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Undoubtedly. one or two of the references and allegations about the Liberal campaign menâ€" tioned in Scott Piatkowski‘s column on Oct. 8 had some substance to them; but as postâ€"election comâ€" mentary it smelled rather extremely of sour grapes. Comments smelled of sour grapes Ihave a hard time understanding the nerve of First Gulf Developâ€" ment Corporation to make a deciâ€" sion not to renew the lease of the Texas Barâ€"Bâ€"(Q) Restaurant in Waterâ€" loo Town Square because, as a recent Chronicle article stated, it just didn‘t seem to fit in with the continuing changes they are makâ€" ing. Replacing family business seems wrong So what does fit? The Liquidaâ€" tion World, with its fetching, large yellow sign, or a seafood chain of restaurants called Lucy‘s Seafood Kitchen. ‘Junk media‘ is warping our values would like to take an apportuniâ€" Ily to respond to a letter in a recent edition of the Chronicle, entitled "Too much sex breeds twisted minds"®. by Jim Newton. I‘m pleased to see that more people are coming out and publicly identifying what 1 believe is a prob lematic issue with modern society, namely our submission as citizens to a world in which sex is glorified by media. I‘ve come across many individuals who don‘t even wince at this issue we are facing. They see junk media as though it is an object they are able to avord And by "junk media®| refer to the lines of com munication that transmit sexually explortuing messages For those who do not see a prob 18 not S1P glossy m billhoard You said it m QUESTION SHOULD THE REGION OF WATERLOO ADOPT A LIGHTâ€"RAIL TRANSIT SYSâ€" TEM, OR A MONORAIL SYSTEM ? a} not see a prob is The medi. 1an LETTERS a colourful ind should Although no one of much sense truly expects remarkable differâ€" ences between Ontario governâ€" ments run by any one of the three main parties these days, if Piatkowski‘s manifestation of postâ€" election complaining exemplifies a standard of maturity for staunch Serving up _ "Down â€" East Louisiana fare" must seem like a better fit to them, as that‘s what will be replacing the restaurant with a history in our uptown core. 1 love new restaurants and busiâ€" nesses moving into Waterloo, but to replace a family operation of this nature just seems wrong. Does First Gulf think we look like Mississauga, which is where they hail from, and where the restaurant moving in has three sites already? 1 feel First Guif has been a huge disappointment. We‘ve been waitâ€" be regarded as the electronic babysitter depicting images in front of children‘s eyes; the magazines you read intently up at your doctor‘s office; the billboard that catches your eye each and every day on your drive to work; the lyrics you tune into in your home, your work place. the local store Media is not something we can neatly pack up and tuck away. It has become a way of life, tightly woven into our minds. There is no doubt that "sex sells" Naw clear your mind., step back from this paper and repeat these words to yourself. How do you feel about this? The majority of us are participating in the strengthening of a sex driven culture where humans women in particular) are being objectified and where the pleasure principle prospers what feels grmd I8 gt)llir "I think a monorail would be good. It‘s simple and fun and would definitely make people want to get on it and save gas." "If it eliminates the pollution caused by the buses, then I‘m for either option." MYUSIX Pamela Showler Ashley Csanady COMMENT NDP supporters, 1 can only express relief that their election goals were not achieved this time around. ing for years for them to deliver on the promises they made to transâ€" form our uptown core. _ _ So far, all I‘ve noticed is the fairly unattractive, unimaginative buildâ€" ing which replaced the old Pier One Imports store. Oh yes, and the removal of a family business, with owners that have been involved in our commuâ€" nity in many different ways for 25 in closing, I relate back to Newâ€" ton‘s article. where he points out our misperceptions of what lave really is. This time, 1 would like to expand the term to the love we have for another person as well as ourâ€" selves Remember that love is respect, it is truth (whether that be good or bad), and above all. it is real. Rtop fooling yourselves and submitting to a society that paints you a sexual utopia because it‘s not real and the fun won‘t last In writing this article, 1 wish not to condemn any group of persons in particular, because we are all in this together | wish only to chal lenge vour thinking as indimiduals and to recognize that we can all make a difference if we put our minds to at "I think the monorail is a good idea and I like the idea of someâ€" thing from St. Jacobs because I used to work there and it took me forever to get out there." "I think it would have to be a LRT. A monoâ€" rail wouldn‘t add to the atmosphere of this city, which isn‘t big enough for that type of train." Michael Clifton Michael Fedy Jill Higgins Cathi Stewart Waterloo Jennifet Stecle Waterion That‘s not fair game In the 1999 Ontario Election, the New Democratic Party earned 13 per cent of the popular vote and won nine out of 103 seats at Queen‘s Park. This year, the party increased its share of the popular vote by two per cent, but its seat total fell by two. This left the party with one seat less than the eightâ€"seat cutoff for what the Legislative Assembly Act calls a "recognized party‘, but is more commonly called "official party status". Given that Dalton McGuinty was on the record as promising to "respect and draw on the talents and expertise of every electâ€" ed representative, including opposition members", given that he had lamented public cynicism about democracy, and given that he has appointed a Cabinet minister to be responsible for democratic renewal, one might have expected that he would make an exception to that rule. AMomneie o o oeinp o esc dn e s No way, says McGuinty: "We will respect the people‘s wishes. There was a rule in place. That rule has been changed once already." That statement is partially true; the threshold was lowâ€" ered in 1999, but that was primarily because the number of seats had just been reduced from 130 to 103. The NDP‘s current situation is unique, and its request for party status calls for a fair assessment on its merits. First of all, if McGuinty is really concerned about "the peoâ€" ple‘s wishes", why wouldn‘t he be concerned about the wishes of 15 per ceny of the people who voted NDP (or, for that matter, the 18 per cent who favoured the NDP in the only postâ€"election opinion poll)? R M Is his message to them, "Oh well, you \\()H”l\ should have elected a Liberal"? Come | VIEW to think of it, that probably is what he * The Liberals deliberately targeted two NDPâ€"held seats in Hamilton and the Sault and managed to win them (in the latter case by uniting with the Tories in the riding). That‘s fair game. But, they also poured huge resources into Oshawa (a riding where there polling put them in a distant third place) in the last two weeks of the campaign in order to ensure that the Tories edged out the NDP in the ridâ€" w sal That‘s not exactly fair, and it suggests that it was McGuinty‘s goal all along to silence the voice of the NDP. As Beachesâ€"East York MPP Michael Prue said when told about McGuinty‘s posiâ€" tion on party status, "I always knew he‘d be a prick about this." The consequences of losing party status are considerable. The right to ask questions in Question Period is meaningless without the money to pay research staff. McGuinty knows how effective the NDP can be, because he watched them destroy the credibility of the Harrisâ€"Eves government, while his considerâ€" ably larger caucus went along for the ride. Indeed, Queen‘s Park reporters have noted that, even without party status, the NDP is already done a much better job of responding to McGuinty‘s string of broken promises than the discredited and nearlyâ€"invisâ€" ible Tories. McGuinty would clearty prefer to govern without an opposition. Mer dn matzet Last week, NDP MPPs were informed that they couldn‘t even call themselves NDP members. The Web site for the Legislative Assembly now lists them as independents, and they‘ve been told not to mention their party affiliation on their letterhead, Web sites or office doors. Torontoâ€"Danforth MPP Marilyn Churâ€" ley says that, "the rules suggest the New Democrats have disapâ€" peared, that we don‘t exist anymore." She has responded to the slight by announcing her intention to officially change her last name to "Churleyâ€"NDP" Her colâ€" league, Niagara Centre MPP Peter Kormos, has said that he‘ll try to change the party name to Incredible New Democrats (IND), if McGuinty persists in his hardline stand against party status Coi en it e ce â€" i 1 1 Another possible solution is for a Tory to cross the floor (actually slide down the opposition benches} so that the NDP can have an eightâ€"member caucus and the party status that goes with it. Bill Murdoch, the MPP for Bruceâ€"(Greyâ€"Owen Sound, has admitted that he‘s thinking about it. Although his idealogy is about as far from the NDP as an MPP can get. Murâ€" doch says he betieves in democracy in the legislature, wants an effective opposition to the Liberals, and thinks it‘s important that the views of peoaple wha voted for the NDP are represented in the legislature Nome of these drastic steps should reall the personal name change, not the party r the Bill Murdoch seat change What is nf McGuinty to live up to his own proâ€"@er give the NDP and its supporters a proper If he doesn‘t, we can just add that to his ; election promises. And, we can start pla next election ts a proper vorce at Queen‘s Park that to his growing list of broken an start planning to fix it in the be necessary not ame change, and not cessary is for Dalton acracy rhetoric. and