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2 TheE Committees, Committees School trusti time to cut d( committees in Northumberlai Board of Educ At last coun 10 committe school board these included ad hoc comi purpose comm Some of the such as transportation bargaining. education a purpose group such as milea The last straw up to investig committees a on what could1 You see, the the point wh committees f board. (There or 38 comm There just we to go arounda the board ha number of its ees have decided it's more trustees. We think the board own on the number of did the right thing. ivolved in running the Last week, it discussed the nd and Newcastle situation and came up with a plan to :ation. streamline the committee structure it, there were close to so that only seven groups will be es operated by the holding meetings instead of 40. for various purposes; We understand that the seven J standing committees, groups would be umbrella mittees and special committees which could direct iittees trustees to form smaller groups m covered large areas which could prepare curriculum or recommendations and reports. The n or collective main thing is that the board hopes to But, the board of get just as much work done as s to look into matters before, but with fewer committees ge rates and nutrition. and meetings. w was a committee set Trustees are to be congratulated ate the proliferation of for taking steps to break up this nd to prepare a report bureaucratic log-jam. Let's hope be done. that in the future the school board situation had reached remembers the experience of this here there were two year. Before it goes about the task of or each trustee on the setting up future committees and are 16 trustees and 37 sending them galloping furiously in ittees, to be exact). all directions, the board should eren't enough trustees remember that its job is to educate and it seems to us that some 20,000 students. Its main ad to either trim the purpose in life is not to hold committees or create meetings. Pierre Calls it Quits Quit In typical Trudeau style, the former Liberal Prime Minister caught everyone napping last week when he announced his impending retirement as the party's leader. Apparently be had had enough and couldn't bring himself to meet the challenges that would lie ahead in trying to reestablish himself and his party as favorites in the country. His three children's need for parental guidance may also have played a part in the decision, which is understandable in the circumstances. It's always sad to see someone who has been a dominent figure in a country's progress outstay his time and be rejected by those for whom he has worked so hard. Winston Churchill was accorded the same treatment by British electors following the war in tvhich he layed such a major role, and now controversial Pierre Trudeau has found himself in the same situation. Wisely, we think, be came to the conclusion that be had run his course and it was time for someone else to take over, even though all the things be wanted to do had not been completed. Canada's famous writer Bruce Hutchinson called Parliament 'The Orchid House'; a glamorous place where you should not stay too long or like the flower you would wither and die. Pierre Trudeau stayed one election too many and met the fate of many others who preceded him. His contribution to Canada during that decade of power has been immense or dreadful depending upon your point of view. Only the historians will be able to assess his tenure with any degree of accuracy. Undoubtedly, he was"the most colorful leader this country has had since the days of Sir John A. Macdonald. His antics were npredictable and caught the imagination of Canadians who were unaccustomed to seeing their Prime Minister doing back flips off a diving board. skiing down steep slopes or romancing movie stars. Even his marriage to a gorgeous Margaret in her 20s and then the birth of their three sons (two of them on Christmas Day) brought him close to the average person. Then, as most people predicted, things began going wrong at home and his downfall followed in the country as his popularity waned and his policies failed to meet the expectations of the electorate. The end came last May with rejection at the uolls and the election of Joe Clark's Progressive Conservative government to minority power. Pierre's reign was over and it was only a matter of time until he was replaced, either voluntarily or by persuasion. The King is dead, long live the King is the way it goes with a monarchy or a Prime Minister who has lost an election. Now to the future. As of next March a new leader will be chosen to head the Liberal party and restore it, if possible, to its former prominence in Canadian politics. It's going to be a gigantie task for the new leader because the party's popularity in Western Canada is at its lowest point in many years, and it is going to take a strong, vibrant personality to do the job. Possibly, that person may find bis or her job made easier by Joe Clark's government that to date has not captured the electorate's approval with its policies and by next March could be in deeper trouble than it is at the present time. Certainly, it inherited some of those problems from the Liberals, but by next Spring should have shown signs of coping with them more adequately. We shallsee. In the interim, let's keep a close eye on the contestants for the Liberal leadership while wishing Pierre Elliott Trudeau good health and many happier years of retirement ahead. The Joys of Being an Editor Getting out this paper is no pienie! If I print jokes people say I am silly... If I don't they say I am too serious; If I clip things from other papers, They say I am too lazy to write it myself; If I on't clip things from other papers, They say I am stuck on my own stuff; If I stick close to the job all day, They say I should be out looking for some news; If I do go out and hustle, They say I ought to be on the job in the office; If I don't print contributions, They say I don't appreciate true genius; If I do print contributions, TWfey say the paper is full of junk; If I make a change in a fellow's write-up, They say I am too critical; If I don't make a change, They sa I am asleep on the job; Now; like as not, someone will say that I swiped this from some other paper... Well. . .Idid. Wonder Where We'll Be Spending Christmas? SUGAR and SPICE Bad Scene There has been a tremendous "lions" of our society, for the most there, and they closed from 6 p.m. to or he wanted to show how tougn ne change in the manners and mores of part. 7:30, or some such, so that a-fam iy was.* Canada in the past three decades. I admire a few columnists: man could get home to hisdinner. It.has crept into our educational This brilliant thought came to me as Richard Needham of the Toronto Nota bad idea. system, where teachers drink and I drove home from work today and Globe, Allan Fotheringham of In their homes, of course, the swear and teli dirty jokes and use saw a sign, in a typical Canadian Maclean's, not because they are middle and upper class drank liquor language in front of woen that 1, a small town: "Steakhouse and great writers, but because they hew Beer was the working-man's drink product of a more well-mannered, or Tavern." the wood for'which this country is and to be shunned. It was around inhibited, your choice era, could not Now this didn't knock me famous and let the chips fall where then that some wit reversed the old bring myself to use. out, alarm me, or discombobulate they may. That's the way it should saying, and came out with: "Work is And the language of today s out,1a alame rtcombobulate beey may. ythe curse of the drinking class", a students, from Grade one to Grade is in this country, at this time. But itet's get back on topic, as I tell my neat version of Marx's (?) "Drink is whatever, would curl the hair of a did give me a tiny twinge. Hence my students. The Canadian society has the curse of the working classes." sailor, and make your iaiden aunt opening remarks. roughened and coarsened to an If you called on someone in those grab for the smelling salts. Words arnino arne Natiastonishing degree in the last thirty misty days, you were offered a from the lowest slums and I am no Carrie Nation, who years.cuppa and something to eat. Today, slummiest barnyards create rarely stormed into saloons with her lady Firstthe Steakhouse and Tavern. the host would be bumiliated if he a blush on the cheek of your teenage friends, armed with hatchets, and As a kid working on the boats on the didn't have something harder to daughter. smashed open (what a waste) the Upper Lakes, I was excited and a offer you. A graduate of the depression, barrels of beer and kegs of whiskey. little scared when I saw that sign in Now, every hamlet seems to have when people had some reason to use I am no Joan of Arc. I don't revile American ports: Duluth, Detroit, its steakhouse, complete with bad language, in sheer frustration blasphemers or hear voices. I am no Chicago. tavern. It's rather ridiculous. and anger, and of a war in which the Pope John Paul II, who tells people I came from the genteel poverty of Nobody today can afford a steak. most common four-letter word was what to do about their sex lives. I arn Ontario in the Thirties, and I was But how in the living world can these used as frequently, and absent- not even a Joe Clark, who rushes up slightly appalled, and deeply same people afford drinks, at mndedly, as salt and pepper, have some votes, then decides to go back attracted by these signs: the very current prices? not inured me to what our kidstoday to the starting-line and send in a real thought that drink could be publicly These steakhouses and taverns consider normal. tothe sta ertg-linanden d ral advertised. Like any normal, are usually pretty sleazy joints, on a Girls wear T-shirts that are not athlete, Robert Stanfield, an older curious kid, I went into a couple, par with the old beverage room, even funny, merely obscene. As do and wiser athlete, to attempt what ordered a two-bit whiskey, and which was the epitome of sleaze. It's boys. Saw one the other day on an he knew he couldn't do. And the found nobody eating steaks, but a not all the fault of the owners, otherwise nice lad. Message: ar merely observer of the great many people getting sleazily though they make nothing on the "Thanks, all you virgins -for human scene, in a country that used drunk on the same. Not the steaks. steak and 100 per cent on the drinks nothing. humne neingantrthatsbecome In those days, in Canada, there (minimum). It's just that Canadians The Queen is a frump. God is a to be one thing, and basbeme was no such creature. The very use tend to be noisy and crude and joke. The country's problems are don't have opinions. I have nothing of the word "tavern" indicated profane drinkers. somebody elses problem, as long as dt conifon Ithe mot iniquity. It was an evil place. We did And the crudity isn't only in the iget mine. 'bcti" scornfr th oer have beer "parlors", later pubs. It has crept into Parliament Idon't deplore. I don't abhor. I "objective" journalists who tell it as exchanged for - the euphemism that august institution, with a prime don't implore. I merely observe. it is. They are hyenas and jackals, "beverage rooms". But that was all minister who used street language Sadly. We are turning into a nation who fatten on the leavings of the right. Only the lower element went when his impeccable English failed, of slobs. SM ALL TALB.K TALK Donna Faire y Last weekend was the first time I had heard those seasonal words since last November. "We will have to get together for a drink over the holiday," they said. The Christmas merry-go-round had started. Relatives who were enjoying the same Ronald MacDonald Sunday dinner as I, probably offered the invitation to make amends for the fact we live a mere 10 miles apart and haven't seen each other for a couple of years. I doubt they realized they were responsible for making my Big Mac stick in my throat. No being the organized type who has all their Christmas shopping done and wrapped, the invitation jerked me into panicked reality. Christmas shopping -- bah humbug! Though I'm sincerely not a Christmas Scrooge, I wish I could shed this oppressive attitude in connection with pre-season shopping, card addressing, wrapping and planning. 'Tis' the season to be merry. And like it or not, 'tis the season for aching feet induced by pounding the pavement for that "just right" gift. 'Tis the season for crowded department stores. And 'tis the season for a deflated pocketbook. Spurred on by the diminishing number of shopping days before Christmas, a friend and myself headed for the big city on Saturday hoping to make a large dint in our holiday shopping lists. What dreamers we were! After hours of battling mobs of shoppers, pushing and shoving, crying children, and waiting for sales girls who never came, we would have gratefully traded the posh Eaton Centre for good old downtown Bowmanville. The selection of wares here may not be so varied but the diversity only served to confuse us anyway. Personal attention is an extinct commodity in large shopping complexes and this time of year a person needs all the help they can get. The individualized service offered by our local stores at least helps reduce the mounting frustration associated with Christmas shopping. After five hours of escalator trips trying to rationalize what items might be on what floor, and never being right, the sum total of our purchases amounted to a Christmas gift for eacb{other and one gift for each of our daughters. Aside from the relentless search for presents, there's gift wrap to be considered. The cost of paper, bows and tags now compares to the price we used topay for a gift. Some of our Bowmanville stores even offer an excellent free gift wrapping service. Taking into account the cost of gas, the aggravation and the wear and tear on nerves, I mentally took stock of the situation and couldn't come up with a single reason why I was there. One should maintain a book to record "things l'Il never do again" to keep from repeating them in a weak moment. Judging by the crowds and the merchandise being purchased, it's hard to believe that inflation exists in this country. If these are hard times, I hope I'm around for the good ones. Everyone I know bas everything and that's what makes the shopping so difficult. It's quite an accomplishment to miraculously find something that someone really needs. Generally speaking, Christmas gift giving no longer holds the same meaning it once did. I'm the first one to admit to being caught up in the commercialism of the season. When I think back to my days as a high school studient working weekends, Christmas gifts purchased from my meagre wages really meant something to me as the giver. I could hardly wait to see the look on my parents' faces when they opened them. Somewhere along the line that feeling has been lost and I'm not quite sure when, where, or why. Complain as we may about the cost and the hassle of etting ready for Christmas, it's unlikely even one of us will do anything different next year. We are conditioned to the Christmas shoping scene and all it involves has ecome a Canadian way of life. To put me capper on a totally frustrating shopping trip I was reminded on the way home that not once during the entire day had the real meaning behind Christmas occurred to me. Pulling the car off at Liberty Street and beng glad to be home, I passed the nativity scene on the front lawn of the Catholie Church. I seriously pondered how many from the legions of Christmas shoppers I had encountered that day were in thé same boat.