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6 Oakville Beaver Weekend Sunday June 11,2000 TheOakville Beaver Ian Oliver, Publisher Neil Oliver, Associate Publisher Norman Alexander, Editor Kelly Montague, Advertising Director Steve Crazier, Circulation Director Ten Casas, OfficeManager Mark Dills, Production Manager Riziero Vertoili, Photography Director Metroland Pnnting. Pubishng & D etrtxjting Ltd., includas: Apx/Pckem g News Advertcer. A ka on Herald/C ouier. Arthur Enterprise News. Same Advance. Barry's Bay The Week, Bolton Enterprise. Brampton Guardian. B u rlin g to n P ost. B u rlin g to n S hopping N ew s. C ity P arent, Cokn^voodVNteeaga C o rre c to r, East York M iror. B in A dixxate'C ourtry R outes. E to b ico ke G uardian. F lam borough P ost. G eorgetow n txtependert/A cton Free Press. Harreton Revew, Hurona Buaness Tmes. K ingston The W eek. Lndsay The Week. Markham Ecnom et A Sun. M idtond/P enetanguehine M rror. Mrfton Canadian Cham pion. M ilton S hopping News. M ississauga B usiness Tim es. M ississauga News. Napanee G urte. Newmarket/Aurora Era-Banner. Northumberland News. North York M rror. O akvie Beaver. O akvie Shoppng News. O tdtm ers Hockey News. Orika Today. O shawa/W hitby/Clarington Port Perry The Week. Owen Sound Tribune. Palmerston Observer. Peterborough This Week. P cton County Guide. Richmond H AThornhi/M aughan Liberal. Scarborough Mrror. SlouffvieUxbndge Tribune, Forever M xrg . C ty of Vbrk Guarden RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: < g N A ~ 0 © nxirDa 467 Speers Rd,, Oakville O nt L6K 3S4 (905) 8 4 5 -3 8 2 4 Fax: 3 3 7 -5 5 6 7 m m SK JiNqlt Bell Furd TV AUCTION United Way ol Oakville iJAmard Ofiki'ille Editorials SOCIAL JUSTICE - CHECK/ Life in the slow lane For those people living on a fixed income or others who try to budget wisely, the rising costs of gasoline is a real and present concern. Certainly there are various factors that contribute to high gasoline prices, not th least o f which is demand for the product. Even commuters who And that demand is mostly (if you'll pardon the do use transit are facing pun) fueled by southern Ontario and our boom increased costs for GO ing economy. fares that mean car travel T his has m eant m ore people entering the m ay begin to look GTA and having to use their vehicles for most appealing again, even activities. For those employed around the area, commuting is not an option, it's a necessity. If with high parking costs. GO Transit can't get you to work, you're forced to drive and with gas prices now getting into the really scary 78 cents-a-litre range, any budgeting has long since gone out the window. For people caught in this dilem m a, it m eans more disposable income is going to areas o f the economy that produce virtually no jobs....lots of money for the oil companies, but few jobs. Even commuters who do use transit are facing increased costs for GO fares that mean car travel may begin to look appealing again, even with high park ing costs. T hat's a backward move for everyone and the environment in partic ular. Perhaps w e'll finally begin seeing more time and money spent on research ing the perfect com m uter's bicycle or tricycle. Those new recumbent models look pretty comfortable. Now if the Province would designate a separate bike lane, we might have some takers. COM M ISSION, -C H EC K! C H EC K ! Gyrating, grinding & trying not to Siam For some it was just a walk in the park. For others, it was a few adrenaline-charged hours on the edge-- catching a little air, tweak ing, gyrating, grinding some rails, hanging on the half-pipe and try ing not to slam. Whoa! Sorry if I lost you there in the rad lingo, dudes (and er, dudettes). But, you see, our boys, ages 14 and 10, recently took an in te re st--that fast ev o lv ed into som ething b ordering on o b se s s io n -in s k a te b o a rd in g . Subsequently, around here w e're suddenly caught up in the whole strange cu ltu re o f this ex citin g activity, from the nuances o f the sport itself, to its very own lan guage and, yes, its very own fash ion (S e a ttle g ru n g e m eets California beach bum). F or those who d o n 't possess the vast, unlimited understanding of the sport that I possess, let me initially explain that skateboard ing is classified as an "extrem e sport". By definition, an extreme sport is one in which participants (if they are not extremely careful and properly equipped) subm it their bodies to large amounts of pain and injury in short periods of time. Secondly, let me say that from a d istan ce, this is one o f those activities that does not seem all th a t d if fic u lt. J u s t c o n s id e r nothing about this sport that is sim p le . A sk m y frie n d w ho thought that skateboarding looked so easy and exciting that, at age 35, he went out and bought him self a board. First time down the driveway, he found himself on his backside, royally concussed, arm broken. W ith all th is in m in d , we weren't particularly thrilled when our boys started speeding around on the boards, sailing over ramps and such. "No, no, no," I said. "If you're going to insist on hurting your selves, your m other and I insist that you learn how to do it proper ly..." So, we signed them up for a clinic at Shell Park's skateboard ing facility. O b se rv a tio n s stra ig h t from Shell. The skateboard culture is pre dominantly male. Cockiness, atti tu d e and a ttir e seem to be as essential to the sport as the board itself. A side from a few rabblerousers-- you know the type, guys w ith butts hanging out o f their mouths and butts peeking out of their pants-- the skateboarders we witnessed were incredibly enthusi astic kids with a real and obvious passion for what they were doing. And, man oh man, what they were doing... Okay, as a guy who has never sk a te b o a rd e d , w h at they w ere doing made me a little nervous-- to the point where a couple of times I d ecid ed to ju s t take a relax in g walk around the park. I mean, seriously, if you must defy gravity, if you must attempt d a re d e v il m oves w ith huge d eg rees o f difficu lty , then you most certainly should be wearing a helmet; the sight of kids careening along the concrete pads without helmets is enough to make a parent run screaming for cover and yearn ing for the good old days when kids occupied themselves with safe activities. Tiddlywinks immediate ly comes to mind. Or a wild game of checkers. M ich ael J. F o x 's c h a ra c te r in Back To The Future flicks, board ing about town, outmanoeuvring enemies in automobiles, perform ing skateboard moves that in the real world, would take a boarder years to learn. But H ollyw ood naturally made it seem simple. Thirdly, let me say that there is