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Then in the late 1970s, Ontario‘s population started growing rapidly by the thousands every year. That wasn‘t easy to maintain in Ontario â€" housing, health care, schools, etc., gradually experienced the stress and strain on our lives. We had the remarkable western politician and a true gentleman, Tommy Douglas, whose aim it was to improve health care at a lower cost to all Canadians. He succeeded. at the time Andrea wasn‘t old enough to remember our health care back three and four decades ago, when people living outside of Ontario envied our health care. 1 do recall people who came to Ontario for surgery, paying for the cost themselves. I recall reading the column, howâ€" ever, I don‘t recall the wording as being delfoga(ory, 1 know I thought e: Criticism by Ms. Czekus in R{::gards to the Sept. 6 column y Andrea Bailey in respect to care in the busy ER rooms in both hospitals â€" Grand River and St. Mary‘s General (Chronicle, Aug. 30, 2006). Column wasn‘t derogatory Are we all suffering from poor self esteem with our constant need to be connected, be it by phone or email? Do we all need the reassurance that someâ€" one needs us, just to feel better about ourselves? Just like the old west, we wander around the wilds of the golf course, everyone perfecting their quick draw moves. 1 was at a golf tournament a couple of weeks ago with a group of people who, it appeared, were all connected to their BlackBerrys. It was remiâ€" niscent of one of those old wild western movies. Every now and then you‘d see people slap their hips in search of their electronic sidearm. Rather fitâ€" ting that the carrying case for the device is called a holster. By the way, if you get that email, just delete it; I already helped him out. He sounded so desperate! I shall share my wealth with everyone for the greater good. "Oh goody! Someone wants to comâ€" municate with me!" Even if it is just that guy in Nigeria who wants to deposit $80 million in my bank account. There‘s something reassuring about that buzz on your hip when a new mesâ€" sage is received. 1 suppose, like most people, 1 could live without it. However, it has, in some ways, become a matter of volume. Ten years ago, when we really started with email in the office, it was a relatively small part of the job. Now it‘s mushroomed to the point where I can easily pull in 1,000 emails a week. That can pile up when you go away for a few days, or even for a weekend. fi So the BlackBerry, in a sense, allows me to keep my electronic head above water. I‘ve started using a BlackBerry â€" that little elecâ€" tronic device from the marvels at Research in Motion, which allows you to send and receive emails, phone calls, and do all kinds of other elecâ€" tronic work, no matter where you are. Ihave officially joined the world of the electronicalâ€" ly leashed. And this, in a way, will serve as an apolâ€" ogy for all of those people 1 have derided over the past few years for already being on that curve. Keeping my electronic head above water This soâ€"called agreement seems not only to raise the spectre of other city debacles, but raises serious questions about the abilities of the council. Iam not a person who is comfortâ€" able writing letters to the editor. However, the level of discomfort that has arisen from the recently announced YMCAâ€"City of Waterloo agreement forces me to break my silence. Are taxpayers getting fleeced? Yes, there have been many new lifesaving drugs, skilled surgeons and technology to improve our health care, however, at what cost? Now we have to have a food bank (we are told people stand in line). We are told about people sleeping on the streets in winter; that was until the program In Out of the Cold was started by caring peoâ€" ple in area churches. The street peoâ€" ple are given dinner, a warm place to sleep and breakfast seven days a week. However, evolution being what it is, in a couple of thousand years humans will probably be only giant fingers and ears after using those items all the time. Efficient, but unattractive. * Hear more of Brian‘s thoughts on life with the KOOL Morning Crew every weekday morning from 6 to 9 a.m. on Waterloo radio station 105.3 KOOL FM. COMMENT AN Like a lot of people these days, I RKE embrace technology. To some degree of course, I‘ve had to just to stay employed. I like new gadgets, and 1 love to figure out how they work. And of course, for you boys, I don‘t bothâ€" er with the manual. That‘s not nearly as much fun. Is life better now? I don‘t know. It seems easier in a lot of ways. Easier to communicate, research things and stay in contact with people. We spent $600 on our first VCR, which must have been more than 20 years ago. Don‘t they give those away in cereal packages now? Come to think of it, do your kids realize "back in the day" you had to wait for movies to come on TV m before you could see them? Our first cellular phone was the size of a school lunchbox. And you could only use it to make and receive phone calls. It didn‘t even take pictures. How backward was that? But it does make me think of the tremendous changes over t}}e past 20 years or so. I don‘t know. Maybe we would all be better off without the connectivity. I know there are plenty of people who feel that way. 1 shall leave those quesâ€" tions to better minds than mine. Marjorie Grover Waterloo I think we paid about $500 for that oven, which was the size of a small car. I remember our youngest daughter scooting her way into the kitchen whenever the microwave beeped it was finished. She had learned that sound meant her bottle was ready. Paviov would have been proud. Our children, who are all in their 20s, don‘t really recall a time when there was not a computer of some type in their house. Or a microwave oven for that matter. This is a sweet deal for the YMCA. 1 can not say the same for the taxpayers, or even the City of Waterloo. I am quite sure while the YMCA will provide a service, it will do so at a fee to users while being subsidized for $3 million of Waterloo taxpayers‘ money. It is my belief many more quesâ€" tions must be asked. This is not an agreement between partners. This is one more fleecing of the Waterloo taxpayer â€"â€" this time for a revenueâ€"producing organization. t In a time when destructive weather is rampant, 1 would suggest insurance premiums and ongoing maintenance over this period would make up the $6 million the YMCA is paying. For a single loonie â€"â€" with this agreement most aptly named â€"â€" the city agrees to handle all major repairs for a quarter of a century. How, in all good faith, can the city enter into a partnership with a tenant who is the landlord? This soâ€"called agreement, in which the city charges $1 per year in rent? This is the stuff of madness. LNOAYTWE Waterloo Marshall Ward is a professor in the fine arts program at Wil frid Laurier University. Email is welcome at mward@wlu.ca. Coun. Jim Wideman is chair of the regional committee conâ€" sidering this trafficâ€"light situation. He can be contacted at wjim@region.waterloo.on.ca or at 519â€"575â€"4404, ext. 3409. An intensive lobbying effort to save the traffic lights at the corner of Erb Street and Erbsville Court is taking place, and the KW Bilingual School is asking parents and concerned citizens to contact regional council representatives. These children need assistance to cross Erb Street to get from their bus stop to school and back. We can‘t wait until the worst case scenario happens to solve the problem. Children are children, not young adults â€" and it‘s imporâ€" tant for everyone to understand their limitations in underâ€" standing traffic. It is our role as adults to diminish risk whenevâ€" er we can. For the parents of children attending the KW Bilingual School, it is not an issue of convenience; it‘s a matter of safety. They simply want a designated crossing for the children and a safe environment for everyone. Simply put: children‘s brains can‘t always process the unsuspecting dangers they face, even if they do heed parental advice and look both ways. They lack in areas of peripheral vision, depth perception and the ability to determine sound and location accurately. "Crossing a busy street is a more difficult task than highâ€" school calculus, in terms of information processing. Consider what you have to do: be aware of oncoming traffic, assess the speed of the traffic, judge how far away it is and the estimated time of arrival. Then consider the time available for crossing, and compare that time available to the time necessary to cross. In an interview with the UW News Bureau, MacGregor said, "Most parents think children only need assistance crossing up to the age of eight or 10 for a major street with traffic lights â€" yet the complexity of the crossing task at busy intersections requires decisionâ€"making skills children are not fully capable of before age 12. A study titled Identifying Gaps in Child Pedestrian Safety: Comparing What Children Do With What Parents Teach, was led in 2000 by a University of Waterloo systems design engiâ€" neering professor, Carolyn MacGregor. Her specialty is cogniâ€" tive ergonomics â€" an area where engineering and psychology meet. Closer to University Avenue, another bigâ€"box mall is expected to open in 2008. To say that this will vastly increase the volume of traffic â€" and danger for the kids trying to cross Erb Street â€" is an understatement. In addition, a new 65,000â€"squareâ€" foot Canadian Tire store is planned at Erb Street and Ira Needles Boulevard, along with an 18,000â€"squareâ€"foot mall. With vehicles often travelling at makes for a dangerous and downright scary scenario. Add to that the steady line of vehiâ€" cles leaving the school from Erbsville Court, trying to turn left onto Erb Street. No traffic lights or stop signs on Erb Street means children who catch the No. 5 city bus must cross five lanes without any assistance. It states: "Waterloo Region staff is adamant these traffic lights are no longer justified now that Erbsville Court is a dead* end street with little traffic." I strongly disagree. And so do many parents I‘ve spoken with this past week. Since August, the traffic lights near the school have been disabled, at the recommendation of Waterloo regional staff and approved by regional council. For a number of children who rely on those traffic lights, the situation is a tragedy waiting to happen. A letter was sent home to pam.n.ts last week from principal Michel Poinot, chair Philip Thompson and the KW Bilingual School board of directors. Our parents always taught us to look both ways before crossing the street. Unfortunately, this simple piece of advice doesn‘t quite cut it for children attending the KW Bilingual School in Waterloo. The school is at the corner of Erb Street and Erbsville Court â€" a busy intersection before and after school that, as of recently, is without any traffic control. Don‘t turn out the lights 70km/h both ways. it MARSHALL