The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

= Scugog Citizen -- Tuesday, March 9, 1993 EDITORIAL | Sober thoug Here's a sobering thought Almost 90 per cent of all drivers involved in an alcohol accident are male thirds of al booze took place on the weekends And 38 per cent of these accidents involved a driver between the ages of 25 and 34. Drivers aged 16-24 were the next highest, accounting for 28 per cent of all the booze related accidents So what do these numbers from the Ontano government tell us? That there are more drivers on the road between 25 and 34, thus statistically they are bound to be in more drinking related accidents"? That males do far more dnving than females, which explains why 58 per cent of these acaidents involved a male driver? Well, maybe, you could agree with that But a more likely explanation 1s that all the hammenng that has gone on over the last decade or so about the perils of drinking and dnving has not sunk in with males in the 16-34 year age group Could 1t have something to do with the old the "bottle courage" that seems to be part of the hfe-style of so many young men these days They hike to When they get a few drinks in them, they just believe they are beyond harm Possibly all the anti-dnnking and diving messages cmedia posters, ete) just aren't getting through. The courts have certainly taken a tough stand with fines in the thousands of dollars, not to mention loss of licence for a year or 0, not to mention sky-high insurance rates after one conviction for drunk dnving While the indications of drinking-dnving among young men 1s certainly a cause for worry, the numbers on overall accidents involving booze in Ontano has dropped considerably between 1982 and 1991, according to the Attorney General's office The dnnking-drving crash rate is actually down 58 per cent in this ten year period and that should make one feel just a tad safer getting behind the wheel But then consider this. There were 14.000 Ontario drivers involved 1n alcohol-related accidents in 1991 And that is far too many, no matter how you cut the statistics Continued education, tough sentences and stepped-up enforcement are clearly needed (ff Ontario as to reduce that Yumber to make the highways a whole lot safer than they are right now Goodbye Ben The strange and tortured saga of Ben Johnson's career as a sprinter has apparently come to its final end with his announcement Sunday that he is retiring from competitive sports Last week the IAAF suspended Johnson for life after he tested positive in January for a banned substance. In a strange twist, Johnson declared his innocence, but declined to appeal the ruling citing the cost for legal fees ($100,000) He also declared he was free of performance enhancing drugs after being stripped of the gold medal in the 1990 Olympics and it took a national commission to finally get the truth. There is a great temptation to say that Ben Johnson was a "victim" of society's demands for nothing but first place and all the wealth and trappings that come with it in world level athletics. There may be a shred of truth in that, but eventually an individual (athlete or not) must take responsibility for his actions Ben Johnson knew what he was doing, knew the drugs he was taking were banned and that if he was caught the penalties would be severe When all is said and done, he himself. vlated and two acardents involving "macho" mentahty "hive on the edge" has nobody to blame but J MAHoxey YOU CAN RUN | aur YOU CANT HIDE woo se To Tur Enitor ----4 Mulroney, Clark, Canadians? To the Ediwr Much has been said about the departures of Joe Clark and Brian Mulronéy from the political scene. Of Clark, it 18 best said that he was basically a decent chap, beset by awk- ward strategies and personal failures. Of Mulroney, ire virtually no Canadians who regret his departure there What stands out most for me = was the extreme ¢raving both men had to be sephisticated "worldly" Verceived as people Soat was that they made every eflort to gatherings on attend internation) behalf of Canadian taxpayers, never too concerned about associated expenses Often, their very presence made such gatherings seem untidy. Both had the unusual capacity to be photographed with some rather unsavory characters. At the francophone gathering in Quebec City, for example, they made an exceptionally bad choice in warmly embracing Zaire's dictator president Mobuto Sese Seko, unknown to them apparently that there had been constant pressure to have Mobuto's overseas hank accounts frozen, and indeed to have this gruesome dictator removed from office. The strange need these two men had to been seen embracing anything international (preferably a thug or president for life) often clouded their better Judgement . From an international perspective, both Mulroney and Clark embarrassed alot of masery The job | ' it Canadians and we are indeed oe (HE irae] fortunate that Uganda's [dy cotieran the PMO nor Amin had already bein imei Joe Clark's bloated removed before they were able staff to do a warm embrace on On the political spectrum camera \ both Clark and Mulroney In and around Oshawa, Clark would stand well to the left of and Mulroney may be best Bill Chnton and his remembered for the efforts to Democrats close down the Lantic Sugar Allin all, don't believe that Plant. Agricultural sanctions imposed by these two made sure that Lantic Sugar would the political disappearance of two will have vant consequences these any rele for no longer have access to cane Canada, or Canadians need to supphies from ats long term regret their departure Neither traditicnal suppher considered Canadians an their I suppose they felt that if van departures. They knew full are gong to cause me well they would not be elected unemployment and misery ina in the next election foreign land, you might a= well RH Posma, have Canadjans share the RR 1, Oshawa, Ont Letter writer missed the point To the Editor: Re: "Donut's Reply"- Prejudice In response to L.. Oliphant's letter of March 2 in the Scugog Citizen. I didn't realize that where 1 work, when | work, what [ own, who I socialize with, where [ eat or whether | am retired or not, had any- thing to do with the main purpose of my letter of Feb. 23 I might suggest that you re- read that Feb. 23 letter as many times ast will take until you understand what was being expressed To answer 1 would not be on my way to work as the letter states if [ was retired Without I can only assume from your A) the only person who took the time to respond and I thank you for that, or (B) you were the only person in town who missed the "hole" point of my letter After signing your name as required for a letter to the editor, then you put in "Donut Holes." I guess we will have to leave it up to the readers' discretion as to which direction you are really coming from B. Bashtord, Ont response what you were | one of your questions, no, I am not retired. Seagrave, Citizen Publishing Ltd. The Scugog Citizen. an independently « ned and operated weekly community newspaper, is distributed, free of charge, to over 10,000 homes and businesses in and around Scugog Townk:p Subscriptions sold outside Scugog Township 4 A 0 cs published by Scugog, co-publishers John B. McClelland, Valene Ellis editor John B. McClella: advertising manager : Valerie Ellis advertising sales : Chris Hudson general manager : Darlene Hiozan feature writer : Heather McC rae OCNA Member CCNA Member CCNA Venfied Circulation Controlled 36 WATER ST. PORT PERRY, ONT. L9L1J2 F Phone : (416) 985-6397 Fax : (416) 985-1410 "Proud Canadians, prow to call Scugog Township home *