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PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, February 1, 2000 - 7 Question of the Week... on holidays. Should there be a holiday in January gn, Sesternann to mark Sir John A. many holidays already. Macdonald's birth- theyre not getting an day? because they a always Lg Mary Lynn Holtby I'd rather have a holi- day in February. You get so many off around Christmas, it would be nice to have one in February halfway through the winter. Diana Bengel No. | get two weeks off around Christmas time; | think that's enough. Jim Barrett Of course, I'll take any day off of work. One a month would be great. Jack Bigglestone No, not so soon after Christmas and New Year's. We have all the time we need off then. | think we can get through January with- out one. a ------ aarp paves patil a Arora a m---- eta To the Editor There is a saying that many of us have heard before: "Children learn what they live". Today's movie and music industries are destroying the moral values of our children and of our nation. Daily we are alerted through the media of the hopelessness and the helplessness in our nation as we seek our rights. We are reaping the rewards of devalued human lives as we insist on these "rights at any cost". We put our trust in the government to curb violence in our society today. Please wake up and realize that the government does not have the answers. They felt reha- bilitating prisoners would work. All that they did was put countless people in prison. They felt, as most people do, "we'll put them in prison and throw away the key". All that says is that there is an institutional solution to crime; and there isn't. What can we do? First, realize that crime is a moral problem, a problem of the human heart. Government can't deal with that. It all starts at home. The government is slowly but surely redefining the foundation of any healthy society, the family. It is time for us to remind our elected officials to support the traditional family unit. The answer to crime in this nation is not going to be building new prisons, nor is it a complete overhaul of the Young Offenders Act, although some changes are neces- sary. The answer to crime in this nation is to restore the family and discipline among children and teach them right from wrong in the families, in the schools and in the communities. Bill Tiller, Sunderland her his life's work by scouring Ee hil for Honda parts dating back to the mid-80s, "Live, and drivel" The car replies: "Chu-yu-yu-yu-yu-yuuuuu... "Live!" "Chu-yu-yu-yu-yu-yuuuuuugh..." It is at this point that the expletives begin. So cables, and to honour all of the sets of cables I' ve on for two miles : nh loaned to people and never saw again. There are many. And at the risk of digressing, here's hoping there's a special place in Hell for all those who borrow cables, and never return them. It ought to be a freeway, on a freezing cold morning, with car after car whizzing by, and the damned soul rooting about endlessly in the trunk. For booster cables. Random Jottings by J. Peter Hvidsten THE HIGH EXPENSE OF KEEPING COPS ALOFT | must say, I'm a bit of skeptic when it comes to the need of patrolling parts of Durham Region in a police helicopter, despite some of the success stories it's chalked up. "Air 1", the police chopper, was initially secured for a six-month trial, in co-operation with York Region, which shared the cost of this expensive service. Unfortunately when that time lapsed, York decided to go on its own, thanks to a generous donation of a heli- copter to that police department. This left Durham to bear the expense of the Air 1 service solely on its own shoulders, and it was decided to extend the use of the patrol chopper for another three months. Over the summer months it appeared as if the use of the helicopter was indeed worthwhile, as it tracked down thieves and discovered fields of marijuana in areas that would have otherwise been undetectable. But speaking through the eyes of an ordinary citizen and taxpayer, there is some question as to why we see it up and flying around when it appears it is being used for nothing more than sightseeing. I've encountered the chopper on at least three occa- sions where it appeared it was just flying around, watching activity on the ground. To the best of my knowledge it wasn't a search. This past Saturday morning, about 2:45 a.m., | was awakened by the familiar "whomp, whomp, whomp" of chopper blades in the distance, gradually getting clos- er. As | lay in my bed, the entire room suddenly lit up, so | jumped out of bed to see a helicopter with a huge light fly by our home, shining the brilliant light along the surface of Lake Scugog. | watched it travel north, with its circular spotlight illuminating a swath of light across the surface of the lake, until it disappeared in the darkness. Less than 10 minutes later, after just getting comfortable in my bed, the sound of the chopper returned. Standing by the window | observed the bright image created by the spotlight get larger and larger as it raced along the ice surface, streaking past our house towards town and finally out of sight. ing for someone who had gone through the ice, or for some other reason, but from my perspective through sleepy eyes, it appeared more like a sight seeing patrol than an systematic search. and there's no doubt there are times when a helicopter is a valuable asset. At these times there are few who would argue that the expense of a chopper is worth the extra protection it provides. gency service seems like an unnecessary expense that the taxpayers could do without. Restricting the chopper to emergencies only, much the way "Bandage One", Ontario's ambulance helicopter operates, would dra- matically lower the cost of operation of this expensive service. retaining Air 1 at the end of its second trial period next month, but | suspect the money used providing this service could be put to much better use. warranted, how can we justify it here? Durham's streets and roads than in the air. In fairness, | don't know if the officers were out look- Durham is an extremely large piece of land to patrol, Operating Air 1 for anything other than police emer- There are bound to be many arguments in favour of If the City of Toronto doesn't feel the expense is Personally, I'd much rather see more officers on TT .. - I. ww --------------