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Robert Glasbey Advertising Director Norman Alexander Editor Geoff Hill Circulation Director Teri Casas Office Manager Tim Coles Production Manager Ian Oliver Publisher Do you think the NDP government‘s tax increases were justified? We‘re also in favor of looking at the reduction of billing thresholds for physiâ€" cians but hope some discussion with the OMA could resolve problems with the government‘s current plan. It would reduce payments to the 1 in 7 general pracâ€" titioners who provide services valued at greater than $250,000. Payments above that level would be reduced by one third and payments over $275,000 would be reduced by twoâ€"thirds. There are literally pages of other payment clawâ€"backs also suggested, many of which would see Ontarians paying for services now covered by OHIP. The patient loses, the doctor loses. In aiming at doctors as sources of fiscal abuse of the medical system, the province has only partially hit the mark. A source of even more abuse and potential savings, is the administration of our health care system. We weren‘t surprised earlier this year, to learn about the wrongful issuing of health care cards with no system for checking the authenticity of those applying for them. Hundreds of thousands extra cards were issued and the Ministry of Health, apparently can‘t trace them. They only became suspicious when it was discovered more cards had been issued than there were Ontarians. The government should also toughenâ€"up OHIP abuses by Ontarians now ostensibly living in the U.S. but still dipping into our healthcare system. Yes, our health care system is sick and it‘s up to all areas affected to work together and find some common ground to cut costs. If this isn‘t accomplished, it could throw us back to the preâ€"OHIP era whereby people could lose their homes when serious illness struck a family. None of us can allow that to happen. One of the issues of concern to the Ontario Medical Association (OMA) is the plan to force some senior physicians from practicing in Ontario. While they‘re opposed to the scheme, the OMA offers no alternative to making space for graduating physicians coming into the system. Last year alone, physicians over the age of 65 submitted more than $200â€"million in billings. At the same time, the government won‘t guarantee graduating doctors the ability to bill OHIP for services. Having set the rules when these people entered medical schools, it‘s unreasonable for the province to throw away the millions of dollars invested in educating these new doctors. If it‘s the government‘s intent to reduce the number of doctors, start with regulating the number of medical school enrolments as is done in other disciplines. Another controversial issue is that of reducing the fees charged by new physicians, pediatricians and psychiatrists by 75 per cent for the first five years of their practice. The idea is not a bad one but the fee discounting is pretty steep. The governâ€" ment‘s reasoning is that new doctors, like some other professional groups, should work their way up to the maximum billing levels. health programs as a major source of revenue drain, a condition it wants eradicated as soon as possible. Unfortunately, the Rae government has decided to take a shotgun approach to the problem of rising health costs when it should be zeroing in on specific areas. a The Ontario government, now in a fiscal freeâ€"fall, has targeted its own The province‘s physicians are currently the target of these costâ€"cutting meaâ€" sures and it‘s regrettable that some of the government‘s ideas about cutting costs in this area, are blinding by some ideas that won‘t help the fiscal or physical health of Ontario taxpayers. Saving the system RESULTS OF LAST WEEK‘S POL 467 Speers Road, Oakville, Ont. L6K 3584 Classified Advertising: 845â€"2809 Circulation: 845â€"9742 or 845â€"9743 Cast your ballot by calling 845â€"5585, box 5008 to vote. Callers have until 12 noon Thursday to recister their vote. Results of the poll will be published in the next Friday edition of the Oakville Beaver. Are you in favor of more stringent immigration laws now being proposed by the federal government? The Oakville Beaver, published every Sunday, Wednesday and Friday, at 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, is one of the Metroland Printing, Publishing Distributing Ltd. group of suburban newspapers which includes: a‘px»fid(em News Advertiser, Barrie Advance, Brampton Guardian, Buringion P Collingwood Connection, Etobicoke Guardian, Georgetown Independent Acton Free Press, Kingston This Week, Lindsay This Week, Marham Economist and Sun, Stouffville/Uxbridge Tribune, Milton Canadian Champion, Mississauga News, Newmarketâ€"Aurora Eraâ€"Banner, North York Mirror, Oakville Beaver, Onllia Todan. Oshawa/Whitby This Week, Peterborough This Week, Richmond HilThomhi/Vaughan Liberal, Scarborough Mirror. terial published Oakville consent of the publisher. All material published in the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. , ion i le or in part of this material is strictly forbidden witl t the Evening on language a real education The intent of these demonstrations, I assume, was to discredit phonics. Although Clemens declared that phonics was being taught in Halton, it was unclear WHO taught it and HOW it was being taught. When a parent asked who makes sure that phonics is, in fact, being taught, the buck was passed from Advisor to Principal, who admitted the systematic checks were in place. We were told that it is up to parents to check up on teachers that they do their job adequatelyâ€"a telling admission, indeed! In Halton, it seems, no system or I don‘t blame Angela Blackburn for reporting Language Arts coâ€"ordinator Micki Clemens‘ platitudes, instead of covering both sides of the debate ("Controversy over phonics created by media says eduâ€" cator"). After all, Clemens accused the media of manuâ€" facturing this issue where none, in her opinion, exists. A reporter might hesitate to add fuel to the fire. _ But as a parent of students in Halton, L would like to offer my account of the evening. The presentation was not a debate, since only one side of the issue was presented by a selfâ€"congratulatory team consisting of Clemens, a school trustee, a principal and a viceâ€"principal. (To be fair, the Halton Board did not bill the event as a debate.) This team‘s mission, it appears, was not so much to explain, but to convert the parents to the ‘beliefâ€"system‘ of Whole Language (Clemens‘ words). Clemens gave examples of the ‘bad old days‘ when the teacher was an uncaring drill sergeant and the stuâ€" dents were suffering, uncomprehending automatons in ugly, barren classrooms. In contrast, Clemens described today‘s teachers as caring, ‘childâ€"centred facilitators‘ who don‘t really teach but encourage children to learn by themselves, in noisy, colorful classrooms geared for ‘communality‘. When it comes to phonics, Clemens demonstrated the complexity of the English language by asking us to read out ‘ho‘ and then various combinations such as ‘hot, house, hour, etc.‘ Astonishingly, she made no reference to basic rules of spelling and pronunciation. (Perhaps she is unaware they exist.) This was followed by an example of one of the worst phonics exercises I have seen. Dear Sir: Regarding your coverage of the "Whole language versus Phonics" controversy as presented by the Halton Board of Education: ut HAVE NAFTA _ 7H Bs 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 3S4 I was not surprised by the unadulterated propaganda offered to taxpayers by our "educators," for I‘ve heard it repeatedly during the past eight years of my involveâ€" ment with Halton schools. What continues to astound me, however, is the educators‘ condescension toward parents as ignorant simpletons who need only "underâ€" stand" their jargon in order to accept it. The issue of Whole Language does seem to have been distorted. But not by the media. In their rush to embrace an education ideology, many teachers ignore components of Whole Language such as phonics and spelling and grammar as inhibitors to "creativity". Without a clear, strong, carefully designed curriculum, strict monitoring of student progress and rigorous teachâ€" er evaluation, Whole Language instruction in a Childâ€" centred environment quickly deteriorates into warm and fuzzy busyâ€"work that bores kids silly and leaves many of them unable to read and write properly. I am surprised that in the face of parents‘ acute conâ€" cern over their children‘s inability to read and write properly, the "educators" show so little curiosity about methods that work. (My hat off to the principal, Mrs. Fowler, who showed at least some interest in the phonâ€" ics teaching method.) : It‘s time educators face up to shortcomings in teachâ€" ing reading and writing and to investigate seriously, with open mind, remedies that will benefit our kids. Until then, the debate of Phonics versus Whole Language will continue. Parents who voiced dissent with the Whole Language Philosophy were tolerated briefly before being asked to save their questions until after Ms. Clemens had finished her presentation. By the time she got through reading her thick binder of overhead projections, half the audience had left. The evening concluded when the trustee presented Ms. Clemens with a gift. I am insulted when an "educator" reads me an entire kindergartenâ€"level book and asks me to "share a memoâ€" ry" with a stranger. â€" T resent an "educator" telling me that my time at school in "the old days" was meaningless and ineffecâ€" tive and the cause of low selfâ€"esteem, when the opposite is true. method exists to ensure that our kids receive all the tools they need to become competent readers and writers. Eva Hoepfner