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Orono Weekly Times. Wedncaday~ November fi~ 1997 LETTER TO THE EDITOR: As far as nature is concerned noUiing is static but raUicr always behng in sorne form of transition. It goes from squlrrcls lioardung cones to frogs makung off into Uic bottom of ponds, with others preparing to sleep Uic wlnter away and of course many of the birds making flights to Uic sunny souUi. Life is a continual form of motion and we can only hope to kcep fit to kccp up. As you well know many of the birds have taken off to their wintcr range but there still are some stragglers showing up along wiUi those that just might stay the winter. Through our good frlend Bill Bunting I'm able to kccp in contact with the bird recordlngs through the Internet botli locally and from a distance. This wcck Bill providcd me wi an Orono Backyard one-day listing subrnittcd by Davd Mudd i Uic north- end of Uic Village. The list includcd two Fox Sparrows, 10 Pine Slskuns, Oregon "Pink Sidcd" Juncos along with Slate-Coloured Juncos, Cardinal, White- Crowned and whitc-Throat Sparrows, boUi Nuthatches, Blue Jays, Purple Finch, Goldfinch and Chickadccs. Not bad from out the kitchen window. I must say that David has a sharp eye noting- the two species of Juncos, punk- sidcd and slate-coloured. A Junco has been a Junco for me over Uic years. It lias always been a quick look and - yes - it's a Junco. The pink-sided Oregon does exist and you can well realize that I now kecp watch for Uiat splash of pink on the side. The Oregon is also listed in Uic book. Another intercsting feature this year at the birdfeeders have been the Purpie Finch of which David lists two maies and two females. In past years feeders have been inundatcd with bouse Funch, slightly smaller than the Purples and with males not as reddish and Uic females not so strongly strcaked. The House Funch was an untroduccd species and multiplicd quite rapidly only to drastically collapse in numbers over Uic past threc ycars. 1A trip along Uic lakefront notes that some of the wuntcr ducks are returning as Oldsqaws, Bufflclieads, Mergansers and Scoters. Also movmng through arc Uic Loons and Grebes. In pasting this wcck I suggest you take a dloser look at Uic Juncos to sec if you can fund a diffcrcnce betwccn the two species. October 30, 1907 To The Edîtor: One thing I leamned in 23 years of schoolhng was that 1 should not input into a con- versation or discussion wlth- out the facts. I observe a lot of "Ignorance pooling" with respect to the current teach- er protest. If 1 was a iÙil-tlme teacher, I'd be hopping mad that the proposed Bill 160 would take away ail my seniorlty and pay grld increments and place me back into the same pay level as a first year teacher. I'd be hopping mad that even though I amn working on an cxlsting legally negotiated contract, this contract would be null and void corne January 1, 1998. 1 would be angry that there would be no furtherjob security in that al teachers would be effectively flred and rehired back on contracts of two to -five year durations. As a physical cdu- cation grad'myscîf, 1 would be hopplng mad that some grade 12 grad who could bounce a basketball could be teaching a grade il1 Physical Education and Health class just because a conitract for two years at $10.00/hour looks attractive to him and the Provincial Govennment. As a person who tries to be fair about issues, it just blows me away that the media lias to travel to barry's Bay to find seven teachers of the 126,000 who have notjoined the pick- et lines. My mathematics would calculate this to be 0.01%! If the Harris Governmnent had been voted ln with 99 + % of the vote, the media would have recorded this as an amlazing event. Yesterday, Ernie Eves struck a low blow in this dis- cussion by complaining that the Govennment was con- tributing too much to the teachers' pension IÙnd. Enie Eves received a buy-out on his Governnment pension of over $800,000.00 as did Mfike Harris! The document called Bill 160 is over 200 pages long. According to the Govenment, the problem le four sentences long. SomethIng here does not compute. Our tourlst lndustry, suin- mer camps for klds, Provincial Parks and parents wishing to holiday with their children depend on thcexi--st- ing school break periods. Isn't It interesting that thc kids can be out of thc classroom for two months ini Uic summer with no "Irreparable" danmage to their Intellect and yet four days in October is toted as being "irreparable" by Mike Harris. School teaches one "how" to leann. The sum total of science actually learned by Uic end of higli school com- pared to the total volume of science one could potentlally learn is zil That's why we have "speclallsts". That's also why Uic more wc know we know, Uic more we know we don't know. Finally, when I heard a woman on Uic radio Uic oUier day say Uiat she could not support Uic teachers anymore because she has to find day- care for lier child - I sirnply say - wow, what an intelligent and clever show of logic and understandhng of Uic Issues. Sincerely, Dr. Morley E. Pitts Graéuate Susan Mary Cawker, Port Hope, daughter of Ray and Mabel Goode, Orono recently graduated from the University of Waterloo with her Bachelor of Arts Degree. She also has attained her Early Childhood Education and Recreation Leadership from Sir Sandford College. Susan is presently employed with the Northumberland-Clarington Board of Education. Congratulations from her husband, Mike, and children Jeffrey and Sara. Also, ber Mom and Dadare very proud of ber success.: