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A6 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday July 25 2001 T he Oakville B eaver Ian Oliver Publisher Nei Oliver AssociatePublisher Norman Alexander Editor Kelly Montague, Advertising Director Steve Crozier Circulation Director "feri Casas OfficeManager Mark Dills Production Manager Riziero Vertolli DirectorofPhotography Metrdand Printing, Publishing & Distributing Ltd., includes: Ajax/Pickering News Advertiser. Alliston Herald/Courier, Arthur Enterprise News, Barrie Advance, Barry's Bay This Week, Bolton Enterprise, Brampton Guardian, Burlington Post, Burlington Shopping News. City Parent, Cdlingwood/Wasaga Connection, East 'fork Mirror, Erin Advocate/Country Routes, Etobicoke Guardian, Flamborough Post. Georgetown Independent/Acton Free Press, Haniston Review, Huonia Business Times, Kingston This Week, Lindsay This Week, Markham Ecnomist & Sun, Midland/Penetanguishine Mirror, Milton Canadian Champion, Milton Shopping News, Mississauga Business Times, Mississauga News, Napanee Guide, Newmarket/Aurora Era-Banner, Northumberland News, North York Mirror, Oakville Beaver, Oakville Shopping News, Oldtimers Hockey News, Orillia Today, Oshawa/Whitby/Clarington Port Perry This Week, Owen Sound Tribune, Palmerston Observer, Peterborough This Week, Picton County Guide, Richmond Hill/Thornhill/Vaughari Liberal, Scarborough Mirror, Stouffville/Uxbridge Tribune, Forever Vbung, City of Nfork Guardian ccaL 3 i Circulations THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: FOR U BUSINESSKTHEARTS J F t SA" Ontario Community New spapers Association Jinge BeJ!Fund N O TTS ' JMma T V A U C T IO N A i ir T in w U nited W ay o f O akville JThvard 0 ^ O akville © D s 467 Speers Rd,, Oakville O n t L6K3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-2809 Circulation: 845-9742 Iw CN A T Canadian Community New spapers Association THE b r o n t e B u t t e r f l y C fa /M f f t u t O N T A R I O | oakville galleries j m e t T h e O a k v ille , M ilto n a n d D is tric t R E A L E S T A T E B O A R D OPINION SKt Suburban New spapers ot America H o ^ C o ju C h i l d r e n 's C h o i r tofatoM M t Editorials Nothing but terrorism The residents of Kananaskis Alberta must be thrilled that Prime Minister Jean Chretien has decided to host the next G8 summit. No doubt the reasoning for the site is that it's more easily controlled than other locations, such as Genoa, Italy. For that Leaders at the G8 port city, the meting brought only violence and destruction as the G8 leaders talked in more sum m it had to serene surroundings. endure terrorism to There was a lot of press given to a `protester' who was shot and killed by a police officer who talk about common said he feared for his life before firing a shot. issues. There has to And who could blame the 20-year-old officer. be a better way. The victim had a long criminal record including · assault and weapons charges. Nice. These meetings have become the secondary news item to the violence surrounding them and that is the problem. Those who declare themselves protesters are, of course, nothing of the sort. They are terror ists, plain and simple. Their goal is not to effect change in a peaceful, meaning ful way but rather to destroy and vandalize the locations in which these world summits are held. With screams of down with globalization and other anarchist ravings, the protesters sought to wreak as much havoc as possible, not on the meetings but on the population at large. What is to be gained by firebombing businesses and ransacking stores? what's to be gained by defacing public structures and breaking windows just for the sake of breaking them? W hat's to be gained by these protesters who offer nothing in the way of change except violence and confrontation? The answer is nothing. Given the measure of destruction surrounding these meetings, we humbly suggest a virtual meeting held on the web. How sensible, how civilized and how efficient. Letters to the Editor The Oakville Beaver welcomes your comments. All letters must be typed, signed and include the writer's address and phone number. Send to: Letters to the Editor, The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, Ont. L6K 3S4 Process of new school scheduling found wanting Ed. note: the follow ing letter w as se n t to H a lto n D is tr ic t S c h o o l B o a rd D ir e c to r o f Education, D usty Papke, Trish G o rd o n , p r in c ip a l o f P o s t 's C orners S ch o o l; A l G rayson, S u p e r in te n d e n t, a n d H D S B trustees. A copy was also file d with the Oakville Beaver. I have ju st spoken w ith the tru s te e fo r C a le d o n E a st PS, Valerie A rnold-Judge, in Peel, the sch o o l w h ich has had the sam e p ilo t p ro g ra m , h e re in re fe rre d to as T h e S c h e d u le , b e in g in tr o d u c e d a t P o s t's Corners. In Peel they call apples apples and pilot program s pilot program s, but since use o f the te rm se e m s to g e t a d a m a n t denials from some Halton staff, The Schedule will have to do. Caledon East The Problem : Caledon East, which is in a rural area that has 95% b u s s e d s tu d e n ts -- w as introduced because the school w as h a v in g p ro b le m s at lunchtime, due to lack o f super vision. Safety was a concern. The Solution: School adm in is tra to rs d e c id e d th a t h a v in g two 40 minute nutrition/activity p e rio d s m ig h t so lv e som e o f these problem s-- since supervi sion was not an option due to financial considerations, and the school could not recruit enough volunteers. The Process: There was par ent consultation. The results so far: this pilot p ro g ra m is s u c c e ssfu l. Som e p a re n ts fo u n d it to o k som e ad ju stm e n t fo r th e ir ch ild ren , but w eighed again st the pro b lems due to lack of supervision, m o st u ltim a te ly a c c e p te d it. (T h o u g h , fu r th e r re s e a rc h is re q u ire d to co n firm this w ith paren ts th em selv es. O nly one p a r e n t's v ie w s h av e b een recorded). W h en I e x p la in e d to th e trustee that our school is almost all w alk-to, that there is a fair num ber o f parents in our com munity who had hoped to have their kids come home for lunch, and that, given some 80 people signed up for an informal parent a d v iso ry g ro u p , and th a t our co m m u n ity h as b een th rille d an d e x c ite d a b o u t th e new school-- and p articip atin g /v o l u n te e r in g , sh e a s k e d m e, " I d on't understand, then why are you going to change the sched ule?" She also pointed out that en c o u ra g in g , ra th e r than d is couraging lunch at home makes more sense. Post's Corners T h e P ro b le m : Q u e stio n m ark . I t 's a new sc h o o l. No available data. P ossible p ro b lem. Lack of lunchroom super vision. The Solution: Encourage par e n t p a r tic ip a tio n , v o lu n te e r lunchroom supervisors, possible fundraising to hire lunchroom supervisors (this com m unity is in the m iddle to upper-m iddle in c o m e b ra c k e t) , e n c o u ra g e children going hom e for lunch (in a neighbourhood with lots of stay -at-h o m e, p art-tim e, selfe m p lo y e d and s h ift w o rk e rs who have made these choices to be at home with their kids, not unreasonable-- with the excep tion o f the first, th e se are all two-income families). The Process: Bring the issue to parents council, involve them in solution, encourage them as partners in education. OR The Problem: More than 500 children! O uch, W hat w ill we do for lunchroom supervision? How will we handle recess? The Solution: Introduce The Schedule in our school. T he O th e r P ro b lem : M any parents w on't like it. T he O th e r S o lu tio n : U se B ra in C o m p a tib le L e a rn in g R e s e a rc h r a tio n a le to g e t parental buy-in-- it's better for the k id s. W h at p a re n t w ould argue th is-- stra ig h t from the e x p e rts ! H o w e v e r, re c e n t re s e a rc h by H a lto n p a re n ts show s th a t B rain C o m p atib le Learning does not seem to have anything w ith school schedul ing. This research, however, has not been p eer re v iew ed . A nd lik e th e B ra in C o m p a tib le R esearch m entioned in P o st's C o rners' new sletter, cannot be provided-- but it w ill be. Yes, soon. M aybe next week. It's in my car, I think. T h e P ro c e s s : N o p a re n ta l consultation. A lthough this has been in discussion for m onths and m onths by adm inistrators, do not inform the parents until sum m er, w hen tru stee s are in sum m er break, h a lf the board seems to be in vacation, many p a re n ts are on v a c a tio n s . If o p p o s itio n e n c o u n te re d : R e in fo rc e th is is w o n d e rfu l exciting thing based on "educa tio n " " le a r n in g " re s e a rc h . R efu se any in p u t. R efu se to even consider compromise. And that-- that IS the prob lem. Letter of the Week Bull-baiting at church was sickening spectacle I was very saddened to switch on the 11 p.m. CTV new s S unday ev ening, and learn th at St. Jo se p h 's Portuguese Church on Bronte Road had introduced bullbaiting as a new diversion for their congregation. The pictures o f the panicked, m addened anim al, dashing from side to side on the end of a long rope which it con tinually tripped over, as it was goaded by a howling mob, were sickening to behold. And this is the same church that recognizes St. Francis of Assissi as the patron saint of animals. I guess St. Francis must be on vacation this summer. The newscaster commented that OPP officers had vis ited the spectacle, but found that no infractions had been committed. I wonder if they checked with the bull about his feelings on the matter? I have written to the Mayor and Council to enquire how a resident should go about introducing a by-law that would prohibit animal-baiting in this municipally. If any of your readers support my belief that the sport of animal-baiting represents unnecessary and cruel treatment of animals, then I would urge them to support my mes sage to the Mayor: her office number is 905-338-4173, and her fax number is 905-815-2001. L et's b eco m e O akville th e Good Another community has banned the use of pesticide spraying on all public lands. The City of Guelph has seen the light and all the dangers to children with spraying, they no longer spray. When will Oakville wake up and ban the spraying? Pesticides are harmful to everyone and especially the children who walk and play on public park lands. It is time for the mayor and town councillors to ban the spraying with poisonous chemicals. Oakville has become known as the town of pollution, and people with health problems are the ones suffering because of all the spraying. Congratulations to the City of Guelph, the city with a heart. Michael Lansdown Transit commitment needed Kudos to Elizabeth Curran for her excellent letter `SUVs in urban settings make no sense', Oakville Beaver, Wed. July 18, 2001. Problem s associated with m oving people and goods throughout the GTA are both sobering and complex. Gridlock has raised fundamental issues relating to health problems, environmental degradation, and cost inefficiencies. The seri ousness of the situation demands immediate attention. It offers sufficient grounds for not proceeding with development of lands north of Dundas until resolved. It is imperative all levels of government commit to a coor dinated strategy predicated on a seamless GTA transit model that is funded and administered publicly. This implies scrap ping local transit services in favour of a comprehensive sys tem operated by either the Greater Toronto Services Board or a combined TTC/GO Transit Authority. Such a vision would capitalize on existing transportation modes; including, rail, light rail, subway, streetcar and bus. The various modalities would be expanded throughout the GTA where feasible. Also, it would include dedicated lanes on all expressways and major in-town roads for high-occupancy Vehicles; taxicab-based jitney service in low density/outlying areas, and cycling, walking and in-line skating opportunities by constructing a network of dedicated pathways. To be equitable, such a system would necessitate paying by distance travelled using a variety of payment methods: cash and charge/debit cards prior to boarding, and tickets, pass, transit cards, and transponders when boarding and exiting. Transit vehicle operators would assume no responsibility whatsoever for collecting fares. Family, children/student, senior, non rush-hour, weekend and holiday rates would be available. Transit miles, akin to air miles, would reward extensive users. Above all else, such a service would be publicly-owned and operated with the bulk of the required monies provided by Ottawa and Queen's Park. This ensures accountability, a fare structure aimed strictly at cost recovery, and scheduling predi cated on need rather than profit. Public transit alone is a basis for communicating to our elected representatives that either they get on board, or face certain electoral defeat. V. Carley Student not thrilled with possible `nutrition' breaks I am a 10-year-old student going to Post Comers school. I am writing this letter concerning the new pol icy of having nutrition breaks (2 - 45 minute breaks instead of a one hour lunch break and two 15 minute recesses) I was looking forward to going home for lunch. I have been bused to school for six years and had to have lunch at school, I am finally going to a school in my own neighborhood that I can walk to. Now with the 45 minute nutrition breaks, If I did go home)would only get 10 minutes to eat. I would not a chance to have a proper meal. As most all families live their lives on a three meal schedule, weekends, we would be hungry for lunch when it wasn't lunch time. And during the week we would not be able to have lunch, just two snacks. We had two snack times and lunch at our old school and that worked fine for us. Personally, I don't think this is a good idea and that Mrs. Gordon (the principal) should have asked the parents and students first. Lauren Alexandra Davies Alexandra LopezPacheco Pud by Steve Nease Peter Pellier