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LETTERS : In his letter of March 25, John Grace quite corâ€" rectly states that I quotâ€" ed words from his letter out of context, and in so Regarding opinions of chemical additives, naâ€" mely fluoride, to our water system, may l re mind citizens that neither Monique Begin nor Marjorie Carroll is Almighty God. Rather, they are members of two democratic elected bodies, one federal, the other municipal. As such, these persons are probably under greater pressure by superâ€"salesâ€" manship than members of the general public. Several doctors whom I interviewed on the sub ject of fluorides stated that they had received little or no instruction on that additive while quaâ€" lifying for their medical degrees. Therefore, only allergists would have any workable knowledge on the subject when treating patients. A consumers report quotes: ‘‘Patients un dergoing kidney dialysis can be exposed to about 50 to 100 times the amount of fluid conâ€" sumed by the average person. Accordingly, the Went to a political meeting recently, first in years. It was a nomination meeting to seâ€" lect a Tory to run in the next election. And, despite my rather jaundiced view of politics and politicians, 1 was able to muster a little ripple of the old feeling that politics is excitâ€" ing, and the democratic process is far from perfect, but better than most systems deâ€" vised by civilized man. As an old weekly editor, this was nothing new to me. I published a weekly paper in a rural riding, and had to go to the dang things. Often had to drive fifty miles, sit through a smokeâ€"filled nominating convention, drive home, arriving about 2 a.m., and have to write the story for next morning‘s paper. But I enjoyed every minute of it, even when my man lost, which he frequently did, because I lived on the water, and the farm vote would almost always lick us. Farmers are thicker than thieves, when it comes to politics. If it‘s a Liberal riding, they vote a solid Liberal. If it‘s Tory, they go Tory. Ifâ€"it‘s NDP, they‘re crazy and must live in the West, according to Liberals and Tories. As a newspaper editor and quandem writer, I have been wooed by all parties. And, as human being, I like to be wooed, whether it‘s by cats, granchildren, beautiful women, or politicians. As result of this personality weakness. I BILL SMILEY Still more on fluoride Writer responds to man of letters doing altered the sense conveyed. l claim that the original and compleâ€" te wording, concerning liquid fluorine, was as National Institute of Arthritis and Metabolic Disease recommends that fluoride â€" as well as calcium, magnesium and copper â€" be re moved from tap water before it is used in an arâ€" tificial _ kidney _ maâ€" chine .‘ Other additives and preservatives are inâ€" cluded in the food chain with only the thought of keeping those eatables fresh longer â€" not with hesitation in the effects upon the general health of consumers. Then there are the chemicals in animal food to bring chickens, cattle, sheep and what have you, to our packing houses at a lesser farmer Of course, one of our additives in the food preâ€" servation is forâ€" maldehyde â€" an emâ€" balming fluid. In other words, we are partially embalmed beâ€" fore we are really dead. Norma Sangoi Marshall St. cost to the Waterloo have worked, and written, politically, for /11 three major parties in Canada. I felt rather badly that the Social Credits did not woo me. I have written speeches, radio scripts, adâ€" vertisements, and many ‘"news releases," a euphemism for political plugs the editors just might run for free, for all parties. _1 never felt that I was prostituting myself, even though I didn‘t intend to vote for the guy I was working for, I was simply using a skill for someone, usually a friend, who‘d asked me, because he didn‘t have the talent or the time to do it himself. There‘s another reason 1 didn‘t feel like a prostitute. My total reward for all this was one bottle of Crown Royal, and fifty dollars, deductible for the candidate. And in every case, I voted against the guy I was promotâ€" ing, which made me feel sort of virginal. Well. you don‘t want to read about my deâ€" vious path as a political fink. Let‘s get back to that convention I went to the other night. It was a typical Canaian nomination conâ€" vention, I figured, as I wandered off into the winter night with some young neophytes who had never been to one. Cigar smoke, a lot of redâ€"nosed guys whiâ€" spering to another lot of guys with whiskey on their breath. A series of boring speeches, in which every candidate pledged virtually the same thing, and invoked that big name in the sky, the provincial leader. And assurance irrelevant to a discusâ€" sion of fluoridated drinkâ€" ing water as was the alâ€" tered version. John Grace is also guilty himâ€" self of selective quotaâ€" tion In his original letter he quotes part of a senâ€" tence from his CRC handbook. The unquoted part is, ‘‘in smaller amounts, however, fluorides are said to be beneficial and used in water supplies to preâ€" vent dental cavities.‘‘ One wonders why this was suppressed. I am not opposed to public debate, but it should be informative. I object to the irrelevant information, the depreâ€" ciating remarks about fireâ€"fighters, the scare tactics and the bachelor of science degree title to lend a false sense of authority used in Mr. Graie‘s original letter. The properties of liquid fluorine, which boils at minus 188 deâ€" grees on the Celsius scale (at atmospheric pressure), are quite difâ€" ferent to the properties of fluorine ions at the 1 part per million level in drinking water, and have no place in a disâ€" cussion of the merits of fluoridated _ drinking water. Hugh M. Morrison Harvard R. Waterioo Democracy at work It must be spring Yesterday, while on the campus grounds of the University of Waterloa, 1 noticed a pack of young, male students â€" dressed in Tâ€"shirts and jogging shorts â€" swinging two ladies by their arms and legs over the abyss of the creek that runs through the campus near St. Jerome‘s college. The women were more or less fullyâ€"clothed, and. before I knew it â€" following the traditional oneâ€"twoâ€"three count â€" there they were, plopped smack dab into the water with a yelp and a splash The ladies quickly surfaced and made for ground, to wack the bedevils out of the male stuâ€" dents I conjectured, but, no, they seemed to take it in stride and good humor. Another, more mature student walked by as this happened, and he couldn‘t stop the grin from spreading across his face. _ * He must have seen it as testimony to the arâ€" rival of splendiferous spring. I mean, they wouldn‘t throw women in the creek in winter, would they? I wonder what the feminists would have tosay about all this. It‘s kind of amazing that council has decided not to include any monies in this year‘s budget for implementing any of the recommendations in the downtown study released earlier this year. The study cost $90,000. and councillors were generally eagerly disposzgd towqrc_js the results. _ But it seems paying 90 grand for advice may have discouraged some from doing anything about it for the time being. â€" _ It seems a costly way to put off today what one can do tomorrow. _ Personally, I think the city should hire a fullâ€" time downtown development manager to get cracking on the study. _ o â€" _ Perhaps he could find a spot for a desk and telephone in the Chamber of Commerce office and even work with Jack Middlemass, the very Spring fever strikes that we must all pull together for the party. no matter who won. But what‘s this, whe I walk in? A rock group whacking out some deafening stuff. Banners, signs on sticks, silk scarves denotâ€" ing your voting preference. A kilty band warming up in the wings. Holy Old Nelly, I thought, what is th sober Canadian voter coming to? _ _ o And when I took a look at the size of the crowd, I was shaken. I was used to two or three hundred of the old party flacks, the people who handed out jobs in the liquor store. gave the nod to the contractors of the right persuasion for construction work â€" a post office here, a new dock there. But I needn‘t have worried too much. Deâ€" spite the effect of American political convenâ€" tions on TV. we Canadians behaved with deâ€" cent decorum There were no demonstrations. No fights, no marching around the hall, fiercely cheerâ€" ing their candidate, except for a few teenagers who embarrassed everybody. Those honest Canadians wiggled their banâ€" ners a bit, even held them u|p. A few uninhiâ€" tited souls, with no sense of decency or deâ€" corum, actually shouted aloud the name of the man they were going to vote for, but were careful to shout it only when others were doing the same, so that they wouldn‘t be singled out or humiliated by sounding PHILIP JALSEVAC Wa TERLOO CHRONICLE, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1. 1981 â€" PAGE 7 efficient Chamber manager C‘mon Jack C‘mon, councillors, you can do it Y know. help keep the promise and all that It‘s good of councillors to have kept our tax increase down to 10. 8 per cent this year. far less than what was initially projected. But I sometimes wonder if residents are as conâ€" cerned about the city‘s portion of taxes, as they are about the regional and school board shares. On the city level, I don‘t feel many taxpayers are going to strenuously object if a few extra dolâ€" lars is going to provide better lighting on King St. downtown,. or give our fireâ€"fighters the uniforms they need, or even hire that downtown developâ€" ment manager Ideally, we should take pride in what our collecâ€" tive tax dollars can do to better the community, especially when the results have an immediate impact We should remember that fiscal restraint isn‘t a virtue in itself, and that obsessive frugality is sometimes as bad as compulsive spending. Somewhere in between lies the happy medium. I think council has come close in this year‘s budget to that medium, but, for my liking, it could have gone a bit further in a few areas. I‘d gladly give the extra dollars for a good proâ€" ject. Speaking once more of spring â€" and it‘s hard not to think about it in this weather â€" my wife informs me that gardening and easter should be fairly imâ€" portant items on many people‘s aggendas. _ Well, I certainly noticed a fair number of peoâ€" ple checking things out in the Ontario Seed store on King St. over the weekend. _ _ â€" â€" So, I reckon many are considering when to plant, and what they‘re going to grow this year, if they‘re lucky enough to have a_p'le‘tA â€" oo As for Easter, I‘m just glad it‘s almost here after an unusually unkind winter. Thank God. sprâ€" ing is sprung. emotional There were no women candidates, naturalâ€" ly. A women‘s place is in the home or out rounding up candidates (male), or providing the lunch. There were seven candidates, only two of them with a hope of winning. Some of them might have seen themselves as Joe Clarkes, winning on the fifth ballot, after the big shots have knocked each other out. This doesn‘t happen on a riding level. There is no cornering of delegates, lastâ€" minute deals and promises.. â€" The candidates all said the same thing, in different words. My man made the best speech, came second on the first ballot and stayet second until the last ballot, when he soared to second. It wa all over. We elected a possible backâ€"bencher instead of a potential cabinet minister. But it was democracy at work. You can‘t beat them there farmers, when they get together. Why don‘t they do it more often? Because they are stubborn individualists, that‘s why. And good for them. The wives of the turkeys who ran without a hope are whispering harshly in their husâ€" bands‘ ears about all the money down the drain. But their husbands are euphoric in the knowledge that they can some day say they ran. and were narrowly defeated, for parliaâ€" ment