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the HERALD Home Newspaper of Hills JANUA 14 A Division of Newspapers Company Limited 103 St South Georgetown Ontario I I Publisher DILI JOHNSTON Pit ON Second ill red 1 Seat belts restrict our freedom The province new seat belt legislation has us frightened The passing of the law now gives a police officer the right to pull a motorist over for no other reason than suspicion that his seat belt is not done up It may sound humorous but think about it Until now police have had to have a pretty good reason to pull a driver over i speeding careless driving suspicious behaviour burned out headlight etc Now they can pull you to the side of the road just make sure that your seat belt is done up We re not predicting that the police will immediately start a campaign of pulling over everyone anytime and anywhere they want to But the possibility is there that they could if they wanted to Most police forces have alreadv stated that they won be doing it If they catch you for another offence and find out your seat belt is not done up well you re in double trouble But the possibilities that new legislation could be mishandled are very plain It most definitely an in upon our freedom to travel freely and without harassment That frightens us It s unfortunate the seat belt legislation was needed at all Seat bells are proven life savers It s just that one of our many human foibles seems to be that it takes force sometimes to make us realize something good for us If we needed some kind of legislation it should have been to make disconnecting the seat belt buzzer alarm signal an offence punishable by a stiff fine to the owner of the car and the person who it It would not eliminate the problem but it make a lot of people think twice about it Given the choice between a loud buzzer and a slightly uncomfortable belt we select the belt as the lesser of the two evils As we ve said before perhaps the province should force the major car manufacturers to produce a seat belt that is a little more comfortable than these girdles they ve got now Neutering is humane A young woman dropped by the office a few days back carrying a small puppy It had been found wandering about downtown No license no possible means of We all oohed and for a few moments but for many and varied reasons the offer of a lovable little pet had to be refused by all of us Eventually the Halton Hills Animal Control Services had to be called to pick the abandoned pet up The size and good condition of the pup made us wonder if it wasn t In tact a Christmas present that had either run away or just hadn t been wantedanymore You can discard old toys by tossing aside but what do you do with a living animal The whole experience brought back the message of a letter written to us a month or two ago by a very concerned woman who asked us all to please consider the plight of the abandoned pet a problem that is ever Viewpoint increasing She is one of the very few kind hearted souls who really are con with the problem having time and again taken in homeless cats kittens and dogs at their own ex pense Those types of good Samaritans are unfortunately few and far bet ween and even they are finding the burden too much to carry now What it comes down to is an fortunate end for an animal whose predicament is not of own choosing We after all are the masters of their situation Having your cat or dog neutered before we have another six or seven kittens for four or five puppies added to the town population is actually showing a great deal of care and concern for those pets whose eventual fate could be lying in a bag sinking slowly to the bottom of the Credit River If you received or gave a Christmas puppy or kitten consider its future now RUSSIANS FOR On The Home Front No No No Well maybe by Del Over he past year a proliferation of instructive adult courses have appeared designed to help people cope with today changing social scene and have Included everything from sex therapy lo creative divorce Prcsuimbly the second course Is for those who fall he first However a new course has surfaced that has obviously been planned with me in mind The name of this particular game Is Ass r Training and gives immediate ret to the man or woman who Is unable to soy No The Instruction will apparently take you from he weak kneed attitude of giving a hesitant Well- which as soon as you ve said It means the ball game is lost to a positively slated No to everyone from salesmen children and employers to husbands Now I am so totally aggressive thai I have been gelling taken for years When Jehovah Witness members by the busload beat a steady path to your door bearing back issues of the Watchlowcr you begin to get the distinct impression they something that you don t Over Ihe years I have bought photographs of other people children and a years supply of dog food Rather ridiculous stop to think about as I don town a dog and the children don even like the My garbage la filled with don have time to read consisting of everything from the Mongolian Messenger to Mechanics Made Easy and my days are tied up with endlessly answering silly questions on the telephone The clincher came when I found myself signing up for a diaper service that I haven needed for the past our years If I have trouble saying no to salespeople however the problem is magnified when it comes to my family I am still fully that I am being conned it Is just more presented Mom I m going to fail if this project t returned on lime and you type so nicely Mom everyone will hate me if I don t have a party 1 owe Invitations to at least Mom I going to be late for school You just gotta drive me Well Yes Assertive ness Training here I In the back of my mind hovers a temp ting little picture of the supreme moment when at 10 30 one night Instead of having to develop a horrendous headache I shall be able to say my husband quietly but firmly No No No 16 or 21 When can you drink by Gerry Lands borough This week Viewpoint looks at he age of adulthood alcohol its abuse and its effect on the young Since the unfortunate death of 15yearold Walter from a combination of 13 ounces of rye and a small brain there has been a constant debate amongst politicians regarding the legal drinking age In 1971 thelegal age was lowered from 21 to 18 years The political thinking at that time ran along the line hat If you are old enough to vote you re old enough o drink However hat has nothing to do with being old enough to drive quit school leave home or face adult charges in criminal court That magic age fa IS It la Indeed very hard for our legislators age of maturity the magic age that says YOU are responsible for your own actions Sixteen years of age is looked upon today as adult The 10yearold is according to our courts totally responsible for his or her actions They are no longer charged as minors They stand In an adult court and face adult charges Thla is Indeed unfortunate because most year olds are in the process of becoming adults They have Ihe journey not thinking from our youths when It is obvious that many of our laws are conflicting and confusing When the legal age for voting and drinking was lowered lo IB one must conclude that 18 years is the magic age of adulthood Where does thai leave lGyoarold driver Docs taking your life and the lives of others in your hands behind the wheel of a car not require emotional maturity Can we conclude thai It Is more dangerous to drive recklessly that to drink recklessly or vice At 1G a youth can take his education into his own hands can take his own life with a motor vehicle con choose his own place of residence but yet can still not booze or vote But if they commit a crime are charged aa a an adult It docs appear rather In consistent Alcohol Is a drug make no mistake about It II Is addictive it can cripple and destroy when abused Headlines such as How parents can battle teenage boozing are at once both amusing and pathetic Amusing because alcohol abuse by adults Is the problem and pathetic because as usual we can see the forest for the trees We as a culture seem to expect more from our youth lhan from our supposed adults In 1971 3 percent of drivers killed In traffic accidents had been drinking It Is lhal Ontario has 300 problem drinkers They are not teenagers Two of three Industrial accidents are related to alcohol Canadian business and industry suffers j MILLION a year in loss production due to alcohol abuse Forty three percent of all fires arc related to alcohol Twenty five percent suicides percent of murders and percent of rapes These are not teenage sties Why There are as many reasons as there are people You can pinpoint what makes people drink The solution is education to help people understand that alcohol is a drug and when abused is a lethal one No one starts out to become an alcoholic or a problem drinker Because alcohol ia a legal drug people do not place the same concern or respect on Its use In 1970 a survey done by the Addiction Research Foundation of Ontario showed that percent of the people In Ontario drink It is estimated that three percent of social drinkers DO become alcoholics What about teenagers then If adults cannot handle alcohol how can you expect a youngster who is in the growing process forming views and testing authority lo handle what can be an ex plosive drug Take any night of the week and go down SI In Toronto Take a look at 14 and 15yearold girls tod drunk to stand Do we not have a responsibility toour youth Are we so hung up on youth responsibility that we forget our own Our laws should be consistent Sixteen years of age is too young be given adult status In our courts If at I8apersoncanvote fight and die for his or her country marry take control of his or her life then surely drink The solution is to enforce rigidly the IByearold age limit Thepubllc has to accept thai though the age may be legal not everyone can handle drink You cannot legislate people behaviour If we do we re In big trouble No more advertising of fun people doing the fun thing drinking There are ways to educate but the point la do wc want It badly enough In an article on underage alcohol users a bartender said If I kick them out they 11 just go dawn the street I might well get the business so long as they behave That a the problem The guy In the liquor store Is too busy to check an ID The bartender ia out to make money and he parents well Ihe parents gave up the responsibility a long time ago The best approach for a parent is to help and teach a growing child how to cope with alcohol as with any other part of life Alcohol Is something a person has to learn how to handle or to stay away from and that one choice you just can legislate Years Ago Halton Board of Education considers closing Norval school From the filet or Ihe Herald FIVE YEARS AGO was named Queen of Georgetown District High School s Winter Carnival Other Snow Queen contestants were Colleen Few Nancy McNeil Janet Richmond Debbie Gum mcrson Burke Pat Cindy Gray Muriel Holmes Janet McLcod and Constnntlne Roy Ellis is Georgetown Band new conductor The 40yeorold native of England succeeds Art Ililllard Jack McCallum and his church members will commence in the former First Bapllst Church empty since that church combined St Pauls to form Moun lalnvlew Baptist Church last year Minority government not all bad Queen Bureau Of The Herald TORONTO And now we have had our first experience with minority government In years The result Good and bad But overall different house than what have been accustomed to After years of Tory dominance a dominance which inevitably had been turning to the autocratic the house one In which all parties had a soy made It more representative And more vita There was a new stature for This led to steps such aa chairmen of com being from ihe op position parlies And also of course and perhaps most Important it led to the lion lung a voice which could and did change things Crip Lost The minority house was bod however In that It meant the government didn have the grip It should perhaps could be pushed too far Government has to ad minister legislation and programs and lake the final responsibility for In such a role it needs a dcclslvo final word And in a minority It can be deprived of this An example was in the rent control legislation in which rooming houses were pushed into the act The government said such control would mean bureaucratic nightmare and It is probably right But still it must try and administer this At the same time the premier and followers did show a minority could stand up to an opposition such as in the move for a provincial anil Inflation tribunal They challenged the opposition parlies to defeat them and Some Minority as a permanent feature would probably be hopeless But a spell of it It would appear can be good Some of the innovations Introduced In this house probably will become per mnncnt and make for better legislatures In the future The new Board of Educnton will bo asked to decide the fate of Public School and two other small schools In the north end of the county at Its January meeting Bruce superintendent of business and finance has recommended lhat School beclosedby June 1972 Donald Bond of 116 Prince Charles In town caught a poind Merlin during holiday in Hawaii Mr mounting the nose of the martin for his trophy cabinet 10 AGO Harold Hutch Hutchinson hung up his pool cue for good last week as Hutchinson a billiard hall changed owners Mr and Mm John Ferguson Mr and Mrs Archie Pollock and Mr and Mrs John are the new owners of the billiard hall the lunch counter barbershop and upstairs apartment George Grelg Is that 1006 la going to be a good year While attending a New Year s Eve party he received a phono call telling Mr Grclg that he won through the Minor Hockey organization draw Lewis has been elected for a third term as Georgetown Chief when members of the volunteer depart ment held their annual meeting Georgetown Bantams were weekend visitors at Detroit for a series hockey games held at Ihe Howe Hockey land Arena Of the two games played the Georgetown Bantams came out winners beating Detroit team and George Barber from Georgetown will be seen in an upcoming televised bowling match as a result of a fine showing n the Connor Bowl New Year a Tournament Mr Barber placed third in the tourney for the TV shot and wonaflOO prize 13 AGO Bob Be nil eld elected Georgetown a second term when members of Ihe volunteer fire deportment held their annual meeting Mr Bonfield elected for his first term of office following the death of Chief Jack Harlow Contributions to the Christmas Sea campaign of the Tuberculosis and Health Association have reached a total of 400 At the Inaugural meeting of the Council the Declaration of Office was administered with Reeve Campbell Sinclair Deputy Reeve Wilfrid Bird and Councillors George Leslie and Walter solemnly taking tho oath