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PAGE 4THE CANADIAN STATESMAN, July 16, 2003 www.durhamregion.con Tim Whittaker Publisher Joanne Burghardt Editor-in-Chief Tony Doyle Managing Editor Fred Eismont Director of Advertising Eddie Kolodziejcak Classified Advertising Manager Kirk Bailey Distribution Manager Lillian Hook Office Manager Barb Harrison Composing Manager Clarington's Award-Winning Newspaper Since 1.854 Slje Canabtan Statesman I 0 July 16,2003 Metroland Printing, Publishing & Distributing Ltd. Phone 905-579-44. Classifieds 905-576-93. Distribution 905-579-44 General Fax 905-579-22. , Newsroom Fax 905-579-18 ■ E-Mail newsroom@durhamregion.cc . 865 Farewell St., Oshawa ON L1H 7I ' Publications Mail Registration No. 076: infodurhamregion.coir . EDITORIAL e-mail letters to newsrooms' iliirIiamrcKioii.com In theory Durham council is on the right track, but... Not compensating top health officials for SARS is the wrong decision While we're happy Durham council is attempting to set guidelines and follow precedent when it comes to bestowing staff bonuses, they've missed an obvious obvious exception-to-the-rule when it comes to severe acute respiratory respiratory syndrome (SARS) compensation. compensation. Given the chance to provide additional provincially-paid compensation for health department department managers who went above and beyond the call of duty during during the SARS crisis, councillors said 'Yes' to all regional managers managers who toiled to fight SARS - but 'No' to the two people who led the charge, the medical and associate medical officers of health. According to those we spoke with who attended a closed-door meeting to decide on bonuses, some politicians are attempting to stick to a precedent set previously previously when managers grappled with Hie weight of provincial downloading. Top managers were not paid extra for that work so, it is argued, top managers should not be bonused for their long hours battling SARS. Downloading was undoubtedly undoubtedly difficult to deal with, but it can't be compared to the SARS crisis when lives were on the line and decisions made under fire could have had a fatal impact. It's hard to compare long hours of number-crunching with the sudden onset of a deadly 21st century airborne disease. SARS thrust us into an unpredictable, unpredictable, worldwide health crisis that caused panic and tremendous stress on our healthcare healthcare system. Strong leadership and unwavering round-the- clock dedication were needed to calm public fears, manage our health departments and save lives. Medical officer of health Dr. Robert Kyle and associate medical officer of health Dr. Donna Reynolds did an outstanding outstanding job of alerting the public public to the dangers of SARS. Their efforts, in part, ensured there were no SARS fatalities during the four-month outbreak in Durham and the number of suspected and probable cases never rose above a handful across the region. Let's not forget Dr. Reynolds, forced into SARS isolation because because of her job, continued to fight the battle from behind closed doors and windows. While nurses and hospital staff put in punishing hours and have been paid for their extra efforts, efforts, Region politicians have cut senior managers out of the provincially-funded compensation compensation packages. It can be argued Dr. Kyle at $164,341.29 (2002) and Dr. Donna Reynolds at $134,309.67 are well-paid for their regular responsibilities, responsibilities, and as senior managers they are expected to regularly work long hours and go above and beyond the day-to- day requirements of the job. But bonuses for senior staff should be considered when those staff members accomplish something something truly out of the ordinary. Can there be any more clear-cut example of the exception-to-the- rule? We 1 ' acknowledge council's effort to stick to precedent, but it should realize it has made a mistake mistake by excluding Dr. Kyle and Dr. Reynolds. Regional Chairman Chairman Roger Anderson should call an emergency meeting of coun-' cil and councillors should vote 'Yes' to including the top two health department officials as part of compensation provided by the Province for exceptional work during the SARS crisis. OPINION e-mail letters to newsroom(G> (lurhamrcnion.com Trustee candidates few and far between With less than four months to go until the Nov. 10 municipal municipal election, only two people have officially stated an interest in the four positions available on the two mainstream mainstream local school boards. So far one incumbent incumbent and one 'newbie' 'newbie' have officially filed their nomination papers with the Clar- ington clerk's office, each seeking one of the two available positions positions on the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board. At this point, just four short months out, no one has stated an official interest in running for the Peterborough Peterborough Victoria Northumberland Northumberland and Clarington Catholic District School Board. Truth lie told, interest from potential candidates lias not exactly exactly been palpable for any position position to be voted on in the Nov. 10 election. At the municipal level, only one currently unseated unseated politico - a mayoral candidate candidate - has filed nomination papers, though the incumbents have all filed to run for the seats they hold on the current Clarington council. So, why the seeming lack of interest, especially in terms of the trustee positions? It seems, given a recent uproar when the local public school hoard appointed appointed a member from outside the municipality, there would he people rushing forward to run for the office, hoping to ensure ensure good strong local repre- senlalion. After all, that's the argument being made by those who think KPR made the wrong decision in appointing a Peterborough woman to the job when the position became available between elections. Is it just because it's summer? That seems unlikely - after all, nominations have been accepted since Jan. I, 2003, and will continue to open until Sept. 26. Or is it the fact that the Province has largely largely stripped trustees of their powers over the last several years? They no longer have the right to lax and must remain within the confines of the money allotted them by the Ed- ucation Ministry when setting the budget, under threat of fine and other penalties. But trustees still fill important important roles. They do have the task of ensuring the money budgeted by the Province is allocated allocated in such a way that it most benefits students within the board, And they do provide an invaluable link between parents parents and students and the education education system, helping parents access the services their children children need that they might not otherwise have any idea where to find. Perhaps this election is just off to a slow stall, and many candidates are waiting till the last minute to file nomination nomination papers, Let's liope that's the case, because in spile of the removal of some powers, trustees still have an important role to fill. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR e-mail letters to ncwsroom@clurlinmrcKioii.com ITER push requires commitment from all To the editor: 1 find it incredulous to recently recently receive in the mail a newsletter dated May 2003 from our federal Member of Parliament for Durham Riding, Alex Shepherd. The oft-repeated oft-repeated rhetoric of again explaining the benefits of the International Thermal Experimental Reactor (ITER); his peripheral involvement involvement from the federal level; and now his half-hearted support for hosting the ITER project. The preamble of the newsletter newsletter seems to show a lack of connectivity connectivity with his constituents in Durham. The phone lines go both ways from Durham to Ottawa. Ottawa. The cautiousness of our learned MP to fusion research may be rooted to his previous career as a Chartered Accountant Accountant and a Certified Financial Planner. Yes, the stakes are high in what amounts to be the world's largest research and development development project after the International International Space Station but the rewards are much greater. Fusion technology may be the new global energy source which will feed our ever-growing ever-growing insatiable appetite for power without the hazardous fuel waste or greenhouse gas emissions. emissions. ITER would fit into this sitting government's Kyoto Protocol Protocol with a sustainable and clean source of energy. Fusion is the energy source, which powers the sun and stars and provides the earth with heat and light. At last glance, the sun was still shining. Alex, CA and CFP, what is the better investment, the national gun registry or ITER? This is not a them and us situation situation whereby the federal government government is on one side and the provincial and municipal representatives representatives on the other side. If the 2002 Olympic Men's and Women's hockey teams thought this way, neither one of them would have brought home the gold. Every member was an integral integral part of the whole; from Whitby native and former Clarington Clarington resident, Adam Foote, to the Canadian ice technician who laid the loonic into centre ice. I urge all federal MPs to join their local and provincial counterparts counterparts shouldcr-to-shouldcr and not let ITER slip away. Go Team Canada! Go for gold! Willie Woo Newcastle Province must work to help poor To the editor: Re: 'Effort to reduce child poverty has failed,' editorial of July 6, 2003. Your editorial on child poverty in Durham pointed out some disturbing trends. However, you omitted to highlight highlight the one obvious reason for increasing levels of poverty poverty - the policies of the Progressive Progressive Conservative Government, Government, cuts to education, cuts to benefits, cuts to hospitals hospitals etc, etc. A previous editorial in your newspaper was praising the fact that the number of people receiving welfare had been reduced, reduced, although you did not give any indication as to what had happened to these people. Is it not now obvious? Quite simply the Tories have forced people in need off our welfare system resulting in greater poverty in our region. This is the product of a political political agenda and full scale attack on the poor. Ilarvy McAlister Bowmanville OPINION e-mail letters to iiewsrooin@(lurliami'UKi(m.eom Oh those sequels, oh those sequels We seem to be in the middle of movie sequel hell right now. Take a quick glance through the entertainment section of any newspaper and you'll see what I mean. Everything old is new again. The interesting thing is that this recycling of themes scents to limit itself itself largely to the cinema cinema only. Occasionally you'll see a hit TV show spawn a spin-off or two, but these arc not technically technically sequels. The phenomenon phenomenon almost never happens in the world of print. Some authors have made good livings deliberately cranking out books starring the same character, but these, with the exception exception perhaps of the fantastically successful Harry Potter series, are usually niche kind of books, not blockbusters, The big books, the ones everyone has heard about, the ones we re-read again and again and study in school are somehow sacrosanct. Why, for instance has no one ever penned a sequel to Melville's classic 'Moby Dick'? Surely there is an audience out there for the much sexier 'Moby 2 A View to a Krill' or 'Dive Hard'. Where is 'Uncle Tom's Cabin Cruiser"? 'The Manchurian Manchurian Incumbent'? 'Atlas Yawned'? Or 'Hey look, it's Godot'? And who wouldn't want to read more about F. Scott Fitzgeralds' now middle-aged and somewhat pear-shaped protagonist protagonist in 'The Great Fatsby'? Aren't there also millions to be made in the very lucrative lucrative world of children's children's sequels? 'The Cat in tlie Wlieel- 'Where the Wild Things Were'. Or the unsurprising but still very readable 'There's Waldo'. Don't forget, too, about that other clever plot-regurgitating plot-regurgitating device, the prequel. The Star Wars people have very adeptly mined millions from our pockets using this little invention so who knows how many copies 'The Second Last of the Mohicans' might have sold? Or what about 'To take aim at a Mockingbird'? Or 'Gulliver's Itinerary'? Does all this sound silly? Laughable? Why then will we line up in droves to see endless variations and permutations of Roekys, Predators and Termina tors? I'm not pointing lingers here folks. I'll be in those lineups lineups with you. I'm currently looking forward tremendously to hearing Arnic say his newest live lines of dialogue as only he can. My question is, why is it only the movies? 1 love books, probably probably even more than I love films. But I really don't think I would be at all interested in reading a sequel to any of my favourites. Perhaps that's because a really good story, a story that resonates with something deep down inside inside you, whether told in print or on celluloid, leaves nothing else to be said. It is the complete package and anything else is merely chaff. Or maybe, and more to the point, probably it's something much more mundane. Maybe publishers just haven't gotten as hungry for our money as film producers have, If that is indeed the case, then it won't be long at all before bookstore displays are crammed with the likes of 'Catch-23', '1985', 'Funeral of a Salesman', 'Still Quiet on the Western Front,' etc, etc. etc, Sunderland resident Neil Crone, actor-vomic-writcr, saves some of Itis best lines for Itis columns, chair'? Neil Crone Enter Laughing CLICK AND SA^ Today's question: Following the recent study oi ' Canadian police forces, how ; would you rate your relations with Durham officers? □ Excellent i □ Fair □ Poor Cast your vote online at ï nfodurhamregicvi.com Last week's question: Should all levels of government offer more funds and resources to battling child poverty? □ No 49.7% □ Yes 50.3% Votes cast: 187 HAVE YOURSAY Question "Durham Region Council recently held a Beef BBQ in support of local beef producers. Are you concerned about the beef you buy? Do you think Canadian Beef is safe or not and why?" eating more beef. Mad Cow disease news doesn't bother me at all." Cindy Rourke "It has not bothered me. I've even been Chris Issar "I think it's (Canadian beef) fine. I haven't stopped eating eating it and I think it would be a little paranoid to do so." Lisa Walker "I never stopped eating beef. And the news didn't scare me at all." (Eljc Êmiciïmni Statesman is one of the Metroland Printing, Printing, Publishing and Distributing Distributing group of newspapers. The Statesman is a member of the Bowmanville Clarington Board of Trade, the Greater Oshawa Chamber of Commerce, Ontario Ontario Community Newspaper Assoc., Canadian Community Newspaper Assoc., Canadian Circulations Audit Board and the Ontario Press Council. The publisher reserves the right to classify or refuse any advertisement. advertisement. Credit for advertisement advertisement limited to space price error occupies. 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