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6 THE GEORGETOWN GEMINI WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1996 or' Spock Get yer' Spock ears You'll have to excuse me; I'm still all aglow. Last weekend I finally had a chance to see Star Trek: First Contact. Okay, I admit it: I'm a Trekkie (for the record: I don't care whether the term is "Trekker" or "Trekkie"). ve made this admission before, and I tell you, I feel no shame about it. Having said that, however, let's get a few things straight - Ihave never, do not currently, nor do I ever plan to own any of the following items: Spock ears, a communicator (badge or hand-held model), phaser, action figures or Star Trek pajamas. And that's the difference, isn't it? I'm a fan of the shows and movies but I am not a fanatic. I don't go around quoting lines (usually), I do The View not go to conventions and I certainly do not participate in From Here any Star Trek role playing ae games, other than a drinking game I once played in university called Bar Trek. I was Lt. Worf. In our office we have a couple of Star Trek fans. At a newspaper I once worked at, it seemed that just about everyone was a fan. Our Wednesday morning editorial meetings in the publisher's office usually lasted about an hour. Ten minutes or so was devoted to upcoming week's news stories. The remainder centered around what happened on the previous night's episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. When I was overseas and unable to watch Star Trek: The Next Generation, my mother taped it for me. When I returned I had hours and hours of Star Trek on tape. I was as happy as a ... well, you get the idea. Missing: 1 football gene ... If found, please keep it! I know writing the above headline will probably lead to a lifetime of football castigation, and I couldn't be happier. I must have been born missing the football gene. Somehow, when the pairs of chromosomes were bonding, deciding my gender, hair and eye colour, propensity to write about asinine subjects like Star Trek and football, my football enjoyment chromosome must have been overlooked. The result has been a lifetime, thus far, anyway, of being mystified as to how anyone could spend an entire afternoon and/or evening and/or into the small hours of the morning watching a bunch of guys in tight pants jumping upon one another in some holy quest for a misshapen ball. I've read that there are actually classes in the U.S. for women who want to get educated in the finer points of football, thus joining their men in spending countless hours watching a game when the actual playing time is estimated at 14 minutes per game. This just strikes me as wrong. As'some guys seem addicted to sports, isn't this adopting an attitude of, "If you can't beat "em, join 'em?" Would we do the same thing for drugs? "Mrs. Johnson, your husband is addicted to heroin, so we're going to teach you how you can develop the same addiction and therefore be able to spend some quality time with your junkie hubby." : These classes also strike me as being somewhat sexist! No, not in the sense that it assumes that the average woman cannot sit and figure out what seems to be a relatively simple game for herself -- that is too obvious. What rubs me the wrong way is that these organizations seem devoted to women only! What about us guys who haven't a clue what a"post pattern" or a "button hook and run" is? Are we not human? Are we not worthy of football education? On second thought, don't sweat it. I need my Sunday nights freé to watch 60 Minutes. Now that CBS no longer has football rights, Mike Wallace & Co. tend to start on time. Jamie Harrison Jamie Harrison is a reporter with The Georgetown Gemini. HOT STUFF! Jennifer Tarran heats up some glass as she prepares to blow a new design at the Williams Mill Open House, Sunday, on Joseph Street in Glen Williams. (Jennifer Flesch photo) 0 LETTERS Female offenders have different needs Editor's note: The following letter was filed with The Gemini for pub- lication. It is also to be read to the Provincial Legislature by the Hon- ourable Eleanor Caplan, MPP). To the Editor, The proposed closure to the Vanier Centre for Women in Brampton by the Conservative government pro- vides a basis for moral and ethical discussion. This proposal to place all women into a "Super Jail" is, at the very least, alarming. The Vanier Centre is a dedicated facility for women. This facility has enabled development of program- ming specific to women's needs. The threat of taking programs geared toward male offenders and adapting these programs to fit female offend- ers is increased when they are housed under the same roof. Innovative programs geared to the needs of women have been de- veloped and are in use today at the Vanier Centre for Women. A woman's reality is substan- tially different from that of a man, due in large part to her perceived secondary status in society. Female offenders tend to be vic- tims of male violence, as well as having a lower level of self-esteem and lacking the ability to act on their own behalf. Women offenders typically de- pend on men or society for eco- nomic maintenance, and usually they have lower aspirations than male offenders. These women are caught up in destructive lifestyles that lack purpose and reason. The relationship between staff and offenders plays a key role. A Yur | rapport is developed based upon compassion and understanding be- tween both parties. This is impor- tant, given that approximately 90 per cent of females at the Vanier Centre have been sexually or physi- cally abused. Many of these women have had chaotic relationships because of an inability to trust others. As correc- tional officers, a major component of our job description is to provide supportive, positive role modeling and an atmosphere conducive to healing. To move the population of Vanier to a "Super Jail" setting will all but eradicate this. Vanier is a unique facility and the only female correctional centre in Ontario. Vanier provides a large number of programs that help to adjust and modify negative behav- iour into workable solutions. The clinical staff at Vanier has just com- pleted the largest study of treatment and recidivism in North America. One of the most startling facts to come out of this study was that offenders receiving specific treat- ment and programming tended to re-offend 15 per cent less than those who did not receive treatment. The type of treatment discussed by the Clinicians would not be available in a "Super Jail" setting. The Solicitor General is con- cerned with a cost effective correc- tions model. If that is the case, then it would be prudent to maintain ex- isting treatment facilities such as the Vanier Centre. The present system is not back- end loaded with respect to cost. In cost comparisons, the Super Jails' initial capital cost of construction has not been taken into considera- tion. In closing, I would like to add that a properly rehabilitated client is the true measure of a cost effective system. A woman should have ac- cess to a facility which addresses her specific needs. Name Withheld by Request SIDI Publisher & Editor Paul Nolan Office Manager Linda Hayes Editorial Staff Jamie Harrison Frances Niblock Joanne Stevenson Advertising Staff Mimi Burdett Lynne Buscher Trish Henry Dan Kwik Production Staff Kim Konarzycki Distribution Manager Marie Shadbolt Regular Contributors Bill Ellis Eve Martin Steve Martin Mike O'Leary Terry Rouse Alex Tough THE GEORGETOWN GEMINIis pub- lished weekly on Wednesdays by Wick- low Hills Publishing Co. Inc. Mailing address: P.O. Box 145, Georgetown, Ont., L7G4T1. Phone: (905) 877-1113. Fax: (519) 853-5040. Georgetown ad- ministrative office: Personal Secretarial Services, Unit 47, 360 Guelph St., L7G 4B5. Reproduction without permission is prohibited. Ideas expressed herein are those of the author only. AD SALES: Publisher is responsible for errors in advertisements to extent of cost of that portion of the space occu- pied by erroneous item. PHONE THE GEM: (905)877-1113 FAX THE GEM: (519)853-5040