The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

I applaud Mr. Sondberg‘s efforts to be so diligent in catching flagâ€" mountingâ€"miscreants. I would humbly suggest, however, that Mr. Sondberg tell the perpetrator prior to telling the world and direct his efforts toward solving the crisis in Somalia. Dear Sir: In ‘Focus on Sexuality, (Oakville Beaver Jan. 13th) The Painful Difference,‘ blame for the high rate of suicide in the homoâ€" sexual community is placed on parâ€" ents and society for not accepting their sexual orientation. Your artiâ€" cle goes on to make other sweeping statements and assumptions that also need to be challenged in order Dear Sir: I would like to extend, on behalf of "the school at 6th Line near Trafalgar", sincere apologies to Byron Sondberg for the inexcusable faux pas of the United Nations flag being flown upside down in our lobby. In order to see this flag un'fixrled: one wofild need ld 7c"nvle:rfithâ€"c' gxildmg walk past the office, stand in front of the busiest room in the building and pull the corner of the flag (blocking the main hall) to "check it out". Should the above task prove too onerous, I would suggest Sondberg volunteer in the school and make a positive impact. And with moves like these, who can blame them. As for Rae? The actions are completely hypocritical and illustrate how out of touch he is with the taxpayers of Ontario. Further, the sweetheart deal with Armstrong seems to fly in the face of Rae‘s own guidelines regarding contracting of work. A government directive urges caution in awarding any contract to someone who had been a public servant up to a year after they had left their post. In addition, the move is contrary to a government directive calling for a competition for any consulting work costing $25,000. or more. More truth needed in dealing with homosexuality The case is yet another example of why the public is so cynical of any kind of e«overnment these days. Traditionally, the deputy minister‘s job in any portfolio has been apolitical and critics suggest this is the first time someone with specific political leanings has been named to such a position. According to a study by the Conference Board of Canada, employers today are looking for people who: can think for themselves, have personal and timeâ€"manageâ€" ment skills, have a positive attitude and behaviour, are able to work with others, enjoy responsibility and are adaptable. Good advice and a good program. Do as 1 say.... The premier, it appears, has let power go to his head and this latest furor to erupt over his government‘s ineptitude, is alarming to say the least. At the centreof this latest imbroglio, is a faceless civil servant by the name of Tim Armstrong. He‘s the former deputy minister of industry, trade and technology who recently retired, only to pick up a consulting contract with the provincial covernment that pays him $300,000. over two years for 300 days work. In the bureaucratic chess game, Armstrong‘s position was taken over by Peter Bames who had been cabinet secretary. Barnes‘ position was then filled by David Agnew, the architect of the premier‘s 1990 election victory. he latest revelation on how the provincial New Democratic Party government conducts its own business is a classic illustration of the old chestnut ‘do as I say, not as I do‘. When Premier Bob Rae was in opposition at Queen‘s Park, he was often on his feet condemning the government of the day for real or imagined wrongâ€"doing. In those days, Rae took a holierâ€"thanâ€"thou attitude when it came to government actions the inference being that any government he headed wouldn‘t be run so shamefully. & The HIEC, with offices at 5230 South Service Rd. in Burlington, is a great idea and one designed to break down barriers between education and business and indusâ€" ‘oted economist Tom McCormack, who also wears another hat as chairman of Nthe Halton Industrial Education Council (HIEC), recently told Halton Board of Education trustees that today‘s students will have to invest 16 years of their lives in education if they are to have good jobs. McCormack said the world is changing so rapidly that just seven years ago only 25% of jobs available required so much education. And now, workers had better be prepared to learn throughout their working lives to keep up with technologyâ€"driven change. Each year the HIEC hosts halfâ€"day programs on career planning that includes job search skills workshops for 4,000 grade 8 students. U.N. flag faux pas was nothing serious ~OPINION aga o Readers can also express their opinions on the Question of the Week â€" What should the Halton Board of Education do to reduce education costs?â€" by calling 845â€"5585, box 5012, to take part in our Weekly Poll â€" Are you in favor of spending $10 million to expand town hall? â€" by calling 845â€"5585, box 5008. It is my opinion that Oakville and the vicinity needs to wake up and open the other eye. I pass from one to 20 oneâ€"eyed vehicles everytime I go anywhere and one day I watched four go by while waiting to make a leftâ€"turn. Something needs to be done to get people to check their lights and replace the outages. I think the problem with the Buffalo Bills in the they can‘t hold onto the ball. They keep fumbling it. PHONE ALONE (CALL845â€"5585 w currnrina W [HE 0 Positive initiative Faomaamnimrinnemainnniveeinesseniensmriientersninnsnnsonsesnsnssnnsssnntence EDITORIAL | SPEAK YOUR MIND | Got a gripe? Give us a call. Readers are invited to express their opinion on a topic of their choice by calling 845â€"5585, box 5250. All callers are allowed 45 secâ€" onds to express their opinion and must provide their name, address and phone number for verification. A cross section of the responses will be published in next Wednesday‘s Oakville Beaver. to present a balanced and informa tive report to your readers. ... it‘s probably biological, someâ€" thing they confronted during puberty when they discovered they were attracted to members of the Parents and teens need to know that in early adolescence and The article says, "being homoâ€" sexual isn‘t something you choose Karen Barber Super Bow!l is Don Henwood Chris Kemp All of the above information has been fully disclosed in the public forum on more than one occasion and most recently during the budget deliberations of last week. Both staff and Council strive to ensure that accurate information is made available to the public at all times. Councillor Kevin Flynn Chair, 1993 Budget Committee Town of Oakville throughout the teen years there is a normal phase of sameâ€"sex attracâ€" tion which should not be confused with adult homosexuality. The attraction is a combination of budâ€" ding hormones with admiration for ones peers and heroes. Teen boys hang posters of baseball or basketâ€" ball heroes, envy their schools® athâ€" letes and are stimulated by locker room antics. Likewise girls become infatuated with other girls and women and strive to emulate and please them. But this is all part of the teen years and they should not be encouraged to identify these feelings as an inbred disposition towards homosexuality. The Budget Commission is recommending that the Town Council establish a committee comprised of citizens, councillors and staff to examine all the issues surrounding a future possible expansion of the Town Hall. Among the issues that the committee would review would be the options for the relocation of the Public Works Engineering staff. However, the operations functions of that Department would not be conâ€" sidered for relocation of the Town Hall. Public Works move to be studied Since acquiring the property, it has been the intention of the Town to relocate the present Public Works facility at Trafalgar Road when the land around it becomes developed. When the new development does occur, it will result in the current facility being incompatible with it. The proceeds from the sale of the property would be used for the construction of a new facility on the South Service Road West. At this time, there are tentative plans to relocate the Public Works Operations division to the South Service Road West site before the end of the decade. Dear Sir: I am writing to clarify some of the information contained in your ediâ€" torial of Fri. Jan. 29th in which you indicate that the Town is contemplatâ€" ing the relocation of the complete Public Works facility (staff, vehicles, equipment, salt/sand domes, etc.) from its current location on north Trafalgar Road to the Town Hall site. This is not the case. As part of its longâ€"range facilities planning, the Town purchased a 25â€" acre site on the South Service Road West in 1985. This site was bought to provide an eventual central service location for the operations functions for Public Works and Parks, as well as to accommodate a Fire Station. So far, the Fire Station has been built on this land and preâ€"fab maintenance buildings for the Parks Operations are on site. The issue of whether the Public Works Engineering staff should either be moved to the Town Hall or relocated along with the Public Works Operations staff and equipment to a new facility on the South Service Road West still requires further review and consideration. The Oakville Beaver welcomes your comments. All letters must be signed and include the writer‘s address and phone number. Letters should be typed, doubleâ€"spaced and addressed to: Letters to the Editor, The Oakville Beaver, 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, Ont. L6K 384 467 Speers Road, Oakville, Ont. L6K 384 Classified Advertising: 845â€"2809 Circulation: 845â€"9742 or 845â€"9743 845â€"3824 Fax: 845â€"3085 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Youths who experience this sameâ€"sex attraction go through tremendous inner turmoil because of their ignorance of the phase, feeling they, by some biological quirk, were made different from the rest; when, in fact, they were not. This turmoil alone could result in suicide and yet in your article, parâ€" (See ‘Time‘ page 7) As adults, to encourage youths to "come out" as gay is irresponsiâ€" ble. In fact one gay group in New York does not recommend young people "come out" before they finâ€" ish school and are established at work because of this adolescent phase of homosexuality. Robert Glasbey Advertising Director Norman Alexander Editor Geoff Hill Circulation Director Teri Casas Office Manager Tim Coles Production Manager Ian Oliver Publisher Citizens who are not prepared to defend their freedoms should be preâ€" pared to lose them. Canadians concemed about democracy and this gag law should demand that their MPs vote against this antiâ€"freedom law if it is presented in the House of Commons for a vote. To find out your MP‘s name and telephone number, call Elections Canada toll free at 1â€"800â€"267â€"8683. Dear Sir: The Ottawa political establishment is getting ready to use a secretly draftâ€" ed law to stifle citizens‘ freedom of speech and association during federal elections. It‘s true! A committee of Conservative, Liberal and New Democrat MPs recently proposed a law which threatens citizens with up to five years‘ imprisonment for spending more than $1,0000, individually or as a group, to support or oppose political parties or candidates during federal elections. It‘s shocking but true. Canadians could be imprisoned for exercising their freedoms during elections, the most critical period in our democratic process. Worse, this gag law was drafted by the committee‘s MPs in secret and they kept no minutes. What are they trying to hide? Election gag law an affront to democracy 3. Cord may be made of many fibres, natural, manâ€"made, recyclable, nonâ€"recyclable. A household could pay more for the cord than the value of the material in the bundle. This is a strange way to approach the conâ€" serving society. Personally, although I am an enthusiastic environmentalist, I think I will be unable to go along with such bundling restrictions, & will take the simpler route toward landfill. 4. Households still accumulate bags, plastic & paper, if they are not reâ€"used for bundling, they will go straight to landfill or incineration. Dear Sir: New reâ€"cycling instructions have just arrived in the mail. With some dismay I see that we are requested not to reâ€"use plastic shopping bags for bundling paper. This request invites the following comments: â€" 1. Bundling with cord is onerous & timeâ€"consuming. 2. Cord is no longer a household leftâ€"over, & may have to be bought for this purpose. Most people will simply not do this. Bundling paper too onerous In a recent survey of what hospital patients were most and least satisfied with during their stays, the friendliness and skill of nurses were among the top attractions. Noise and bad food were the major drawbacks. 1 Friendliness of nurses 2 Technical skills of nurses 3 Courtesy of admission personnel 4 Nurses took problem seriously 5 Courtesy of IV starter Highest scoring items Highest and lowestâ€"scoring items in hospital patient satisfaction surveys comnmmnmornmonnnvornmnnnmmmwnmensnnmnnmnmernnermrnnmennrermenneneerrmenemnsenscennsoes LETTER OF THE DAY WEEKLY FOCUS tion R m The National Citizens‘ Coalition (Mrs.) Frances E. Ballantyne 1 Noise level 2 Quality of food 3 Temperature of room 4 Temperature of food 5 Information regarding diet Lowest scoring items art of th wopapal Brampt Guard Beave mater David Somerville, President CeTl February 1993