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6- The Oakville Beaver Weekend, Saturday August 5, 2006 www.oakvillebeaver.com Commentary The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-3824, ext. 224 Circulation: 845-9742 The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone (416) 340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline. Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. Letter to the Editor IAN OLIVER Publisher NEIL OLIVER Associate Publisher TERI CASAS Business Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager KELLY MONTAGUE Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution ROD JERRED Managing Editor WEBSITE oakvillebeaver.com Metroland Printing, Publishing & Distributing Ltd., includes: Ajax/Pickering News Advertiser, Alliston Herald/Courier, Arthur Enterprise News, Barrie Advance, Caledon Enterprise, Brampton Guardian, Burlington Post, Burlington Shopping News, City Parent, Collingwood/Wasaga Connection, East York Mirror, Erin Advocate/Country Routes, Etobicoke Guardian, Flamborough Review, Georgetown Independent/Acton Free Press, Harriston Review, Huronia Business Times, Lindsay This Week, Markham Economist & Sun, Midland/Penetanguishine Mirror, Milton Canadian Champion, Milton Shopping News, Mississauga Business Times, Mississauga News, Napanee Guide, Newmarket/Aurora Era-Banner, Northumberland News, North York Mirror, Oakville Beaver, Oakville Shopping News, Oldtimers Hockey News, Orillia Today, Oshawa/Whitby/Clarington Port Perry This Week, Owen Sound Tribune, Palmerston Observer, Peterborough This Week, Picton County Guide, Richmond Hill/Thornhill/Vaughan Liberal, Scarborough Mirror, Stouffville/Uxbridge Tribune, Forever Young, City of York Guardian Resident speaks as citizen, not so-called environmentalist This letter is in regards to your editorial in the Wednesday, July 26 Oakville Beaver re: the pesticide issue. I was one of the speakers who spoke at the Halton Regional meeting as well as the Regional Council meeting. I did not particularly want to speak there as I despise public speaking. It was bad enough to see a quote of mine with my name in print in The Beaver, being totally unaware the meeting was a public occasion with the press present. Seeing the ensuing editorial rather upset me greatly and pretty well ruined my day. With all due respect, I am not an "environmentalist," as you insist on calling us. I am simply an ordinary citizen sick of seeing my family stricken with more cancer, my brother who now has terminal cancer, the fourth family member. Many ordinary people are concerned about the state of the environment and want to do something positive about it. We now have global warming upon us, and just when are governments going to start doing something about it? A friend of mine who teaches at a local college told me her students are terrified of this issue, so it must be taken seriously. I would like to ask you a question here. How long do you think the Region should throw money at an education program (it's a good one) which has been out in the public eye for three years now and has reached a tipping point? I work with a grassroots educational group (I am speaking on my own behalf here and did so at the meetings) and as such know that there are so many people who have no clue, not to mention the shopping centers and businesses. If they haven't gotten the message by now, just when will they? There are so many angry people out there fed up with neighbours who insist on spraying so they ask for our help in delivering educational materials. We are duplicating just what the Region is doing. It comes a time when education simply no longer works. Vancouver debated just that issue and went for the education with the ban. As well, the Town has a registry which doesn't work, as a friend who is registered with it had her next door neighbour spray anyways despite these letters. On top of that, there have been errors and so many delays with these letters. Do you approve of the town spending money on this program? I don't know if you aware that the Region of Waterloo has a ban. So of course it can be done. Three years ago the referendum was lost in less than 10 per cent of the population, however global warming wasn't an issue then. How much time are we going to spend debating this? We have the backing of every major organization, including the Cancer Society. And it was just revealed last week in a study from Harvard linking pesticides with Parkinson's Disease. I also had a friend who was stricken with this disease, along with his wife, who died of cancer, in their 40s. They have two children. That's just the tip of the iceberg for me. "Prudent avoidance" is impossible. That's precisely why I spoke. I cannot, nor can anyone, avoid publicly sprayed areas. My contention is the closest bus stop to my house located on a shopping mall area only accessible by stepping on a sprayed lawn. We should not have to put up with this. How come the Town was quick enough to pass a smoking ban without waiting for the province to do it? Your argument simply doesn't make sense. Municipalities, cities and towns are the ones who have the authority to pass this bylaw, and so many have. All I ask is please give us a little respect. We have a right, whether you agree with us or not, to speak without being subjected to being upset when reading your editorials. ROSEMARIE GREEN RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: Ontario Community Newspapers Association Canadian Community Newspapers Association Suburban Newspapers of America THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: ATHENA Awards United Way of Oakville TV AUCTION When it comes to names, hyphens can be a real headache I don't want to imply that I'm psychic, or make it seem like I'm a real know-it-all, but I knew years ago what my morning newspaper only now confirms: that when it comes to women marrying and changing, or not changing, their names -- you know, the whole sticky sexism-in-surnames situation -- hyphens can be a real headache. I gave this conundrum considerable consideration back when I was engaged and my wife-to-be was likewise contemplating the then-hugely popular trend of adopting a hyphenated surname; that is, her maiden name affixed by hyphen to my surname, making her Kelly-Juniper. Which would not have been too bad, not too bad at all. But what, I thought, about the poor woman ­ we'll call her Mabel -- with a long last name, like Snakeinthegrass, who is about to exchange vows with a man with a long last name, like EatingAlphaghetti. Introducing, Mabel Snakeinthegrass-EatingAlphaghetti. And, heaven help us, what about the SnakeinthegrassEatingAlphaghetti's precious daughter, Cindy-Loo, who grows up proud of her hyphenated name and then marries a man unfortunately named Onthetoilet. Introducing, CindyLoo Snakeinthegrass-EatingAlphaghetti-Onthetoilet. Okay, you get my point. The names could become a tad ridiculous, not to mention cumbersome. Or, as Harvard professor Claudia Goldin says: "If people have these long names, they have problems with the school district or the plumber. It gets too hard." Forget the school district or the plumber, can you imagine filling out government forms with such a meandering moniker? Which brings me to a trend arising in the United States wherein couples Andy Juniper are supplanting both surnames -- in a bold gesture of sacrifice and love -- with a meshing (mixing and matching) of both of their names to come up with a brand-spanking new last name! When I first read about this trend, I naturally thought it sprang forth from the tabloid tendency to give celebrity couples mixed names, like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, who became (until death or Jennifer Aniston make them part) Brangelina. But apparently the trend predates the tabloid tendency. For instance, in 1988, Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa combined part of his name (Villar) with part of his wife's name (Raigosa) and came up with their new moniker. Last year, New York playwright Gary Ruderman married journalist Jodi Wilgoren and they became the Rudorens. Jodi apparently considered hyphenating until she realized their hyphenated name "wouldn't fit on the back of a sports shirt." And while the Villaraigosas and Rudornes admit to being mocked by friends and strangers alike, people eventually got over it, and now most find the meshed monikers to be romantic and cute as kittens. Now, I'm a romantic kind of guy, and I like things that are cute as kittens, so I naturally got to thinking about my wife and I: a Juniper and a Kelly = a Jelly. Andy Jelly. But, wait! Why stop there! What if we go all the way and mix our first names, too. A Maureen and an Andy = a Mandy. Readers, you're reading the first column by Mandy Jelly. Ah, hell, it could be worse: we could be combining a Stacy Shine with a Dinky It. You know, Stinky Sh... Ah, what's in a name? Andy Juniper can be visited at his Web site, www.strangledeggs.com, or contacted at ajuniper@strangledeggs.com.