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I [ Editorial Comment ] Amateurs Are Hard to Find Although the Olympics have added many new events to the list of sporting competitions since the first Winter Olympiad, it may soon have to add a separate division for lawyers and red-tape-infatuated officials officials who decide player eligibility. eligibility. It appears that even the prestigious prestigious Olympic games are victims of deceit, fallacy and outright cheating, cheating, despite attempts to keep the events open to only amateurs. Professional Professional athletes are not allowed to participate, according to the International International Olympic Committee. As a result, several players from Team Canada and other teams have been found ineligible because of signed professional contracts and games played with professional teams. According According to the rules these players should not be eligible to play. And if these are the rules, we feel the IOC should enforce them. But, how can the IOC enforce such rules when European countries have been fielding "professional" teams for decades? These teams, namely Russia's Red Army team, say they are amateurs, but it is a accepted fact that they are not. These players are paid, the better players are paid well, and the re ally good ones could retire on the money they make from endorsing Andropov Ale and Lenin Liquor. However, the Russians are not the only amateurs to fall into this category. Our own downhill skiing heroes certainly receive remuneration remuneration for pulling those Fischer racing racing skis up to their shoulders at the bottom of the hill. Fischer and other ski companies make big bucks from that five second shot of Steve Podborski holding up the fastest fastest skis in the world. As you can see, the problem facing facing the International Olympic Committee Committee is quite complicated. How is an amateur to be judged? By previous previous playing experience, by income, by skill, by nationality, or by the desire desire to compete head to head with the world's best in the most prestigious prestigious and competitive sports event in history? Perhaps the problem could be solved if the Olympics were open to everyone, professionals and amateurs. It would give nations a chance to send their best players into competition. Unfortunately, it would destroy the prestige and competitive spirit that is truly unique to the Olympics. Letter to The Editor Re: Reassessment Causes Concern January 24,1984 Dear Editor: So Mr. E.C. Aldridge, Valuation Manager for the local assessment of this region, was "pleased with the interest that the people are showing" regarding the recent reassessment. Mr. Aldridge and the Mayor and Town of Newcastle Council should be more concerned than pleased if they have any idea at all as to why so many people made inquiries. Could it be that people are fed-up with yet another round of tax increases with nothing to show for them? Could it be that there are more than a "few drastic changes in assessment"? Could it be that 25-40 per cent increase is not considered drastic, it's horrendous ! , It appears to many people that the recent reassessment of property will result in a substantial tax increase with no justification whatever. This is just another example of the highhanded highhanded way politicians are playing their games. They have not considered, for example, that some people on fixed incomes cannot afford horrendous tax increases, or that the resale value of properties may be drastically reduced. But, on the other hand, maybe these elected representatives have considered these things - maybe they just don't care! J.W. Cughan R.R. 5, Bowmanville Horrendous Reassessment Dear John, Well, John, as the saying goes the stuff is about to hit the fan in relation relation to the reassessment matter. I felt it would only be a matter of time before the people got up in arms with our elected people. I attended a meeting today and it would appear appear that the Council will now be faced with a Ratepayers Association Association and I would assume that they will be not only looking at the past assessment but will also be watching watching for unnecessary spending of the tax dollar. I wish them all the best in their effort and if I can be of any assistance to them they can be assured assured of my help. I notice in your last edition that Councillor Cowman had a letter in reference to the assessment and although although I read it, I now wonder why she never made a big noise about it before Council adopted the reassessment. reassessment. You know it is very easy to make a noise after the place catches fire, the proper way in my opinion is to holler loud and clear before the fire starts. John, I have heard of people winning winning prizes twice in a row but we call that a coincidence, now my question is this? 1. How many of Council voted for reassessment and how many opposed? opposed? 2. How many of council had their assessment lowered and how many had it raised? No doubt, when the Mayor reads my letter he will be able to reply as I think he should have that information information by now, but thenagain if he never reads my letters how will he know that I am asking the question! Blit nevertheless, I think I can come up with the answer and that is what you could call quite a coincidence. In reference to the upcoming budget, as I read the schedule (Confidential, (Confidential, I think), it would appear that the Council will have one last crack at the budget on Feb. 10 then it will go open to the press. It would not surprise me if some members have not had any input into it at this point, so I really don't know how they could even discuss it honestly, but all is not lost as we do have STAFF who can run the show and Council (SOME OF THEM) will be the show. You know, John, the day might come when our elected officials officials will take the reins and say from here on we as elected people will run the show as we were elected to do. After all we are paying paying them. This now brings me to the point of salaries and expenses of these elected people and as I read the report it looks like we paid through the nose in the mileage end, it is no wonder the mayor has not replied. I could tell you a lot more but as you know, certain things are confidential confidential and I would not like to tell you all in open so we will meet in camera some day and discuss the items further. On that subject, did you know that they adopted a policy of what is confidential and then as I understand, the administrator asked your reporter not to publish the fact that we had a breakdown in the area equipment. (SO MUCH FOR THE CONFIDENTIAL POLICY). POLICY). Yours Truly Ken Hooper Qtljc (Kanabian Statesman 623-3303 0NA Durham County's Great Family Journal Established 130 years ago In 1854. Also Incorporating The Bowmanville News The Newcastle Independent The Orono News Second class mail registration number1561 Produced every Wednesdey by THE JAMES PUBLISHING COMPANY LIMITED 82-66 King St. W„ Bowmanville, Ontario L1C3K9 I/ LU JOHN M. JAMES ■ Editor -- Publisher GEO. P. MORRIS Business Mgr. BRIAN PURDY Advertising Mgr. RICHARD A. JAMES Assistant Publisher DONALD BISHOP Plant Mgr. All layouts and composition of advertisements produced by the employees ol The Canadian Statesman, The Newcastle Independent and The James Publishing Company Limited are protected by copyright and must not be reproduced without written permission ol the publishers. 115.00 a year ~ 6 months $8,00 strictly In advance foreign -- $45.00 a year Although ovory prucmitlon will bo taken to nvoid error, Thu Cunndi.in SUIosimin nccoplr, iKlvoitlsing in Its columns on the undwfitnnding Hint it will not bo liable lor uny error in the iidvortisoimml publlshod hcroundor unies*» it proof of tiuch wIvuMifiomunt is roquoalw! in writing by the advurtlsur and ruturnml to Thu Cnnnduin Üliitosman bualnosa office duly signud by Iho ndvortlnor nnd with such error or corrodions plainly noted in writing Ihuroon, and in that caso if any error so nolwt is not corroctod by Thu Canadian titalov.inan its liability shall not uxcoud such a portion ol tho entire cost ol such 'idvortlstmunl as tho spaco occupiml by tho noted error boars to tho whole spaco occuplod by such advortifiomunt Condado Beach, San Juan SUGAR and SPICE Canadians Are Boring T i 4 « Canadians, on the whole, are probably the most boring conversationalists conversationalists in the entire world. I don't say that idly, merely to put backs up. I say it from agonizing personal experience. It's not because we are a dull people, though we are. It's not because because we're stupid, because we aren't. It seems to be based rather on a sort of philistinism that labels interesting conversation as a "cissy" pastime, fit only for dilettantes, dilettantes, idealists, Englishmen of a certain background, educated Europeans and other such intellectual intellectual trash. Next time you're at a dinnerparty or any similar gathering, lend an ear. The dialogue will depress you deeply. Perhaps the real fault lies in the fact that we are basically a nation of materialists, and that we have become become more and more so, with the withering of the churches and the increasing affluence of our society. Our topics of conversation change with the decades, but remain remain awesomely inane in their content. content. A few decades ago, men could talk for hours about cars and hockey, hockey, while women chattered incessantly incessantly about children and recipes. Nowadays, the men talk about real estate and boats, and women go on and on about Women's Lib and the trip abroad they have just '"■Sziken or are just about to take. And they all say the same thing, or near enough. All of them, especially the men, are absorbed by their vocations, the sadistic cruelty of the revenue department, department, and their latest acquisition, acquisition, whether it's a power cruiser or a swimming pool in the back yard. Get a gaggle of editors together and they talk shop, golf, and how much advertising linage they carried carried last year. Seldom a word about a powerful editorial campaign they are going to launch to halt an evil or promote a good. Dig up a deliberation of doctors, put a glass in each hand and listen to the drivel about the iniquities of medicare, the ingratitude of patients, patients, the penal taxes they pay, and the condominium they just bought down south. Not a Best nor a Banting Banting in the bunch. Lawyers are just as bad. They may be a bit more sophisticated than the doctors, but they're just as dull. Dropping hints of inside dope on politics. Obsessed by the possibility of getting a judgeship or at the very least, a Q.C. Criers of the blues about the taxes they pay. A party, of politicians is even worse. Jostling for attention, back- slapping everything that is warm and breathing, needling the enemy, seeing everything in black and white. "Theylre black; we're vypite." Behind the politicians, but 'not far, are the civil servants. Empire builders, defenders of the status quo. Everything is quadruplicate. Everything secret. The public is the enemy. Always go through channels. channels. Keep your nose clean. Don't get a black mark on your record. Dull, dull. Ah, ha! The farmers have been sitting back enjoying this. They're every bit as bad as the rest. It's the government's fault. It's the chain stores' greed. It's the fickle public. It's the weather: too hot, too cold, too dry, too wet; or, if the weather is perfect and the crops are superb, it's taking too much out of the land. Business men are just as culpable of devastating dullness in their conversation. conversation. Too many forms to fill out. Lazy clerks. Second-rate workmen. workmen. Those dam' shopping plazas on the edge of town. Manufacturers are in the same boat. Wages are too high. Can't get parts, what's the matter with those people? Too much absenteeism on Monday morning. Profit down .03 per cent last year. Can't compete with those lousy foreigners who work for peanuts. Too much government government interference. Dentists ditto. They are just as dull as the others, but they commit the crime of asking a particularly dull question when your mouth is ,so full of junk that all you can do is grunt, and then they think you are interested and agreeing with their platitudes, when what you are trying trying to say is: "Shut up, turkey." As you know, I always save the best to the last. When it comes to dullness supremo in conversation, I have to hand it to the teachers. They go on and on and on about some kid who just won't do his homework, or some meaningless memo from the office, or some students students who decided to spend a nice day in God's great out-of-doors instead instead of in a dull classroom with a dull teacher. Maybe I've been harsh in this somewhat blanket condemnation. Certainly none of my friends are dull conversationalists. Maybe that's why I have so few friends. Or perhaps my remarks are based on pure envy. I haven't got a condominium condominium in Florida. I haven't even a row-boat, let alone a cruiser. I haven't a two-car garage. That's it. Jealousy. I don't have a swimming pool or a little place -- just 40 acres, mind you -- in the country. That's why I can't stand around with the doctors and lawyers, etc., and commiserate with them on the fact that the price of steak is going absolutely out of reach of the ordinary ordinary professional man who is making making only forty-five thou a year. February 4,1984 The Editor, The Canadian Statesman, and The Newcastle Independent. More on Reassessment Mr. James: It is a matter of record that the Mayor of our Town and three Town Councillors knew that the assessed value of 70 percent of homes in the former Darlington Township would increase as a result of reassessment. To illustrate the impact of this decision, I feel strongly that I must report the results of a study performed performed on eighteen homes in my immediate neighbourhood. We are a rural area with limited municipal and regional services and a normal mix of newer and older housing. The Regional Assessment Office, in its wisdom, has concluded that the total market value ot these eighteen homes increased by 37 percent between between 1975 and 1980. The total assessed value therefore increased by 23.5 percent after reassessment. These eighteen homes paid total property taxes of $30,337 in 1983; this will increase to $37,466 in 1984 before any allowance is made for mill rate increases. Averaging this new levy over the eighteen homes, each will pay an additional $396 simply because because the Mayor and three of the six Councillors voted for reassessment. Seventy percent of the homeowners in the former Darlington Township should be warned that this additional additional levy could be typical throughout the west half of the Town of Newcastle. Newcastle. Homeowners in Darlington should ask the Mayor, the Chairman of the Regional Municipality of Durham and the Chairman of the Northumberland and Newcastle Board of Education where they plan to spend the additional thousands of dollars collected from homeowners in Darlington. Homeowners in this part of the Town of Newcastle will be told by the Mayor that they have been reassessed because they have not previously been paying their fair share of municipal, regional and school taxes. Many homeowners were told the same thing by the assessors during the recent Open House Sessions. It is my belief, Mr. James, that homeowners in this large part of the Town of Newcastle should decide for themselves whether they have been paying their fair share. The Mayor and his three Councillors should be held accountable accountable for their decision and for their attitude toward all property taxpayers taxpayers who saw their assessments increased. The question should be asked, Mr. James, whether the Mayor and three of his six Councillors, fearful of being held responsible for substantial substantial mill rate increases, chose to use reassessment as their scapegoat, scapegoat, thus shoving homeowners in the direction of the Assessment Appeal Board. This sleight-of-hand and kick in the ants has not gone unnoticed by the omeowners in the west half of the Town of Newcastle. Sincerely, Stanley Norrish, R.R. 1, Bowmanville