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SECTION TWO WEDNESDAY, June 15, 1988 Ef)e Canabtan statesman 623-3303 (*ck Durham County's Giset Family Journal Established 134 years ago in 16*^ Also Tncorporatlog The BowmenvWe Nears The Newcaette Independent The Orono News Second class malt registration number 1561 Produced every Wednesday by THE JAMES PU BUSHING COMPANY LIMITED 82-66 King St. W„ BowmanvMe, Ontario UC 3K9 JOHN M. JAMES Editor--Publisher GEO. P. MORRIS Business Mgr. RICHARD A. JAMES Assistant Publisher BRIAN PURDY Advertising Mgr. PETER PARROTT Associate Editor DONALD BISHOP Plant Mgr. All leyouts end composition ot advertisements produced by the employees, of The Canadian Statesman, The Newcastle Independent and The James Publishing Company Limited are protected by copyright and must not be reproduced without permission of the publishers. $20.00 a year -- 6 months $11.00 foreign -- $60.00 a year strictly In advance Although every precaution will be taken to avoid error. The Canadian Statesman accepts advertising in its columns on the understanding that it will not be liable for any error in the advertisement published hereunder unless a proof ol such advertisement is requested in writing by the advertiser and returned to The Canadian Statesman business office duly signed by the advertiser and with such error or corrections plainly noted in writing thereon, and in that case it any error so noted is not corrected by The Canadian Statesman its liability shall not exceed such a portion ol the entire cost ol such advertisement as the space occupied by Ihe noted error bears to the whole space occupied by such advertisement. Legion Pipe Band Marks War Veteran's 100th Birthday Sun W orshippers Beware Next time you're basking in the sun during the long hot days of a traditional traditional Canadian outdoor vacation, you might turn you thoughts to the dangers of skin cancer. Yes, you can add one more thing to the long list of dangers which health conscious people (not to mention the worrywarts) are already aware of. It seems as though sunshine itself is a threat to health, and a serious threat too. All of this means that the deep, copper-colored copper-colored tan that used to be sought by Hollywood celebrities and backyard backyard sunbathers alike may become a thing of the past. Skin the color of the underbelly of a mushroom may eventually be in fashion once again. Of course, it isn't so long ago that , pale skin was in fashion. Only the laborers and farmers farmers and other supposedly lower class individuals used to get sun tans. It was a mark of wealth to have no tan. But then, as time marched on, tans became a status symbol because they proved that you had lots of time to take tropical vacations or to. laze around the pool or perhaps even drive the freeways freeways in your convertible. The poor, working wretches were pale-skinned from laboring in office towers or factories. factories. But now that melanoma has become become a household word, it's entirely likely that tans will become once again the trademark of those folks who have to work outdoors for a living. living. A recent Macleans Magazine has devoted a cover story to the topic of solar solar rays and how they affect health. For example, it appears that skin cancer is now the' most common form of cancer. It's estimated that 40,000 cases of skin cancer will be diag nosed this year in Canada and 2,200 of those will be-melanoma. Of this number about 500 patients will die. Statistics indicate that in the 1930s one person in 10,000 Canadians was the victim of a melanoma. Now, the statistics indicate that one Canadian in 135 will develop melanoma in his or her lifetime. i Could it be possible that this is due to a reduction in the protection from the sun's rays offered by the earth's ; ozone layer. Some people think so. Of course, it may be just a matter of North Americans having more time to fry in the sun nowadays than they had many years ago. It's also possible that the cases of skin cancer were not' as completely documented in the past as they are today. Despite the fact that over exposure to the sun's rays is à recognized health risk, there are some actions that the public can take to protect itself. Some of the following suggestions should be heeded before you head outdoors outdoors for the summer vacation this year. For one thing, over-exposure to sun in the first 20 years of life is a critical factor in later skin cancer problems. , Future illness can be protected by watching youngsters and ensurin that they have adequate headgear an sunscreen whenever they venture outdoors. outdoors. For the rest of us the advice is similar. similar. We should wear protective clothing, clothing, use sunscreen and stay in the shade. Experts especially warn against getting sunlight exposure by intense bursts of peeling and burning. It's more dangerous than to be routinely exposed to sun in moderate'amounts. " Meanwhile, bronze is out. Say hello hello to alabaster. Too Many Chiefs at Hydro If you re a middle manager looking looking for a job, you'd better not go knocking on Ontario Hydro's door. It seems that Hydro has 2,000 more managers than it needs and a report to the big Ontario utility suggests than many of them should be "redeployed". "redeployed". What aniazes us is the fact that Ontario Ontario Hydro has these surplus executives executives on its hands and hasn't noticed them. And we're presuming that the 2,000 didn't all arrive on the job just a few weeks ago. It obviously took many years for the numbers to reach their present levels. Nevertheless, a $1.8 million study by an outside consulting firm determined determined that the utility was overstaffed overstaffed in the middle management ranks. One wonders whether those 2,000 middle managers may have had an inkling of the problem. Or did they understand the over-abundance of managerial talent but not wish to mention it for fear of rocking the boat. (The job they may have cut back could have been their own.) Actually, we imagine that the individuals individuals wno are among the 2,000 surplus surplus managers are probably oblivious to the fact that they are not operating at peak efficiency. Human nature Toeing Toeing what it is, they are probably convinced convinced that they're over-worked and worth every penny of the salaries they draw. There's a saying which proposes that "work expands to fill the amount of time available for its completion". Which explains why it takes an outside outside firm of consultants to suggest that a large organization such as On tario Hydro is just a tad over-staffed in certain areas. That's always one of the problems in government or quasi-government bureaucracies. They run the danger of being so far removed from private enterprise that they lose track of any idea concerning what is a reasonable output for employees. .There should be efforts taken to somehow bring the performance expected expected of members of the public sector in line with those in private business. No doubt there are many government government workers who earn their keep and work just as hard as those in the private sector. But there's a widespread widespread belief that many others are not' pulling their weight. The recent study by Hydro confirms that latter belief. And since government agencies, don't have to keep an eye on profit or loss statements, there's no day of reckoning for departments where there's an over-supply of staff. The sort of study by outside consultants consultants which Ontario Hydro recently completed should be mandatory at regular intervals in all government and public organizations. And perhaps perhaps there should be some kind of exchange exchange programs in which executives from the public sector could work in E rivate enterprise in order to get some ind of understanding of the workload workload experienced by people outside the corridors of government bureaucracy. bureaucracy. Hydro showed considerable wisdom wisdom in completing such a review of its management positions, although one cannot help but wonder why the problem wasn't noticed sooner, before the army of surplus managers reached battalion strength. Cliches Rear Their Ugly Heads If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times... this must be an article article about cliches. What is a cliche. Dictionaries define define them as "expressions or ideas that have become trite". This is not to imply that local politicians politicians sometimes sound 'trite' (lacking (lacking originality, novelty or freshness), freshness), not in your life, by Jove. What better way to phrase bellyaching bellyaching or to put one's two cents in than to use accepted metaphors. Town Councillors express life with finesse when they use phrases that have been done to death, or like dinner. dinner. Being 'nailed to the cross ' by a local local developer, being 'in the flight path' of a large, local conglomerate, or having the issue of a certain nuclear nuclear waste site 'hanging around our necks' arc catch phrase methods of expressing the latest, This doesn't stop at the municipal level. Cliches rear their ugly heads every day in national newspapers (or in newspapers green with envv of national national newpapers). International politicians get their feet wet in the world of cliches. Mikhail Gorbachev was 'banging his fists on the table' over nuclear reduction reduction last week. And everywhere people are 'up in arms' about political issues. Everywhere Everywhere cliches arc used to express these waves of emotion-to a tec. No holds barred on this world of phraseology, where time is of the essence, essence, and ideas must be expressed at the speed of light. No use wasting time explaining issues issues when a little (verbosity) goes a long way. Keep this under your lmt, or under lock and key, but remember, a cliche in time saves nine...and donit hem and haw, they can leave you in stitches. stitches. The Bowmanville Royal Canadian Legion Pipe e d with his Tyrone neighbors who provided a. cake Band gave centenarian John Mitchell a hero's wel- and a marching band. Councillor Ann Cowman was come Saturday at Tyrone's Spirit Day. The World on hand to present Mr. Mitchell with plaques from War One veteran turned 100 this week. He célébrât- different levels of government. Around The Board With Bob Willsher Trustee Ward III Northumberland-Newcastle Board of Education examined and the issues understood understood there is less süpport for Mr. Radwanski's philosophy philosophy on education. And so it should be. His lack of in- depth analysis of the needs of children and the focus on what appears to be his own personal preference leads >iv tty. 1 Education, said the I attended the annual convention convention of the Ontario Public School Trustees Association in North Bay on June 3,4 and 5. This marks the 20th year of QPSTA and their service service to Public Education in Ontario. Most will not really be familiar familiar with OPSTA. Our association association is one of the major watchdogs over public education. education. The association during during the past 20 years has ac- complished much to improve public education. But times have changed. There are three major public school trustee associations in Ontario: Association of Large School Boards of Ontario Ontario (ALSBO), Northern Ontario School Trustee Association Association (NOSTA), and OPSTA. OPSTA. At the convention wo approved a motion to join with ALSBO anti NOSTA to form one Trustee Associa tion for Public Education in Ontario. This, in my opinion, is a very important step for the future of public education education in Ontario. Government in Ontario is influenced a great deal by the various lobby groups. In the past public education spoke 3 times through the 3 associations. This was not always always from the same position. position. This, in turn, lessened our effectiveness in getting Queen's Park to listen. Now, when we address an issue with! Queen's Park it will be. with\one ~clea?;'artdj unified voice. Public education has to benefit. At the Education Committee Committee on June 13 a recommendation recommendation to ban corporal punishment punishment in our schools was to be c onsidered. As this column column was written prior to that meeting I cannot say if it was approved. I hope so. Successful Celebrations Hospital staff and their families, members of the community and good weather weather all helped in making the Hospital's 75th birthday celebrations celebrations a success. Activities started with a bed race down Simpson Avenue Avenue as a finely tuned machine machine entered by the officers of the Durham Regional de-] tachment was the Class of the race. There was no competition for the heat. But in the final,' some tougher competition for the officers was provided by the nurses' team t rom the special care unit. Keep it up Ladies, you'll get them next year. The day's events then continued at Memorial .park with Hal McKnight offically opening the day's activities with a brief welcoming speech as Paul Hendricks and . Michelle Beckett released released 100 helium filled balloons balloons to mark the beginning of the day's activities. Next on the agenda was a ball tournament featuring hospital staff and medjcai ; staff. Showing great stamina] and enthusiasm, Dr. H. B.i Rundle led the medical and nursing staff to a respectable 3rd place finish. The final game pitted the non-union team against the C.U.P E. team. With the G.U.P.E. team squeezing out a.hard fought 12 to 9 victory. The championship championship trophy was presented to coach Rob Magee by, Mol- son's of Canada representative representative Scott Bradley, The main attraction of the day, though, was the ever popular dunk tank. Mrs. Anna Strike, who is the, board chairman of Memorial; Hospital, was the 1st volunteer volunteer to test the frigid waters. Other individuals to also test the waters included Mr. John Cook, Mr. Tom Varley, Mr. Ernie Reid and many other cheerful recruits. It seems to me that corporal corporal punishment is from the dark ages. There is no need for a mature adult to beat a child to convince him or her that their behavior needs to be changed. Given the knowledge that educators possess there are more effective, effective, and positive, forms of obtaining a change in a child's behavior. By the way, from September 1986 to April 30/88 the strap was only used on one occasion in our board. With any luck the Clarke High School/Pin, es Senior Public School parking lot should be paved this suni- mer. Tenders have been called and should go to the board meeting on June 23 for approval. I know that students and staff will be pleased to.see an end to the mess currently encountered in the parking area. I had the pleasure of attending attending the Clarke High School Band parents annual dinner on June 6. The evening evening was enjoyable and very entertaining. It is great to see parents who care about their students and are not afraid to get involved. The support provided goes a long way to enhancing the quality of the Clarke music program. Congratulations Congratulations to those involved involved in organizing the dinner. dinner. The quality of the music program has improved a great deal over the last 2-3 years. Most of the'eredit goes to.the very fine music teacher teacher at Clarke, Mr. Nicholas. It appears to me Mr. Nicholas Nicholas nas instilled a love of music in all those he teaches. The program demands a commitment from the student student but the returns are generous. generous. It's great to see a well run program like the one at. Clarke. Congratulations, "Mr. Nick". It appears there is significant significant reaction to the Radwan- ski Report. As the details are Local or Parachute Candidate Sooner or later, local political parties parties will have to decide on a candidate to represent them in the next federal election. And, in some cases, it could come down to a choice between a high profile, profile, national figure or possibly a home-grown representative who knows the community. A case in point is the question of whether or not former MPP Dennis Timbrell might run in this riding. His name comes up as a possible Tory contender in the federal Durham riding, riding, although nothing is official yet. Of course, in all of these matters, it's the democratic majority at the party level and then at the riding level level itself who will decide who gets to sit in Ottawa for the next federal term of office. But we do have sonic reservations about so called "parachute" candidates. candidates. Look at it this way: In the best of all democratic traditions one elects an individual to represent the local causes and local opinion on the national national playing field of politics. Parachute Parachute candidates arc obviously talented talented individuals or else they wouldn't even be considered. But it alwgys seems to us that the parachute candidate is a man or woman who really has in mind a cab inet post or some other leadership role and who looks upon an election as merely the entry ticket to continuing a political career. Of course, it's none of our business which man or woman is selected by the local riding associations as the party standard-bearer. And the public will choose whoever they please when the general election is held. Nor is it always true that a candidate candidate brought in for the occasion ignores ignores local concerns. Durham- Northumberland MPP Allan Lawrence Lawrence was originally a stranger to this riding, but few would criticize him for his ability to represent the constituency during his longstanding longstanding career in Ottawa. Given the choice between a qualified parachute candidate and a less-oualified local candidate, you wouldn't want to choose solely on the basis of where the candidate happens to live. And yet, with a population of over 50,000, it's hard to imagine that there isn't some person in a .riding of our size capable of being the next MP. If we had our druthers, we'd opt for a local candidate in any political nomination. In the best of all possible worlds, politics should bo all about representation and not about getting elected. one to give his report little Chris Ward, Min- credibility ister of Radwanski report will not be considered in isolation but grouped with other studies. Hopefully, it will be filed in the circular basket. It's that time of the year - examination time. I wish all the hard working students the very best on their exams. I hope that you give it your best and then enjoy the sum-' mer months ahead. Group Bands Together to Fight Dumping Local politicians ana members of several citizens groups gathered along the banks of Wilmot Creek last weekend for a dual purpose. On the one hand, the gathering was aimed at cleaning up the shores of the waterway. As a offshoot, local local politicians and spokes- people wanted to send a strong message to Metropolitan Metropolitan Toronto which has plans to test for a landfill site in the Town of Newcastle. According to event organizer, organizer, Helen MacDonald (she is also the secretary for the Citizens for a Safe Environment), Environment), the support from local local councillors Frank Staple- ton and Diane Hamre was a ' "pleasure." Both council members spoke about the importance of fighting Metro's plans to bring a dump to the Town of Newcastle. Echoing those thoughts were speakers like John Veldhuis, interim chairman chairman of the CSE, and Committee Committee of Clarke Constituents President David Scott. Also of surprise to the gathering was the amount of garbage located on the banks of Wilmot Creek. The cleanup cleanup crews filled many biodegradable biodegradable bags with refuse which was hauled away courtesy of the town's public works department. The selection of the site at the junction of Highway 35/ 115 and Highway Two was made after consultation with the clerk's department, according according to Mrs. MacDonald. Terri McKenzie, secretary for the CCC, said after the clean-up that the group will be going "great guns" in their fight against Metro's plans for a dump. Presently, Metro is seeking permission to test lands east of Newcastle'Village, Newcastle'Village, near Lake Ontario. Ontario. Another site for consideration consideration is property northwest of Newtonville. Mrs. McKenzie says that the CCC will be doing all they can to prevent Newcastle Newcastle from turning into a dump. Everyone loves to slam the média'." f If I don't hear at least one complaint a week I have to wonder if anyone is even reading the news paper. I hear comments about the length of stories, the quotes I choose to use, where the story runs in the paper and the headlines headlines that go with any write-up. Sometimes people mutter as I walk by: "She's the one who wrote such and such a story" or "She's the one who covered covered the meeting and made a mistake in the story." Well, for the record: I'm not perfect (although my attitude might sometimes sometimes lead one to believe. I think I am) nor have I ever pretended to be anything anything more than a learning learning journalist. If there is a problem then for goodness goodness sakes get it out in the open. I have as much interest in getting out the proper facts as readers do in reading them. However, there are days when I'm embarrassed embarrassed to say that I'm a journalist. Tuesday, June 7 \yas one such day. For staff and studeqts of Ontario Street Public School and their Chicoutimi Chicoutimi "twins" it was a day that started like most others. others. The excitement of a trip to the CN Tower in Toronto was in the air and the bus headed off for adventures unknown. Unfortunately, what was to be an activity- filled day had a quick change of direction with one escalator ride. I wasn't there and can only rely on the newspaper newspaper ana first-hand accounts accounts of the incident I have read and been told. However, when I picked up the newspapers and read headlines such as "Tower Terror" I wondered about the lack of common sense and decency decency used when covering covering this story. By the time the various media arrived at the Toronto Toronto location, they probably probably did nothing to help an already frazzled situation. situation. I can almost picture picture the scene. Teachers and parents trying to calm and com fort their students. Ambulance Ambulance attendants helping helping those in need of medical attention. Police Police officers and CN officials officials attempting to determine determine exactly what happened. And, through it all, the mighty media forces recording the entire event on film, tape and notebooks for their stations stations and papers. I caught my first glimpse of the story on an evening news broadcast. broadcast. What I saw was a whole bunch of craziness. craziness. Microphones stuck into the faces of upset and unsure students. Camera Camera operators angling for the best shots of the scene. Parents and teachers trying to keep an already confused situation under control. And, once again, in the midst of an accident at one of Toronto's popular popular tourist attractions, the fearless finders of news were on the job. I can say with some certainty that if the accident accident had happened at a less popular tourist spot, it probably wouldn't have garnered the massive media attention it did. Yet, the problem for me wasn't so much that the media ' covered the event. My difficulty was in the way that the situation situation was handled. Obviously something went wrong with the escalator escalator that the students were riding on. That part seems to be pretty clear. What is also clear is that a number of students students were hurt in the cram-up on the moving device. But to label the situation situation as a "terror" is going going a bit too far as far as I'm concerned. Yes, it certainly must have been unnerving to see friends taken away on stretchers for medical attention. And it almost certainly ruined what was to be the perfect sight-seeing day. However, However, I don't think the microphones and television television cameras did anything anything but add more disruption disruption to a uncertain situation. In their search for what they thought was a huge news story, the nnxvsnnnnln nrnhnd in no- cent children with questions, questions, speculated about the "runaway escalator" and totally blew the occurrence occurrence out of journalistic journalistic proportion. Is it too uncaring and insensitive to say that accidents happen? I don't think so. On one hand the mishap may have been avoidable. On the other side is the fact that something went wrong with an escalator and a Bowmanville student made the front page of the Toronto Star. I counted four reporter by-lines, and at least two photographers (one of whom travelled to Bowmanville Bowmanville shortly after the incident) for the Toronto Toronto Star coverage. That isn't even taking into'account the behind the scenes people who help to put the story together. together. Talk about overkill. Most robberies, rapes and murders don't get that kind of space in the paper and on television. television. Maybe it is a change to read about an accident at the CN Tower rather than all the rotten things that are happening happening in the rest of the world. But I think the bottom line is that the various media committed many staff members to cover the "Tower Terror". They had to come away with a good story after they all rushed southward southward to the world's tallest tallest free standing structure. structure. They did their best to hype tne situation. In the end they succeeded. If one good thing to come out of all the madness madness is the testing of other other escalators for similar flaws then I guess I can admit that some hype is good. However, I still maintain that I found the hype on June 7 to be embarrassing embarrassing to my profession. profession. I understand that the Ontario Street Public School/Chicoutimi students students are recovering from last Tuesday's trip to Toronto. So much so that everyone headed to Canada's Wonderland later in the week. My hat is off to the organizers of the trip because they didn't let one incident ruin the rest of the exchange. exchange.