PAGE 4, WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 15, 1982, WHITBY FREE PRESS whitby Voice of the County Town Michael Ian Burgess, Publisher - Managing Edito The only Whitby newspaper independently owned and operated by Whitby residents for Whitby residents. rPut ilished every Wednesday, by M.B.M. Publishing and Photography Inc. Phone 668-6111 The Free Press Building, 131 Brock Street North, P.O. Box 206, Whitby, Ont. LESLIE BUTLER Communlty EdItor ELIZABETH NOZDRYN Advertising Manager Second Class Mail Registration No. 5351 Law should stress prevention in drunk driving issue The debate over what to do with drunk drivers has taken yet another turn.'Justice Minister Mark McGuigan last week suggested mandatory jail sentences be Imposed for first-time offenders convicted of impaired driving. Under existing law, a first-time offender receives a fln e of Upto $2,000, or a jall term of up to f ive days, or both. McGuigan, echoing the feeling of many Cana- 'dians says drunk driving is a considerable social problem that must be dealt with more severely than it presently is. Last week, Whitby's assistant crown attorney Ed Bradley suggested that a minimum jail senten- ce of 30 days for a first-time offender might be a sufficient deterrent. Few would disagree that drunk driving is a menace to people and property. But, as in the capital punishment debate, many will disagree that stiff sentences act as a deterrent to criminal behaviour. The mental state of someone Who attempts to operate a vehicle after consuming substantial quantities of alcohol can hardly be considered rational. It is questionable whether the threat of imprisonment would prevent him (or her) from using his car. And prevention is the Key issue in the debate, because once the damage has been done, it is Irreparable. Ask someone with a spouse or child that has been killed by a drunk driver whether any penalty is still enough. Obviously even a jail term isn't going to bring back the dead. Why not make it impossible for him to operate his car once he has passed the legal limit? The technology wouldn't have to be much more sophisticated than something as simple as a seat- belt. A simple push-button combination lock might save lives. The operator would be required to push the right combination of numbers in a specific amount of time. The lock would be designed to make it Impossible for someone im- paired to open the lock. It certainly wouldri't be foolproof, but such a device would prévent the really Impaired from get- ting on the road. More sophisticated devices can and should be developed to tackle the problem before the darnage has occurred. If auto manufacturers were required to instaîl such devices, it would take about half a decade before most cars would be equlpped with one. As long as there is alcohol, people and auto- mobiles, there will be drunk drivers, no matter what the legal threat. The law should address the driver's physical capability, not his rather hazy fear of getting caught. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. LETTERS TO -THE EDITOR Dear Sir: The Executive and Membership of Royal Canadian Le- glon, Branch 112, Whitby, wish to ex- press our thanks for your kind reporting of our various func- tions and events during 1982. Your understand- ing and support of the role our veter- ans and members play in the commu- nity is most appre- ciated. Some Legion ac- tivities, however, are not reported due to their confi- dential nature - for instance, the in- volvement of our Chaplain, the Rev. Robert Mansfield, and Service Officer, Alec Brown, with sick and needy veterans and their farmilles. The efforts of these gentlemen too often go un- sung. May we thank them now? And let's voice a special thanks to the members of our Ladies' Auxiliary who, every year, contribute enor- mously to the suc- cess of our organi- zation; and to the townsfolk of Whitby who, in greatly in- creased numbers, joined with us to do homage at the Cenotaph on Re- membrance Day and who helped make the 1982 Pop- py Campaign the great success it was; and those fine young members -of Whitby Sea Cadet Corps who so ably and selflessly aided Poppy Chairman Carel Van Hoof, and his team in realizing a most successful campaign... The list could get very long, so we'll close with the pri- mary reason for this letter which is to wish you and all of the staff at Whitby Free Press Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosper- ous New Year. Sincerely, Robert Adams, President. It's hard to believe that it's 19 years since John F. Ken- nedy died, and my world as a Washington correspondent for the Montreai Star was turned upside down. The an- niversary reminds me that as an anchorman, I am often asked how I am able to wade knee-deep through gloomy newscasts and not be sunk in deep and permanent depression. What I tell people is that you have to approach the news with a certain amount of detachment or you-a lose your mind. But that's not entirely true. If you're not affected by the events you're reporting, to some extent, your journalism is pretty mechanical. It's where to draw the line that's a problem. Clearly,;I didn't know where to draw it when it came to John Fitzgerald Kennedy. I can say that now because for me personally, when he was shot, the Washington landscape was suddenly overcast. You could dispel the gloom a little bit, as some of us do on a dark and rainy day, by rushing around the house turn- ing on the lights. But it's never the same thing as sur- shine. Despite the fact that I was only a buystander, on the sidelines of what is now referred to as Camelot, I was caught up in the youth and verve of the Kennedy ad- ministration, and the spirit that animated official Washington. And although I went through the motions of newspaper reporting for another five years after that, it was really the end of the line when President Kennedy died. I stayed in Washington through the Johnson - Goldwater campaign of 1964, and for the first year of the Johnson administration after that. I spent-some time in the Toronto Star's Ottawa Bureau over the next cou- ple of years, but my heart wasn't in it, and neither was my mind. i was nearing a turning point in my life and it had a lot to do with the fact that I got too close to a story; I had become too steeped in the atmosphere of what I was supposed to be covering. And so the reporter has to draw back, but not to the point where he misses the drama of what he's writing about. It's a fine distinction, i know,.and like many fine distinctions, hard to define. That's not news but that too is reality. Ã