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

A6 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday March 8, 2000 T he Oakville B eaver Ian Oliver Publisher Neil Q \w e r Associate Publisher Norman Alexander Editor Kelly Montague, Advertising Director Steve Crozier Circulation Director Teri Casas Office Manager Mark Dills Production Manager Riziero Vertolli Director ofPhotography Metroland Printing, Publishing & Distributing Ltd.. includes: Ajax/Pickenng News Advertiser. Alston HeraM/Courier, Bame Advance. BarryS Bay This Week, Bolton Enterprise. Brampton Guardian. Burlington Post. Burlington Shopprtg News. City Parent. CoHngwoodMasaga Connection. East York Mirror, Enn Advocata'Country Routes. Etobicoke Guardian, Ramborough Post. Georgetown Independent/Acton Free Press. Hurorna Busness Times. Kingston This Week. Lindsay This Week. Markham Ecnomist & Sun. Midland/Penetanguishine Mirror. Milton Canadian Champion. Milton Shoppng News. Mississauga Business Times, Mississauga News. Napanee Guide. Newmarket/Aurora Era-Banner, Northumberland News. North York Mirror. Oakville Beaver, Oakville Shopping News, Otdtmers Hockey News. Crfia Today. Oshawa/Whitby/Qarington Port Perry This Week. Oven Sound Tribune. Peterborough This Week. Picton County Guide, Richmond Hill/Thornhill/Vaughan Liberal. Scarborough Mirror. Stouffville/Uxbridge Tribune. Forever Vbung, City of York GuartJan RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: O n t a r i oC o m m u n i t y N e w s p a p e r sA s s o c i a t i o n THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: H ° P r r fm r v ig fo rT o m o r r o w sH e a lth C a r r LCOM E* foTf l K h T 'TH E f*C N A f ^ C a n a d i a nC o m m u n i t y N e w s p a p e r s A s s o c i a t i o n S u b u r b a nN e w s p a p e r s o lA m e r i c a m A G O N ltd. in c e1 9 3 0 TM~ W ~S ` i br I( O N ff'lji U TTERFLY J 't V 467 Speers Rd., O akville O n t L6K 3S4 (905) 8 4 5 -3 8 2 4 Fax: 3 3 7 -5 5 6 7 C lassified A dvertising: 8 4 5 -2 8 0 9 C irculation: 8 4 5 -9 7 4 2 SKt 0 ()he _ i JAxvard (SnkviUe ©Awards ' JiNqU BeII FuncJ ^OTVt& tw TV AUCTION A lim n il United Way of Oakville FOR BUSINESS EXCELLENCE IP W i * m ® 8 E d it o r ia ls Food for th o u The most com mon maxim concerning early childhood nutrition is "breast-fed is best-fed" . But after that, humans seemingly have one o f two problems: they're either too heavy or starving. W hat better way to mark Nutrition Month, than The report blames half by reading a story concerning the am ount o f over of all the world's weight people. disease on both hunger A report on malnutrition released this week con and overeating. cludes that the number of overweight people in the The net result is the world, now approximates the num ber o f underfed same, the only difference\ individuals. is how we get there. And this is the kicker-55 per cent o f Americans are viewed as overweight according to internation al standards, while 23 per cent o f our southern neigh bours are classed as obese. The report blames half o f all the world's disease on both hunger and overeat ing. The net result is the same, the only difference is how we get there. But even economic prosperity can bring problems to nations. The prolifera tion o f fast-food restaurants in areas used to more simple fare, has packed on weight and put them at risk o f heart disease, cancer and other ailments. Such is the price o f progress. In Canada many o f us can recall the television commercial where a 70 yearold Sw ede is running dow n the road and the voiceover notes: "The average Canadian has the fitness level o f a 70-year-old Swede". The idea was to prompt us to get o ff our butts and to do something....anything...active. In the next issue o f the Beaver, we begin a series o f one w oman's pilgrimage to weight loss and better health as told in her own words. We hope you find it interesting, entertaining and enlightening. And if it inspires you to eat better and exercise, so much the better. Letters to the Editor The Oakville Beaver welcomes your comments. All letters m ust be typed, signed and include the w riter's address and phone number. Send to: Letters to the Editor, The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, Ont. L6K 3S4 St. Luke School crowding is urgent situation T hank you for your coverage o f the overcrow ded conditions at St. L u k e School. A s a parent o f one o f the 2 90 students housed in portables at St. Luke, I w as very angry an d d isa p p o in te d to read that O akville school trustee A lice Ann L eM ay feels that try in g to P h o to s m is s e d rec tify the situ atio n " is n o t an u r g e n t th i n g ." S h a m e o n y o u M rs. LeM ay! C onfining 40% o f the student population to portable classroom s for four years -- from G rades 3 to 6 -- is sim ply intolerable. St. L u k e now has 12 p o rta b le s on in c a p tu r in g site, h o u sin g 43.3% o f the stu d e n ts, a far g re a te r p e rc e n ta g e than any other elem entary school in th e H a lto n C a th o lic b o a rd . L a s t N o v e m b e r, 2 9 2 f a m ilie s responded to a survey regarding th e p o rta b le situ a tio n -- 99% voted yes to requesting a permao f O a k v ille nent addition to the school. H ave our concerns fallen on deaf ears? A s th e p a r e n ts ' c o m m itte e pointed out in their report to the school b o ard, th ere are defin ite sa fety co n c ern s fo r c h ild re n in the portables, particularly in the w in te r w hen stu d e n ts h av e to make there way back and forth to the main building through the ice and snow ju st to go to the w ash room. N ever m ind the lost school tim e in donning boots and coats and m ak in g the jo u rn ey . N ev er m in d th e s e c u rity c o n c e rn s o f having a child, accom panied only by another classm ate, m aking the trip to and from the main build ing. N ever m ind the fact that our children have to bring their own drinking w ater to school and that th e y 're d en ied sim p le h y g ien ic facilities taken for granted in the main building. S u re, C le a rv ie w is a "b u iltout" area, but it is a fam ily area a n d th e re w ill a lw a y s b e new fa m ilie s m o v in g in an d p eo p le whose children are grown, m ov ing out. Local real estate agents are d o in g a b o o m in g b u sin e s s and there is absolutely no reason w hy they sh o u ld n 't co n tin u e to do so -- except perhaps if fam i lies are dissu ad ed fro m m oving h ere by th e fa c t th e ir c h ild re n w o u ld h av e to a tte n d an o v e r crow ded neighbourhood Catholic school or be bussed to other areas to attend public school. St. Luke is a good school with som e excellent teachers, but the s itu a tio n fo r th e 7 3 4 s tu d e n ts (6 6 9 f u ll- tim e e q u iv a le n t) housed in a facility built for 421 children is far from ideal. A s our tru ste e, w e w o u ld ex p e ct A lice A nn L eM ay to try to rectify the situation, not adopt a "w ait-andsee" sit-on-the- fence attitude. Letter of the W eek Close schools now to benefit children Neighbourhoods under the impression that their Halton D istrict School B oard anti-school-closure trustees have been voting with their best interest in mind when it comes to school accommodation, should consider this: the legacy o f the Board's repeated decision not to close schools, has resu lted in a b o ard w ith an ab u n d a n ce o f cru m b lin g schools, in ab ility to o ffe r quality, eq u itab le p ro g ram s throughout the region and a dram atic inequity in school distribution. If this board had closed under-utilized schools before they were filled up as holding facilities with children from new developments, I doubt (consultant) CN Watson would have considered Central Public School for closure. Many o f us here in northeast Oakville have great sym pathy for B A C PA C's fight with the C N W atson report. From w hat we have seen, this report offers a costly and irrational solution for the area and uses PAG funding to add JK to the system, w hile ignoring "catch-up" neigh bourhoods such as River O ak Park, which have been w ait ing for schools for over 10 years. Unfortunately, since schools have to be closed before new ones are built, C N W atson ignored m any o f these holding schools in its report and seem s to have focused instead don the "easiest" elimination o f pupil spaces. Trustees who have voted against school closures have created this disastrous predicament. Perhaps every parent in Halton should contact these trustees and dem and that they find a quick solution that involves sufficient, intelli gent school closures and enough school construction to accom m odate all the children from catch-up neighbour hoods. If these trustees continue to stonewall a solution to the accom m odation crisis, the inevitable future closures and accommodation plans our children will face, will be even more bizarre than som e o f the ones being considered under the CN Watson plan. m a r k e s s e n c e C o n g r a tu la tio n s to th e O a k v ille M ille n n iu m C om m ittee for organizing the photo contest for the M illennium book `M y Favourite P lace' and the spon sors that helped fund and m ake this project possible. Congratulations to those w ho participated in the photography and to the winners o f the com petition. W h e n r e v ie w in g th e c o n te s t w in n in g p h o to s , (Oakville B eaver Sun. M arch 5, 2000) one m ust ask o neself a question: "D id the ju d g e s read the entry form ?" W hy do I ask this question? Let us read the entry form pertaining to the subject matter- " the book requires pictures o f nature, architecture, local landm arks, as well as private com ers. The book is intended to be a docum ent o f the Oakville we live in today, a docum ent that can be passed down to future generations to help them understand what was typi cal, cherished and im portant to us. " I fail to see what relevance future generations will conclude about Oakville when seeing a bird on an oak tree, or children swimm ing and jum ping in the air, all o f w hich have no b earin g on O ak v ille or fu tu re g en eratio n s. A lak esid e shot th at co uld be taken anywhere but when you look very closely, one may be able to pick out a lighthouse that could be located in Oakville. These photos are good but in my opinion, do no fall into the entry requirem ents and rules. Good luck on your book and sales o f same. I only hope that m ore m eaningful photos o f Oakville, its beauty and its history are published. Oakville, did, is and hopefully will continue to meld residential, com mercial, parklands, harbours and history into a w on derful place to live and enjoy. Paul Logan Town needs place for. teens to meet & socialize I am a 17-year-old student who lives in Oakville. I have lived here for about 10 years. Since I have grown up a bit, I have realized a r a th e r la rg e p r o b le m w ith th e Tow n o f O ak v ille. T h e Tow n is not looking out for, or helping, the younger residents o f Oakville. E v e ry F rid a y a n d S a tu r d a y night, the sam e question is asked am ongst my friends and that ques tion is "W hat are we going to do to n ig h t?" E very night, the sam e response is given "W ell, there is really nothing to do in O akville." T h ese co n v e rsatio n s are usually follow ed up with a long night o f getting coffee, driving around, and attending movies. This is w hat we do, for this is all we can do. Well, we could go to house par tie s a n d g e t r e a lly d r u n k th e n stum ble home, but we have decid ed that this is not the best thing for us to do nor the best thing for any one. For w hen drunk people gath er, usually bad things occu r and things get broken and people get hurt. Anyway, back on topic, it is my th e o ry th a t the p eo p le w ho run O a k v ille sh o u ld try to c re ate a p la ce fo r local teens to go on a F riday or Saturday night to save us from the expensive and boring m ovie and coffee nights. Also, this m a y c u t d o w n on th e m an y teenage drinkers. A place should be created such as a d rop-in centre, w here there are pool tables and other forms of entertainment. This drop-in centre should be a place where you can stay until it is time for you to go home as well as a place w here you can feel safe w ith o u t h av in g to w o rry ab o u t o ld e r d rin k e rs th a t h it on y o u r friends or want to start fights with you for no particular reason. This place should have no alco hol so that it doesn't have to kick minors out early and should have som e kind o f ju ice bar or som e thing along those lines. I hope you can see w here I'm com ing from and that you can help to solve my p ro b le m . I f y o u c a n n o t, th e n please send this to som eone that ca n an d I 'm so rry if you feel I have wasted your tim e but I feel that the points o f view o f all citi zens should be heard so that we can m ak e a b e tte r O ak v ille fo r everyone who lives within it. Alexandra Lopez-Pacheco H ectic life can be salvaged I would like to respond to the letter written by `Tanya' to Lisa Gribowski as presented in the Feb. 25th, 2000, edition of The Oakville Beaver. L isa's recommendations were excellent. I would like Tanya to know she is not alone in her dilemma. I, too, am a woman who works full-time, as does my husband. We have two children and a household to run. I understand how Tanya feels. Overwhelm ed is such a small word for such a horrible feeling. Along with Lisa's suggestions, I would like to try and help by sharing what I did to manage my exhaustion and feeling overwhelmed. I have to admit that a lot o f why I am still sane is due to my great partner who has pitched in considerably since the children were bom. I leave for work at 5:30 a.m. and get home at 8:30 p.m., so he has had to rise to the occasion. He has conquered the laundry, the dishwasher, and looking after the children. We both hated housew ork and did not have the tim e to include it. Several arguments ensued. Our solution in the end was to have a cleaning service in every two weeks. We have never treated ourselves to anything better. I could not believe the stress that this alone relieved. I have taken the time to actually get out one evening a week to attend some form o f fitness class. M y husband is great about this (probably because I am a much nicer person when I take some time for myself). L isa's suggestions regarding nutrition are great. I believe you also need to take care o f yourself and get rid o f some o f that stress I could actually feel as I read your letter. All my best to you. Good luck. Please try to stop and smell the flowers! Andrew Keeling Frances K elly P u d by Steve Nease BECAREFUL W\TH|DUR WORE? Lisa Sm ith