The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

LETES ri' LOfe Mardi madness Running water. Think af It Wonderful, hot, rnnnng water at the tum of the tap. Ira a miraclel Espeda if you have gone t outRfr any tlme asail For the pMst 1w days, my definitian of runnlng water has been watchlngrmy nephews run dawn ta the frazen take wlth empty buckets ln thoir hands. Yes, R has been ime for that annual White family event, the wtnter cottage getaway. .We arrived Wet FrIday aftemnoan, parkod the car by the four-oat snawbank and trudged Up the titi ta the cottage ta discover, wonder ofi wonders, that wo couldn't get Inta the pisce. t wlsh ta paint aut that this was natbecause 1 fargot to pack the key. No, what happenod was tIiat those wonderful peoaple wha shavol aur roaf wery wlnter had simply dumped the snaw tram the roaf onta the ground, ln frant of the back doar. it had thawoed, thon frozen again, prosonting us wlth a three- foot impenetrable wailoe that 1 coud nt have gane thraugh with a bulldazer. Thet doar was nat gaing anywhere. As the front doar has a creen doar thltIcks tram the Inside, we were Iacked out. Thers aie many things you might wsh for an a wInter weokond ln the narth, but shefter and he amr numbor ans and twa on mylEst. Sa t was, ta say the toast, pertwrbed thet a thiee- haur drive had usoan the autside laaktng ln wth the sun rapidty settlng ln the west voicod my dispisasure ln taud and graphie ternis, descrlbing ln bving dotait thech-aeiUc and parentago ai thase who vvutd barricade a cottage shut, when downtie uitl behtnd the cattage came my two Httte girls clutchng thoir toddy bears and tooklng it their daddy. Oaps. The four af us huddtod togother for warmth white I thought af a plan. Fortunately, 1 had packod a snow shovel in the tnjnk. t got Rl aut and hackçed and beat theo ce around tho door f rame. Alter 20 minutes 1 coutd open the door exectty two Inches. t thon pracoeded ta move theb hea sinco August. But 1 doubt it. 1 buttt the lOre, tumed on evew e etectnic heater ln the placo and set the aven ta 500 dogrmes. tià took seven hours ta get the y cottage ta a sweitorlng 60 dogrmes Fahrenheit. Notony dad' we eailnourwivnter mts, we 9 stei--n them 'yl T east by thon Wendy's D brother and famiiy had arrlvod so the nine oai us could -hucidie" togother for warmth 'tIke a herd of gq frazon- bison. Rt was pitch black, el btterly codandwe sil hadî o - w chop the bote for the water. BOY, »« oh boy,I1bet those people going ai ta Flarida for March break were P so thyer missing tiiis. O are nxo.ek' 'Pirisoner'p adents dont have a. voice To the eoitor.- Re: OPSEU strike 1 arn an outpatlent at t Whit.by Mental Health Centa Due ta the OPSEU striket r therapy ha. been put on ho] Unfortunately, the outpatie department ha. been consider 'Annoyed' ty GO action To the. editoir Re: 'Itfs about justice,' letter, F Press, March 6. My concern 15aflot with -tù, Whitby Mental Health Centre nc with the. general intention of unlo member. wishxng ta strike. Bi after reading the. commenta mad by DL.Aarns, my frustration wa heightened by the action strikers at the GO0 station. The letter refers ta picketers a Whltby Mental Health Centri D.L. Adams write. how "It la nc our Intention ta inconvemieno anyone,"» wanting people ta jus stop andsapeak tothem. If DI Adams truly believes that's th, union'. Intention, he needs t convey the message toalal OPSEL strikers, at ail local. He gives a quotation about i legal right ta strike. They do hav4 the. rlght ta strike at their place o business but what right do thej have ta be picketing at a place oa business which ha. nothing ta dc with OPSEU or the strike? If the. strikers feel that the> don't--want -ta -inconvemenoe anyone, then why were picketers (] don't know the local) blocking Whitby GO station- traffic on Wednesday, March 6, at 7 a.m.? Plcketers were stopping al vehicles, cmr and Whitby Transit buses from entering. I, as a dAnuuter, was very annoyed by tus. The bus was already late and then we had toait in aaffic jam created by strikers who, didn't want ta Inconvenience us. We pay for the transit service ta pick us up and take us directly ta the. GO station. We do not pay ta b. let off the bus on a street corner and forced ta walk ta the. station. I have been tald by a reliable source thatbefore 9:30 a.m. the picketers were gone. The picketing at the entrance of the GO station was, in my view, a deliberate act -ta inconvenience the rush hour commuter. If the strikers are looking for sympathy and understanding from, the rest of the -working class, this la not the way ta go about it. Our rights weren't being respected or considered, and we do work for it. Ail I hear from. the union (in the. media) ia how this strike "is not about money." But tapaahrs onrollers' strike. I amn sure there me more than nough.qualified oople s eklIng employment in.,. hntario. EL Gerro* WhiÏby an non-ossential service. Maybo I arn talng it too personally, but I boliovo, that my life- i. essential. M.y therapist works damn bard and I wouldn't be alive witiiout the therapy I receive at the. centre. I spent nmme monthi at the psyciiothorapy unit (PTU) which ha. also been considered non-essential. Who decides what la non-essential? Whtrlgit do tiioy have ta plaj (3od? Peoples' lives are essontiX MPs' and MPPs' "oxtras" are not. Lot'. get priorities atraight before W. too late. 1 realize that the. strike ha. two sides, but ln reaiity it'ha. throe. unfruately, toprisoners, the. patients at psychiatric hospitals, individuals on FBA. and evoryono olse affected by thus strike don't have a voice. Some prisoners ane reacting ta the strike hby causlng niota, hungor strikes and startlng fires. Do we' have ta rosort ta violence ta be hoard?. Come the. beginnlng of April, I may not have my FBA cheque ta psy rent and food. What do I do. ~S~X?'~ ML STRIKING OPSEU workers at Whitby Mental Heafth Centre had erected several shelters to help One thon? Meanwhil, I arn struggling, to got by without my therapist. Do 1 end upln hospital which will coit the. province more ihoney? Do I commit suicide becauso I -,am struggling so, much without support? Do.. oltior side really want my lhf. on thoir banda? Thore has ta b. a resolution ta tiii strike. There are many people affectod and noitiior side really cares. W., a. a soclot, are suff.ning because of OPSELYs and the. government's -solish docisions. Joy Defla-Latta poeessurvve the recent cl set =u ve as a wood stove and skyi h Ptio b Y LM"RMsaiWhlty Fi"e To the .editor: I amn a regi st.red nurse omployed part-time by tue Ministry of Health at te Wity Montai Healtu Centre. iàke many ofmy colleagues who work part-timo at various jobs in the. public service, I receivo no benofits. I do not have a pension plan so I arn not affected by tue propÃ"sed changes. Should my services no longer be required, I can be terminated with on. week's notice. Novortiieless, I stand outaide in sub-zero temperatures witii many part-time workrs, aiongszde our full-time counterparta, in order ta achiovo together s fair collective agreement, This is an important figiit, and believe mo wiien I say it's fot about money. I want'ta work, I love my job and believe tuat 1 am good at it. I also believo that I cannot sit quietly at home and allow the. goverrnent ta dismantie the public service' as it seems deterrninod ta do, and with it cut back many services that our workers provide for Ontarians.,.W. understand tue need for budget cuts in order to reduce tue deficit. Howevor, we beliovo the burdon of tiie sacrifices required must be shared equitably across tue wiiole society, not exacted unfairly frm on. or two segments. The ides that eliminating one of ture. civil servants along with the. negotiated benofits of those who will. be left working is grossly unfair. Compare tot whatis required of the. wealthy. Thoy are being a.loed ta "abesb" s tax cut as thoir share. Tii. total of this cut will oxceed by far what la ta'be taken offthe. deficit. Ini otiier words, tiist !àsireally what the reet of 'us are being askedta psy for - iiardly equilable. Borne of us -have chosen ta jain ounsisters and brotuers on4 tu pcktlino, not .because. vs have anything ta gain monetarily, but because we have grown up believing* that -fairness is the Canadian way. So before you cast insulta at those of us on tue lino, read our iNfomto n asr o Whitby Minor Hockey Associaution GENERAL ANNUAL MEETING MONDAY APRIL 15,1996 7:30PM WHITNEY HALL (Upstair -, Iroquois Arena) Any motions or amendments to the constitution must be received by the WMHA in writing 30 days prior to the General Annual Meeting. Post Office Box 385, Whitby LI N 5S4 SA ~WHITB YGIR 'LS SOFTBALL ASSOCIATION GIRLS BORN BETWEEN 1975 TO 1990. REGISTRATION: Saturday, March 16 PLACE: Iroquois Park Complex IME:- 9:OOam to 11:OOp m «Weekend play may be req uired. Select Program may be otfered. understand what aur- striuggle i. ail about. Because when you do, you will understand why wo're out here - part-time and fulI-time together. Barbara Bayls Ajax IREGISTRATION1 « MARILYN INFORMATION AVAILABLE BY CALLING:, 6665-1427 1Presiet Understand our struggle WhhbY Fr" PMU, WOdn9ubY, Mamh 13. 1M. Pqp 21