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www.oakvillebeaver.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Thursday, May 13, 2010 · 6 The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5571 Classified Advertising: 905-632-4440 Circulation: 845-9742 The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone (416) 340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate.The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline. Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. NEIL OLIVER Vice-President and Group Publisher, Metroland West DAVID HARVEY Regional General Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director SANDY PARE Business Manager MARK DILLS Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution SARAH MCSWEENEY Circ. Manager The Oakville Beaver is a division of Letter to the Editor Powering up to co-operate I was reading the article in the Oakville Beaver on Friday, May 7, that the Town wants input as to where the residents of Oakville would like to see the new power plant located. As a long-time resident of Oakville, I would like to give my two cents worth. I do believe the gas fired plant is needed and I would much rather see "this" type of facility than a coal-fired or, God forbid, another nuclear facility somewhere in southern Ontario. Although the government chose to put it next to the Ford plant in the middle of an industrial area, I do agree that, from a safety standpoint, it is probably too close to the residential areas around the Cornwall Road area. I personally think it should be located in the north end of town along Hwy. 407 between Bronte and Trafalgar roads. I believe much of that land is, or was, government-owned and if it was located there it would be close to the main natural gas pipeline, which crosses under the 407 a little further east near Derry Road (so the gas supply to the plant would be close by). It would be close to the big hydro substation, which is being expanded at present near the junction of Hwys. 403 and 407, which would give it good access to the hydro grid and there are no residential areas that would be too close to the new plant. If this area was not acceptable, perhaps it could be located on the former Petro Canada Refinery lands (I realize it is still a Petro Canada storage facility) between Bronte and Burloak, far better to have a gas-fired plant here than a very dangerous oil refinery. Many people complain about the pollutants that would be emitted from the stacks of the new plant from the burning of natural gas, but nobody has mentioned the thousands of new homes being built or to be built, as well as the existing homes in the area that all burn natural gas in their gas furnaces, gas hot water heaters, gas fireplaces, barbecues and swimming pool heaters. These all exhaust their waste gases at or near ground level where everybody has to breathe it in -- unlike the new gas-fired power plant, which exhausts it out through high stacks into the air and away from the people living around it. I also don't hear anybody complaining about the St. Lawrence Cement plant on Lakeshore Road in east Oakville where you often see a noxious plume of yellow smoke drifting out from the massive stack over Lake Ontario to poison someone else further down wind. I would much rather see a gas-fired plant in the area than the above mentioned cement plant or the Petro Canada refineries in the area. There has to be some give and take between the Ontario Government and the general population as a whole. As far as I'm concerned, bring on the new plant but locate it in a different area away from close proximity to residential areas. Do the right thing and think about the location of the new plant before you build it, and the rest of us? Let's not sweat the small stuff and show a little more flexibility and get away from the NIMBY mentality. Gerry Donaldson, Oakville WEBSITE oakvillebeaver.com Suburban Newspapers of America Media Group Ltd. RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: Ontario Community Newspapers Association Canadian Community Newspapers Association THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: United Way of Oakville ATHENA Award CLAUDIO CUGLIARI / SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER COOKING CONTEST CHEFS: Jill Monaghan, left, was first place winner in the Town of Oakville's Make Your Move Healthy Recipe Contest. Monaghan placed first in the adult main course food category with a recipe for goat cheese and artichoke gluten-free pasta. Overall grand prize winner was Kelachi Nsitem, right, after a cook off was held for finalists at Whole Foods Market Oakville. When a teenage daughter picks pops over awful addiction I t has become both their drug and their security blanket. If taken away, there is untold anxiety, jitteriness, misery and depression. Yeah, I'd say we have cause for concern. A new University of Maryland study has found students are not simply fond of, or somewhat attached to, their cell phones and social media outlets -- Facebook, Twitter and the like -- they are actually addicted. Which is to say that if taken away, even for a brief period, kids experience actual withdrawal symptoms akin to those experienced by drug and alcohol addicts. Personally, I've known this problem existed for some time now. Living in the country, the power frequently goes out, leaving us to live like frontiersmen: stumbling about in the dark in search of candles or a flashlight with an actual working battery, and cursing ourselves for not following through on promises made the last time the power died -- to actually get prepared for these annoying inevitabilities and to put fresh batteries in the flashlights. Once lighting needs have been met, the adults in the house tend to resign themselves to the inconvenient truths of a night without power -- no sports on TV, no running water, the worry that everything in the freezer might rot -- and settle in, reading a book by candlelight, or whatever. While the kids tend to go crazy, pacing the floors, and wondering what to do with their hands, and their time, all the while complaining vociferously about this "hell on earth." It was less than five minutes into the last power outage when two of our offspring approached me, laptops in hand, with the intimation that if I were a good father, I'd drive them on a survival run to Andy Juniper the nearest Starbucks so they could plug in their drug and scratch the itch of their addiction. I agreed, but only because they'd baited me with my addiction for frothy, undersized, overpriced lattes. In the University of Maryland study ("24 Hours Unplugged"), 200 students were asked to surrender `all media' for one day and then blog about their experiences. Students wrote of missing the "constant feeling of comfort" afforded by texting. They wrote of feeling "quite alone and secluded from life." And they wrote of feeling an inability to shed their "media skin." My 14-year-old daughter feels their pain. A few weeks ago, my wife was away on business. I took the opportunity to bond with my girl and take her... shopping. You see, she needed a semi-formal dress, and, apparently, I needed to not make sarcastic remarks or rush her. I survived the experience, she found the perfect frock, and I suggested we celebrate: dinner at The Lowville Bistro. We're forever at the Bistro. And while my girl and I have always had a solid relationship, and have never lacked for conversation between us, we have rarely ever dined alone. I was conscious of this as we were seated, fully prepared to carry the conversation if need be. I started to talk, but was interrupted by incessant incoming and outgoing text messages, by my daughter staring down at her phone and letting her adroit fingers romp across the keypad. Frustrated, I read her the riot act: "Either the phone goes, or I go." I'd like to say that it was an easy decision for her. But I'll settle for the fact that, in the end, after considerable contemplation, she picked me. Over her addiction. Andy Juniper can be visited at www.strangledeggs.com, contacted at ajjuniper@gmail.com, or followed at www.twitter.com/thesportjesters.