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

6 - The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday, November 27, 2002 EDITORIALS AND LETTERS THE IIAKflLEE B E A V E R 4 6 7 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3 S 4 (9 0 5 ) 8 4 5 -3 8 2 4 Fax: 3 3 7 -5 5 6 7 Classified Advertising: 3 3 7 -5 6 1 0 Circulation: 8 4 5 -9 7 4 2 Associate Publisher JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief KELLY MONTAGUE Advertising Director STEVE CROZIER Circulation Director NEIL OLIVER IAN OLIVER Publisher TERI CASAS Office Manager MARK DILLS RIZIERO VERTOLLI Production Manager Photography Director ROD JERRED Managing Editor Metroland Printing, Publishing & Distributing Ltd., includes: Ajaxi'Pickering News Advertiser, Alliston Herald/Courier. Arthur Enterprise News, Barrie Advance, Barry's Bay This Week, Bolton Enterprise, Brampton Guardian, Burlington Post. Burlington Shopping News. City Parent. Collingwood/Wasaga Connection. East York Mirror, Erin Advocate/Country Routes, Etobicoke Guardian. Flamborough Post. Georgetown Independent/Acton Free Press. Harriston Review, Huronia Business Times. Kingston This Week. 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/Thomhill/Vaughan Liberal, Scarborough Mirror, StouftvilleAJxbndge Tribune. Forever Young, City of York GuanSan THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: Recognized for Excellence by Ontario Community j Newspapers Association W BRO N W E IfrU T T E R F L Y j.." M l1 » Aipff S W <0 * ^ » Canadian Community TM N e w s p a p e r s Association t I/ ag " ¥S im .n tL C C | oakville galleries 1 K S N C S S tC T H F A m 1m u M S Jin& e Fund S K Suburban Newspapers of America Q TJ« © (Qah'iU e FOR BUSINESS EXCELLENCE The OakwHe. Milton and District fWfh*. 'fe=*ir JSI The spirit of volunteerism? W hat may be volunteering to some Halton students, seems more like taking the easy way out to us. In today's Beaver, there is a news story detailing how some students from B urlington's Nelson High School were photocopying materials for teachers in order to complete the 40 hours o f volunteer work they require to graduate. While the teaching staff involved were probably most grateful for the assistance, we question whether the efforts o f these students constitute volunteering and suspect the experi ence isn't likely to make life-long volunteers o f any of them. A ccording to W ebster's N inth New Collegiate Dictionary, a volun teer is "one who renders a service or takes part in a transaction while hav ing no legal concern or interest." At best, photocopying for a teacher at your school is stretching the definition. At worst, it violates the spirit of the requirement. Parents who volunteer their time in schools sacrifice the trip out to the school, their time and expect little in return except for the personal satis faction of lending a hand. Students, however, have an expec tation of payback for putting in their time -- they expect to graduate. Photocopying for a teacher was not the kind o f volunteer service the province had hoped students would undertake in order to fulfill the grad uation requirement. Indeed, an official with the Ministry of Education and a superin tendent with the Halton District School Board separately questioned the legitimacy of photocopying at school as a volunteer activity. Both, though, said the ultimate decision is left up to each school's administra tion. What valuable lesson have stu dents who spend 40 hours photo copying learned from the experi ence? Are they likely to become sig nificant contributors to their com munity as adult volunteers? Or will they come away knowing they put in their time without having to leave school property or expend much energy? A food bank might have put these same students to better use sorting donations for the needy; a literacy group might have had them help someone learn the vital skills of reading and writing; a senior's cen tre would have been grateful for the enthusiasm o f a young volunteer. While the list of volunteer oppor tunities is endless, the availability of selfless volunteers is certainly not. Rarely do community volunteer agencies advertise a dire need for someone to do the photocopying. ONE OF THE CANADIANS, GALLED YOU A 'MORON'SIR.,. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN IN THEIR LANGUAGE? LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Smoking bylaw not `fair' This letter goes out to all pro smoking bylaw special interest people. Firstly, put away your George Orwell novel and come back to western society. Over the last several months, readers have been writing in stating they agree with this bylaw because if the restau rant/bar owners had their choice, they would choose to have smoking. Well everyone, what does this tell you? If this is indeed the case, maybe large portions of their patrons smoke. Is there anything wrong with this? According to many of you, this is not the right thing to do. Tell me, who deter mines what the right thing is to do? If there were a clientele that would like to visit only non-smoking establishments, then the private sector would accommodate it. However, it is probably true that there might not be any bars that would be non smoking. Once again, what does this tell you? During this smoking ban, we have seen a decline in local bar businesses within Oakville, and as a result, Burlington bars have been reaping the reward. There was even a reader who wrote in and suggested that bars in Oakville should lobby the Burlington councillors to also ban smok ing. I wonder if this reader understands that in a democratic system, those council members do not represent anyone but the people within the municipality of Burlington. This gets me to wondering if there was a cross-section poll done within the population with regards to implementing this bylaw. I would believe that most who do not smoke, including myself, feel that bars should, at the very least, allow smoking areas. This will enable a system that is fair to both sides. Yet, some people (probably a minority) do not concern themselves with what is fair, but what they want to see done. Please put essential services back in hands o f th e public Our wonderful politicians and business leaders for the past 20 years have asked for a fair and competitive marketplace. The battle cry was heard on all radio talk shows, television and newspapers, "we need deregulation, let the competition create an accessible, cheaper marketplace for our services." Finally, with the help of a government that wanted all pub lic services run by the private sector, the marketplace was finally free. Well it did not take too long for the free (you have to love that word) market system to raise its ugly head. In September, I received the hydro bill that was quite a wake up call. Seeing the big cash cow and the lack of public outcry, the gas companies now say they are going to charge consumers for retroactive billing because the rates were too low (say what!). Finally on October 29, Ernie's gang at Queen's Park announced tough new measures to assure Ontario residents have safe drinking water. Unfortunately they are not going to pay, we are! Excuse me, Ernie, it was your government's cutting that created the poison water that killed innocent people, your government now has the nerve to say we are going to pay up to $60 per month. Mr. Eves showed true arrogance when he suggested if the public will pay $60 for cable TV then $60 for clean water should pose no problem. It seems Ernie doesn't quite understand cable TV is an option, but we cannot live without clean water. The deregulated free market system is a dismal failure. Look no further than the airline industry, telecommunica tions, Hwy. 407 and, of course, our public utilities. I person ally don't care what the so-called free marketers (or is it pirateers) do to make their millions, just keep your greedy, slimy hands off our public services that my family needs to survive. These services should be covered with our tax base not the for-profit system. Please sir, do not insult us with another cash handout or a rebate, put essential services back in public con trol and leave the free marketers to explore other ways to make their millions. ' Juniper column was wonderful tribute to beloved father-in-law The following letter was addressed to Oakville Beaver columnist, Andy Juniper. Andy (if I may address you as Andy), I am writing regard ing your article on your father-in-law (the Beaver, Nov. 24). I can be a hard person to shake, after all I am of Scottish descent and we pride ourselves on our Stoicism. Your article is a wonderful tribute to your father-in-law, Mike. It is also a wonderful tribute to all of our ancestors who came to Canada, worked horrible jobs, and pushed that boul der up hill against the wind. It also pays tribute to our present day immigrants who are doing the same. It must be of terrible circumstances that one leaves their mother land, risks all, and comes to a country full of promise to find that the promise is conditional. I would like to think that old Mike is looking down upon you. I would like to believe that he can see the lives of his descendants, from beginning to end, as one would see trains coming and going from Union Station from the CN Tower. I have no doubt that he is proud. We all stand on the shoulders of giants, and Mike was a giant. I didn't know him, but I know his kind. He is one of those people who lays the foundation upon which his descen dants build their lives. Slainte, Mike. Let's have a drink when we meet. KEITH DEMOE Let's make Halton fragrance-free Ed. Note: This letter was originally sent to Halton Regional Chair Joyce Savoline with a copy sent to the Oakville Beaver fo r publication. I am delighted to see that Halton Healthcare has recently implemented a Fragrance Free Policy "to safeguard the health of its patients, visitors, employees and volunteers." This is, at last, a formal acknowledgement by the medical estab lishment that fragrances can be harmful to our health. The Nov. 1 Oakville Beaver News and Information from the Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital says, "These fra grances are triggers for those suffering from asthma." The challenges of fragrances reach beyond that. Wellspring, the support cen tre for those with cancer and those who support them, has also implemented a Fragrance Free policy because it is com mon for those who are dealing with can cer to have adverse reactions to fra grances. Many other people develop symptoms like headaches or nausea when exposed to perfumes or colognes. Some, like myself, have neurological reactions to many fragrances. I have col lapsed more than once after exposure to fragrances. So what is the next step? How do we make our schools, work places, and pub lic buildings safer? How do we safeguard the health of people not just in our hospi tal, but also in other places in our com munity? Please let me know what I can do to make Halton Region a safer place to breathe. I look forward to your response. JAMIE TAYLOR Journalism student feels like second-class citizen As I watched the grand opening presentation for the new Media Arts Digital Production facility at Sheridan College on Tuesday, Oct 2 9 ,1 had a sick feeling in my stomach. While listening to a Sony Representative speak in great lengths about all the new state-of-the-art video production equipment the school would be getting, I took some time to reflect upon one of my own Sheridan courses. I think it's great that Sony has made the initiative to bring this new $1.5 -million facility to Sheridan, but as a Sheridan student myself, I can't help but feel like a second-class citizen. As part of my current curriculum in the journalism-print program, I am required to take a course called Newsroom Without Walls. It is essentially an introduction to broadcast journalism and digital video production. We have more than 40 students in our class, and yet we have access to only two video cameras to complete our assignments on time. My words might sound like sour grapes however I feel I have a valid complaint. If the college expects us to fulfill all of our course require ments in order to graduate, we need to be given access to ade quate resources. I'm not asking for the world's best equipment, rather, just a reasonable environment in which to learn. Although I'm grateful for the new production lab we were able to secure in the Sheridan Centre for Animation and Emerging Technologies (SCAET) this year, I'm baffled by the lack of planning that went into my course. I can honestly say that I have no idea how I am going to complete all of my assign ments without going out and renting my own video camera. KEN ROBERTSON The Oak\>ille Beaver welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considera tions and grammar. In order to be published, letters must contain the name, address and phone number of the author. Letters should be addressed to The Editor, Oakville Beaver, 467 Speers Road, Oakville, On., L6K 3S4. or via e-mail to editor@oakviIlebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish any letter. HEATHER ALLSOP Pud H O W60ES irS-THE JOB R o b By STEVE NEASE XCAN BREAK IT DOWN INTO 2 CATEGORIES ? MOM- 30BSIM UNDERQUALIFIED FoR, AND JOES I'M OVER-QUALIFIED FoR. WHERE DOEMHA T I ' LEAVE YOU? SOM EW ERE IN THE MIDDLE.. MIKE PEARSON 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 adver tising 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. ® *n= n!