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l a i, g, 96 .6 u ST. LAWRENCE COLLEGE Rural Worker Program Withdrawn by Staff Reporter, Janet Robson For the past 20 months North Leeds has been the arena of an experiment in community education. "The Rural Worker Program" was designed to fulfill St. Lawrence College's mandate as a community college. The program is to fold as of July 31 in spite of the fact that it has been, by all accounts, a success. What did we have? Most readers are aware of the work of our Rural Worker, Sue Chamberlain. Working out of the College's small office at Newboro, Sue has been active in helping local people organize workshops and seminars. Recent examples are the Solar Energy and Local Government seminars. The Rural Worker Program has given North Leeds residents access to career counselling and vocational advicas and has offered local opportunities for emâ€" ployment training. One of Sue's most important roles has been provision of help to community groups. Groups which benefit from the Rural Worker Program include Rideau Crafts, Lakeland Players, Senior Citizens, the Leeds China Painting Guild and the North Leeds Lantern. The Rural Worker has been an important resource for local people, often directing them to the appropriate social or health agency. Thus, she helps co- ordinate local services. Many agencies have found the College's office a useâ€" ful point of exchange. This includes Public Health, Children's Aid, ARC In- dustries, Community and Social Services, OPP and VON. The Rural Worker's Newboro office has served a vital function in North Leeds. The VON has been able to share the office, something it could not af- ford on its own. The office provides a meeting place for community groups. Most important, the office gives St. Lawrence College a presence in the area. It is easily accessible without long distance calls and red tape. What are we getting? St. Lawrence College is in the midst of a massive reorganization. Unlike Kingston, Brockville campus has decided to replace its Rural Worker Program. Three "brokers" will be hired out of the Brockville campus. The Continuing Education Department will no longer exist. The brokers are to serve Leeds and Grenville, including the City of Brock- ville. One will likely be assigned to Leeds. The brokers' role is to identify needs in the community and turn ideas over to the relevant academic department. The department will'"identify its ability to respond" and be responsible for designing and delivering a program. The Broker will not have a program budget; everything will have to go through an academic department in order to be carâ€" ried out. It will be up to the new Chairman of the new Student Community Ser- vices Department whether or not the College will retain its office at Newboro. ‘ North Leeds Loses. The withdrawal of the Rural Worker will mean a lower level of service for North Leeds. The new Broker will not be as accessible. He or she will serve a large area and will be powerless to put on programs. The effectiveness of the new program will depend on the flexibility of the academic departments to resâ€" pond to the Broker's requests. Many rural educational needs don't fit neatly into one Department â€" for example, which department would we turn to for advice about forming a dairyman's club or a local newspaper? Under the new Broker system, rural residents can expect a greater time lag between any idea and its implementation. Ray Smith, current Chairman of Continuing Education, admits, "There is no question that with Sue in the area the turn around time is faster." Mr. Smith hopes "exactly the same interper- sonal relationship should be able to take place..." between area residents and the new broker, as we have had with the resident rural worker. Area resident Mary Warren has some doubts, "Losing Sue Chamberlain will be detrimental to many; it will leave a vacuum. There is and always has been a barrier between .rural residents and Brockville campus. Rural people just won't make that long distance phone call." Financial Reasons Cited. While the College hesitates to admit that the withdrawal of the Rural Worker Program will cripple their effectiveness in the area, Ray Smith concedes "We just don't have the money to provide that high a level of service." The total cost of the Rural Worker Program is $25,000/year. The Newboro office and part-time secretary would cost under $2,500/yr. Although Mr. Smith says that in his opinion, the ideal would be to place rural workers throughout Leeds & Grenville, the funds are not available. The College has attempted to "work out a system that gives as much service as posâ€" sible within the dollars." Evidently, St. Lawrence College at Brockville has not allocated sufficient funds for service to rural areas. If you would like to show your concern about the withdrawal of the Rural Worker Program and its representative Sue Chamberlain in North Leeds, please sign below and return this slip to: Rideau Crafts, P.O. Box 22, Portland, Ontario. Rideau Crafts will be sending all the slips to the College with a note saying Ebeeeésseiaesizsegsez-5122125295232L2E.5hsfiszeljsslssslzgazae; ___________ NAME 'IDRESS If you are interested in having a discussion with the adminsitration of St. Lawrence College at a meeting in our area, check here THIS AD IS SPONSORED BY RIDEAU CRAFTS â€"_.-â€"â€"â€"â€"-â€"â€"â€"-â€"â€" â€"â€"â€".â€"â€"â€"-â€"â€"__â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"_â€"â€"â€"-â€"â€"-â€"_â€"â€" â€"â€"-â€"--â€"-â€"_â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"--â€"â€"â€"-_â€" .__.__â€"â€"--â€"â€" NORTH LEEDS LANTERN PAGE THREE St. Lawrence College's Newboro Office, home of the Rural Worker Program. SOIL TESTING SERVICE SPEND A DOLLAR-SAVE A LOT (Ministry of Agric.& Food) You may be wasting money on fertilizers‘if nothing has been done to determine the actual needs of your soil. A soil test is a small worthâ€" while investment,says Theo Blom, of the 0Nt.Ministry of Agric.& Food. "For a fee of one dollar per sample,the soil testing lab at the University of Guelph will check levels of phosphorus,potâ€" assium,calcium,magnesium and soil pH,and recommend fertiliâ€" zer requirements." Special boxes for soil samples are provided by the Department of Land Resource Science at the University of Guelph and by counâ€" ty agricultural offices. Mr. Blom recommends taking 4 or 5 samples from various parts of the garden.These samples should be well mixed before being sent to Guelph. If separate,widely spaced plots are to be cultivated,a samâ€" ple shOuld be taken from each plot.Fees must be included with soil samples. "Advise the laboratory of speâ€" cific problems you have encount- ered with previous crops,if they appear to be related to soil quality.If sufficient informa- tion is provided regarding in- tended crops,specific recommendâ€" ations will be made." “332:: III! concom“ m: - Bedding, Pluto - (Ga-om the organic my) ' V. a tablet * Nan Herb: * Cam My pleat! SEE’thEh'é'Fc-Tfifi 2* mil“ south 02 Hr: # 15.