WHITBY FREE PRESS. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30,198t, PAGE 5 "I have aworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility againat every form of ýtyrqnny over the mind of man." - Thomas Jefferson w w THE CROW'S NEST fl by7q Mp1ichael Knell It is ime for councilors Bugeili, Drumnm, Emm and Batten to come dlean and tell the people and axpayera of Wbtby why tbey killed the Iroquois Park Com- plex expansion. The necessity for a statement bas become even greater in the llght of commenta made on the front page of this newspaper Iast week and those found in the draft report of Oie master culture and recreation plan submitted to council recently by Jean Monteith. The commuenta made by some counciors Iast week cisturbed me. If they rejected the Iroquois Park proposai because of a staff screw-up, we are entitled ta know wbat that screw-up was and bow much it cost us. Secondly, if a member of staff made so big ($6.2 million aln't, as they say, hay) a blunder is he or she ail on the public payrol' If so, wby? If so, wben are these four councillors golng to order dlsclplinary action agalnst tbem? If this is true, wby bas no new report on Iroquois Park been ordered? There la no Watergate here as one of the Fearsorne Foursome suggested last week. Nor ia anyone trylng to create one. Ail this newspaper, the vast majority of minor sports organizations, and 2,600 residents wbo signed a petition in sup- port of Iroquois want to know la wby dld they reject iL? Confidential reports sbould be made public - Oie actions of staff, consultants, and elected officlais sbould be subject to public scrutiny and criticism. If you are lnterested, take Oie ime ta read Oie Jean Monteitb master recreation plan draft report. It makes for lnteresting reading and makes one question the tawn's policy In terms of the provision of recreational facility and programas bas given Oie priorlty and Oie attention IL needs and deserves. For example, on pages 97 and 980of ber report, Monteith (who dld Oie original report that lead up to Oie now defunct $6.2 million expansion proposai) suggests that Witby la la need of another multi-use community somewhere in Oie Rossland Rd.fBrock St. N. area In addition to an expanded and renovated Iroquois Park. 'IL la i recommended, ' the report states, "1that consideration be given to com- bnnorclusterlng many of Oie facilities prevlously identified as being needed I hty over Oie next ten year period and beyond. The goal should be to provide a second large scale complex strategically located in Whitby. "«IL la not recommended," It continues, "1that a second massive complez be built la Whltby wlthln Oie next five years, but rather thaL a large scale complex be planned and pbased in over a period of several years as faiities are needed In Whtby."l Montelihalso notes that thia complex sbould contain: a gymnasium/multi- purpose room; a senior citizens' activlty centre; a double pad arena; a leisure pool; squasb/racquetbail courts; softball diamonds; and, soccer pitches. And thia la ailin addition toa conipleted Iroquois Park. In a letter to former parka and recreation director Wayne Deveau, Monteitb wrote tbat ber suggestion for a second complex "sbould not come as any sur- prise In Oiat durlng Oie preparation of Oie Iroquois Park feasibiity study ... we identlfled that in addition to everytblng being recommended for Iroquois, we foresaw Oie need for yet a future recreation complex and swimming pool. " She also went on ta remlnd Deveau Oiat the master plan report also recom- menda that Oie town examine Oie feasibillty of developing Oie second complex la conjuaction with oOier groupa (such as Oie YMCA or Oie Durbam Board of Education) and if IL la deemed flnanciaily feasible, sbould be developed in stages. "In no way la Oie anticipated need for a second complex ever to eliminate the essentiel need of completing Iroquois flrst (i.e. Oie proper and orderly com- pletion of Iroquois), " Monteith wrote, addlng thua final hardhitting observation:- "To commence a new complex without completing Iroquois wlll not solve Wbit- by's recreation needa. There la still Oie need Lo make Iroquois Park a complete complex and financiaily viable by reducing iLs level of subsidy. " Throughout ber entire report, Monteli refera te, Oie resuits of surveys amnong householders and interviews wiOi local organizations as one starting block in ber plan. She also uses demographica and population forecasts based on Whltby'a known leve~l of growth to back up wbatbhe says. The report details every recreational and cultural facility in own and shows how inadequate Oiey are wben compared ta accepted provincial government standards. For exaxnple, Oie Ministry of Tourismn and Recreation standard for curling facilities la 12 sheets per 25,000 persons. Whitby's six sheets for 44,241 la pitifufly below standard. Softball diamonda are another example: we bave one for every 1,770 in population while neigbbourlng comznunities such as Pickering have one for every 99 and Rchmond Hill has one for every 1,327. Looking through Oie Monteith study gives one the impression that this town's recreation needs bave been sorely neglected for a long ime. We are so below standard now Oiat Oie situation could become almost critical wben our population reaches 6,000 sometlie before Oie year 2000. In every critical area of recreation fadiity planning we are falllng short (ualess you're talking about lawn bowling greens) of acceptedastandards. -Without intending to, Oie Monteith draft report on Oie master recreation plan provides even more solid evidence-of Oie need to expand and renovate Iroquois Park now. The omplex NorOi proposed by Oie Fearsome Foursome is going ta, be needed sometlme after 1M9. That is, unless Oiese four gentlemen know something that Oey're not telling us. If that la se, then Oiey had better tell us soon because the amount of public evidence against Oeir position la becomiag beavier and more convincing eacb day. WITH OUJR FEET UP By Bill Swan April, the poet once said a long, long ime ago, is the cruelest month. That was before the first income tax levy (a tem- porary war measure circa 1917) proving how prophetic poets can be. I argued that once before a skeptic who wouldn'L buy the argument. "IL only proves," he said, "that bureaucrats have a sense of humor. Why else would tbey pick the cruelest montb to inflict income tax?" So the month ends with a joke and begins with a joke. Remember the challenge on April 1 - to make it through the wbole day witbout buying a prank. Escaping April Fool's Day is perbaps the supreme intellectual challenge. Those wbo follow this column with any regularity may recaîl that I enjoy puzzles. In the first few mon- ths of writing this column (one year ago for trivia nuts) I provided a "puzzle of the week". IL was great fun, and I enjoyed researching the puzzles remendously. But in several weeks I heard from only two readers. I concluded that my wife was right: nothing is more boring than mathematical puzzles. Except distance running. I also read science fiction and have a layman's in- terest in science. Two other winners. Combine those, though, and I become a perfect example of the market segment sought by OMNI magazine. OMNI, now in iLs nintb year, bas brought science fiction from the pulps to the slicks, and along with it inteligent discussions of science and technology. IL also has, predictably, a puzzles page. (This does ie in with a discussion of Lhe flippin' month of April; be patient.) OMNI once published a paper airpiane design that was winner of an international contest. The paper plane boasted a free fligbt the length of a football field. To aid readers assemble the com- plicated design, the magazine provided two sets of plans printed on heavy aluminum-coated paper stock. Readers were instructed to use Oie first set of plans o walk througb the complicated instructions; the second set was for the final test fligbt. Well, April is my busiest month, too. I put Oie magazine away intending to build the paper plane *'some day when I have ime." That time came a year or so later. I built the plane, cursing the complex instructions. The prototype crashed ignobly. The final, polished ver- sion flew four feet out from my hand and nose-dived into Oie carpet. I cursed my stupidity. About the same time, OMNI publisbed "The World's HardestIQ Test." Now he who loves puzzles la naturally attracted to such challenges. IQ (Intelligent Quotient) tests do not measure intelligence: tbey measure either the ability (sometimes) o solve puzzles or the ability to recaîl information. Or the skill to do sucb tests. But a puzzle is a puzzle is a puzzle. I sat down and plowed away. The test was what iL boasted: Hard. The first few questions yielded to a bit of prying. But beyond question 6: forget iL. I feit somewhat admonished. I have not men- tioned iL Lo a soul. Until now. The reason is another test published recently by OMNI. This one was accompanied by an article on the Mood-Altering Scents. Included was a car- dboard insert witb five scratch pads. Each one held a secret scent. The reader was invited to scratch the pads, one at a ime, and write down the sensory im- pressions and then answer 50 questions "to help scent researchers." I scratched the pads and filled out the question- naire. What I did not do was follow the final instruction: mail the completed questionnaire to the scent researchers at OMNI. The year before I also did not mail iri my answers to the World's Hardest IQ Test. I didn't tell anyone about the World's Most Per- fect Paper Airplane, either. See, a puzzle is a puzzle. And although in each case I put in two, maybe three hours working through the instructions, it finally did dawn on me that Oie paper airplane appeared in the April, 1984 edition. The IQ test ran in April, 1985. The Scent test in April, 1986. GeL the picture? You can beL they won't get me next year.