that doctors call what they do "practice?" • Where do forest rangers go to get away from it all? • What should you do if you sec an endangered animal eating an endangered plant? • If a parsley farmer is sued do they garnish his wages? • Would a wingless fly be called a walk? • Why do they lock gas station bath'rooms? Arc they worried someone someone will clean them? • Is a turtle without a shell homeless or just naked? • Can vegetarians cat animal crackers? • If a mime is arrested do they tell him lie has the right to talk? • Why do they put Braille on the drive through bank machines? • Do they use sterilized needles for lethal injections? • Why did kamikaze pilots wear helmets? • Is it true that cannibals won't cat clowns because they taste funny? • What was the best thing before sliced bread? What's with the Pagers and Phones? Have you noticed how many kids arc carrying pagers and cellular" phones with them? It's bad enough so many adults think they need them 24 hours a day. It's at the point where restaurants should demand their patrons check their phones at the door so they won't disturb the other customers. Last week I was invited to play-in a golf tournament and was surprised surprised to how many players had cell phones with them. One guy was on the phone every lime we saw him. His playing partners finally told him to get off the phone. If it's that important, then don't play in the tournament! It's one thing for adults to be addicted to cell phones and their associated associated costs, but I am amazed how many high school students have them. While shopping last week, I saw dozens of students yapping on cell phones, Who can they be talking to that can he that important -- their stock brokers? While getting a hair cut, I overhead someone complaining about their nephew who came for dinner with a cell phone. They host finally told him to turn it off after being repeatedly repeatedly disturbed by friends during dinner. I then heard about the number of public school aged students who have pagers. For what and at what cost? Whatever happened to telling your friends or parents where you will he and what lime you will he home? Cell phones and pagers have their place, but for whatever reason, they are creeping into young hands that don't need them and more importantly, can't afford them.