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Not happy with dentists‘ position The Jan. 21 edition of the Chronicle headline reads "Oppose Fluoride Vote. Dentists Conâ€" cerned.‘ The opening sentence claims that area dentists‘are conâ€" cerned about the loss of a riskâ€"free health beneâ€" fit. Dr. Scott Butler offers such comments as "I beâ€" lieve in fluoride in the water. It‘s not a health hazard.‘" He also says **Most people voting are past the age where fluoride can help." Dr Richard â€" Byer _ goes further. He suggests that if the government supports the fluoride issue, it be made mandâ€" tory provinceâ€"wide, and Dr. W.J. Young adds "‘that a great many peoâ€" ple no longer benefitting don‘t care." What 1 don‘t care for are doctors and dentists putting themselves on pedestals and trying to force their drugs and medications down our throats, literally. And especially, suggesting that I am less than inâ€" telligent because 1 choose otherwise Well 1 care‘ 1 care very much indeed for the health and wellâ€"beâ€" ing of my family Before 1 go any further, let me clarify that 1 am not (yet) a member of the Safe Water Society. But their issue is making more sense to me every time 1 My Christmas column. written in No vember, appeared after New Year‘s Day in many papers. My New Year‘s column, writâ€" ten in early December, has appeared in midâ€" January. A letter from my daughter, written on Dec. 10, reached me on Dec. 31. Firstâ€" class something or other. So this one, written Dec. 31, 1980, will be my Valentine‘s Day job for 1981, and perhaps you‘ll get it by the March break. Looking ahead at a new year is more disâ€" piriting, very often, than looking back at the old one. At least you know that the old one can‘t be any worse than the one that‘s comâ€" First of all, 1 read an article in the Toronto Star, with a headline: Teachers suffer highâ€" est burnout rate. This highest cheered me Due to the vagaries (and 1 could think of some other words for them) of our mail sysâ€" tem (system?). this column has been getting to readers at some peculiar seasonal times. ing up. women. Some pretty darn nice things happened to me in 1980. Generally speaking, it was a rotâ€" ten year, but there were some Wight moâ€" ments that helped dispell the gloom. That applies to years,. dogs and BILL SMILEY read articles such as yours â€" It so happens that I am employed in the healith care field and I see many people regularly who are suffering from iatrogenic ilinesses (drug related), simply because they believe that swallowing a pill will cure everything from dandruff to an inâ€" grown toenail Lifestyles often beâ€" come one of dependency on prescriptions or overâ€" theâ€"counter medications thereby leading to an atâ€" titude of lethargy rather than an effort of comâ€" mon sense and proper health habits. And guess who helps to set the patâ€" terns for this type of Iiâ€" festyle? I for one, refuse to beâ€" lieve that good health lies in a bottle of mediâ€" cine or fluoridated water I take issue that there is ‘‘no risk involved. There‘s a risk in most things we do in life, and even more so in a lot of available drugs and meâ€" dications. Somebody â€" (supposedâ€" ly intelligent scientific people) once said the same thing about thaliâ€" domide to neauseated pregnant women. and that‘s just one example of hundreds of medicaâ€" tions that are disconâ€" tinued every year beâ€" cause they‘ve been laâ€" belled as either immensely, because it proved something I‘d known for years, and we‘re always cheered when we‘re proven right, even though we prophesy that the world will come to an end next Tuesday. And it does. Some of the statements in the article might be considered a bit alarming, but they made me feel kind of special. I quote: "On average, teachers die four years younger than the rest of us. And next to air traffic controllers and surgeons, teachers suffer the most stress of all professions. You see the cheery note there? I could have been a surgeon or an air traffic conâ€" troller. Did you get the key word there? ‘"Gloriâ€" fied.‘" Saints and martyrs are glorified, though I haven‘t heard about too many babyâ€" sitters reaching that status, though there are some who should be. And there isn‘t a babyâ€" sitter in town who makes as much as I do. So I‘m happy. The author of the book on which the article was based stated flatly that many parents and school boards consider teachers, "No more than glorified babysitters and are preâ€" pared to treat them as such both through working conditions and salaries.~ Unfortunately, â€" there often have to be heartâ€" breaking examples (thaâ€" lidomide babies) before ‘‘*proof of â€" risk | oas known ineffective and/or danâ€" gerous. No long term effects of fluoride have been proven, and although I can wash my hair and scrub my floors without il} effects, I question sinâ€" cerely what my kidneys or liver etc. will have to say about it after years of ingestion I would hate for you folks to be wrong in years to come. Perhaps the same inâ€" capable, uncaring peoâ€" ple who will vote on this issue are those who elected out government representatives? I must say, doctors, that your opinions and arguments regarding fluoride have been folâ€" lowed and respected by the writer (whether or not I agree), but the imâ€" plication of a dictaâ€" torship in a democratic (?) society because you happen to judge that I am not capable of caring makes my humble being see red. s Mrs. E.M. (Diane) Waterloo, Ontario Remembering good ‘ole days So much for God. The federal Conservatives tried unsuccessfully last week to get the concept of the supremacy of God written into the nation‘s budding constituâ€" tion But the idea got smattered with notions by the Liberals that it didn‘t go far enough and by some of the NDP spokesmen, who are concerned we might be denying the rights of those who don‘t believe in God Put that one away on the back burner. will ya guys? â€" â€" â€" â€" _ That appeared to be the authoritative consenâ€" sus among Liberals who rule the roost on constiâ€" tutional proceedings { God made a brief appearance and then was quietly shuttled off backstage to wait in his dressâ€" ing room. perhaps as an understudy for Pierre Trudeau. some may imagine. In any event, whether He gets another stage call remains to be seen, as God doesn‘t appear to be as big a star as in the past. _ _ I wonder what‘s wrong with finding a place in our constitution for the enunciation of some pretty broad, universal principles and values as the cornerstone of our society? What the Tories were proposing was taken from a leaf in the book of John Diefenbaker, that is, from his 1960 Bill of Rights. _ _ _ __ _ That referred to the supremacy of God, the digâ€" nity of the family and respect for moral and spiriâ€" tual values and the rule of law. But the Liberals feel other values such as linâ€" guistic duality, multiculturalism and recognition of the native peoples should also be included in any preamble to the constitution â€" which they would just as soon leave out at this point due to lack of a broad. national agreement. That hasn t stopped them from charging ahead in other areas ... but that‘s another story. Also, why is it necessary to include such things as linguistic duality in the preamble? the term duality aptly demonstrates the problem. The Liberals have emphasized duality and difâ€" What‘s wrong with God? And another nice thing happened to me in 1980. I made a speech to honor students at a high school banquet. Honor night speeches are usually about everything except honor. Mine wasn‘t. And I received a fine tribute about it from a teacher, Burton Ford. ‘‘Your presentation to Honor students here was damn good. It was refreshing to an old boy. like myself, to hear it acknowledged that the Bible and Shakespeare are the models for correct English. In a time when old values and ideas are constantly being deâ€" meaned and even discarded, it was very reâ€" freshing to me to hear a teacher talk about Honor.‘© Thank you, sir. From The Corner Store in Newtonville comes a note from Gwen McOuat: "This is not a school paper. It is a love note. I think you are terrific and I love ya.‘" Thanks, Not all the letters were like that. Cassie Stafford of St. Thomas rips me up a bit, though she always sends along a poem at Christmas. She claims I am influencing her children‘s thoughts about sex, even though they are all out of high school by now. Her letter ends, ‘‘My own writing is deteriorating from reading your column each week." Me too. Cassie, and thanks for the poem. wWATERLOO CHRONICLE. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28, 1981 â€" PAGE 7 JALSEVAC ferences, to the detriment of unity and the need to spell dbut what we. as a nation, are trying to collectively do together â€" _ _ If there is anything that might unite Canadians, it is that concept of spirituality which, in this case, has been called "the supremacy of God._ From that concept flow many values and ideals which Canadians. on the whole, can subscribe to and support. _ § e They might be pretty general, granted, but they could at least provide a unifying point. . This is particularly important due to the racialâ€" ly fragmented nature of Canada Globally and historically speaking, patriotism in the past has largely revolved around a people‘ s kinship due to being members of a particular or predominant race or longâ€"standing nationality But, in Canada, we have the English, the French, the native peoples and all those other "multiculturals." Our friends south of the border created a pseudoâ€"type of race called Americans in their quest to unite people from all over the globe into a cohesive society But, in Canada. we sublimate heritage less and cannot rally around a common ancestral or raâ€" cial banner So, why not then subscribe to something more transcendent and face what is perhaps the greaâ€" test challenge we have in this unique country? Perhaps it‘s a bit simplistic, but making cerâ€" tain ideals â€" as opposed to familial kinship â€" the banner around which everyvone can rally. may be the means of creating unity Those ideals should be enunciated in the constiâ€" tution and should include a spiritual concept that lends towards the quality of life we aspire to. sThe Liberals seem to have put the cart before the horse in trying to tackle our differences beâ€" fore defining our general points of unity. And it seems God will have to play second fidâ€" dle. for the time being, to sterile intellectualizaâ€" tion and bland secularism. So much for God, so much for inspiration and vision. Gwen. She encourages me to get on with putâ€" ting a book together. and guarantees it will be on display in the Corner Store. Just before Christmas, an old friend, who worked with me on a steamboat resort ship on the Upper Lakes back in the Thirties, was on the blower. He was the head bellâ€"hop, and a consistent failure in medicine and denistry at the U. of T. He is now a successful dentist in Vancouver, which says something about something. He may be a good dentist, but his memory is not so hot. He claims we once went to a whore house in Detroit. I have never been in a whore house in my life. Knowingly. And I don‘t ever expect to be. Knowingly. Then there‘s always the Christmas card from my old friend and critic, from Westâ€" port, who invariably signs his card Your TV Repair Man, and gives me a verbal cuff on the ear, slap on the back and tells me to go on saying it like it is. Bless you all, and the many others who have written encouragement, vitriol, and just good oldâ€"fashioned gossip about the good old days. when our heart were young and gay. and a hamburger was a dime, and a Pepsi was a nickel.