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

WATERLOO CHRONICLE phone number and will be verified for accuracy. No unsigned letters will be published. Submissions may be edited for length, so please be brief Copyright in letters and other mateâ€" rials submitted to the Publisher and accepted for publication remains with the author, but the publisher and its licensees may freely reproâ€" duce them in print, electronic or other forms. Our mailing address is 75 King St. S., Suite 201. Waterloo N2J IP2, our eâ€"mail address is wchronicle@sentex.net, and our fax number is 886â€"9383 Dwayne Weidendort . Gerry Mattice The Waterloo Chronicle welcomes letters to the Editor. They should be signed with name, address and Ken Bosveld Deborah Crandall Associate Publisher . Editor, Ext. 215 75 King St. South, Suite 201 Waterloo, Ontario N2J 1P2 Publisher: Cal Bosveld 886â€"2830 Fax: 886â€"9383 Eâ€"mail: wchronicle@sentex.net 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. Reporter, Ext. 227. Sports Editor, Ext. 229 Manager, Ext. 225 Assistant Canadian Publications Mail Sales Product Agreement Number 136379 International Standard Senial Number ISSN 0832â€"3410 _ Andrea Bailey _ Bob Vrbanac Sales, Ext. 223 _ Sales, Ext. 222 circulation: 26,056 _ smamam Deb Duffield _ Karen Dwyer Letters Policy !‘fo_rmugya Melissa Hounslow Lymn Bartol Manager Sales, 623â€"6617 Director Manager, Ext. 230 Audited Cal Bosveld It‘s unfortunate that hardworking, deserving athletes like Sale and Pelletier are suffering as a result. But until things are put right, I hope they‘re strong enough to endure. After the soâ€"called judges had rendered their decision Monday night, Sale and Pelletier‘s coach Lori Nichol was heard saying, "If® an embarrassâ€" ment for our sport." And CBC commentator Barbara Underhill blurted, "This is wrong." She really summed it up. Like 1 said, I‘m not surprised skating judges are still serving up dodgy scores. But what does surâ€" prise me is that no one is doing anything about it. The corruption is right out there â€" in yer face, so to Why, then, is it allowed to continue? I was listening to my pals Angie and Brian on KOOL FM Tuesday morning, following the criminal offense in question, and they suggested the sport, and all others involving judges, be removed from Olympic competition. As much as 1 love skating and anticipate the competition season like kids anticipate Christmas, I have to agree. Until the ISU and IOC clean house, the sport of figure skating has no place in the Olympics. If skating can‘t be judged fairly, let‘s just skip directly to the Ice Capades. Shaeâ€"Lynn _ Bourne ol PLLOCU and Victor Kraatz know s & what it‘s like to be victims thls klnd Of of figure skating judge 3 cortuptionâ€"andhow. in _ pullâ€"shevik my untrained opinion, y they‘ve won more than a is Stlll couple of competitions for which they were g never officially rewarded. hap p en'lng’ And the scuttlebutt at these Olympics is that the judges have placed them fifth â€" before they‘ve even competed! During _ the _ 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer, Elvis Stojko was robbed of his gold medal when judges refused to recogâ€" nize his technically outâ€" standing martial artsâ€" inspired routine, and instead â€" bestowed top honours _ on _ Russian Alexei Urmanov, who delivered a more tradiâ€" tional performance. While Urmanov‘s performance was stellar, it could not touch Stojko‘s. And everyâ€" one watching, both at the event and on television knew it. Yet in the end, the Russian won the big prize. Nope, it‘s no secret at all that many figure skatâ€" ing judges are as crooked as granny‘s teeth. You know what, though? I‘m not surprised this kind of bullâ€"shevik is still happening. I‘ve been folâ€" lowing competitive figure skating for years, and its judges have been corrupt for as long as 1 can remember. n prmnimieianmie Canada‘s figure skating darlings skated their hearts out Monday night. In fact, they do just that every time their blades touch the ice. They‘re the finest pairs skaters I‘ve seen since Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov. What a disgrace! What a blight on the sport of figure skating! I‘m so angry, I could spit. t occurs to me that the Russian, Chinese, IFrench, Polish and Ukrainian judges at the Olympic figure skating pairs long program event Monday night should be brought up on grand larceny charges after virtually stealing Jamie Sale and David Pelletier‘s gold medal. I‘m not kidding. I think a criminal investigation should be launched. And I don‘t mean a review by the International Skating Union (ISU) or the International Olympic Committee (IOC). I mean actual criminal charges. involving warrants and handcuffs and cold cement cells. It‘s a crime I‘m not surprised this kind of bullâ€"shevik VIEWPOINT Application of Force: Down in Kitchener they‘re talking about a special trained community force to help the police cope with the trash element downtown. That includes the panhandlers, the drug users, Frankly, I don‘t think things are as tough in Ontario as a lot of folks say. As a matter of fact, it‘s not so bad as long as you have the Welcome Wagon and can afford to move X Marks the Spot: The Ontario leadership nose count is still five weeks away, and someâ€" times you doubt it will ever come. The polls have shown exâ€" finance minister Ernie Eves well out in front and Waterloo‘s Liz Witmer in second spot. A lot of folks seem surprised with Liz as runnerâ€"up, but the her status as the only women candidate gives her some extra clout. And you have to add to that the fact that she‘s stayed away from abuse. Some of the men folk have l taken to swapping rocks, but Liz keeps her cool. She obviously figures that it‘s best in the long run. To repeat, as the only woman candidate she‘s apt to get the most secondâ€"place votes. Given the way the votes fall, that can work very satisfactorily. But you‘d still have to give Ernie Eves the edge. Incidentally, Florida hotels have come up with a novel idea to get Canadians to stay longer. When you get in an elevator, the Muzak plays tires spinning on ice. [ C ne of the smallest revelations in recent years is the disclosure that Waterloo is growing faster than Kitchener or Cambridge. Anyone who keeps his eye on building sites knows full well that Waterloo is far, far ahead of the game. Not only that but many a new Waterloo home is well out in the country. Some of the homes are so far out in the boondocks that the mailmen send the mail by mail. Southern Comfort: This season there‘s been less talk of Kâ€"W folks going to Florida because, added to the discount dollar, there‘s been the Sept. 11 disinclination to fly. Anyhow, there‘s been less said about Florida travel and more folks have sold their southern retreats in belief the Canadian dolâ€" lar is not going to get more robust any time ry day. Appalrl Liz is keeping her cool WHAT YOU SEE 1$ WHAT YOU GEL. SANDY The client protested, "Yes, but I‘m the one who came up with the case." "Big deal! "snapped the lawyer. "Anybody can get hit by a bus." Take the client who complained to his lawyer, "You‘re overcharging me. I brought you the case and you‘re charging me half of the damages!" Mayor Lastman is afraid the public inquiry will last too long and cost too much: "...L want it strictly to the point...and don‘t drag it out over two years or three years or whatever it may. I DY want to see it come back within D a year, within six months if posâ€" sible." We can hope the Waterloo timetable is approximately the same, but it‘s to be doubted. It‘s not that we‘re suggesting that lawyers ever dawdle. Lawyers are good for you. They prevent somebody else getting your money. The lawyer said, "I happen to be providâ€" ing years of law school training and knowlâ€" edge of all the statutes." The alphabetized company, as you may recall, is set to tangle with Waterloo in a multiâ€"millionâ€"dollar lawsuit arising from the financing of RIM Park. Double Trouble: It looks as if Waterloo Mayor Woolstencroft and Toronto Mayor Lastman can get together and compare legal points. Both are going to be locked in battle with MFP Financial Services Ltd. Now, after weeks of resistance, Mayor Lastman has agreed to a public inquiry into Toronto‘s relations with the aopmmaamm . company. the street people and so on. But Jacqui Lirette, coâ€"chairman of Kitchener Youth Action Council, said a police officer on every corner would create an uninviting atmosâ€" phere for young people. She said that youth is a huge part of downtown, and she‘s concerned that revitalâ€" izing it means eliminating them between the ages of 14 and 25. _ Oh? From what I‘ve seen of the down town, that should be one of the key aims. What apparently has turned Lastman around was a devastatâ€" ing report which showed the city still has not uncovered all the problems related to MFP‘s conâ€" tract to supply computer equipâ€" ment. en WHATYOUGET _ . swuirvrouse. |