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am greatly concerned about the Inegalivc health effects of adding hydroftuorosilicie acid to our drinkâ€" ing water. I also feel this issue needs to be understood from a more legal perspective. Clean water is a precious and natural resource, which belongs to all people. I grew up drinking water from our own well, but now must drink municipal water. Times have certainly changed. Not only is our precious water resource dwindling, but contaminaâ€" tion is making it increasingly harder to find natural water supplies safe enough to drink. The Safe Drinking Water Act is there to ensure municipal water is safe to drink. Regrettably, chemicals must sometimes be added to make municipal water safe. Water fluoridation, however, has nothing to do with making our water safe. Water fluoridation is a prevenâ€" tative measure, not a safety measure. Fluoride a ‘violation‘ of safe water act There is, of course, no doubt that clothes make the man. I‘m quite sure that is behind the Waterloo regionâ€" al school board‘s discussion of uniforms for its stuâ€" dents. The board has pushed that issue off to school councils, which have the freedom to make such decisions. And perhaps at those meetings they, too, will discuss how clothes make such a difference. That‘s the beauty of those things; you can use them to justify almost anything. Or, on the other hand, the discussion may centre on how one cannot judge a book by its cover. Each side will choose its own contraâ€" dictory proverb â€" whatever is necessary to bolster their argument. I certainly hope the councils will have a serious discussion, maybe take some time to "stop and smell the roses." However, there is "no time like the presâ€" ent" to "strike while the iron is hot." One problem with those groups is their size. "Too many cooks spoil the broth," you know? But, you could argue, "many hands make light work." Many Catholic schools already have uniforms, and certainly "what‘s good for the goose is good for the gander." On the other hand, "one man‘s meat is another man‘s poison." Some of those schools say the students just seem to get along better because, as we all know, "birds of a feather flock together." Some might argue, "Oppoâ€" sites attract." Now that we‘ve got all those out of the way, which should take a fair amount of steam out of the debate, let‘s move on to the issue itself. Much of the talk surrounding uniforms is how it will make schools safer. I‘m not buying that one. Most of the incidents at schools involve someone who is part of the school community, so in most instances uniforms aren‘t going to be much help in identifying "intruders." Proponents argue uniforms are cheaper for parâ€" . *** ents. We had one kid go to school wearing uniforms. Brian Bourke, a member of the 105.3 KOOL FM I‘m not sure there was much of a saving since the morning crew, can be reached by email at uniforms could only be purchased from one suppliâ€" bbourke@koolfm.com. Uniforms won‘t change schools Fluoridating is akin to medicating our drinking water. 1 equate adding any type of fluoâ€" ride to our drinking water as a violaâ€" tion of the spirit and intent of the Safe Drinking Water Act. I am alarmed we were never told industrial toxic waste is used to fluoridate our drinking water. What else haven‘t people been told? Iwished more people like Fred Snider would express their disâ€" agreement with the plan of the City of Waterloo council to ban pestiâ€" cides. Who are all these citizens that are supposed to be in favour of a pesticide ban? Why would sports fields, golf courses and farms be exempt if it is so bad for our health? Homeowners, like me, that try to keep their property free of weeds and bugs are getting the shaft. _ A good example of what will hapâ€" Homeowners getting the ‘shaft‘ BRIAN BOURKE COMMENT er who wasn‘t exactly interested in providing barâ€" gains. And it was high school, which for us was past the time when we were buying new school "outfits" every year. When I occasionally wandered into that child‘s room, I did not notice much of a decrease in the amount of clothing she had. Supporters also suggest wearing uniforms reduces cliques at schools based on clothes. Maybe for a day or so. We all went to high esmm . school. We know how cruel we can be, i )F | â€" and we know how incredibly superfiâ€" c al cial we were as young people. If it‘s not NCMR | the clothes, it will be something else. It‘s the nature of the highâ€"school beast, : I think, to divide into groups no matter k. how those divisions are created. They o 74 lessen as you get older. I‘m not sure oc clothing is going to make any differâ€" W‘ ence at all in the long term. _ So, would I like to see uniforms on publicâ€"school kids? Personally, I don‘t care. I don‘t think it matters. To use another old proverb, "what counts is on the inside." group or another. So if you‘re part of a school council and you‘d like to bring in uniforms, go nuts. _ _ â€" At the end of the day it won‘t really make a lot of difference to anyone. Schools, like communities and families, are formed by people and their feelâ€" ings, attitudes and beliefs. Dress them all up in tutus and Batman capes if you want, but it‘s teachers, stuâ€" dents and parents who make a school function properly, and no uniform is going to change that. _ Come to think of it, that would make a dandy uniform. Anna M.Loos _ = Waterloo 4 Opponents of the idea have their * own arguments. Some say making kids wear uniforms takes away their opporâ€" tunity to express their "individuality." I find that highly amusing. Having watched three teenagers and their friends go through high school, it seems to me most kids wanted to express their individuality by working as hard as possible to fit in with some pen to a cityâ€"maintained boulevard is at Rheinland Place, which is overâ€" run and destroyed by weeds. The city is wasting taxpayers‘ money on laying grass sods in berms and landscaped areas that in a few years will turn into an unatâ€" tractive wilderness. number. Addresses and teleâ€" HRONJCLE i John Zwygers Waterloo The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, directed by Seth Gorâ€" don, was released on DVD last week, and it is one of the best documentaries l have ever seen. An incredible film about the littleâ€"seen niche of competitive video gaming, it is an inspiring story about human drive, and two very different men fixated on being recognized as the very best at the classic arcade game Donkey Kong. ile millions watched two professional football teams W;‘o headâ€"toâ€"head for some championship this past weekend, I watched the classic showdown between Billy Mitchell and Steve Wiebe â€" for the worldâ€"record high score on Donkey Kong. The film begins by tracing the history of competitive video gaming, beginning in 1982 when Billy Mitchell, then in his early 20s, achieved the highest score on Donkey Kong with over 800,000 points. Mitchell‘s record stood until 2005, when Steve Wiebe (pronounced weeâ€"bee), a recently laid off employee at Boeing, decided to take a crack at the world record. Video games more compelling than football The drama that unfolds had me on the edge of my seat, and was as involving as any highâ€"energy sporting event I‘ve seen in And for me, it was a remarkable trip down memory lane, having grown up in that classic ‘80s videoâ€"game era. I could relate to the underdog competiâ€" tor Steve Wiebe, a father of two young kids with a fullâ€"size video arcade game in his garage â€" that description fits Mine is the 1985 wrestling game Exciting Hour, recognized among game enthusiasts as being one of the first of the genre, and, in my opinion, one that still stands up well to modern games. Before buying the arcade game over 15 years ago after seeing an ad in the PennySaver, I played it almost every day for years at Wizard‘s World arcade in downtown Kitchener. These days, I enjoy many evenings watching my wife master the recently released Super Mario Galaxy for the Nintendo Wii, while I offer strategic advice on some of the more challenging levels. It was in Donkey Kong that the Super Mario character debuted, originally known simply as Jumpman, Kong‘s protagoâ€" nist, over 25 years ago. Inspired by The King of Kong documenâ€" tary, I was excited to revisit the original Donkey Kong game and see how I‘d fare. While playing it, I was reminded not only of its distinct sounds and graphical limitations, but of how challengâ€" ing it is right from the start. My love of video games began in 1983 when my mother bought me the Atari 2600 videoâ€"game console, with arcade clasâ€" sics like Pitfall, Galaga and Zaxxon. I also had the tabletop verâ€" sions of Donkey Kong, PacMan and Q*bert â€" which my mother surprisingly dominated. And it‘s these personalities in the competitive videoâ€"gaming community, with their comically profound idiosyncrasies, that make this story so real and yet so much stranger than fiction. Director Seth Gordon could not have written more captivating characters, or more diametrically opposed rivals in Billy Mitchell and Steve Wiebe. Wiebe is someone you can‘t help pulling for, portrayed as a man prone to always falling short and tenacious for his first big win. Mitchell, on the other hand, is petty and egotistical, with his ridiculous outâ€"ofâ€"date feathered hairstyle and dressing like it‘s 1985. â€""That ape is very, very cunning, and he will do what he needs to to stop you," says one of the geeky arcade regulars in the film. Mitchell is described as a Jedi by his closeâ€"knit nerdy peers, while Wiebe is supported by family and friends who don‘t entirely understand his fixation, but support him regardless. At one point in the film, Wiebe‘s mother says, "I always thought he was a little autistic." The Super Bow! â€" I was more than happy to miss it. The clash between Wiebe and Mitchell was far more compelling and exciting to me than any overâ€"hyped football game. _ The King of Kong not only moved me, but also had me standing up and cheering for Steve Wiebe â€" which is someâ€" thing I would never do for football. Marshall Ward is a visual artist and independent filmmaker, currently teaching life drawing at the Waterloo Community Arts Centre. Email is welcome at marshall_ward@hotmail.com. WATERLOO CHRONICLE + Wednesday, February 6, 2008 * 9 MARSHALL