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PAGE 6 A WATERLOO CHRON|CLE. WENSOAY, DECEMBER 21, ttNM Dear Mr Claus Yes, Santa C laua, there is a Virginia. And forget everything wu've seen on television and read in the newspapers. The wonder- ituthmgsthatshe'schangedanittlesinassheaakedforanorange mherstockingsomanyyearsago. The boy you mention is the sort who - would have said some- thing like, 'Your mother wears army boots" He just wouldnt have saditmfrtsntofym1 betmsssehebelievedthatwuknewwhowats naughty and nice The world that boys and girls live in has changed. No doubt about tAkatofusparentsaretnotelooseinouriarxruagethatirtthe days when my mom might have said, ‘Oh damn!" and she probably broke her toe at the tune - and then clapped her hand over her mouth, Taiay's kids inhabit a far harsher plate than the world in which I grew up. About 200,000 ofthem under the age of 10 are living in some form of poverty which means that their toys are amine from some church collection program rather than the normal chimney mute Dear Mr Sager. When l was at the mall the other day, a small boy passed by my throne and sad that f he didn't find a new game computer under the tree, somebody wasgrnngtoteinbigtrmlble, Headdedaword that In my day was spelled "NP'! What on earth ever happened to the good bttle boys and girls of yesteryear? Aren't there any left anywhere" About 50 years ago, teachers said their mp discipline problems were talkmg, chewing gum, making noise and running down the school halls. Today, by contrast. sounds so different: drug abuse, absenteeism. pregmncy, suicide, gang warfare. rape and arson. But let's watt. let's not think that the good old days were that gmxi.Thekodsrmvisited50yearsawhadabuaiveparenttand empty stomachs Some ofthem had fathers who beat their mothers. Their worlds werent exactly perfect But there are bigger problems today. They grow up faster. Santa. Too many of the Virginia: of the world have babies today when they're still babies themselves Too many of them think maturity is cymc-lsm and hope is disappointment. Thereisapartofthem however,thatumunuiiwtheamtinuing exsstenceofyouinamsridtutiseetnaatoddswitheverythingrru stand for. It 13 that sense of possibility, the genuine "Wow!" It is that sense that the blinds are not yet drawn between the windows of theireymandthehousesoftheirhearts somedthisunnaturalmaturitythaoeimsmsornanyofthetn comes from us adults. We often trade their innocence for street stuarts,Jugtthinkof'tTheVuginiasdthemrldm'lltellyuuthat theywanteordleasrnicrmshtmeaandapairofhoopearrimrs But isn'titamazingtoseelwwtnanydthemgtillsleepwithatattered Yo-be-rise/rw-ofthe-longer/tvel tnarvelathowtnanydthemk Imarvelatthepainiteaueseventhetoughmteuatanerstoisee beneatltymtrbeardanddisatveryouYetmlyaf0rwintmturneit willtetnanrrnanyyearstefbresmnedthetntmderstandyou're tmlyastand4n for whatiabestwithin m. ThmearetheWginiaswMgrmrwiaebutnevertiredMaywe alltrytobeonedthem. Waterloo Town Square 75 King St. South, Suite 201 Waterloo, Ontario N2J 1P2 Telephone 886-2830 News Line 886a0St1 Fax No. 886-9883 Yes Santa, there still is a Virginia Meanwhile Fred Sagel Be good for goodness sake, Santa Claus Melodee Mutinuk (Sports Editor) Deborah Cnndlll Metqhristrnas, Maureen MENab Gerry Mattie Don Stems Sheri Garvin's Millie Martin Darlene Royle Heather Mitchell The more the merrier Few people consider me a free enterprise kind of guy. but I believe in healthy marketplace competition as much as anyone. Accordingiy. icant stand mergers and monopolies. It's simple: for a few billionaires and their allies to contml any industry, enabling them to tell us to "take It or leave it" about hundreds of goods and services, is not in the best interest ofthe people ofthis country. Take, for example. Ted Rogers, (please) who just gobbled up his company‘s larger rival, Maclean Hunter, Can Canadians really afford to have one man Wield so much power over the burgeoning teleamumr nications industry? Canada's one-time regulatory body on armmunitations, the cm. has really failed us this tune. A large part of the problem is the monopoly position cable companies have been permitted to enjoy in every market in the country. it's M wonder our cable ratesaresoliigh,anddimbingallthetime-there‘s no competitive incentive to lower them. Bell Canada, thank goodness. no longer enjoys the incredibly pmfitable position of being Canadians' only choroe for long distance calls. Competition has served the public well, with several companies begging us (isn't that the way it should be?) for our business. Unfortunately, Bell retained its monopoly on local phone service, and they've naturally been crying poor of late and demanding the right to hike their monthly fees The saddest example of merger madness in Canada is in my own industry, Until the last few decades, most of Canada's hundreds of newspapers were inde. pendently owned, many with fiermly independent edi. torial stances. Today, just two multinational corporations own the lion's share of the country's He's been sidelined by a stroke that's been described as minor. Right now he is undergoing therapy, and the outlook is good Sandy thanks all the readers who called to ah what happened to the column Sandy Baird will be back. Circulation Supervisor: Andrew Pearen Chcuhtion: Mary Bayeroit Jen) Fiicher ruck Campbell President: Paul Winkler Waterloo Chronicle is published every Wednesday by The Fairway Group &harigtixt tttteg I 215 Fairway Rd. s, " yearly in tksude. : Kitchener, Out. tin mrty mttaidt Cde- ' G.S.T. The news of our columnists In their own and do W WU represent the views of the newspaper. - (.iii,i.iiJri"ii'i'lili.i'i" Igtoeuatimtaltt-ihetatN-t--ttt, ---- newspapers,andthepuhliehaaiddearlyfrutl thehomxenizationthathttelta1 _ _ _ _ It's mithat there is something Mommy bad atxmttheetwomediagiartta,andNitrurejointowrr ershipsavesseachpapermtmeriroeele _ Thi, down sidé ii the imbersonal service that results. Just like with independent restaurants and shops. in-town owners of newspapers are mare inclined to can about their amtpapy'is placein the community, .. It makes me wo'ndén-would the century-old Oshawa Times have folded last month if the owner’s own neighbors counted on the paper for their local On the lighter side, someone posted a fake news agency bulletinontheintamtmyimrthatsmftware giant Microsoft had purchased the entire Roman Catholic Church and made the Pope viarpresidettt in charge of religious programming. Good for a laugh, but monopolizing the system software business has enabledoiemarr-Biirati-totghttivelyamtzd the entire aanputer industry. Thewealthyiawrioeaithiersrtill.That'irthey the bell always tolls, and it mainly doesn't toll for Tom Brockelbank Angle nee over 0 Ughtly SandyBaird