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6 THE GEORGETOWN GEMINI WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 1996 Bored of Education I recently had occasion to read an excellent article in the November 1996 edition of Reader's Digest, Bored By Education, by Barbara Ramsay Orr. She posits that we seem to be wasting our time teaching students who just don't seem to care. As a high school teacher, she states that the number of students who want to succeed seem to be outweighed by those who couldn't care less. She further states that the latter is growing and the former shrinking. ° While the article raises The View several interesting issues, it From Here fails miserably when it comes With to understanding the reasons why these young people seem ss to have an overwhelmingly nihilistic view of the world. Perhaps we should explore ... At 26-years-old, I stand right on the cusp of the so-called Generation X. You remember us, don't you? We're supposedly the biggest group of slackers and whiners who ever walked the planet. The group who made not caring 'cool.' The group who will never escape the all-encompassing shadow of the Baby Boom Generation. If you think that my generation was bad; you ain't seen nuthin' yet, folks! _ The Echo Generation is hot on the heels of us Gen-Xer's and they are even more miserable than we are, and with good reason, too. Consider that, for the first time in modern Western history, generations are no longer surpassing the standard of living of previous generations. In fact; we're digressing. I was lucky: Due to some matured investments and well- paying summer jobs, I graduated from university debt-free. At that point, not so long ago, university education was still reasonable. The whole idea of a recession was only a theory circulated by crackpot economists \at Harvard (note to self: whatever else they may be, Harvard economists are never, ever crackpots). And then the bottom fell out. Jobs disappeared. People were downsized. Hiring freezes were de rigueur. Bank loans came due and there was no money to pay them. Suddenly the high living of the 1980s became an economic hangover of Biblical proportions. So what do we have now? Even with our supposedly growing economy, the unemployment rate for those 18 to 24- years-old is running close to 20 per cent (and this doesn't include those who have given up the job search). The cost of a post-secondary education seems to be out of reach for most, and suddenly the whole Gen-X joke of living in your parent's basement doesn't seem quite so funny. Speaking for my generation, the real irony is that we were constantly being slagged as the generation of layabouts. From where I'm sitting, I see a generation who want-nothing more than to work and to know that the old rules still apply. Instead, I see a generation for whom the rules were changed, but nobody told them what the new rules were. Truth is, we didn't find out until we were already hip deep and sinking fast. In talking to my friends, it's rare to hear that anyone actually has a full-time job with benefits. Most are hired on contract or through temp agencies. Many, like myself, are just one dental cavity away from financial disaster. The sad things is, the same can be said for our parents, most of whom are either at or approaching retirement age. The idea of winters in Florida and summers in the Muskokas after a lifetime of hard work turned out to be just a pipe dream. Most will be lucky to retire and live above the poverty line. , I don't know which is worse: knowing that your Golden Years were never going to be, or believing that they would be, only to have it snatched away. I guess it doesn't really matter -- neither is enviable. Jamie Harrison Jamie Harrison is a reporter for The Georgetown Gemini. CMM IR I've been laid off before... I'm being laid off now... And/'l! be /aid off again... It's what we in Canada now call the "Circle of Life" "TETTERS 'Fairness' to whom? To the Editor, In response to the letter in your newspaper written by Heather Marchment saying there should be fairness to the two alleged impaired drivers that were involved in the tragic death of John Wilson. First of all, was it fair that John's life was taken away by an impaired driver? I don't think you understand the meaning of fair! Drinking and driving is a crime. 'In my outlook, there is no fairness in crime or stupidity. A school teacher should, in my eyes, be emphasizing crime as wrong. Instead, he has al- legedly done the opposite. It was so unfair for the life of this young husband and father-to-be to be taken by an allegedly impaired driver. If you were in this situation, would you still have your "fair" attitude? I'm sure people in this day and time realize when there is a crime, you are innocent until proven guilty, but in this sad situation, having the amount of alcohol in this impaired driver, there is certainly a lot of anger. Would you have this attitude if it had been a member of your family? In my opinion, you should not voice yours. A young, innocent man's life was '- taken by an allegedly impaired driver, which is acrime in this coun- try. Ordo younotthink about crime? Anger, pain and tears are legal. Drinking and driving is not! Name withheld by request BR Award winners deserve recognition To the Editor, Being aparent of two Bishop Reding students, I find it refreshing to see articles about events from that school, but in your article on Oct. 30, while mentioning students from Georgetown who had won awards were two very important ones were ° left out. The Student of the Year Award was won by Geoffrey Beauparlant and the Ontario English Catholic Teacher's Association Award was won by his Monica Beauparlant. These are not little awards, but awards which are won by a lot of hard work and dedication and should not be overlooked. Gwen Lambert, é Glen Williams Editor's Note:Our Bishop Reding correspondent pointed out BR stu- dents often get ignored in local news coverage because they go to school out of Georgetown. Regarding the inadvertent exclusion of Geoffrey and Monica Beauparlant, The Gemini regrets the error. sister, Fox Run Committee says 'thank you' To the Editor, My committee and I would like to thank you for your support in the 1996 Terry Fox Run in Georget- own. It was a very successful day, even with the inclement weather, we had over 90 participants. We are looking forward to your continued involvement for the 1997 Terry Fox Run, which will be on Sept. 14, 1997. Rie Bonnie Covert, Organizer, Georgetown Terry Fox Run The Georgetown Gemini is pleased to publish and encour- ages letters to the editor. Letters should be short, con- cise and to the point. The Georgetown Gemini re- serve the right to edit for style, THE GEORGETOWN GEMINI LETTERS POLICY length, content, taste and libel. All letters must be signed and and bear the author's address and telephone number. Requests for anonymity will be honoured, though letters must still contain identifying information. NIN Publisher & Editor Paul Nolan Office Manager Linda Hayes Editorial Staff Kyle Goodlet Jamie Harrison Frances Niblock Joanne Stevenson Advertising Staff Lynne Buscher Trish Henry Production Staff Kim Konarzycki Distribution Manager Marie Shadbolt Regular Contributors Bill Ellis Eve Martin Steve Martin Mike O' Leary Alex Tough THE GEORGETOWN GEMINI is published weekly on Wednesdays by Wicklow Hills Publishing Co. Inc. Mailing address: P.O. Box 145, Geor- getown, Ont., L7G 4T1. Phone: (905) 877-1113. Fax: (519) 853-5040. Geor- getown administrative office: Per- sonal Secretarial Services, Unit 47; 360 Guelph St., L7G 4B5. Reproduc- tion without permission is prohibited. Ideas expressed herein are those of the author only. 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