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SECTION TWO WEDNESDAY. FEBRUARY 22. 1989 Sfit Canadian statesman Durham Region's Great Family Journal Established 135 years ago in 1854 Also Incorporating | /k The Bowmanville News ■ WLfIMM The Newcastle Independent The Orono News Second Class mail registration number 1561 Produced weekly by James Publishing Company Limited 62 King Street West, Bowmanville, Ontario L1C3K9 416-623-3303 Fax 416-623-6161 John M. James Richard A. James Peter Parrott Editor - Publisher Associate Publisher Associate Editor Brian Purdy Mgr. Donald Bishop Plant Mgr. Geo. P. Morris Business Mgr. Advertising I All layouts and composition of advertisements produced by the employees of James Publishing Company Limited are protected by copyright and may not be reproduced without the permission of the publisher. Subscription Rates Six Months --$11.00 One Year--$20.00 Three Years --$57.00 Five years --$90.00 Foreign -- $60.00 per year 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 lor any error In the advertisement published hereunder unless a proo o! 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 if any error so noted is not corrected by The Canadian Statesman Its liability shall not exceed such a portion of the entire cost of such advertisement as the space occupied by the noted error bears to the whole space occupied by such advertisement. Central School Announces Plans for Centennial mmn *. > [gjjUi ti. T i m m m X -, A „ 1 ffjfffifif r . g i ^7 m *> On the Edge of Violence When director Martin Scorsese last year offered up The Last Temptation of Christ, Christians the world over were appalled. The film, they said, blasphemed Jesus while completely rewriting rewriting His story. Indeed, the character on the screen was Jesus in name only. Nikos Ka- zantzakis's novel had restructured the biblical story; Scorsese and his scriptwriter, scriptwriter, Paul Schrader, then changed much of the book before filming. The scriptural version of the life, of Christ was little more than a hindrance hindrance to Messrs. Scorsese and Schrader as they created "their way" of worshipping Jesus. Last week Salman Rushdie, an Indian-born Indian-born British author, had a price put on his head by one Ayatollah Kho- maini, the dour leader of the world's lone theocracy. The Ayatollah's consternation arises arises from certain passages of the author's author's new book. The Satanic Verses, which Khomaini and other Moslems have proclaimed blasphemous to their religion. At the time of this writing the sum offered to anyone who kills Mr. Rushdie Rushdie has reached $6.2 million, double the original offer. (Smart assassins are said to be waiting for the stakes to rise to at least $10 million.) The differences and similarities between between the reactions to the film and book are as instructive as they are fascinating. fascinating. Both Christians and Moslems soon got wind of the contents of the film and book, respectively. Both groups began vigorous protests and in so doing doing heightened the world's interest in Uvl'u vvuJ.xs. li lie survives uc enjoj ln$ royalties, Mr. Rushdie may well feel a moral obligation to forward half of them to Mr. Khomaini who is doing the work of ten publicity agents on the author's behalf. Obviously the role of the Iranian leader is one of the unique factors in this latest drama. It takes a certain amount of gall to announce to the world that you are willing to pay to have someone killed. Such discussions usually take place in decidedly more private forums. A volunteer among many to carry out the assassination is Iran's ambassador ambassador to the Vatican, Mr. Salman Ghaffari. One wonders about the personal personal qualities the Iranian government government was looking for when they chose an ambassador to send to the Vatican. In any case, it seems safe to assume that Mr. Ghaffari's fellow ambassadors ambassadors at the Holy City are being careful not to appear before him with a copy of the book in hand. Christians also had leaders in the struggle against The Last Temptation. One such man was Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, who. offered even more money than has the Ayatollah. In a more civilized vein, he offered $10 million to Universal Universal for all prints of the film, which he planned to destroy immediately. Universal Universal turned him down and released the film six weeks early, anxious to make use of the free publicity. From a wider angle, the entire Satanic Satanic Verses incident throws the phrase "moderate Iranians" into some question. Recently, Iran has been sending more friendly signals to the West in hopes of securing much need- ed investment which it was deprived of during the past decade of its anti- everyone else policy. Issuing bounties for citizens of other countries, apparently apparently to be carried out in that country, seems to shine some light through the veneer of friendliness in which Iran has been wrapping itself. A temptation is to assume that all Moslems are represented by Iran's fanaticism. fanaticism. Obviously, they are not. And for that, the rest of the world should . be thankful because projections show that i|i HO ÿèfc"£ Moslems v. illmkik e|up one quarter of the earth's population. Fanatical Moslems should remain a concern however. The entire Iran-Iraq war was fuelled, at least in part, by this highly flammable orthodoxy, and the severe reaction to Mr. Rushdie's book shows that violence is never far from the surface amongst this strand of Moslems. For now, though, one can just be thankful that someone else is the head librarian at the Tehran Public Library. Library. '/C. : i* 17 '-- Early in June of this year, former students and staff of Central Public School in Bowmanville will be taking part in a centennial reunion. Loads of memorabilia memorabilia have been gathered, including this photo of the Senior 4th class of 1920 submitted by Marion James (Pickard): front row' 1-r, Norman Allison, Howard Cowle, Harold Gill, Hugh Cameron, Ernest Moorcraft, Stanford Symons, Kenneth Foster, Frank Hooper; middle row, Cedric Needham, Stuart James, Muriel Deck, Florence Morris, Myrtle Manners, Grace Barton, Barton, Marion Clough, Mae Manning, lone Quinn; back row, Irwin e Merritt, Victoria Turner, Gladys Withe-' ridge, Hilda Curtis, Helen Osborne, Marion Pickard, Margretta Adams, Mildred Pinch, Myrtle Cole, Winnie Winnie Ward, Clem Percy. Some of the above, no doubt, are already hoping to attend the big reunion. This year marks the 100th anniversary of Central Central Public School, in Bow- manville. A committee of teachers and parents has been working on a number of Centennial activities to commemorate this occasion. Although initial plans are under way, a successful Centennial Centennial needs people. Further Further help is needed from people who are interested in participating in this event. Please contact Central Public Public School at 623-5614, if you would like to become a part of this endeavour. A book, entitled "Centennial "Centennial Celebration," chronicling chronicling the history of Central School, will be available in early May. Advance orders are being accepted now because because it is a limited edition. People who have attended Central School, will want to purchase their copies as soon as possible, while supplies supplies last. In-school activities during during the week of May 28-June 3, 1989 will include: a 1889 Dress Up Day, Decorating the School, School Spirit Day and Centennial Parade Preparation. À neighborhood parade will take place on Saturday, June 3,1989 at 10:30 a.m. It is hoped that family groups, student groups, staff groups, former staff groups and community community groups will take part in this Centennial Parade. Following the parade, everyone everyone is invited to attend the official opening ceremonies on the front lawn of Central School, commencing at 1:15 p.m. Finally, an Open House is planned for the remainder of the day. Various classrooms classrooms will be designated as "Decade Rooms" and will have on display: pictures, books, registers and other interesting items from each decade. To add a little more nostalgia, music from that period of time will be playing playing in the background. Staff members, past and present, will be on hand, as well, to renew friendships and to "test" each other's memories. memories. A unique combination of 100 years of progress and tradition in education creates Central's Centennial. Centennial. Become a part of the Centennial Centennial Celebration. All students, students, past and present are cordially invited to attend the Centennial Parade and Open House. For further information, information, please contact the Centennial Committee at Central School. by Andrea ' Adair Far from an Exact Science During last year's federal election, the omnipresent public opinion poll was the only issue which gave free trade any competition for the title of most discussed issue. Many, including us, questioned the constant polling and its affect on the subsequent election, Since November these public opinion measurements rarely have splashed themselves across the front pages of any newspapers. newspapers. Their findings tend to impact our daily lives less now than during an election (one strong argument for holding holding elections less frequently). Recently, the creative minds at Gallup, Gallup, one of several polling bodies in Canada, ventured to their bank of telephones telephones and offered up this gem for typical Canadians to ponder: How much of each dollar the federal government government collects in taxes do you think is wasted? Canadians engage in a mindbog- gling variety of pursuits during working working and leisure time. Most certainly, however, very few spend time each day or week analyzing the balance sheets of the federal government, anxious anxious to arrive at an accurate calculation calculation of how much money our leaders waste. No doubt eager to elicit an accurate guess, the Gallup questioners must have defined with mathematical precision precision what they were classifying as waste. The word is rather ambiguous otherwise. Weeks likely were spent piecing together a well balanced, culturally culturally sensitive, thoroughly progres : sive definition of waste which could be agreed to by the left and right wings alike from one coast to the other. Several Several polls would have helped in this onerous task. Armed with both the question and the necessary qualifying information, questioners began calling typical Canadians. Canadians. "Good morning sir, I am calling calling from Gallup and I'd like to ask you "Waste!" yells back respondent number 253, "thé crummy government collects enough tax from me alone to pay off half the deficit. You bet they waste money, but they're all the same. Who can you vote for? They all raise taxes ana then waste our money. I hate it." Returning the receiver to the vicinity vicinity of her ear, the Gallup official politely politely reminds him that she would like an approximation of how much money he thinks the government actually wastes. Staring blankly into space, and then scrunching up his face and closing closing one eye, he ventures, "Aaah, let me see. Aaah, I'd say around 40 percent. Ya, 40 cents for every dollar. That sounds about right." Through this exacting process, Gallup Gallup has ascertained what roughly 1,000 uninformed Canadians, at a moment's moment's notice, estimate the government's government's total waste to be. Soon a flood of letters will overwhelm Gallup head office, all expressing the country's heartfelt thanks for shedding light on .ngl - . a few questions, okay?" The reply comes amidst rustling newspapers, a noisy child, and a persistent persistent rock video on which the television television volume button has no apparent effect:'Ya, sure I guess." "We are wondering if you could estimate..." estimate..." she begins, prattling off the carefully considered question. this vexing national exigency. With such success in the field of citizenry citizenry guesswork, Gallup and other polling establishments (copy cats all of them) should rush to solve other, more troubling questions. Some suggestions: What percentage of their incomes do you think your neighbours waste? What do you think Conrad Black's salary probably is? Do you think that David Peterson owns any blue ties? If so, do you think he will wear them when he retires from politics? Do you think elephants have pet names for each other? Do you think the world will end? When? What do you think the favourite food in South Yemen is? Facts need not hinder us as we struggle to respond. Indeed, the pollsters pollsters want instantaneous reactions from typical Canadians, so specialized knowledge probably would warp their curve or some such thing. Because (as polls have shown) Canadians Canadians do a lot of thinking, the potential potential for this sort of exploration of inconsequential, inconsequential, arcane subject matter is Well, how great do you think it is? Every driver in Ontario, Ontario, for the past week, must have been hungrily reading every newspaper and listening to every newscast in order to discover discover how much the new insurance rates are going to hurt. Everyone has, by now, had that question answered. answered. Resulting from the Ontario Ontario Automobile Insurance Insurance Board's investigation investigation into car insurance rates is a decision that is supposed to make the insurance insurance system more equitable. equitable. The new system is designed designed to eliminate establishing establishing car insurance rates on the basis of a driver's sex, age or marital marital status. 1 'find nothing v/iong with the reason behind the new system. Even though I, some . may say, have benefitted " from the current system I have always believed young men shouldn't be paying higher insurance just because they are young men. I can also understand' that the ever-increasing number of accidents on Ontario's roads has resulted resulted in more insurance claims being filed. This, in turn, has caused insurance insurance companies to lose money. What I really don't understand understand is why I am going going to face a gigantic increase increase in the insurance I pay because some people shouldn't have been given a license to drive in the first place or at least do not deserve to continue to hold a driver's licence. The perception has been that young male drivers with limited driving driving experience are reckless reckless on the roads, tearing up the highways with the speed of their wheels and causing countless accidents. accidents. Well, now that may have been the case with some individuals. But, somewhere some insurance insurance rate fixer must have believed • all young men drove like that. Ana this pushed their insurance insurance rates up. If this really were true, why would boys ever be granted a driver's licence? licence? I guess someone realized realized this. Hence, the new equitable system of insurance. insurance. But the problem I have with paying higher insurance insurance is simply this: I don't deserve to, I'm a good driver. I have been driving for six years, have never had a ticket other than for parking at an expired meter. meter. I nave never had a speeding ticket, I have never been involved in an accident of any sort and the first thing ! do when I get in a car is put on a seat belt. I am safety conscious conscious to a tee. While I have been doing doing my best to drive defensively defensively since I was 16 years old, other people have been doing their best to drive aggressively. In my view it's because of those aggressive drivers that rates are going up. I read an article last week that stated the provincial provincial minister of transportation, transportation, Ed Fulton, said the government is considering considering making driving tests tougher and making the penalties against poor drivers stricter. Some people are even calling for periodic retesting retesting of all drivers who already hold a valid licence. licence. This move would make perfect sense to me. It's obvious that too many people think driving is a basic right rather ■ than an earned privilege. I drive from Whitby to Bowmanville every day, witnessing countless numbers of drivers who probably also believe they are safe drivers when they drink. I see people who must think they will always be able to safely stop regardless regardless of how fast they are driving. I see the following evidence evidence of poor driving habits: habits: people who don't signal signal when they are turning, people who change lanes without checking over their shoulder shoulder or signalling to the person driving behind them that they are changing lanes and people people who feel a need to in timidate drivers ahead of them by following so close that bumbers are almost kissing. I blame every one of those drivers for the increased increased insurance rates I'm going to be hit with. I think Mr. Fulton's plan for tougher penalties on poor drivers should be given serious consideration. consideration. Tougher fines may not teach them a lesson but it will certainly hurt their pocket books. Writer is Fed Up with Extra Fees I went to the Bank the other day to pay my property property taxes, ana guess what I am confronted with. The, Bank decides that they are gong to charge us $1.00 to F-'ï oar ÿlnJf. - h i:/A ■' enough that/ they also charge us $1.00 to pay our phone bill and Hydro Bill. Then, on a Daily Interest Savings Acct. at the Bank they charge you $1.00 a month if your balance isn't over $200.00 and then for every withdrawal another 50 cents. If this is not pure greed, then I don't know what is. Where is their integrity integrity and common sense. I think it is pretty near time that we protested loud and clear for as long as it takes to straighten things out. We also should not stop there, as our politicians are no better when they allow mortgage rates to go out of sight. It is time to demand value for our hard-earned money, and also remind them that our pockets are not a bottomless pit that they can just raise taxes whenever they screw up (which is often) to cover their runaway spending. It is also time our politicians had their heads yanked out of the clouds and back to reality reality and find outhow tough it is to live in the real world on $20,000 to $30,000 a year before taxes. To me I don't think they give a damn about the working stiffs of this world as long as they Last weeks issue of "The Statesman" stated" The run by the programme is run py tne Durham Regional Police and the ambulance service." This get their big salaries and tax caption under the front page TiLc allowani'LS \ 1 - phoUgrapht of an i~cUtnt nfc Regional Road 57 and Highway Highway 2 is totally incorrect. As- I stated it is run by Scouting. Scouting. In fact, it is being handled handled by the undersigned as Public Relations officer for When was the last time you saw or heard of a politician politician stick to his election promises? Sincerely, Robert E. Stiles. the local Scout Council and any queries relating to it are forwarded to my attention. I am forwarding this letter letter to you to correct any misconception misconception that may have arisen and request it be published published at your earliest convenience. convenience. Yours in Scouting Ian Wilson Public Relations, West Durham District Scoiit Council. Trauma Teddy Clarification Dear Sir, I would like to clear up some misinformation that has recently appeared in your paper. West Durham District Scout Council with assistance and support from the Durham Regional Police Association initiated a venture venture namely "Teddy Bears for Trauma Victims". This project is being run to help young children overcome the traumatic experience of either either being involved and/or injured in a serious accident, accident, or being witness to a parent or sibling being injured injured severely in an accident. accident. Concern About Roads TRAFFIC HOT SPOTS -- An organization known as the Better Roads Coalition is lobbying lobbying government authorities for improvements in the provincial road networks. Highway 115 from Hwy. 35 north to Peterborough has been listed as one of the areas which needs improvements improvements because of the traffic congestion there. Funding is one of the key problems, according to the Coalition. In a recent news release, it pdtntcd out that while traffic is increasing, the condition of Ontario roads is actually declining. declining. By next year, the provincial government government estimates that 50 per cent of our roads and highways will be in fair or poor condition. Moreover, estimates indicate that by 1990 a total of 32 per cent of Ontario's bridges will need to be replaced or rehabilitated. Incidentally, Incidentally, the cost of building one kilometre of a iour-lane arterial road has been pegged at between between $2 and $2.5 million. It's something to think about next time you have to navigate around some potholes. In the Editor's Mail OUR MILK AND HONEY NOT FOR SALE Dear Editor: There is currently much local concern regarding the proposed developments in the Kendal area. I think it's important that we, as a community, have a clear understanding of just how we would like to see our area develop. From this perspective perhaps we can set some goals, do some research, and get on with it. Let's assume that development development will happen. Any other view must be seen as primarily naive and secondarily dangerous, as it provides no avenue for planned protection. Let's assume that all of us value our heritage, honour honour our roots, and love our planet. Let's be clear about the fact that, we live in a portion of the world sought alter Ly many. Southern Ontario is the land of milk and honey. Our area east of Toronto is populating itself in direct proportion to the popularity of this dear and revered Canadian Canadian land. People are .moving east. We can't stem the tide. But we can, and we must become the decisionmaking decisionmaking body which gives direction direction to this tide. It need not overwhelm us; and we will not allow it to drown us. To this end we cannot rely on elected council, conservation conservation authorities, or any other other groups who nave a multitude multitude ot problems on their minds. They will welcome our intervention, intervention, if only because it frees them up from some of the responsibility, and they also need to know exactly how we feel. I would favour putting an immediate hold on all applications applications for development which endanger in any way the natural course of water. Our milk, honey and WATER WATER are not for sale. Pat Irwin Lycett. Substation Offers More Efficient System Newcastle Hydro's new substation located on the east side of Liberty St. North, between Concession Concession St. and the Third Concession was officially energized on Wednesday, February 15. Power flows into the $300,000 facility from Ontario Hydro lines at 44.000 volts and out over Newcastle Hydro primary feeders at 13,800 volts. The new station is needed to improve supply to established customers and to meet demand from new development in the area. Output voltage at other local substations, except for Spry Ave., is 4.000 volts. The higher primary volatage allows distribution over longer distances without significantline significantline losses. i Newcastle Hydro reports reports that the Liberty Street and Spry Avenue Stations will effectively ring Bowmanville with the higher, more efficient, voltage, eventually, all of Newcastle Hydro's service service area will be converted converted to 13,800 volt primary supply noted that new substation substation and the construction of the new $700,000 Hy dro Commission headquarters headquarters on Hwy. Two and Lamb's Rd., were both built without requiring requiring the Commission to incur incur any debenture debt. As an added safety feature, feature, the Liberty St North substation is entirely entirely enclosed in metal . i 1 > ffgg • Eg □a IsSIssy i„-«' ™gfêjg@8Êgj| Em ■îAt. Vv\ * » lL.: .. ■ - *• Harvey Partner, the Chairman ot the Newcastle prove the electrical supply to existing customers. In Hydro-Electric Commission, throws the switch to offi- the above photo, from left, are: Steve Herzog of Shar- cially open Bowmanville's new electrical substation on on High Voltage Inc., builders of the project; Bud Liberty St North. The opening ceremony took place Moore, Manager of the Commission; George VanDyk, Wednesday, February 15, with all members of the Commissioner; Pauline Storks,. Commissioner; Lme- Harvcy Partner, Chair- Commission on hand to officially inaugurate the new nian Bruce Meadows; Commission. Chairman Ilarvey man of the Newcastle Hy- $300,000 substation. The purpose of the new facility is Partner; Lineman Elwood McQuiggo; and Vice Chair- dro-Elcctric Commission, to meet the demand from new development and to ini- man George Moore.