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WATERLOO CHRONICLE Publisher: Cal Bosveld 886â€"2830 Fax: BB6â€"9383 Eâ€"mail: wchronicle@sentex net 75 King St. South, Suite 201 Waterloo, Ontario N2J IP2 Carolyn Anstey Circulation Manager The Waterloo Chronicle is published every Wednesday by The Fairway Group, a division of Southern Ontario Community Newspapers Inc., a division of Southam Publications, a CanWest Company. The views of our columists are their own and do not necessarily represent those of the newspaper. International Standard Serial Number ISSN 0832â€"3410 Lynin Bartol Laurie Ridgway Regional Classified . Classified Canadian Publications Mail Sales Product Agreement Number 136379 Cal Bosveld Deborah Crandall Andrea Bailey Bub Vrbanac Reporter Sports Editor Letters Policy The Waterloo Chronicle welcomes letters to the Editor They should be signed with name, address and phone numnâ€" ber and will be verified for accu tacy. No unsigned letters will be Jim Alexander Director of published. Submissions may be edited for length, so please be brief. Copyright in letters and other materials submitted to the Publisher and accepted for publication remains with the author, but the publisher and its licensees may freely reproduce them in print. electronic or other forms. Our mailing address is 75 King St. S., Suite 201. Waterioo N2J 1P2, our eâ€"mail address is wehronicle@sentex.net, and our Publisher Editor Audited circulahion: 26,056 fax number is 886â€"9383 Norma Cyca > sm Amy Hachborn Circulation Gerry Matuce Retail Sales Bul Karges Advertising Happiness is wealth t never seems to amaze me how irony tends to just Isneak up on a person. Matters which seemed to have no answers before suddenly, out of nowhere, become somewhat clearer. Recently, I‘ve been giving a lot of thought to a question posed to me by Waterloo Mayor Lynne Woolstencroft. It was a question she admitted to struggling with herself. "As mayor, how do I encourage young people to stay in this area after they‘re finished school?" was her dilemma. Definitely not a clearcut issue. With the glitz and glamour of larger centres such as Toronto, Vancouver, New York, Los Angeles, and even Tokyo, Japan laying down the red carpet for postâ€"secâ€" ondary school graduates from little old Waterloo, Ont., it‘s hard to imagine how this half of the twin cities can even compete. But, after reading a letter to the editor which ran in last week‘s Chronicle, I think I‘ve found my own personâ€" al answer. Kevin Chong, a University of Waterloo student, seemed to take exception to the views I‘d presented in my opinion column the previous week. He went on to question why I am "not writing for a magâ€" azine, or a more famous media corporation" such as the Toronto Sun, the Toronto Star, or the Globe and Mail, strongly o ooo implying my qualities as a S ] }\\I(II I I ‘ reporter are not up to the high Up standards of these publications. First, magazine |â€" writing doesn‘t appeal to me in the least. While most of the materiâ€" al which appears is submitted by freelance writers, who have no guarantee whatsoever of a consistent paycheck, the deadâ€" lines are too relaxed for my likâ€" ing. I prefer the challenge and pressure that only a newsroom can offer. And as far as working for "a || DARILELY !l more famous media corporaâ€" tion" â€" a statement my editor Deb Crandall took great exception to by the way â€" did the thought ever occur to the writer that 1 haven‘t even submitted an application to any of the previously mentioned publications? Nope, not even one of them. And mark my words, my actions, or lack of, have been intentional. Frankly, I have no desire to work at a newspaper where your byline is just another name at the top of a story, and where your assignments are all based on the same topic, whether it be education, health care or politics. I enjoy being personally recognized for the work I do, and the variety of issues I have the opportunity to learn about, from a municipal budget process to the training of dogs for blind people. More than two weeks ago while covering something at the Waterloo Recreation Complex, the organizer of the event introduced herself to me. Upon returning the handâ€" shake, she exclaimed "You‘re Andrea Bailey? You‘re not blonde!" _ The comment made me chuckle, as 1 knew she was imagining the picture of me which appears every week on page eight of the Chronicle. â€" â€"vegfnfacti am no longer blonde. But what really made me smile was that she actually knew the name and appearâ€" ance of the reporter at her community newspaper. Something tells me that if I was working in Toronto, unless I‘m Valerie Pringle who is in the face of viewers five mornings week, I would be just another staffer, insignifiâ€" cant and meaningless. _ Sure, the mon;y might be better. But, while others obviâ€" ously dwell on the dollar signs, to me happiness makes you wealthier. _ So, back to the mayor‘s question, in my opinion, it‘s not Waterloo that has to improve to retain its young talent. It‘s the values of that young talent which have to be acknowlâ€" Therefore, one can only guess if my qualifications as a reporter are, in the letter writer‘s words, not good enough. Sure bright lights, big city might be dazzling at first, but when it comes to life‘s decisions, such as settling down and raising a family, I know I‘m not alone in choosing not to look into the GTAs housing market edged _ Take it from this self~pr5claimed young talent, Waterloo is great just the way it is, a combination of a big city and a small town. _ But then again, as Mr. Chong might say, this could be just another "pathetic attempt to meet a deadline". 1 think I‘ll let others judge for themselves. VIEWPOINT n the Rails: Waterloo Region hopes Oto buy the CN component of the local rail corridor with an eye to improving the region‘s economy, environâ€" ment and transit. The only thing 1 know is until now they‘ve been pushing railroads as an alterâ€" native to flying. 1 rode on a train last week and it is an alternative to flying â€" but only if the stagecoach isn‘t running. School Daze: It‘s too bad the Waterloo Region District school board wasn‘t as prompt to act on sexâ€"offender staffers as it has been on school closings. That being said, it‘s still too bad that a parents‘ group has organized to fight such closings. One of the folks involved said she had hoped the Waterloo case could be won on its merits, not on some technicalâ€" ities. That‘s a faint hope. Much has been made of the faulty process in the Seaforth case in which a board lost in its attempt to close a school, but the circumstances were ()'\( hardly the same. P It seems obvious that the best the parents could hope for would be a delay in the closings. It‘s too much to expect the court to set aside a whole batch of closings. After all, the board‘s job is education; it‘s not its job to preserve property values and maintain the core status quo. Or else we‘d have exâ€"schools galore dotting the landscape. The school board needs those like the Mormon Tabernacle choir needs bongos. Aw Come On: Incidentally, the school "closings" have prompted journalists who should know better, to trot out "closures" as a synonym. It is a synonym, albeit archaic, and one that‘s a lot less clear than "closings". If memory serves, "closure" gained some prominence decades ago at the time of the parliamentary wrangles in the Pipeline debate. Now "closure" is still entrancing the illâ€" educated who reckon that using such a highâ€"toned word will presumably conâ€" vince readers that, yes, you did pass Grade 3 English. Trucking On Down: Last week I lived a life of high adventure. 1 went down to London on the 401 twice and returned after dark, once in It‘s not the school board‘s job to preserve property values a sleet storm in the making. In any case, I saw enough trucks in the two nights‘ driving to keep Ontario supâ€" plied with whatever for weeks. There were trucks to the right of me, trucks to the left of me, and trucks poking me in the stern. And so, when I read a rash of truckâ€" involved accidents on the 401 near Kâ€"W 1 reckoned that, with so many big rigs rolling on the 401 strip, the law of averages dictated that a lot of trucks were involved. But, just to be on the reassured side again, let‘s have one of the transport tycoons tell us again how superbly safe the big rigs are, how they‘re all driven by gasoline Einsteins. _ Please! It may be so much eyewash, as always, but in the face of all the crashes, we need the oolyâ€"dooly consolation again. Exit the Boom: Not that anyone cares, but I‘ve given up listening to busiâ€" ness news and reading the financial pages. I can do ReFail| without the dismal tidings. ::'=_==!| Anyhow, that‘s OK by me. For one thing, the stocks will ultimately be back up. Secondly, I don‘t need the money for anything so there‘s no immediate concern. I admit I don‘t understand the market. How can you lose your life savings on something called securities? Cold Loonies: The loonie has been nosediving lately, but even before that it had led to a lot of Canadians cancelling their usual Florida vacations. What‘s more, I‘ve heard of quite a few Kâ€"W folk selling their Florida properties, not so much to cash in on the discounted loonie, but simply because southern livâ€" ing was now too expensive. I always enjoy Florida in the summerâ€" time. You buy a steak in a supermarket and by the time you walk back home it‘s done. True, I was an avid listenâ€" er and reader while the stock market was climbing to everâ€" new highs. But now that it‘s developed a stumble, I don‘t want to know. It‘s a parallel to my conâ€" sultant. When the stocks were climbing, I heard from him every week. But since the stocks have been diving, I‘ve heard nothing. Perhaps he‘s mislaid my telephone number. iL