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Ian Oliver Publisher Robert Glasbey Advertising Director Norman Alexander Editor Geoff Hill Circulation Director Teri Casas Office Manager Tim Coles Production Manager Japanese, we‘d all be better off. Every years stories run about the highlyâ€" competitive nature of the Japanese school systemâ€"how parents enrol chilâ€" dren at birth to try and get them into the ‘right‘ schools. That stage is then followed by stringent entrance exams into the ‘right‘ university. And there are a few students, so distraucht over not making the grade, that they commit suicide. North Americans have been told that if only our students would emulate the i ced ol s © dn in io M U ie o How interesting it was, then, to learn from some students visiting Blakelock High School, from Neyaoawa Japan, that they think our high school teaching enviâ€" ronment seems more strict than their own. z Hidehiro Koshida, who teaches English in Japan, told reporters that in his counâ€" try, the high school teachers stand on a platform before 48 students who seem more bent on reading comics than paying attention to the lesson of the day. It gets so bad sometimes. says Koshida, that teachers have to shout to be heard above the din and often have to tell students to shut up. Japan. The Japanese visitors were amazed at the number of questions that were asked in class, the freedom of students to use all areas of the school and the fact that many students used the library for independent study, an apparentlyâ€"foreign concept in pponents to Ontario Premier Bob Rae‘s Social Contract (SC) initiative have been coming out of the woodwork, launching a public relations barâ€" rage the likes of which have never before been seen in this province. And there‘s no end in sight to the war being waged against Rae‘s government. Not many political leaders would have the guts to withstand the daily attacks on their policies that Rae has done. Almost every day, another group representing another section of groups paid from the public purse, line up and fire salvos at Rae. The 23,000 member strong Police Association of Ontario, is the latest body to protest the concept of a Social Contract. The PAO has been attending SC talks in Toronto but they haven‘t seen anything yet to make them endorse the scheme. ..our sense of the process to date leaves us with a firm conviction that Ontano s economic problems will not be effectively resolved through some form of a smoke and mirrors Social Contract," said a press release on the PAOQ‘s posiâ€" tion on the talks. But their one page statement pales in comparison to the aggresâ€" sive antiâ€"SC campaign being undertaken by the Ontario Medical Association. Ne S db stt hh l hes wb ies > uie B e ut Part of the SC talks have dealt with slashing labor costs and the doctors in the province have not escaped planned cuts. But the OMA says such a contract and expenditure controls "will have a devastating impact on doctors and on access to healthâ€"care services in the province." The province has said it wants to cut $560â€"million in health care costs with $200â€"million coming from physicians. That $200â€"million figure, according to the OMA amounts to an 8 per cent rollâ€"back in income. And so it goes. The Canadian Auto Workers have already said Rae shouldn‘t target civil serâ€" vants as a means to cut costs and to that end, will back those civil service unions. The ficht goes on but the outcome is far from assured. Do you think the North American Free Trade Agreement has been good or bad for Canada? Another myth debunked. Myth debunked 467 Speers Road, Oakville, Ont. L6K 354 It‘s war‘ Classified Advertising: 845â€"2809 Circulation: 845â€"9742 or 845â€"9743 The Oakville Beaver, published every Sunday, Wednesday and Friday, at 467 Speers Rd., Oakvile, is one of the Metroland Printing, Publishing Distributing Ltd. group of suburban newspapers which includes: ;ri.'px-Pickeving News Advertiser, Bartie Advance, Brampton Guardian, Burlingon Post, Collingwood Connection, Etobicoke Guardian, Georgetown Independent Acton Free Press, Kingston This Week, Lindsay This Week, Marcham Economist and Sun, Stouffville/Uxbridge Tribune, Milton Canadian Champion, Mississauga News, Negrmm;t-AuroraEm»Ba ner, North York Mirror, Oakville e M o in ie e ie o mds uiess Do you think Ontario Premier Bob Rae is acting properly to reduce the province‘s deficit? e on Beaver, Onllia Today, Oshawa/Whitby This . ug Richmond HillThomhiWVaughan Liberal, Scarborough Mirror. Al material published in the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyri?‘rg Any reproduction in ie or in part of this material is strictly forbidden without the is Week, consent of the publisher. Cast your ballot by calling 845â€"5585, box 5008 to vote. Callers have until 12 noon Thursday to regsister their vote. Results of the poll will be published in the next Friday edition of the Oakville Beaver. Better research may have stopped Westray disaster Dear Sir: Gerald Phillips is not the only Oakville resident with links to the Westray mine in the Pictou coalfield (April 23rd, 1993 headline: "Oakville man charged in Westray mine disaster investigation"). My role dates back to 1984 when Suncor Inc. contracted the Atlantic Coal Institute in Sydney, Nova Scotia, to conduct coal quality studies of the Foord seam. As executive director of the Institute, I managed a series of research projects on the nature of Nova Scotia coals with special emphasis on the microâ€"mineralogy. Several research papers were published from 1985 to 1991. On August 18th, 1989, the Halifax Chronicleâ€"Herald quoted my warning that: "The coal there is more abraâ€" sive and has a high quartz content which presents the problem of underground sparking...the possibility of explosion would relate to the extent of methane released from the coal". In the same article, Gerald Phillips was quoted as saying: "It is safe...we had the best people in North America doing the mining plan"‘. Between 1838 and 1952, some 246 men have died in the coal pits of the Pictou coal field. The last effort before Westray was that of the Acadia Coal Company which closed the Allan shaft in 1951 after a dozen men were killed at the 1,000 foot depth. Since I‘m not a minâ€" ing engineer, and since my involvement in Pictou coal ended in 1989, I could not shed light on the specific cause of the Westray disaster or the competence of the staff of Curragh Resources Inc. who acquired the propâ€" erty from Suncor to develop the underground workings. But I was concerned at the time by the other factor noted by the Chronicleâ€"Herald article: "The biggest knock against Westray (Curragh) is that it has never run an undergeround coal mine". What I can comment on is the possible role that more research could have played in avoiding disaster. Like many such projects, the money for preventive techâ€" nological studies was scarce prior to 1989, but monies for crisis management and postâ€"mortem or legal briefs seems unlimited now. Our research into the microâ€"minâ€" eralogy of Nova Scotia coal ended in 1989 with the cloâ€" sure of the Atlantic Coal Institute. This coincided with the closure of several. other coal research teams in. the 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 354 Maritimes. The National Research Council in Halifax had shut down coal research in the prior year. Projects at the Technical University of Nova Scotia had likewise died due to lack of funds. Part of the problem was docuâ€" mented by my article in the Canadian Institute of Mining Metallurgy Bulletin (Vol. 80, Number 901, 1987: see attached). What was not fully reflected in my article was the influence of federal government policy on the demise of the Maritime coal research teams. As a member of the Coal Technology, National Advisory Committee from 1984 to 1987, I was well aware of shifting mandates for federal laboratories. Government laboratories such as those of the Canada Centre for Mineral and Energy Technology (CANMET) were under instructions to increase cost recovery by competing with private sector labs and institutes. CANMET opened a very opulent coal research facility in Devon, Alberta in 1987. Operating costs were high, therefore, they subsequently used their financial leverage via 50/50 costâ€"share govâ€" ernment contracts and special access to federal crown corporations to wipe out most selfâ€"supporting coal research groups across Canada. No commercial lab or costâ€"recovery research contractor could compete against a government lab that offered free services or supporting erants in return for contracts. By 1989, there were very few coal researchers left in Maritime Canada. The Atlantic Coal Institute disbanded a staff of 12. Unfortunately, some unique analytical techniques developed at the Institute were no longer available in Canada. The small CANMET lab in Sydney, Nova Scotia that specialized in mine safety had very little analytical capability and not the expertise of the halfâ€"dozen teams previously investigating Maritime coal. The financial albatross that CANMET created in Devon, Alberta, has subsequently moved away from coal research as well. The problems unique to Nova Scotia coal â€" including those of the Westray mine â€" did not receive the attention that researchers more local to the site would have promoted. Out of sight, out of mind ... until the disaster. Dr. Dieter Birk, P.Geol.