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A6 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday September 27, 2000 T he Oakville Beaver Ian Oliver Publisher Nei Oliver Associate Publisher Norman Alexander Editor Kelly Montague, Advertising Director Steve Crozier Circulation Director Ten Casas Office Manager Mark Dlls Production Manager Riziero Vertolli Director of Photography M etroland P rintng. P ubishng & D etrfciutng L id., c tik d k A .. n rc t jax/P ckem g News Advertiser. A ttston HeraW /Couher. A rthur Enterprise News. Bame Advance. B arry's Bay This W eek. Bolton Enterprise. Bram pton G uardan, B u rlin g to n P o st. B u rlin g to n S h o p p in g N ew s. C ity P arent. CoingwoocVW asaga Connection. East Mark fArror. Erin A dvocaie'C an try R o u te s. E to b ic o k e G u a rd ia n , F lam borough P o st. G eorgetow n m dependent/Aaon Free Press. Ham ster Re*ew. H uone Busness Tm es. K ingston T his W eek. Lindsay This W eek. M arkham Ecnorm st & Sun. M idland/P enetang uishine M irror. M ilto n C a n a ria n C ham pion. M ilton Shoppng News. M ssesauga Business Trees. Missesauga N ^vs. Napanee G ude. Newm arket/Aerora Era-Banner. N odhueberiand News. N orth Mark M nor. Q akvie Bearer, O akvie Shopping News. OWbmers Hockey News. O r*a Today. O shaw aW itby/C lahngton Port Perry The Week. Owen S a n d Tribune. Palm erston Observer. Peterborough This W eek. P cto n County G uide. R ichm ond H iil/Thom hH l/Vaughan Liberal. S carborough M irror. S«oufM ie\Jxbridge Tribune. Forever M x/ig . O ty o f Mark Guardan OPINION RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: Ontario Community Association THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: --------W | L C O M E| f r W S /^ 1 ^ 1 ^ 3 VVs'^SoNim i n| r j a, JM&icna © 'N q tt u M > C N A Canadian Community Newspapers Association IjJZward Gakvilte ©Awards fOft BUSINESS EXCELLENCE '~T)he TV AUCTION BRONTE IUTTERFLY O N T United Way of Oakville 467 Speers Rd,, Oakville Ont L6K3S4 (905) 8 4 5 -3 8 2 4 Fax: 3 3 7 -5 5 6 7 Classified Advertising: 8 4 5 -2 8 0 9 Circulation: 8 4 5 -9 7 4 2 mmm e | oakville qalleries | A R I O town Q f H o ^ v m i SK t Suburban Newspapers of America S O a ^U U U Children' sC hoir mm K » V BUSThtSSKTHEAKTS Editorials Q u e s t io n o f p rio ritie s Usually Canadians don't care about amateur sports. About the closest most people get to that level is watching the kids play soccer, baseball, hockey etc. As for adults? Most likely amateur means taking Canadian diver Arm part in games that aren't taken too seriously. Montmigny best exemplifies \ But every four years, something weird hap pens to Canadians-they catch the athletic fever that credo. She has been known as the Olympics. And every four years called to the bar in Quebec the observations are made that for such a wealthy country, our medal rewards are poor. In and has participated in her last Olympics. Life goes on fact this year, the results have been miniscule. All o f which has throw n the athletes beyond competitive athletics. \ involved in the Sydney Olympics into a state of hyperbole about national funding for our ama teur athletes. Their outspoken criticism of government cheapskates this year has been unprecedented as has the critical views of one Brian Williams and to a less er extent, Oakville's own Ron McLean. What's lost in all of this gnashing of teeth over our poor showing is the fact that Olympic competitors are supposed to be amateurs. That means athletics is supposed to be an avocation not a vocation. Canadian diver Anne Montminy best exemplifies that credo. She has been called to the bar in Quebec and has partici pated in her last Olympics. Life goes on beyond competitive athletics. Canada spends $62 million a year on amateur athletics while smaller Australia kicks in $280 million per annum on their amateur athletes. But money isn't the end all. Look at the American female gymnastic team. Millions of dol lars spent and when the crunch comes....nothing. If our Olympic competitors are to do better, they will need better coaching, better facilities and all the rest. And there are ways around the problem but they're not the Canadian way. How much do corporations fund our amateur athletes and their training? The answer is not much...until they win-then corporations are all over the medalists offering them money to endorse products. Surely this is the backwards approach. For Canadians the questions are pretty simple: do we want what's best for all or best for the few? L e t t e r s to t h e E d ito r The Oakville Beaver welcomes your comments. All letters must be typed, signed and include the writer's address and phone number. Send to: Letters to the Editor, The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, Ont. L6K 3S4 * Students deserved better from town This letter is to display my disgust and shame for the Town of Oakville. When I came here last year as a first-year Media Arts stu dent at Sheridan College, I had high hopes for myself in what seemed like a majestic, peace ful, friendly community. In that first year, I was among the lucky who managed to obtain a spot in the new Sheridan Residence. This was a great experience on one hand, but detri mental on the other. You see, it blinded me of the reality of what Oakville is: A town that proves money ultimately rules. Although I learned over the past summer here that the pre ceding comment is true on many levels, per haps, not so much as in the real estate busi ness. My roommate and I decided, at the end of the past school year, that it would be a good idea to stay in Oakville and work for the sum mer. We saw it as an excellent place to start out a new student business. By May, we had a successful media business up anirunning, gaining contracts from the Canadian govern ment, Atomic Sports, and even recently with a national television show on the Outdoor Life Network. The business gave us great experi ence, skill, and confidence. We were now ready to find a place of our own to live and run our business. On July 3rd, the hunt began. We sifted through mounds of advertisements for houses, townhouses, and apartments for lease. All of which nearly hung up on us Erectly on the news that we were "students." We didn't let it bother us, after all, how long could it continue. We persisted, but no one wanted to give a "stu dent" the time of day. Here, we were pumping all this money into the local economy all win ter, all summer, and even setting up a business to run in the city, but no one wanted to give us a chance. The months started to pass and we began to wonry, but continued to persist. When ^ we were told that they "didn't rent to students," · « we challenged them and forwarded lists of i business and property references, just to be 1 ELIGIBLE to rent. Going to local realtors i\ failed us as well. Most didn't return our phone calls and the ones that did, seemed to use us as a tool to boost price. They would accept our offer applications and then suddenly we would find the house went for the same price as our offer, but to someone else. No one wants a student to live in their house. It seems as though there is a serious age prejudice in Oakville. It is easy to say: "I have had a bad experi ence with students before." The fact is, if they took the time to meet us, see our portfolio of work, and references, they may sing a differ ent tune. You can't base an entire age group of any demographic on one person. Are all adults criminals if I have had my car stolen by an adult? If someone had a bad renting experi ence with an Affo-Canadian or Native Indian, would they deny every Afro-Canadian and Native Indian to apply for rent thereafter? Now, two months later, we are still looking and are now homeless. I am currently sleeping on the floor of friend's apartment until some one in town decides that maybe they shouldn't generalize college students as being dirty, loud and destructive. Someone just has to give us a chance, after all, we gave Oakville one! Scott Wilson L e tte r o f th e W e e k A p a r t m e n t r e s id e n t ta k e s is s u e w i t h s t o r y Re: Oakville Beaver page 1 story, Fri. Sept. 15, 2000 issue entitled `Independent living centre staff criticized at meeting '. This article was solely based on the unproven allega tions of two disgruntled people who have or are receiv ing Ontario March of Dimes Attendant Care services at the Jean and Howard Caine Apartments. The statements made by some residents are highly inflammatory and in my opinion, as a person who also receives attendant care serves, has defamed and dam aged the character of the staff that, on a daily basis, pro vide quite satisfactory, dignified and respectful attendant services. I feel that the Oakville Beaver was irresponsible in printing this article without researching and interview ing, at the very least, a majority of the people who receive attendant services at this building. We are not `patients' as your article stated nor do we live in an insti tution as one is led to believe. We are simply people who live in apartments like thousands of others, the only dif ference being, we have varying degrees of `physical challenges' and we use attendant services to help us so we can get on with our day like everyone else. It should be noted that the unregistered group calling itself `Care Watch' was not given permission to represent me, either verbally or in writing. If the Oakville Beaver had been more responsible to the community in which it serves, it would have investigated far more deeply before this article was printed thus realizing that the majority of the people who receive attendant care at this apartment building feel the same as I do. C . Neal Morton Chemically-enhanced lawns not worth the risk I 'm re sp o n d in g to a rather disturbing letter by Michael Kernaghan entitled "People who care about their lawns getting bad rap" that was printed in the Sept. 13th ed itio n o f The B eaver, in which he corrects what he p erceiv es as e rro rs in V. C arley's previously printed letters regarding a concern about pesticide use. What I find so disturbing is that the letter is so well researched and the wording so carefully chosen that he may have actually succeeded in lulling some of your read ers into accepting pesticide use as a n atu ra l and safe thing to do. Before my daughter was bom, I used lawn chemicals carefully and responsibly, just as Mr. Kernaghan does. It seemed perfectly sensible to me that if a lot of other people were using them, and the governm ent regulatory agencies had approved them, then what harm could it do to make my lawn look a little better by spraying it with w e ed 'n 'feed a couple of times a year? I figured that the environm entalists were probably just radicals look ing for a cause to jump on. That all changed one day when I was about half-way through one o f my sem i annual spraying sessions and my respiratory and nervous system s began to feel the affects of the pesticide. At that moment, it became very clear to me that I had been w rong and that there was ab so lu tely no p ossible excuse for exposing myself, my fam ily and my neig h bours to these chem icals; especially for something as u n im p o rtan t as grow ing nicer grass. We still have a grass lawn, but I've stopped com peting w ith the other law ns on the stree t and obsessing about the odd patch of clover or dandelions that pop up. Although it is virtually impossible to do a scientific study that can isolate all of the variab les in order to clearly determine the long term health effects of of lawn pesticides, there is a mount ing body of evidence indicat ing that they are a probable cause of some forms of can cer, most notably in children. Regardless of the evidence, it just makes sense to most people, even scientists and politicians, that anything that kills living things, such as weeds, is probably not good for human beings. So, do we side with Mr. Kernaghan's concerns about achieving more perfect grass and higher property values, or V. Carley's concerns about maintaining a healthier envi ronment for people to live in? Bolton Schools plan reunion Time is running out for former teachers and students of the old B olton C ontinuation School and Albert Street Public School to reg ister for a reunion luncheon to be held on Sat. Oct. 14th at the Albion-Bolton Community Centre. Anyone who taught or attended the old Bolton school before it burned in 1968 is invited. Registration for this event closes Sept. 30th so do not delay. Send your cheque for $15 to Albert Street School, c/o Allan Maw, Box 183, Bolton, Ont., L7E 5T2. Another option is to phone Maw at 805-880-1443, Marjorie Slack 905584-2691 or Ann Shaw at 905-857-2736. 911 system working well . One morning recently, my husband awoke feeling dizzy and flushed. As a pain spread along his upper chest, Tquickly dialed 911 hoping for a speedy response. They inforr^ed me that they would send assistance from No. 1 Oakville Fire Station first, since it was closer than the ambulance. \ The fire truck arrived within moments and the paramedics had my husband on oxygen and were checking all vital signs immediately. I noticed that they were also keeping an eye on me to make sure that I was all right. It was most kftid of them. Shortly afterward, the ambulance arrived and ip y husband was on his way to hospital, comfortable and reassured. After four days at Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital, he Was informed that he had not had a heart attack but had experi enced an angina warning. We know how important an immediate diagnosis and early treatment can be. We have nothing but praise for the speedy, responsive and excellent care that 911 can bring. Millie Whitlam U s e d is a b le d ...n o t h a n d ic a p p e d Pud S te ve N e a s e On Wed. Sept. 13th, The Oakville Beaver had a front page headline using the word "Handicapped". I am a person w ith a d isab ility . I do not lik e the n eg ativ e term "Handicapped". A more positive term to use when writing stories about the disabled community or an individual with a disability would be "disabled" or "person with a disability". I know this change does not seem important but the dis abled community has always fought for equally and equal status. The term "Handicapped" is an historical term that does not recognize our abilities or contributions to Canadian society. Scott Allardyce