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2 The Canadian Statesman, Bowmanville, Wednesday, July 27,1994 Section Two Ifit Cattaitati touattian Former Publishers • Rev. W. R. Climie, 1854 -1878 • M. A. James, 1878 -1935 • George W. James, 1935 -1957 Produced weekly by James Publishing Company Limited P.O. Box 190,62 King St. W., Bowmanville, Ontario L1C 3K9 905-623-3303 Fax 905-623-6161 For 140 Years z Our First Concern Has Been Our Community Publisher - John M. James Assoc, Publisher - Richard A. James Plant Manager - Donald J. Bishop Ad. Manager - Brian G. Purdy Editor - Peter Parrott Production Rick Patterson, Laurens Kaldeway, Doug Lugtenburg, Sharon McMullen, Barb Patterson, Ralph Rozema, Jim Snoek, Vance Sutherland, Jim Tuuramo Advertising Editorial Laverne Morrison Brad Kelly, Lorraine Manfredo, Laura J. Richards Office Angela Luscher, Junia Hodge, Grace McGregor, Nancy Pleasance-Sturman, Marilyn Rutherford One Small Step for... When we think back to the moon landing 25 years ago, we cannot help but wonder if the world's space program has gone seriously awry. Yes, it's true that there still is a space program. And it is accomplishing much. But there is a major difference between the program of today and the programs which took place in the 1960's and 1970's. Today's programs are clearly lacking a sense of adventure or a feeling that we are exploring an unknown frontier. Today's astronauts are not modem-day Christopher Columbuses. They are becoming anonymous technicians whose job it is to install and repair satellites or perform boring experiments for the scientific community. This is not the stuff of which legends are made. We have stopped going boldly where no one has gone before. In other words, the space program has become firmly tethered to the earth. Everyone knows one familiar argument against space exploration. There is the fear that earthlings will spend gadzillions of dollars and have nothing to show for it except a few moonrocks and photographs. Folks will say: "Let's get the world's problems solved on the planet Earth before we think of such projects as a permanent colony on the moon or a trip to Mars." Such sentiments are well-meaning. But, they overlook the fact that humans are creatures who must try to meet challenges. Columbus or the Viking explorers could have also decided to forego exploration until conditions were more satisfactory in their home countries. But, they didn't And the result of their efforts was the discovery of what (for Europeans) had been a new world. We should also note that there is no reason why the betterment of the world cannot occur at the same time human beings follow their instincts to explore. There is no evidence that spending money on space exploration means money can't be spent to help the homeless or feed the hungry. It's not an either/or situation. Finally, there is the fact that space exploration encourages the kind of research and discovery which can benefit the lives of everyday folks, including the aforementioned homeless and hungry. And there's also the fact that it can create jobs which might ease the world out of its current recession. But, most important of all is the fulfillment of the human need to explore new horizons and meet new challenges. All of the old frontiers of the world have been pretty much exploited. Even Mount Everest, with its planeloads of adventurers and sightseers is beginning to look like Niagara Falls on a busy Sunday afternoon. Human beings need never run out of frontiers. But, perhaps such frontiers are not to be found here on the Earth. Whether we like it or not, those of us who live in the western world have hitched our wagon to the concept of development, progress, exploring and attempting to control our environment. And, that's what ambitious projects such as the space program are all about. Perhaps it is time to resurrect the space program. We need a space program, not for mundane necessities such as better telephone communications. We need it to satisfy the human drive to explore new worlds. As perhaps President Kennedy and his advisors knew when they committed themselves to placing a human being on the moon, humans need ambitious and lofty goals. m In We Asked... Double Standard Much has been written about a proposal requiring politicians to subject themselves to greater public scrutiny. There is the suggestion that elected officials ought to publicly reveal their financial status, including sources of income, debts, investments, business ownerships, etc. But are we placing undue emphasis on politicians and ignoring another group of people who also make major contributions to the decision-making process? We are referring, of course, to senior government staff members. They have significant input into the government process. And if politicians are to be forced to reveal their financial status and interests, perhaps the same rules should apply to officials who manage the senior echelons of government at the local, provincial and federal levels. In reality, there's little chance that civil service mandarins will have to follow the same rules of accountability established for their elected bosses. In fact, rules pertaining to rights of privacy make it impossible for members of the public to even discover exactly what senior officials earn, aside from knowing that their salaries fall into a particular range for a certain category. You might argue that our political system calls for our elected officials to be fully accountable, even for the actions of their senior staff. Therefore, under the "buck stops here" philosophy, rules should be more rigorous for politicians. But, it is also true that in the present-day Canadian political system, the permanent civil service has considerable influence. Civil servants are not merely trained seals who wait to do the bidding of their elected masters. Much of what can be said about accountability of politicians can be said for senior government officials at all levels. By requiring full disclosure of elected officials but not non-clcctcd personnel, are we creating a double standard? What do you like about living or working in Clarington? .... And You Said Melanie Daniels Courtice "It's a nice, quiet little spot. Not a lot of traffic and we like the school system system better than Durham's. Besides that, the property lots arc bigger. John Colville Bowmanville "It's small and not overly populated yet. I work at Hydro so I don't have to commute." commute." Pat Kossatz Courtice "The people are friendly and the stores are nice. It's a nice little community." community." Ivan Petrie Courtice "It's a nice area. It's clean and the people seem friendly." Next week's question: If the Parti Québécois wins the Sept. 12th Quebec election what effect will it have on Canada?