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i Section Two The Canadian Statesman, Bowmanville, November 8,1989 1 s&t Canadian statesman Durham Region's Great Family Journal Established 135 years ago in 1854 © Also Incorporating • « The Bowmanville News U MX 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 L1C 3K9 416-623-3303 Fax 416-623-6161 John M. James Editor - Publisher Richard A. James Associate Publisher Peter Parrott Associate Editor Geo. P. Morris Brian Purdy Donald Bishop Business Mgr. Advertising Mgr. Plant Mgr. 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 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 for any error In the advertisement published hereunder unless a proof of 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 ncX corrected by The Canadian Statesman its liability shall not exceed such a portion ol the entire cost of such advertisement as the space occupied by the noted error bears to the whole space occupied by such advertisement. Editorial Comment Another Milestone at D.G.S. In the early hours of Sunday morning, morning, Ontario Hydro stoked up its first Darlington nuclear reactor and began production of a small amount of power. power. _ In our reporting of the events transpiring transpiring at Darlington over the past decade decade and beyond, it has become apparent apparent that there are no single pivotal events in the history of tne project. Rather, there are. many key events and milestones which are part of an ongoing process. It is difficult to put one's finger on a particular date and pronounce that date as the beginning or the end of anything connected with the plant. There was, for example, the signing of the Town of Newcastle's first impact agreement with Hydro. There was the turning of the sod for site preparation. Then there was the start of construction construction of the first buildings. Events at Darlington have included (in no particular particular order): the installation of the first reactor unit; the pouring concrete at the vacuum building ana construction of an Information Centre. Each of these were milestones in a project that has consisted of a series of milestones. But Sunday, November 5, was significant significant because of the fact that on that date Ontario Hydro's Darlington plant first began to do the work that it was designed to do. Up until that time, not an ounce of power was produced produced at Darlington. Even though the plant has been over a decade in the making, those past 12 years have been merely preparation. This fact certainly highlights the enormous scope of the Darlington mega-project. The absolute size of the plant is one thing that most local residents residents have never_fully_ absorbed. We should note that although Darlington Darlington has produced its first energy, it is not yet operating at anything close to full power. The testing now under way is only preliminary. If the initial results are favorable, Darlington will then proceed proceed to the point where its first unit can run at 10 per cent power - a stage where turbines can be turned on and the plant can actually produce its first electricity. And having successfully operated operated at 10 per cent of its potential power, the plant can apply for permission permission from the AECB to run at full throttle. In the meantime, some nontechnical nontechnical snags such as emergency plans, firefighting arrangements, and a baseline health study remain to be worked out. In addition, each step that was undertaken undertaken at Darlington's first reactor init must eventually be repeated for units two, three and four. Finally, there's the distinct possibility possibility that an additional generating plant equal in size to the current Darlington, project will be added. This Darlington "B" project will, of course, depend on future energy needs and some awesomely awesomely difficult policy decisions by the present or future governments. Such a decision would represent yet another milestone in the lengthy history history of the plant. You might even say it would be a milestone. But, then again, we've almost given up counting milestones at Darlington. There are so many. , Newspaper Plan is Full of Flaws A committee of Toronto's city council council has suggested that the major metropolitan metropolitan papers attempt to limit the : size of their weekend editions in order to reduce the volume of Toronto's trash. While the committee is, no doubt, well-intentioned, its suggestion is just one example of ways in which rightful concern over the environment can deteriorate deteriorate into total nonsense. Most responsible environmentalists believe that our existing cultural traditions traditions need not be sacrificed in order to preserve the environment. That is to say that environmental protection does notmean rationing citizens citizens to the point where their possessions possessions are limited to one chair, one blanket and a tin cup. It's remotely possible that the environment environment could deteriorate to the point where our day-to-day life is drastically altered by the condition of the planet on which we live. But there seems to be agreement among most experts that a vigorous, consumer-oriented society society can still exist in a world which cares deeply about preserving the ecosystem, ecosystem, The recent recycling initiative is a case in point. It doesn't take any extra effort to chuck the tin cans, glass and newsprint into a blue box. And yet, that simple action can save millions of dollars in landfill costs and preserve someone's neighbourhood from yet another another dump site, while conserving scarce resources. Nobody has yet suggested that we should cease to buy those products in glass bottles, and tin cans or quit reading reading newspapers and advertising flyers. Nobody, that is, except for the aforementioned aforementioned committee of Toronto's city council. It seems to us that they're ringing the alarm when it's pretty clear that there just isn't any fire. Here are a few of the rather obvious flaws in the logic behind the committee committee decision: • Flaw number one is the fact that the newspapers which the committee finds excessive are all recyclable materials. materials. With proper education of the public, virtually 100 per cent of the paper could be recycled again and again. So why choose to ration something something as recyclable as newsprint? Why ,npt go after those one-shot throwaway items? Things like disposable food containers, containers, for instance. • Flaw number two is the fact that one industry should not be singled out for a limit on its output. Any directive towards newspapers to limit their size should be extended to all other resource-consuming resource-consuming businesses. For example, the Big Three auto makers should be told to limit the size of their cars in a similar effort aimed at conserving resources.. It's odd that there's no recommendation along those lines from the committee of Toronto's Toronto's city council. We suspect that the city officials singled out newspapers newspapers simply because they are most visible. visible. Flaw number three is the fact that • the suggestion of a ban on the size of weekend papers would unfairly attack one branch of the communications media. media. Newspapers are not the only consumers consumers of resources. Has anyone calculated calculated the energy used by a few hundred thousand television sets tuned to a national news broadcast? If newspapers should cut back on news- rint, perhaps CBC should knock a alf hour off The National and end its programming half an hour earlier in order to conserve electricity. Come to think of it, there is some other television television fare - game shows, perhaps - which could also be sacrificed in an effort effort to save electricity. Flaw number four is the fact that this kind of pressure on newspapers is a restriction on freedom of the press. The size of a newspaper is an economic economic decision, based chiefly on the number number of advertisements to be printed on any given day. It's a decision which should be left in the hands of the newspaper's publisher and not elected officials. Oddly enough, today's concern over environmental issues such as acid rain or the burning of the tropical rainforest, rainforest, is on the public agenda because of the fact that newspapers have devoted considerable space to these causes. Putting some kind of arbitrary limit on the size of a weekend newspaper would interfere with a paper's ability to adequately inform the public. Perhaps Perhaps environmental issues would be among those topics that didn't get proper attention. Flaw number five is the fact that a limit on the size of a Saturday paper wouldn't save a single sheet of newspaper newspaper unless some kind of restriction were placed on each day's publication, Cagey business people who couldn't place their ads in Saturday's publication publication would merely place them for publication publication Thursday, or Friday, thereby bumping up the size of these editions and leaving the would-be regulators scrambling nack to the drawing board for new rules and regulations. The cause of environmentalism is justified. But there are occasions when it seems to become a catch-all for eve- Turn to Page 7 Andrea Adair Newspapers perform many jobs in society. First and foremost, they are a source of information. information. In them, you can learn about the events that are taking place around the world, across Canada and throughout your community. community. Sometimes they raise people's consciousness by bringing to the forefront problems we as individuals individuals should be dealing with. This occurs when, for example, newspapers bring to light issues such as the garbage crisis Durham Durham Region and the province province are dealing with. Other times newspapers, newspapers, and the media in general, uncover what are commonly known as "scandals" with the intent of letting members of the public know if something is happening that may affect affect them. The media, though, are also a medium of entertainment. entertainment. Columns, features features and sports offer something different to everyone who reads them. Newspapers do serve a purpose in our society. But there is a down side to this well-meaning busybody known as the public press. The press, on occasion, may make a mountain out of the proverbial molehill by making stories stories appear more important important than they really are. For example, last week a story emerged about a situation at Queen's University. University. Women students at the school were waging a campaign against date rape by putting up . posters posters that read "No means No". Some male students at the school responded with controversial " posters of their own-- posters that read to the effect that no meant maybe. While I am outraged that such archaic thinking thinking exists, I wonder if the press, by making it a lead story on radio reports and in the papers, didn't make the situation worse. I know that it's not just the media which can sensationalize the news. We all have a tendency to sensationalize stories that we read and that is what happens when the public reacts to stories such as this one. There is something permanent and authoritative when words appear in print. Readers might get the impression from the Queen's University story that the attitude portrayed portrayed by a small segment segment of the student population population is rampant among men and that it is unsafe for their daughters to date. In reality, the boys at the school who probably thought they were being funny may be a little insensitive insensitive to how their words would affect others. others. I think it is easy for people to start forming opinions like that because because I don't think we read newspapers as intelligently intelligently as we may read something like Shakespeare. Shakespeare. We may think that because because we are reading more stories about crime in the area that crime is on an increase. In reality, the rate of crime may be at a rate it always has been and the newspaper reporters are just writing about it more often. Or we may think that something is a big deal because a story receives better play than it deserves. deserves. A story about the ris ing cost of eggs is only a story about the rising cost of eggs. But on a slow news day, it may make the front page of some large newspapers. And, suddenly, the topic reads like like a major catastrophe. catastrophe. The next thing you know, somebody in the House of Commons is demanding a royal commission commission into the expensive expensive eggs that everyone is talking about. The media can give a false impression of a situation situation regardless of how unbiased they are when they try to deal with it. Depending on how the reporter reporter deals with the sto- 17, the position of the story story in the paper and how you, the reader, respond to the story, an unbiased article may begin to lose its neutrality. The point I'm trying to make is as follows: When yoù're watching the news or reading it, you have to view it responsibly and with an active, inquiring, and critical mind. Regardless of what you see or hear via the media grapevine, you should still use you own judgement judgement and rational thinking thinking before sounding the alarm like "Chicken Little". Little". Women of Distinction Nominated by YWCA Four local women, along with 21 others across Durham Durham Region, have been nominated nominated as Women of Distinction Distinction in the YWCA's eighth annual Women of Distinction Distinction Awards Dinner. The nominees from this area are: Christine Climen- hage, nominated by the Port Granby-Newcastle Environment Environment Committee; Jane Ec- clcs, nominated by Doug Dewell; Dewell; Marie Hubbard, nominated by by Marianne Zakarow and Elfriede Haunsberger; and Tracy .Welsh, who was nominated by Cathy Collacott. Other nominees are: Barbara Barbara Brown by the Oshawa and District Council for the Arts; Jeannine Butler by the Oshawa and District Council Council for the Arts, Margaret Campbell by the Oshawa and District Association for Community Living; Lori Cook by the Student Administration Administration at Durham College; Nicole Marie Fields by Paul Dwyer High School; Patricia Fulton by Oshawa Revenue Toastmasters' Club; Gilberte Gilbert by La Federation des Femmes Canadianne- Francaises d'Oshawa; Betty Green by Helen Roussy; Maureen Ham by Twila Ball; Amanda Humphreys by R. S. McLaughlin Colle- 'ate; Robin Jones by The enise House/Sedna Women's Women's Shelter and Support Services; Karen McMillan by Alzheimer Society of Durham Durham Region; Joyce Marshall by First Oshawa International International Training in Communication; Communication; Chantale Menard by Denis O'Connor High School; Leena Naik by East- dale Collegiate; Lillian Nis- bet by Durham Teachers' Association; Jo Anne Prout by Third Thursday Breakfast Breakfast Network; Judy Spring by Durham College; Sandra Sweet by Simcoe Hall Settlement Settlement House Board of Directors; Directors; Debbie Towell by Cathy Cathy Kelly; Jill Van Camp by Blackstock Women's Institute Institute and Joyce Marshall by the Durham Business and Professional Women's Club and by the Small World Nursery School. The contributions of these distinguished nominees nominees will be celebrated at the YWCA Awards dinner on Thursday, November 9. The keynote speaker will be Ann Medina, television journalist and foreign correspondent. correspondent. A further attraction will be the Co-operation for Development Development International Boutique. Special items are imported from YWCA- related countries and will be for sale. It's a good place to start Christmas shopping for special special people. Proceeds help support projects related to primary health care, food production, education programs programs and clean water in developing countries througnt the World YWCA. New Medical Officer Sets Future Goals F or Durham Region by Andrea Adair Promotion of healthy lifestyles, lifestyles, educational programs and alternatives to hospitalization hospitalization are some of the mandates mandates Durham Region's new medical officer of health will be undertaking to deal with the crisis in health care. Dr. Steven Gold, the. interim interim replacement of the retiring retiring Dr. Jean Gray, addressed addressed members of Regional Council last week to discuss, what he termed, one of the "fires" burning in this community. In his speech Dr. Gold cited cited hospital bed shortages as a crisis in health cafe in this region as well as across the province. "I have worked as a family family physician in this community community for the past 10 years. It is becoming increasingly frequent frequent that I, like many other other physicians, arrive at the door of the Oshawa General Hospital to find a sign posted: posted: "Acute Care Bed Shortage Shortage - Please discharge patients." patients." Dr. Gold said that one- third of the total provincial budget is eaten up by the health care budget.. Potentially heavy consumers consumers of the health care dollar, dollar, he said, are people over the age of 85 - a section of our society that is increasing in numbers by a rate of 10 per cent a year. "Unless the status quo of health care is changed in our society, health care requirements requirements will gradually consume larger per centages of the provincal budget," he stated. The solution to the crisis, he said, is found in the new mandates for the regional departments of health in Ontario. "Departments of health are mandated to promote healthy lifestyles including the promotion of proper nutrition nutrition and exercise," he said. Departments of health also deal with preventative medicine such as educational educational programs concerning smoking, nutrition and sexually sexually transmitted diseases. "As if this is not enough, Home Care, the lower cost alternative to some hospitalizations, hospitalizations, is under the auspices auspices of the department of public public health," Dr. Gold said. He called on the support of councillors for their understanding understanding and for them and the public to take responsibility responsibility for their own long terni health. "Good public health-leads to prosperity; prosperity does not necessarily necessarily lead to good public health," he added. Ghost Story Arouses Another Tale Attention: Peter Parrott: Dear Peter: Read your article on the local haunted house with much interest. I believe I have met your homeowners some months back and we exchanged ghost stories about our homes. Unfortunately, we do not reside in our haunted house any more. After we moved, we were hoping that our ghost had thrown a few things in a bag and followed us, but she didn't. We were disappointed. We'd lived with her for eight years and had come to rely on' her being being there. We know she was a 'she' ghost because of the things she did and the objects around the house that interested interested her the most, though sometimes I openly accused her of being a worse child than my own. When I would insult her by calling her a child she would be silent and stay hidden for at least two days, sulking I suppose. She did much of her haunting in the kitchen before before the children were born and then she spent a lot of time upstairs. Some of her 'antics' were frustrating. For instance, she loved to put the old wringer washer in reverse and squirt the clothes back at me on busy Saturday mornings. I had many a tussle with her over which way the handle was going to go. I was as adamant adamant ns she - though I usually usually gave up and unplugged the machine rather than let her have her own way. Ghosts are really strong - I didn't have a chance with her.. Then there wore the times that she would play with the pendulum on my son's clock - one of those bunny clocks whose eyes move as the pendulum swings. She would stop the pendulum from swinging by catching it as it came up - usually on the left swing. The rhythm of the clock kept my son - who hated to go to sleep in case he missed something - sleeping like a baby'. Whenever she interrupted interrupted the ticking sounds he would stir and often wake up. It was ages before I found out what kept waking him. When I finally caught her I verbally lambasted her right there and then. She never touched the clock again. We decided to remodel the kitchen one year. My husband took down a couple of tiles from the ceiling so he could have a look at just what was needed during the renovations. It was that way for a couple of weeks until we could get the materials we needed. He was out to a meeting one night and I was ironing in the kitchen There was a lot of noise upstairs, but I thought it was coming from next door ( we lived in a 75-year-old semi). But the banging and pounding grew steadily louder and I realized realized it was coming from the room over my head. Suddenly, Suddenly, with one great bang and crash, dust and debris came tumbling down through the hole in the tiles all over me and my ironing. I was so scared I ran next door to the neighbours, I figured figured she had gone mad and might do me harm. I was wrong. My husband was home in a few minutes and we checked out the upstairs room where she had been heaving things around. Everything was in its place. It was unnerving, but it was the only time she ever did anything like that. She used to admire my scarves and would pick them up and look them over. The first time she did it I nearly passed out from shock, but after that I was expecting it every morning. If I spoke while she was admiring admiring a scarf, she would drop it immediately. If I said nothing she would put it back when she was finished. She loved to play with the kids' alleys and little cars, especially during afternoon afternoon nap time. The first time she rolled them across the floor I thought it was the boys up playing instead of napping. But fast asleep they were, so I held the door open and asked her to leave the room until they were awake. I let her know that she was welcome to play with anything she wanted while they were awake. My ghost, too, had a cat. In act, we think there were two cats. We also had two cats ( at one time we had' five) and they always came home for supper and bed about 11:00 or 11:30 each night. They had a cat door and came and went as they pleased. Neither of us went to sleep until the cats came in and hopped on the bed and cuddled in for the night. We jokingly said, "Well, the kids are home, now we can go to sleep". Then, one night 1 felt a cat jump on tne bed. It didn't feel like one of my cats. It didn't cuddle into my feet the way my cats did. It walked the perimeter of the bed, yet I felt no whiskers and heard no purr as it softly softly padded by my head. I reached out and switched on the light and there was no cat to be seen. Once the light was out again, the ghost cat settled down on the very corner by my feet. Soon after, my own cats came to bed and the ghost jumped down. That ghost cat came and walked the perimeter of the bed every night after that, then left when my own cats came to bed. There was another another one that joined us only occasionally - he was a heavy one and he came to bed only two or three times. When we saw our ghost it was only a sort of shadow. It's hard to explain it. There was no definite shape and no features were visible, but her appearances certainly raised the hackles on the dogs and made the cats freeze with fear. Sometimes we could hear her on the stairs but our stairs were carpeted and we had fixed all the squeaks, but every now and then she had a heavy foot. We were never really afraid of her, but I felt her existence from the moment I stepped foot in that house. At first I put it down to the fact that the house was old and that we viewed it by flashlight - the power had boon olT as the house had been empty for a couple of months. Then, on moving day, my husband measured all the windows and went out to buy drape track. I was petrified to bo in the house alone because "there's a body buried in the basement", basement", I said. I could feel her presence but I couldn't quite tell what it was at that time. We soon found out what it was, though. We also found out that she initiated the new owners their second day in the old place. She had placed a half rotted dead cat at the foot of the basement stairs. Those poor people. Apparently it smelled to high heaven. I hadn't told them or the real estate lady about the ghost. You know how some people are about things like that. These are just a few of the things that happened while we had a ghost. I hope your article brings some more ghost owners out into the sunlight. It's certainly an odd experience living with a ghost but I'd never have my ghost exorcized unless unless she became violent. And she never did. And believe it or not I was never worried about bringing a baby into the house with her there. I told her all about the expected expected arrival and asked her to help me look after him. She did - both times. I have my suspicions about some of the things that happened sometimes when mv back was turned, but e'es In vie. After nil, she was only human - once upon n time. . We had a visit by another ghost - once - for a few minutes, minutes, but this one was up to no good. I soon put her out, too. But that's another story. Thanks for your time, Peter. Peter. Slier Lcctooze.