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* Page 4, News, Wednesday, February 10, 1988 TERRACE BAY SCHREIBER The Terrace Bay-Schreiber News is published every Wednesday by: Laurentian Publishing Co. Ltd., Box 579, Terrace Bay, Ontario, POT-2WO. Telephone: (807) 825-3747. Second Class Mailing Permit Number 0867 BROF inecencseocaniceastevediceniseress AAVErtISING ......cccccecseesereeeeee dices tikenietecteaemteeesaen: LAGE «- caveasvoiniomne pide ST nt CORO ccs ed ccc ccna Siccienincdndensnvnnchsecncionensasbieomeedce eee OUNTUOL Production Manager Seiaiglhhs niente tage UNG Single copies 40 cents Subscription rates per year in town $15.00/yr. two years $25 out of town.$21.00/yr. Member of Ontario Community Newspapers Association and The Canadian Community Newspapers Association United Church welcomes abortion decision The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that Canada's abortion law is. unconstitutional, and that the law contravenes Section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms which guarantees women the right to life, liberty and security of person. The united Church of Canada welcomes this decision as the first step towards a truly just system of access for women who wish to make a responsible choice about abortion. To-day's Supreme Court ruling reflects in spirit the statements on abortion of two United Church General Councils, in 1972 and 1980. The United Church has historically maintained the posi- tion that a woman should be per- mitted to reach a decision about an abortion according to her con- science and her moral and reli- gious insights into human life. The General Council in 1980 also found the hospital therapeutic abortion committee system was unjust in principle and unwork- able in practice, and therefore, urged the Canadian government to repeal it. The Council also called on provincial governments to provide adequate services to meet the need for abortions. While the Church applauds the Supreme Court's decision that supports the right of women to reproductive choice, we also rec- ognize that the fetus is a unique, though immature, form of human life, and as such has inherent value. Therefore, we do not sup- port abortion on demand, but maintain that abortion is an ago- nizing moral question, and can only be acceptable as the lesser of two evils. We will continue to work for informed debate and ecumenical dialogue on this issue and strive to ensure that people and groups in conflict should hear each other with respect. Rossport Theatre Group Remember the editorial that ran on Jan. 27 about a Rossport Theatre Group being started? That hope is still going strong. Surely there must be talented people in Rossport; sound persons, lighting persons, a costume Co- ordinator, stage design and prop persons, a director, and an assistant are the type of positions available to make this group a success. No one should be shy about contacting Judi Sundland at 824-2834 between 11 a.m. and 9 p.m. to ask questions and to find out when the Rossport Theatre Group will have its first meeting. We're all amateurs, so if you think you can do it, we want you on board! Arthur Black "OH 178 OK, HONEY, WHEN HE ASKS PERMISSION |" Snowmobilers must use caution Snowmobilers must use common sense to avoid accidents. Inexperience, ignorance of the law, unfamiliarity with terrain and obstacles, recklessness and operation impaired by alcohol could turn many weekend snowmobile getaways into tragedy this winter. Nineteen snowmobile deaths were reported in the province last winter (November 1986 to April 1987). The . Ontario Provincial Police investigated 15 of those; almost double the previous year's figure; and found alcohol played a role in more than half of the fatalities. The OPP fleet of 162 snow vehicles is used mostly in remote and Northem areas of the province, where the snowmobile is the main form of winter transportation. Part of the fleet is used to patrol trails, rural routes and snow-packed highways in the resort areas where most of the more than 237,000 snow vehicles registered in Ontario are driven. Riders risk death or serious injury in accidents on or off the road because the snowmobile offers little protection in a sudden stop or collision. Off the road, snowmobiles may strike rocks or tree stumps covered by snow. Dips in terrain and wire fences are deadly obstacles camouflaged by the white background. Thin ice was a major hazard last winter as warm weather, early in the season, pre- vented the formation of a solid base on Ontario waterways. Two fatalities were reported among the dozen snowmobilers who plunged into the frigid waters of Georgian Bay and Simcoe county lakes and rivers in separate acci- dents last January. Snowmobiles would be wise to check with local authorities or residents about ice and snow conditions or other area hazards. Use common sense. If you don't know, don't go. Check local weather forecasts, let someone know where you are going, the route and when you expect to retum. Use "the buddy system, never travel alone. If the machine becomes stuck or breaks down in an isolated spot- don't panic. Stay put and wait for help. Avoid overexertion, which lowers the body's resistance to cold, and avoid getting wet. Practical survival skills and first aid are taught in courses prepared by the Ontario Federation of Snowmobiles Clubs, in con- junction with the Ontario Ministry of Transportation. Junk Mail...it makes good kindling 'If you deem yourself to be a person of an exquisitely sensitive nature...better you should turn the page now. If you see a little old lady or anyone with a heart con- dition perusing this column, gen- tly but firmly remove the newspa- per from his or her grasp and sug- gest a stroll, or perhaps some tele- vision. This space is about to erupt with two very foul four let- ter words...a double barreled expletive that is perhaps the filthi- est in the entire English language. Are you ready? Junk Mail. There. I said it and I'm glad I said it, but having said it...what to do about it? If you are an average North American man, woman or child, you receive 614 pieces of mail each year -- 230 pieces of which you did not ask for, expect, or in fact want. The 230 pieces were what the Post Office likes to call "compli- mentary, pre-approved direct-mail items" -- junk mail to you, me and the poor, hernia-courting let- oe ee ae SE ee eee from door to door. Near as I can figure, there only two really tough questions in the whole junk mail problem. One is: How did they get my name? The second is: how do I get my revenge? The answer to the first ques- tion is "storks". I reckon that thanks to the Pill, storks, which used to work around the clock depositing babies under cabbage leaves, are now forced to moon- light for a living. Instead of delivering our kids they deliver our names to the large mail order houses. As for the second problem -- getting revenge -- that's tougher. I've tried various gambits over the years. For a few weeks I assidu- ously packaged up my unwanted mail and sent it back to the com- panies it came from, postage due. But all that earned me was a bad bout of writer's cramp and some very withering glares from the folks at the Post office. ee ee ae. nae Wee ae Glad Bag and leave it out with the trash each week? Well, that gets it off my coffee table alright, but it's not exactly revenge, is it? Besides, it's an environmental copout. Our landfill sites are already choked to overflowing - with dead refrigerators, rusty bed- springs and old car tires...they don't need my mounds and moguls of postal pollution piled on top. : I fought a losing battle with my junk mail for years, until one day my eye fell on a newspaper photograph of some guy's mail- box in Colorado. It's kind of electric when you stumble across a kindred spirit. The owner of this mailbox clearly was one. Like you and I, he'd had his fill of junk mail. Like you and I he felt an urge to strike back, and he did. His mailbox was a horizontal garbage can welded to a post. Cute...but ultimately ineffectu- al. It made a statement but it failed to kick the Junk Mailers - etrhare it hurte. On the other hand, it did give me an idea. I immediately went out and bought the best-looking tin garbage can my plastic charge card could buy. But I didn't weld it to a post. Instead I got out some black paint, an artist's paint brush and in a shaky attempt at Old Gothic Script, I painstakingly lettered a single word on the side of the can. KINDLING The can sits beside my tiny pot-bellied stove even as I type, and when I'm finished typing I will go down to my mailbox, bring back the day's offering and sort it over the can. Everything I actually want to read goes to one side, the rest of it gets deep-sixed right into the galvanized maw. If the junk mailers struck me from their lists tomorrow I'd still have enough kindling to carry me well into spring. Try it! Get yourself a little Acorn stove -- or hell, just fire up the Hibachi! The knowledge that junk mail is helping to heat your home is enough in itself to make you feel warm all over. Go ahead! Burn those phony travel brochures, those "free for a limited time only" offérs, those sweepstakes entries and life insurance applications, those fly- ers, those leaflets, those newspa- pers... Wait a minute. Not the newspapers. No, I was just kidding. It was a slip of the tongue- Now HOLD IT! THAT'S NOT FUNNY! Look there are some very good ads inside! STOP THAT! YOUR CREASING MY PHOTO! ~ MMMMMMPPPPHHHHHH....