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" OPINION Internet system more like electronic sewer Dear Sir: A community newspaper such as The Oakville Beaver has a responsiâ€" bility to present balanced coverage of local issues. Citizens rely on this news coverage to keep abreast of what is happening in Halton. I‘ve been concerned recently about The Beaver‘s coverage of the debate surrounding the Grade 9 Healthy Sexuality Curriculum. The Beaver has done an excellent job of presenting the point of view of CURE and another parent who are seeking changes to the curriculum. I read these pieces with interest. What I haven‘t seen, however, is coverage of the other side of this issue. Where are the interviews with staff members, parents, and young people who have studied this curriculum? The coverage of the June 20th Special Board Meeting, set up to allow people to express their views regarding this curriculum, again did not adequately present both sides of the debate. Where in your article does it say that 16 of the 29 delegations spoke very strongly in support of the curriculum? Where does it say that the students who spoke strongly against the curriculum were young people who had not taken it? Where does it say that six high school stuâ€" dents who have taken the course at Nelson High School spoke strongly in support of this program, and that they came accompanied by their parâ€" ents who also were in support of the The article is also misleading, statâ€" ing that "many of the teens who spoke admitted they were choosing abstinence despite the curriculum‘s explicit information." Many of the teens I heard, said they were choosing abstinence because of the curricuâ€" lum‘s influence. The article leaves the impression that parents were not heard in this debate: I challenge that impression. Parents on both sides of the issue were heard. Those of us who are already conâ€" nected to the Internet are always amazed at the naivete of the politiâ€" The fact is that the separation of Quebec would, effectively, mean the end to Canada. It would start of chain of events that could well see longâ€"standing western alienation evolve into a nationalist bloc. It would mean renewed problems with aboâ€" riginal peoples, especially in Quebec. It would put increasing pressure on the Maritimes and Newfoundland to split and join the U.S. or forge some other kind of alliance. And it would likely see a move on the part of many British Columbians to seek independence or join with Washington State. Johnson‘s course is clear. The Liberal premier must garner all his strength and that of his party to try and retain control of the province and relegate Parti Quebecois leader Jacques Parizeau to the status of an alsoâ€"ran. If the premier fails to do this, the PQ will hold a referendum on independence within the year that will be devastating, not only to Quebec, but also to the rest of Canada. The favorite scenario painted by Parizeau, is that after he wins the Quebec elecâ€" tion and the referendum goes in his favor, he will make some kind of deal with the rest of Canada that will include the removal of the Bloc Quebecois from the House of Commons. In effect, severing Quebec‘s historic ties with the rest of Canada. Sex curriculum story not balanced It‘s not a pretty picture but one which cannot be ignored. And Prime Minister Jean Chretien‘s protestations that he was not elected to oversee the split of Canada ring hollow in the current political realities. It‘s time for Chretien to speak out for Canada. We suggest a good time to start might be....Canada Day. r most Canadians the holiday on Friday July 1st will be like most other Canada Days. To these people, the only thing different this time out, is that it means a threeâ€"day weekend and for those heading north, a jump on the traffic. But as we look forward to the Friday celebrations of Canada‘s 127th birthday, we should all reflect on the kind of Canada that we might be looking at one year from now. Quebec Premier Daniel Johnson must face the electorate of his province before November and the result of that vote could be the start of a process that might end the country we now recognize as Canada. We find the dichotomies here very interesting. On the one hand, the province deems smoking such a lifeâ€"threatening issue that it makes 19 the cutâ€" off point for tobacco purchasing. But on the other, it seems to be telling us that people buying ammunition are more responsible...at least by one year. whisked through what it calls North America‘s toughest smoking legisâ€" lation on Wednesday with nary a naysayer. Since research shows that if young people reach the age of 20 without smoking, it‘s unlikely they‘ll ever take up the habit, the new legislation makes it illegal to sell or supply tobacco products to anyone under 19 years of age. The provincial government works in mysterious ways. Queen‘s Park No sooner had it dealt with this issue, than it gave final reading to legislaâ€" tion that will make it illegal for anyone under 18 years of age to purchase gun ammunition of any kind in Ontario. After its summer ‘break, perhaps the province might consider raising the voting age.For in the case of Ontario politics, voting has shown itself to be just about as dangerous as either smoking or using a gun. The only difference we can see between the two pieces of legislation, is that in the first instance, government is protecting us from ourselves and in the second, it‘s protecting us from each other. Halton Council of Home and School Associations The smoking gun Oh Canada! Sue Robertson cians and educators who talk about connecting our schools to the ‘Information Super Highway". Your editorial of June 22nd cited Ontario‘s ‘Education Highway‘ at a cost of $5â€" million. . At the present time, the Internet is not an Information Highwayâ€"â€"rather it is an Electronic Sewer. Anyone familiar with the 7,000 public discusâ€" sion areas or "newsgroups" of the Usenet knows that "alt.sex.masturbaâ€" tion" and "alt.sex.bestiality" has a much higher participation rate than "sci.math" or "sci.archaeology". Those users who are sufficiently computerâ€"literate also know that they can transmit encrypted image files through the Internet that matches or exceeds the pornography currently available in the raunchiest local video store. Recent attempts to set up Canadian newsgroups for students include the "can.schoolnet.;earth.jr" and "can.schoolnet.earth.sr". But no sooner were these activated via Carleton University when messages appeared from a pedophile club from New York, soliciting kids as pen pals. The Internet is not a place for our students to roam without parental or teacher guidance. Furthermore, the technology of Eâ€"mail would likely be a tremendous timeâ€"waster in our schools without adequate educational Dear Sir: I am sending this letter in response to a recent letter from Anne Fairfield you published in the June 15th issue. Her letter continued to debate the recent defeat by council of a controversial solution to the Grand Blyvd. Plaza. If this proposed Councillor didn‘t reflect views of Ridge residents benefit. Pascal Zachary in his article "Executives jam Eâ€"mail signals" (Globe and Mail, June 23, 1994) cites the problems emerging in our corporations: the flood of trivial mesâ€" sages. Microsoft‘s Bill Gates, among others, has had to install a "bozo filâ€" ter" to kill unwanted messages. I hope that the allocation of $5â€" million is based on hardware costs for school computer systems. Such computers would then have other applications in the education process. If the $5â€"million is largely payment for Internet access, it suggests overkill. The Internet concept is based on lowâ€"cost communications. Some communities have "Freenet" access (e.g. Ottawa, Victoria) through their local universities that give users (with modems) phoneâ€"line access to parts of the Internet at no cost. In most communities across Canada, there are computer Bulletin Board Systems (BBS) that have established Internet connections and allow caller access for a modest annual fee. What the schools should search out are the quality BBS‘s in their community that have an educational theme, are devoid of the electronic sewage, yet provide access to the onâ€" line educational material. Such BBS‘s can act as a gateway to the Internet, providing quality control on plan was so good, why did only Bill Logan and one other council memâ€" ber vote for the proposal? (Could it be that the majority of residents located close to the Plaza indicated through that old fashioned medium called a petition that they were Got a gripe? Give us a call. Readers are invited to express their opinion on a topic of their choice by calling 845â€"5585, box 5250, All callers are allowed 45 secâ€" onds to express their opinion and must provide their name, address and phone number for verification. A cross section of the responsâ€" es will be published in next Wednesday‘s Oakville Beaver.. 407 A0du, UML LOR Jo4F 845â€"3824 Fax: 845â€"3085 Classified Advertising: 845â€"2809 Circulation: 845â€"9742 or 845â€"9743 Advertising is Accepted on the condition of a ypographical mwwtmm%m:wflmnmm:w Geoff Hill Circulation Director Teri Casas Office Manager Tim Coles Production Manager that portion of the advertisi occupled m,hfiamoflmmmnw.zl haevmmlqn,izsmm ing goods or services at the wrong The Oakville Beaver welcomes your comments. All letters must be signed and include the writer‘s address and phone number. Letters should be typed, doubleâ€"spaced and addressed to: Letters to the Editor, The Oakville Beaver, 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, Ont. L6K 3S4 467 Speers Road, Oakville, Ont. L6K 384 845â€"3824 Fax: 845â€"3085 In the Oakville area, for example, the Geofuel Geoscience BBS (modem connection: 905â€"829â€"4097: or contact this writer at 905â€"829â€" 2716) specializes in earth science (geology, geography, dinosaurs, maps, volcanos, earthquakes etc.). All material is screened for computer viruses and adult junk. Daily mail exchanges link real scientist with rockhounds and students of the earth, worldâ€"wide. Every subscriber has an Internet Eâ€"mail address at a cost of under $40 annually. If you want to reach Geofuel through the Internet, Eâ€"mail to: sysop@geofuel.north.net. Or how about teaching the kids how to access their local library via their computer modems? The Mississauga Library System offers dialâ€"in public access by modem via (905).949â€"4803. The Oakyville Public Library can be reached via modem at: (905) 842â€"7483. Those avenues should provide a plentiful sampling of the new telecomputing technology without having to send our kids rumâ€" maging through the uncontrolled Internet sewage. the data plus simplify the onâ€"line computer skills needed to Eâ€"mail or acquire information. Networks of such BBS‘s are available NOW and they did not require $5â€"million in their construction. opposed to the proposed density, and the other members of council voted as the residents desired? Maybe the reason Anne Fairfield did not see the petition to which refers is because she doesn‘t live anywhere near the area whose property values would have been and are affected. Anne Fairfield obviously missed or chose to ignore the main point of the letter from Ms. Bain to which she refers. The main point was not the Plaza issue itself, but the manner in which the elected representative of the area, Bill Logan, carried out his responsibilities of representing the residents of his constituency. He voted in flavor of an issue to which the residents were clearly opposed. He did this using the old political standâ€"by reason that he is in a better position to evaluate the best interests of citizens than the citizens themâ€" selves and that we really didn‘t "HAPPY CAN ADA DAY! Ian Oliver Publisher Robert Glasbey Advertising Director If Anne Fairfield, who played a key role in Mr. Logan‘s campaign last time, is personally satisfied with this level of commitment from an elected official, I‘ll be watching to see who she represents next time, so I can be sure to vote for someone else that she doesn‘t represent. The Iroquois Ridge Association‘s recent newsletter to the neighborâ€" hood pointed out the real issue, that of the poor quality of representation the residents are getting from Mr. Logan through attendance at council and committee meetings. It is my understanding that Mr. Logan is a very busy person. If he is too busy to do the job as elected, he should resign and let someone else take over and do it properly. understand or had been misled on the issue. His conclusions were wrong. If ratepayers will take some greater interest in a rather distant regionâ€" al government, and ask the right questions of prospective councillors, it may be possible to improve this level of local government. John Graham Looking ahead, the servant of the Council, must be effectively supervised and must be accountable. The Regional Council here meets formally about 20 times each year and each meeting is preceded by committee meetings in the previous week. Individual councillors work with the Chair no more than oneâ€"half day per week or for 10% of the Chair‘s workâ€"week. Councillors are hard pressed to explain how the full time Chair serves them for the remaining 90% of the week. This situation becomes more untenable when an individual serves in the Chair for a long period. New councillors forget or never realize that the Chair is their servant and not their master. And, the Chair may assume roles without direction. A timeâ€"limited tenure for any Chair of six years or two terms, let us say, would strengthen the role of elected Councillors and encourage their proper function. In the long term, Regional Councillors must find a way to direct their servant and to supervise him or her. The Region of Halton Act perâ€" mits the Regional Council to establish a Board of Control, not a popular term, but perhaps a necessary body by whatever name. A proposal along these lines to Regional Council was rejected in 1988 and again in 1991. Present Councillors or their successors may now be w1llmg to reâ€" consider. The Chairman is not elected by the ratepayers and has no direct accountability to them. Rather, he or she is the "servant" of the Council. The Chair‘s responsibilities are laid out in little detail. He chairs the Regional Council meetings and is a member of all the Standing Committees, the only nonâ€"staff person to serve on more than one comâ€" mittee. He insures that full information on various issues is available to the councillors so that they may make the wisest possible decisions. The responsible decision makers, the men and women in charge, are the elected councillors. The Chair, then, is accountable to the elected Councillors whom he serves. Unfortunately, here in Halton and in most regions, not even a minimum structure has been put in place to direct the servant, to moniâ€" tor his work, or to hold him accountable. Dear Sir: Every three years now, a new Regional Council chooses a Regional Chairman. The practice in Halton, as in most regions, is that the Council chooses a Chair, almost always from among its own membership. Regional gov ‘t. can be improved All material published in the Oaknville Beaver is protected by copyright. in Wborhmndmnmwbmbmmmwmfl:ymdmw ether with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the wrong price, goods or services may not be sold. Advertising is merely an offer to sell and may be withdrawn at any time. ® . LETTER OF THE DAY J.W. Ford Source: Ontario Ministry of Energy and Environment ECOLINE. ; e Turn off gas furnace pilot light for the summer (get a qualified person to do it if you‘re not sure how). e Cook outdoors to avoid heating up the house, or use a microwave â€" more than half the energy consumed by an oven ends up heating the room. Keep your house naturally cooler by closing windows and O blinds in the heat of the day. S _, For every 1 degree C you raise your airâ€"conditioner thermostat, you‘ll save 5% on your fuel bill. e Start with the thermostat at 24C, then try 25C and see if it feels just as comfortable. Summer _‘ energy saving by Catherine Farley Mtcz.‘w Caring for Our Resources June 29, 199.