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With the counsel of a well-known and trusted teacher who was able to listen, but not act as a therapist. new lives were created. No psychiatrist could probably have been found quickly enough, not been trusted soon enough, to have saved these children in time. Dramatic, but true. The value of a good guidance teacher Still other probleins I know were of great magnitude. I could recount many stories of the helpful manner good teachers have served as handy, on-theâ€"spot persons in whom the students could confide and obtain help in situations. Some of these problems may seem trivial to others. but are always im- posing to the child who needs im- Guidance departments serve an important function in schools in looking afger children with problems. There are two_ basic types of problems teachers see. developmental prgblems and psychiatric problems. V The latter. \ilhen discovered. are referred to proper authorities in the field‘ But neither do I believe any teacher in York County is attempting to play the role of therapist as has been implied in the press. In reply to Trustee Mrs. Chris McMonagle‘s address to me in The Liberal Oct. 13. Iagree teachers should not treat emotional problems. 2) “Do ’you believe senior citizens should have larger pensions, even if it means higher taxes?“ Dear editor Oil. gas. hidro. {elephonex Water, taxes. insurance, staple foods, etc. have all gone up. A well worded question will allow the MP to get the answer he wants. Still the constituents may agree only in part and the result must be qualified. Here are four examples: I) “Do you feel wage and price controls are working?" I would answer that wages are limited. However, all the necessities of life have been allowed to go up in price, uncontrolled by the government. Now they are being penalized for their frugality. Some sfiould, others appear to have a comfortable income when you see the number of new cars and campers in some senior citizen apartment parking lots. Some seniors frugaily saved for their retirement. They sacrificed much as responsible citizens. Dear editor: I received, filled in, and returned Danson‘s Digest, the questionnaire our York North MP Barney Danson recently sent out to constituents. I sincerely feel he is honestly seeking public opinion. In fact, however, many questions can be answered in the affirmative, but must be qualified. N0 county teacher playing th erapisz‘ MP should [is ten V This Has merit. However. he should listen to what the people say. It is very easy of course, for Danson‘s supporters or staff to add up the yes and no answers to establish a ‘gut feeling’ of an issue. Sometimes the yes or no answer he requests doesn t permit an accurate or full viewpoint to be g1ven for a specific question The second promise the electors should demand is at least partly related to the first. Candidates should vouch for establishment of a realistic annual mill rate to support a continuing public Letters The first promise should be to open the way for a large, continuous flow of privately-owned and dense low~rise housing units. These units should range from the cheapest and smallest to those of medium size and price. Before the voters give their support to any town, township or region municipal candidate in the Dec. 6 election, they should make sure to get a promise of action on two main municipal issues. On these two matters the directions taken by municipal governments in the past must be changed to meet new community demands. 2 major local election issues Pensiohs should be based on a means The Luberal is published every Wednesday by Menosoan Communuy Newspapevs annea â€" North Duvusmn, Wthh also publishes The Same: m Aurora, Newmavkel, The Woodbndge Vaughan News. and The Bolton Enlevpnse. I-lrnu'nn-u nnmnrn n1 “‘1. PAGE A4 PUBUSHER J.G. VAN KAMPEN E112 Iihtral 10101 Yonge SueeL Richmond Hill L4G 4Y6 Onlano Once again I say I feel we need a board that can show respect, faith and sensitivity for each other, for our educational administration. for our teachers and. yes, especially for our students. This should serve as a very good starting point for reconciliations with those people that may feel threatened. One statement that is encouraging, Mrs. McMonagle, is your final one in your letter: “Mr. Lamont, I like and respect most of the teachers I have met." vvl vvulu. I believe it behdosés‘tjlggsard to re- think this matter and to try to make amends to persons it may have af- fronted. Had he stood up to Pfime Minister Pierre Trudeau and not the people, saying, “I sought an answer from the To be stampeded by hyéteficâ€"ail public statements is not the sort of action that instills in me the faith and confidence I would‘like to have in my school board. Danson knew the {wishes of the majority of his constituents. He forgot he is a member of Parliament only because the majority of his constituents behevegi in him and his judgment. I admire a man who has the courage to stand up for his convictions against great odds. But I think Danson is wrong on the issue of capital punishment. I feel the board was not fully in- formed about the recent guidance issue and did not act with discretion. 3) “Do you think your MP should vote according to his judgment on an issue, rather than attempt to reflect the wishes of his constituents?" To imply teachers in York are acting otherwise is quite unfair and irresponsible. test and tied into the cost of living in- dex. Guidance teachers do offer a ready ear and counsel to students, counsel mainly with developmental problems of various degrees of intensity. When it Eomes to Psyche problems, they help these people into the hands of properly trained peeple and do not try therapy on their own. canno! be measured in dollars In the face of energy limitations, compact neighborhoods are necessary to make public transit practical and economical. Our municipalities will be doing their share in avoiding wall-to-wall urban development and will be in a better position to get other levels of government to do the same. Having lower housing costs will make citizens less desperate to keep taxes down. This will also make them more willing and able to pay for very badly needed open space. Filling the first promise should make more housing available for less. This is badly needed in view of today's high cost home purchase and rental situation. open space land purchase fund. GRAHAM LAMONT 27 Malaren Rd., Maple. Ont. David Calder . need qualified anSWers WEDNESDAY. OCTOBER 27, 1976 EDITOR HAROLD BLAINE Heck! They broke the law/“56f this country and our government welcomed them with open arms. They’ve been made citizens. DAVID CALDER, As a taxpayer, I feel I’m not getting a fair shake. We have allowed in draft dodgers, deserters and illegal immigrants. I was glad to see the York County board of education passed a motion stressing “the achievement of self- motivation and self-esteem through academic and vocational skills”. We continue to encourage people to remain unemployed by making it more profitable not to work. Dear editor ...-_ v.0...“ ”yuan-b annulus, nu“ l This“'all goes to assist new im- migrants who haven‘t paid one cent tovyagd these services. Still ourr unéhipiafi'd are on the in- crease. Why do we allow new im- migrants when our people are unable to find jobs I‘m asked for more each year for additional welfare, unemployment insurance, hospital insurance, old age pension. increased housing grants, etc. I say no because I’m a taxpayer who's being asked by Danson and the governmont_ to pay through taxes. No. My answer isn’t because I’m bigotted‘ racist or selfish. people and though I support abolition I must vote in favor of capital punish- ment.“ Then and only then would his stature as a man and as a statesman, been enhanced. ~ 4) “Do you favor increased im- migration to Canada?" Basic skills motion welcome I hope this trend toward more basic 290 Iredale Rd., ' Richmond Hill, Ont School ostriches can go Afterwards, around the coffee um, I was astonished to hear Newmarket Trustee Craig Cribar tell the students they were better educated than ever before and challenge them She was apparently told that even though over half the group had failed the test, that the results were not “in perspective“. The Liberal newspaper described how the teacher, concerned only with helping the students, was immediately told by the ad- ministration that these were emotional and perceptual problems and that there was not “concrete evidence" they had not been taught the basics in elementary school. In G.W. Williams Secondary School, Aurora, a test of 100 Grade 9 General students showed 56 per cent required remedial reading. These are children of average intelligence or above â€" not special education students. Since there are no county-wide courses of study and no county wide exams and no recognizable provincial standards at all, it is only possible to see how they do on a Canada Standard Test. That shows our averages in relation to some other students all across Canada. We do not know the exact truth about whether our York County students are literate or not. ”Heck....She gave us everything but candy....” By Joy Horton W'evh‘ave land deSIgnated industrial being rezoned to high density residential. while residential areas are The original Official Plan in Rich mond Hill is honored mostly in its breach One objection raised is that the Official Plan does not permit development with septic tanks. I would ask, “What Official Plan?” Sadists shoot cats skills for our children will also be a trend away from group discussions of personal and family problems and from other group psychological techniques. AUDREY CHRISTIE 372 Elm Rd., I am informed by a reliable source â€" a boy â€" that there are a number of pellet guns in boys‘ hands in Richmond Either the money is being wasted on the study, or there will be no action taken when it is completed. There is no guarantee the day after the cat 15 home it will not_ be shoty again It wés a week before the cat was out of danger This is to say nothing of the mg of the operation. Secondly, a $10 000 housing study being undertaken which will probably ”emphasize lower- cost types of housing". The veterinary had to remove a foot of gut in which a pellet from a gun was embedded, and where infection had developed. Firstly, a proposed residential development is being refused, even though it contains the most inexpensive type of dwelling, townhouses. Apparently sick, he‘was taken to the vetgarinary. Dear editor We have been greatly disturbed lately at the suffering of our cat. Planning study money wasted In the Oct. 13 edition of The Liberal, there are two items on the first page that. make one pause and wonder‘ Dear editor We’asked’ the schools some 20 years ago to be all things to all They know the school system in Ontario simply reflects the in- creasingly permissive way that society has gone. These are bright young people â€" bright enough to know they’ve been short-changed and to resent it. They know this is not a reflection on their own school‘ or even York County. Student humiliation At the Huron Heights graduation ceremony a group of spring graduates some of them classmates of my own three sons. described the humiliation of doing poorly on the various literacy tests at the universities they are now attending all over the province. to prove it in the world. This is unfair and unjust to both the students and their teachers. Stouffville, Ont A lopucal column or opvmnn by cur readers Submuss-ons should be no move man too warns, typed prrleraalv So the classroom teachers know there’s a problem and have some suggestions to make. Teachers aware The Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation published an excellent book, “At What Cost" where the very first recom- mendation is for a provincial core curriculum in English, Math, Science, Geography. Canadian History and Physical Education. This would be a much more im- pressive location than the intersection of a busy highway and regional road (Yonge Street and Major Mackenzie Drive). In another. of the nearly 300 Grade 9‘s registered, the teachers felt that nearly_ 200_required remedial help. To maintain our identity, the Town Hall should be in the downtown area. If the present building should become too cramped, then the soon-to-be- vacated Works Yard on Ruggles Avenue could be the site of a new town hall, on land we the taxpayers already own, with all the open space of the Town Park in front of it. He challenged trustees to prove “changes were needed before running off and ordering them". So a series of public meetings were called in York County to get the “hard data" on the 3 Rs. In one secondary school, the teachers were so upset about low literacy in Grade 9 that they volunteered to take more students into their classes to free one teacher for remedial English. “Do your own thing" had ap- parently caught up with them. Trustees challenged Several weeks ago in The Toronto Star. Sam Chapman. director of education is quoted as saying university professors were “running off at the mouth" when they spoke of dropping literacy standards. While there have been several members of council who supported the idea of moving the Town Hall out of the core of the town. I think this would be a grievous error. I take great exceptiori to this, and I hope other Richmond Hill citizens do too. people and with this mass education we then threw out compulsory subjects and standards. Finally, theré is. thé 5255155?"th development should be held up because of a “future civic center”. I wonder how many other municipalities of our size take seven or more years to prepare such a plan. D:‘_II, n There can be no obvious use to which they can be put but the indulgence of sadism. Other developmerrrlitisrwzfrré held up because our Official Plan won’t be co_mpleted till the end of 1977. rezoned for office buildings Hill, and there are some whose hobby is hunting other people‘s cats. This is an intolerable situation. If there are people who make a dirty buck by selling such weapons to children, and if there are irresponsible parents who allow their children to have and use such weapons, then surely the time has come to forbid the sale of them. ERIC GEORGE. Region candidate, 413 N. Taylor Mills Dr‘ Richmond Hill. Ont. ROY CLIFTON 105 Wood Lane Richmond Hill, Ont My motion which passed at the board recently was a small step for us but a giant step {or the students. It read: We asked the teachers to look after all the students all the time. We told the students they were free to learn or not at their own pace. And now we must simply but steadily and in an orderly fashion, begin to reverse the trend. (Mrs. Joy Horton off RR 4, Stouff- ville. is East Gwillimbury Township trustee with York County board of education. - Editor) We must guarantee specified standards in language and number in the elementary schools too. Heads in sand So to stick our heads in the sand is patently ridiculous. “We, the York County board of education, want our children to achieve self motivation and therefore self esteem through achievement in academic and vocational skills”. I’m right with them on this! But I'm afraid we’ll have to do even more backtracking to get ahead with the job. Next they call for standards of knowledge to be set for secondary school subjects and much stricter options for a diploma. So he thinks the sudden popularity of lotteries in this country might be an indication that the rags-to-riches philosophy North Americans used to espouse, is gone. My brother~in-law, who’s in on the deal, says Canadians are getting to be more and more like the people he sees in the South American republics he visits several t_imeS_each year. There, the only hope the poor have is to win one of the many lotteries con- stantly being held. There’s no other way they can work their way to the top of the economic ladder, or even to a comfortable spot part-way up, The grand finale of the evening was a draw on a 133-ounce bottle of rye whiskey. You guessed it. Amid groans of “I don’t believe it” from other tables, my brother went up to claim his latest bonanza. _ , . r‘râ€"“ ....... So we figure our {honey is well in- vested when we hand it over to them to bu_yr lottery tickets. In a few weeks when you fail to see this column in its regular spot, it’ll be because I’m out ordering my new Lotus, or off on a trip around the world, or having a fitting on my mink. My bfother afid sisfer-in-law, of course, will probably just put another notch on the wall, and go out and buy another ticket. I'm not going to worry about the plight of the ecqnomy too much, though. That accident of birth means the American government will pay her a sum of money every year as part of a settlement with its native populations. In countries in South America, tieket vendors roam the streets all the time calling out the numbers they have for sale. When that happens here he thinks it 11 be the final proof we ve lost our economic mobility. or at least our faith in it. Shortly after we arrived, I got up to dance with him. We won the spot dance prize. At our table of 10, another couple won a spot prize, and my brother’s best friend and wife won the door prize. She’s Eskimo. and the only one of her large family to be born on the American side of the border, when her mother and father were on a hunting trip. rm, ,. - We‘re going t6 lei my brother buy the tickets, and whichever number wins, we‘re going to split the million evenly. Last week he invited us to a dance in Newmarket. He told us how they ’d been at a dance the week before andy won the door prize He's that sure they're going to spell out his number in ping-pong balls. Neither one of us has ever won so much as a secondâ€"hand shoelace, but at a recent family gathering. we thought of'g foolproof system. What he doesn‘t- win, my sister-in-law does. I knowvl have, and I’ve got a husband who not only thinks about it but who has. on occasion, threatened to quit his job the day before the winning tickets are drawn. He's got a houseful of clocks, radios, campers, watches, objets d‘arts and small g!ect_ric appliances. My sister-1-n- -law doesn t do too badly either The year I chaired the Thornhilyl Art Show I invited them down to see it and she won the door prize. Some luckier By Lynda Nykor THORNHILL â€" I guess there isn't one of us so contented with our lot in life we haven‘t thought about winning one of _t_he big lotteries. My brother wins revei'ynt'h'ih'g. And what he doesn‘t win, somebody just happens to be selling cheap or giving away that very week. just the thing he needed. Hope for habéiéés Win; everythiflg She wins too lynda's lashes