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

Chronicle Waterloo Town Square 75 King St. South. Suite 201 Waterloo, Ontario N3J IP3 Telephone 886â€"2830 Fax No. 886â€"9383 Eâ€"mail _ editor@wartzrlooâ€"chronicle.com 1) Stop kids fream starting Tobacco compimies have been repeatedly caught referring to young people as "replacement smokers" and marketing their prodâ€" ucts to them. Only a handful of smokers start puffing after the age of 18, so controlling sales to children is the key to cutting the numâ€" ber of people who smoke. Doesn‘t it strike you as odd that liquor, wine and beer are sold only in licensed outlets (unless Harris decides to privatize the LCBO), but much more deadly cigarettes can be picked up everywhere from gas stations to convenience stores? Why not restrict where tobacco is sold, possibly by using the same network of stores to help prevent young people from obtainâ€" ing cigarettes. 2) Restrict where people can smoke Ten years ago, people were still smoking in the workplace, shopâ€" ping malls, and public meetings. Now, it‘s almost unheard of for people to be allowed to light up in these areas. Even the "smokeâ€"filled AN“II!HEI{ rooms" that used to be the trademark of political campaigns have become VIEW an historical footnote. My point is that, despite some spirited protests at . the time the bans were implemented, > smokers can and do adjust to new *| restrictions. When considering whether to ban smoking in restauâ€" rants, bars, and stadiums, the prime 7: considerations should be: "Will anyâ€" wl one else have to breath the toxic f * smoke?"; and "Why should they have to?" Scott Piatkowski 3) Make tobacco companies pay Tobacco smoking is Pesponsible for millions of deaths and even more illness each year. Governâ€" ments, including the province of British Columbia and 16 American states, are now suing tobacco companies to recover part of the stagâ€" gering health care costs of tobacco smoking. This is a smart strateâ€" gic move, providing that no limitations are placed on affected individuals‘ own right to sue in any outâ€"ofâ€"court settlements (someâ€" thing that the tobacco companies are trying to negotiate). Ideally, liability claims will put the tobacco giants out of business for good. 4) Implement a real advertising ban Any product as deadly as tobacco ‘should not be allowed to be advertised at all. As Allan Rock prepares to gut the federal law that wauld prohibit tobacco sponsorships, tobacco companies have conâ€" verted a Kitchener Transit into a giant cigarette and control nearly half of the billboard space in Waterloo Region (by my own rough estimate). These and other tobacco ads, ostensibly for jazz, car racâ€" ing or golf tournaments, should be banned outright. Stores should also have to remove cigarette sales displays from the prominent posttrion that they now occupy. If they are allowed to keep selling them {see ahove}. they shouldnt be allowed to put them "in your lace", but should keep them under the counter 3) Make antiâ€"tobacco rules global Young people aren‘t the only "replacement smokers" being targetâ€" ted by big tobacco. Citizens of the Third World and Eastern Europe are essential to the companies‘ survival strategy. These countries have few rules restricting sales or requiring health warnings. We have global agreements on everything from air travel to telecomâ€" munications. Why not negotiate a new global agreement to restrict tobacco sales in emerging markets? Sunday was World No Tobacco Day. Since I was busy celebrating my daughter‘s sixth birthday then, I‘m a few days late in marking the event, but I‘d still like to give the tobacco issue its due. Here are my thoughts on what heeds to be done to win the fight against the scourge of tobacce: Smoking out tobacce giants B AnotuEr VIEW OPivION Display Advertising: Bill Karges Gerry Mattice Norma Cyca Bob Vrbanac Tim Gardner Editor: Deborah Crandall Carolyn Anstey David Oliver Group Advertising Circulation: Manager: Jerry Fischer Butch Grieve Eating places? There are dozens, but for plain food plainly served I‘ll take the Harmony Lunch. The decor may strike the elite as a bit fancy, but they can close their eyes. Besides, that‘ll protect them from the onions. s Poised to Go? Bill Clinton is staying out of his governâ€" ment‘s litigation against Bill Gates, the billionaire software St. Jacobs has been called a tourist trap, but most visitors love it. And it gives them a chance to see members of the Old Order Menâ€" nonites without intruding on their privacy. The folks in black have been called quaint, and indeed they are if only because they mind their own business 1 won‘t list all the places 1 could take visitors, but 1 must mention Waterloo‘s two (count ‘em, two) universities. They‘re impressive by any yardstick. (I‘m not mentioning any places in Kitchener because 1 understand it‘s closed for the summer). . Then, of course, there‘s the flea market with genuine fleas. You can load your market basâ€" ket to bursting with assorted knicks and knacks. Just cast an eye at the tourist buses and you‘ll get an idea of what a draw the marâ€" ket is. The No. 1 spot is a noâ€"brainer. By all odds, it‘s the St. Jacobs market, the huge one which has the livestock stuff and the discount barn as adjuncts. It doesn‘t require either of them as additions. flllm The visitor can join the throngs and tour the acres of stalls which offer everything from pine furniture to pig ears. There‘s plenty of food for purchase, but you can actually get well fed on the samples. 1 was asked by telephone the other day to tick off the Kâ€"W attractions to which I‘d take tourists. The oddest car among the new cars has to be the Lincoln Navigator, surely the poshest of the sportsâ€"utility vehicles. A Lincoln sportsâ€"utility vehicle! Gosh, that‘s like buying a Rolex alarm clock. Make mine a Harmony Lunch burger /unon_g My Souvmns 1 {ion‘l know whose poll it was, but Cheryl McMenemy Millie Martin Kermi Miller Matthew Hayes The Fairway Group Mailed subscription rates A division of Southam tuc. _ $65 yearly in Canada = $90 yearly outside Canada +GSIT The views of our columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of the newspaper e Waterloo Chronicle is published every Wednesday by OncE over LIGHTY What with the shrinking number of merchants, drop in customers and sagging sales figures.... it sounds i to me like Weterioo Town Square could "Strict discipline, that‘s what 1 needed," he said. And vou can bet he‘s not alone. Youths aplenty have been coddled into uselessness. Take the teenager who apparently isn‘t used to work. He gota hernia singing a work song. One swallow doesn‘t make a summer {or much of a party! but we should heed the Kitchener 17â€"yearâ€"old who sard an armyâ€"style boot camp transformed his life. séesemess _ She says, (or cxample, that she hopes to send young people a message, but "not in a threatening way, not in a punitive way." Good heavens, take the punishment out ol criminal law, and what‘s left? It‘s been 14 years since the social engineers came up with the Young Offenders Act, and we just have to get it right this time. Let‘s not be super gentle. We‘re dealing with mindless miscreants, not Boy Scouts _ Erin Go Blah: 1 defer to no one in my affection for the Irish people, and I‘m delighted beyond words to see them inching toward an enduring peace. But John O‘Toole, the Durham East MPP, must have been gargling with Guiness before trying to make St. Patricks Day czar. Bill has other things to worry about. 1 understand he‘s ordered an updated version of Windows 95. It‘s called Curâ€" use a good dose of Viegrs. al Standard Serial Number ISSN 0832â€"3410 His private member‘s bill was due for debate a week or so ago and I‘ve read nothing of it since. Presumably it‘s going to expire. Or has already done so. We don‘t need a holiday for every ethnic group. That would be as divisive as anything we could do. Suill, I‘ll grant that St. Patricks Day is a wonâ€" derful occasion. After all, it gives Irishmen the feeling of omnipotence that Quebecers have the whole year round. Tinkering Time: The federal justice mimster has laid out her longâ€"anticipated replacement for the despised Young Offenders Act. Sort of The whole thing is terribly iffy. into Irish Heritage Day.