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Faces of the Future is an inspiration Sandowne issue didn't need a deferral IR mm m." \[udt-nls ith “rung as Illw (nude Sin (law from Sanduvun- puhltc srhool get 1m 0de " ith the pullurul process. Sure [IS unv [lung In learn about (Inn. and gnwrmurm lt1 the Hass qum . but ith, another In actively pursuu an “we with any level of gm ”mm-m. 'l'hdl N why tltew students should be applauded. ‘I'hry’w identified " muueru in their ctututtuttity and for- lawn-d II up with " "e'ighhourhood met-1mg. which revusrded " vote uverwhelmingty in favour of pulling a security light in their local park These kids are examples of what a motivated electorate is all ahout, They brdught those rvsufts, along with their mamas! pleas for a light. to (my council Monday night. Thank you so much for publish- ing the Faces of the Future 2005. What an inspiration those young people are to our entire community, My heartfelt appreciation also goes Group's home-grow facts 'erroneous' 2005) A good idea in general: large- scale commercial grow ops are a danger. However, same of your "facts" are erroneous in the extreme. Consider the following... "II is estimated that in the Waterloo Heginn there is a home-grow opera- tion within a ltrminute walk from every urban home. "ln an tti-month pvriud. the Waterloo regional police service drug unll dismantled over 85 home- grow operations and seized mari- mam] wrorth over Slit million. How- ever. the trend minimum." The upper statislir would put the number of grow "ps' as 10 times the amount of ofrrcers employed by the Waterloo Region completely. A literally impossible feat m stop them all. Secondly, the estimation mums the less than 40 plant opera- tions which are obviously personal users and nothing more. In the second rsitatistir, the gross overistimatitsn of police in esti- mating that each plant [including wedlings and immature plants) at Sl.0tm mmnnum mine each is mhvrvntlv dishunrsl and throws llwir I-mm- Haines nun doubt "This ”Immune! _ solo on 1hr MrtN't by runnml nrgammlmns." Ilw last (hum lu-rv n on“ that v, ("mph-wk unpmmhll- Ids! llrm- I vhrOcd [min " ll'sl'll I'mplru ail I'VI tltuurrsttrirsitItposrtittitm lhl'll nn‘vslvgmums l gums thts hm» thitrop,crl "Harv 'WIndm-rx arc 1 (“mud to prI-vvnl hghl from vnlvrlng the home and In e: Neighbourhood Watch tips on spotting home-grow oper- ations (Chronicle. March 30. LEH'EK and bode well fur a tuture where young people; IIn'ulvmm'nl In [he political process vununues In crude. mesd kids will get u tttste ot what It's like to make a difference In their cummunily. and hum-fully ht. inspired “I do more oi the mum In the ruturc. " hey deferred a (lemmn on the light until the end oflune, which left the children more than u little con- fused and disheartened. out to the teachers and school staff who work so hard to provide the opportunity,resources and most of all encouragement to ensure that these leaders of tomorrow reach Unfortunately. ifs a shzunv comp til wasn‘t in Ianll’lllg In the way they dealt with them, Sure. maybe council needed more time to make a decision on a community zusel that would address lhe students' safety uorV term in their local park a an asset the students were willing In conceal the activities: " Actually. people who can't afford air conditioning do this quite often. It's cheaper and more effective and is more environmentally sound, "Sometimes sounds/of ctmstruU- tion and ventilation fans can he heard." These can also be found in any house undergoing any sort of reno- vatiun. "The growing of marijuana pro- duces a strong skunk-like odour that ran often be detected outside of the home." This one always makes me laugh. As if the "reader" or "writer" of such nunsensc knows anything about the hundreds of different strains of Cannabis. They don't all smell like skunk, in fact few do. But hey. why let facts muddy the water ofthe witch hunt, right? This one is just a plain old lie. There is no evidence that even the majority of grow ops use "unsafe electricity." In fact. the evidcrtce shows the opposite. Also. people keep mentioning "chvmicals" For ttw untrained and thosw that la, k any knuwlvdgt'. thvsc an- standard gardvning "r hummus" threas that ru‘rv sun "Fire and health dangers to sur- rounding homes due to the unsafe use of the electricity and chemi- calls." 'rluatttcals" [haw that ru'n‘ 'url- gh' um- of mu plusr‘xx Rt'lu'r walrh nut. thcy'rc Crutultir, for Nriter Hm- gunlrll m‘xl pruplrf “\ hrutw gm“ upr-rmmn sll'ulx via-t [Ill " worth SI Jill!) pl'f nlnlnh' lcss Hum Tu [not ( rm uf"lul\lml" gum up" svtcalchttrtot_ Ask 1hr lnruntr) lawvcrs assut‘ldllnn that with up deft-ruling hall of thesv RS TO THE CHRONICLE I CIC)NfMEhrl" I IN 'riTiirrriiiiiirri"iiTi, fumlmlw for llmllsclu-x But why delay until the um! ol men school year? If you mink yuu um outwail thew muumwd kids, youve got another thing coming. A lot of them wen- specfrcalrv let down by their local representative, (Jury Kieswetter. who werned In sil on the fence when they were expert- ing his slrung \uppun He helped guidc them through the process, but when H mm:- lime to champion their must. he offered an unreasonable sulution -- moving tlie playground lo the wheat Not all issues have a black and white resolution to them, but in this [use the issue was simple enough for the students u) understand. their full potential, The future is bright indeed! It's mo bad it wasn't as simple for some of the adults Involved "criminals." or better yet call hydro and ask yourself. These are the same "hazardous conditions" you're exposed In at work and walking down the street. The air we breathe is 10 times more dangerous according to all science compared to a "mouldy grow op" which is ohvinusly the assumption in this article. "Emergency responders are exposed to hazardous conditions." Other than the aforementioned. a good Mrticlel. Unfortunately if you want the support (If people who actually understand science and empirical evidence as well as com- mon sense, it's time you stuck to the truth. After all. we constantly tout "the dangers of grow ops." yet the police ask for harsher penalties; well except for LEAP (law enforcement against prohibition), but heck. those people don't know what they're talking about. right? they're ids: ex-druk cops, nor- mal cops. lawyers, etc. Naw, they wnuldn'l have a clue Perhaps we should he asking ourselves why Carmahis pmhihitiun is 40 per Cent of police funding while homivislv, mum and tho“ squadx are. llndt-rmzmnt-d and underfunded l)hwull.1|mt would misv tun mum qm‘xlmnx. wnuldn'I it? I IM- how dld pmhlhmnn ”mm about " wasrl't thmugh tiw gulw of must“ In " nm- I "HIV Murphy. max ll" frlt wrut, It was my "israke. William Bradley Km 'rrrrcr Heather Grant Waterloo The great uptown civic square debate of 2005 My Cttrrttttettts last week Ill support ol the run square elicited mum mixed reapunsrx from readers. mmc m favour. some opposed. Here ure wnw samples at the umy IIIEHIS'. "l beg In disagree with HO per arm of your article. " IUIIL'vpluully u public square is a great idea. "Practically it p, almost always linked In civic" buildings or churches. Not around a mall or retail businesses" lhe present parking is city parking and is the reason our downtown core is thriving. Most businesses made their deck sion In be here because of that parking. " Both Kitchener and Condon tu name mu are attempting to purchase property m create ground-level parking. "owntovvrp, without ground-level parking fall into urban decay, Retail clients do not appear lu like to park in parkadts as is evident by the empty one on king Street. "Although. I think $2.5 million is ridiculous to spend on a town square. The best luratior1 would he at the south end of the existing site. near the church. [his way it would not negw tively impact the retailers and would be able to expand into the parking for major events such as the jazz festival tthe area presently proposed as already stated by the representatives of the jazz festival is mo \mallt." r'---:'--'-'--"-"-'.--] Another reader, in favour til the proiect wrote the following: "In a study of public squares throughout North America and the world. the consistent thread between the Sllt~ cessful, active, people friendly 'spaces are the ones that are encircled by commercial activity. Public spaces typically aren't a 'destination' for peo- ple but are spaces that people use and frequent as an extension to a shop- ping, browsing, eating trip, thus being in the center of various forms of com- mercial activity ensures successful usage of the space over the long term." "Amid the flurry and fanfare of the Kitchener City Hall opening. a deep-seated theme emerged. in a recent TV inter- view. the architect emphasized how the building and the courtyard was an open 'people' place. The newspaper had arti- cles about tourists who came out. got inspired and became volunteers. The press releases focus on the need to get people to come downtown and take ownership of the city core. Mean- while. in the Waterloo uptown. several sites are being consid- ered for a parketle which will become the civic square This is an ancient idea -- the need to have a place where the people can gather in one place. We can easily point to the physical centre, the business centre. but where is the 'heart' ofthe city, the place where people come together and feel like one mm- munity. F=rr-=---,--c=----c=,--' And yet another thoughtful reader sent me a copy ofa piece written in l993 - yes 1993 - about the need for a civic square in uptown Waterloo. [he village green has always been an important element in the life ofa community: Apparently. it still is. " is fitting, that a century which began by eliminating village greens from the centre of town in favour of huge office buildings should end with the search for a meeting spot. Even ifit is symbolic. liven if, when added to a closed section of King Street. It is still too small m contain the whole population. it is vital to nut sense of ourselves. This idea should not die ft should not he seen as a token gesture to the people. It is the missing piece in the downtown I uptown puzzle" Both sides of the great civic square debate make some legit- imate points. I can understand the views of some retailers who are resistant to any change that may negatively affect their business and let's face it, parking is a requirement for SUFFOCY ful retail trade Awarding In retail studies. the WM majority of upmwn shoppcrs an- Waterloo residvnts and I dun] wrmuslv hem-w for um- mmnvnl that thvv null 'uop vm'llng and ~[u-ndmg munvv In the uptown if thc um \qlldn‘ prnpnsal goes ahead 0n the other hand. uptown has much In offer and thc run slruclmn ofa civic squarr along with the redevelopment of the mall will enhance its attractiveness. Parking Is a problem that mwds In hc .uhln-xwd hm n should um hr Atl uhxlurlv In ( n-mmg " 11"th up.“ I' that, as lllll‘ rvadvr n row. IN "the “PM” of thl' t ttv" Hull d \llllllllll) m thc parking and lmlld Iln- \quarr and build it whr-n- it mitkcs tlur most 'st'lPxt' rutr,ul Vulll’ qm-slnmau (“mm-ma lo seanpseanstrick landtom.