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

Yage 4, Terrace Bay-Schreiber News, Wednesday, April 11, 1984 opinion North/South Equality of Education by LYNNE BADGER " The Ministry of Education has allocated 1 million dollars in additional funding for small secondary schools in Northern Ontario for 1984/85. The Ministry of Northern Affairs will be providing 3 million dollars over three years to assist northern secondary schools in improving facilities for Technical and Home Economic studies, computers, art and music. It sounds like a great deal of money until you think about how many ways it will be divided. Twenty-five schools in Northern Ontario will be sharing the allocated money. If the Ministry of Education's money were divided equally among the schools, Lake Superior High School would receive $40,000 dollars. There are already facilities for Technical and Home Economic studies, computers and a classroom has been somewhat converted for art so chances are LSHS may not see much of the Northern Affairs $3 million. There is also a promise of nine resource persons to be spread across the north from the Quebec border to the Manitoba border. It is terrific that the special needs of remote secondary schools have been recognized through the "Allan Report". Northern Ontario schools can thank Schreiber residents for finally getting some attention. They put up quite a fight when their campus of LSHS was threatened with closure for financial reasons. Mr. Bernier, Minister of Northern Affairs wants no student in the North to be disadvantaged in terms of skill training or career goals just because of their place of residence. That is a very admirable concept but will a couple of million dollars really bring us much closer to achieving equality of education between "North" and "'South"? Will the situation that exists now at Lake Superior High School improve? ' For example, there is only one physical education teacher, a male. There is only one guidance counsellor,-a male. There is a teacher of the French language who is not fluently bilingual. The music programme is non-existant. All of these areas could stand improvement. One more very important question . . . Will the amount of money available keep the Schreiber campus open? Northern Affairs projected their contribution over three years. Is that how long it will take the North to catch up? What about the students who are in school right now? E =. On another subject, I would like to apologize for the delay in distribution of The "News"' last week. Our editor, Karen Park was away and I attempted to keep things under control. Some mislabled boxes from the printer resulted in a quick drive to Nipigon to exchange papers with the Nipigon Gazette. We finally got the papers to the Terrace Bay Post Office early Wednesday morning. We did not realize that mail from Terrace Bay only goes to Schreiber once a day so Schreiber subscribers received their papers Thursday morning. Had we known this we could have taken the papers directly to the Schreiber Post Office as suggested by one irate "gentleman". Sincere apologies to the Schreiber Post Office who had to handle the complaints and to our subscribers. Thank you for being patient and forgiving. 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. EDITOR AND MANAGER................---2:5+seeeeees Karen E. Park EDITORIAL ASSISTANT ............ 05: . cece eee eee Lynne Badger ADVERTISING SALES................. 2.0 cece eee eee Sharon Mark PRODUCTION MANAGER...................--:eee eee eeee Mary Melo DEADLINE: Friday NOON Subscription rates: $12.00 per annum (local); $18.00 CNA per annum (out-of-town). Second Class Mail Registration No. 0867. 'This Weeh's Chuckle Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we drop a bunch of coat hangers. Arthur Black al "Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God" (Matthew 5:9). No scriptural passage has been evoked as often by single-issue groups to drive home a political stand in the Churches. For right-wing Christians, the issue becomes one of stockpiling armaments "to protect the peace of humankind." Left-wing Christians embrace a quasi-pacifism, to call for a banning of such things as the testing of the Cruise Missile on Canadian territory. Often, the standard of one's Christian commitment is measured by one's ideological perception of the world. I suggest that both groups fail to grasp the fine distinction between ideology and theology. This Beautitude from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount calls for us to be active in the promotion of peace, but it hardly defines a political position, where ideology and theology become meshed together like Aunt Polly's Irish Stew. Let's examine the passage. First, the Hebrew word for peace is "Shalom", a common expression used by Jews, especially in Israel, when they greet one another. In English, "'Shalom"' refers to a peace that brings out the highest good and prevents trouble and evil. When "Shalom"' is linked to "maker" as "peacemaker", it becomes a word that calls Christians to action for peace. Second, the word "peacemaker" is not a negative expression. It does not mean that "for the sake of peace" we allow dangerous and threatening situations to develop. This Beautitude does not allow us to avoid issues; on the contrary, as peacemakers, we're called to face issues and deal with them. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran pastor of Nazi Germany, saw Christian Churches in his homeland trying to accommodate their preaching to the restrictions of Hitler's government. As a peacemaker, he spoke out against the facist policies (among others) of the Nazies. Later, he joined a conspiracy to topple Hitler from power. Not only was Dietrich Bonhoeffer persecuted and imprisoned for his Christian beliefs, but he was executed as a martyr like St. Paul. As Christians in our local communities of Rossport, Schreiber and Terrace Bay, we're called to account as peacemakers, by how we deal with any issues that divide and undermine our unity in Jesus Christ. Third, we as Christians are faced with our own inner struggles of good and evil. We cannot be strong, outward peacemakers, unless we struggle for our own inner peace with God. The temptation to run (which means our "turning away"' from God) is very strong in all of our lives. Even Jesus himself had to struggle with temptation in the wilderness. Each of 'us has to become conscious of prayer to know the right course for us to follow, as individuals, on various issues. A peacemaker without faith and an awareness of his or her own inner struggles, is like a car without fuel. arate ay Fourth, being "peacemakers" encourages us to promote right relation- ships between people. This is not an easy role, especially when some folks -- seem to live under a dark cloud of trouble. Often, we heed 'to. accept the reality that conflict is present within our parishes or charges and communities. To be peacemakers we need to be reconcilers, people who try to bridge the gulfs and heal the breaches. It's a risky business, but a necessary one at times for:each of us as ministers (lay or ordained) of peace. Fifth, as peacemakers, we need to recognize that people are different and respond to issues out of their own perspectives, usually based on experiences. On single issues, such as marches to ban the deployment of © missiles, or to protect the peace through massive rearmament, folks tend to. become rigidly entrenched in one party' or the other. This makes me | uncomfortable, as a Christian peacemaker, as dialogue becomes replaced by © rhetorical platitudes. Tolerance and sensitivity to others is important for us as" peacemakers; sometimes we need to realize that others have arrived from a." different point of view to ours. While our methods for achieving peace may: differ, we need to realize one common objective: the promotion of God's peace that passes all human understanding. -- - pee 5 God's peace can be found in all situations, in all the Lebanons, Polands, Grenadas, El Salvadors and Afghanistans of our. world. Our late Prime Minister, Lester Pearson, experienced God's peace in London, at.the height of the Blitz in World War II. Being tired and depressed, Lester Pearson | retired early to his room and couldn't sleep. Turning on the radio, he was - comforted by, magnificent carols. Only later, did he realize that he was . listening to a German station. For Lester Pearson, the ironic contrast of German bombs causing massive destruction and German' carols heralding. peace to all people, brought God's peace into focus... As peacemakers "our bottom-line" is found in God's peace. oe iat Bill Le Grand. -St. John's Anglican Church' incapacitated Arthur Black has been © °PPortunity to wish Ar- admitted to hospital in Thunder Bay. We at the "'News"' feel that he cannot be replaced (par- ticularly on such short notice) and will take this thur a speedy recovery on behalf of the "news" staff and Arthur's faith- ful fans in Schreiber, Terrace Bay, and Ross- port. Get Well Soon.