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Would you please extend council‘s thanks to the members of your staff who gave such excellent coverage to this year‘s town of Richmond Hill Awards Night. Sarcastic ’c/ap trap ’ from Prof. Shephard Dear editor I was most disappointed with the format of the editorial page in the Dec. 1 issue of The Liberal. Ifound it totally irresponsible for The Liberal in the closing days of the election campaign to have allowed “leading businessman“ Harold Mills to use The Guest Spot column to present a one-sided view of the election. No wonder the education system is looked upon with dismay in many circles when professorial types of this ilk are entrusted with the training of future teachers. When are they going to come down off their podiums and get back to reality? Dear editor I would like to respond in part to the letter of English Professor Ron Shephard of the Toronto University education faculty printed in The Liberal Nov. 24. The comments of the said pedagogue about Regional Viewpoint columnist Jim Irving‘s so-called “myopic view of education“ appear to display a high degree of sarcastic “claptrap”. Or could we call thém just plain runningoff-at-the mouth? Certéinly they don't contribute to any po_sjtive uqdersfianding of the “basics”. Dear editor Letters I ’Bu/l’ from b usm essman Awards coverage excellent The time to do it is now, when the local government elections are just over and the municipal councillors have a fresh, new mandate. Reader disappointed by editorial page That the point of no return was almost passed? Remember? We’d all better remember! Remember last summer when a regional- provincial task force found all levels of government lack the will to go out and grab the public open space land reserves so terribly needed here? The place to give birth to that will to action in government is right here. Need the ’will’ for open space It will. I Know, have The Lubetal IS published evevv Wednesday by Melvospan Communuly Newspapevs Lumued Nonh Dmsmn, WhICh also publusnes The Bannev m Aurora Newmavkel The Woodbndge Vaughan News and The Bouon Enlevpnse 7‘65 ‘" WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1976 PUBUSHER J.G. VAN KAMPEN William Worsfield . . waiting for word filly ifihrral added interest to 10101 Yonge Sheet, Richmond Hull L4C 4Y6 Omano the evening for those attending as well as supplying information about the awards to the residents of the town. If, in fact, The Liberal’s intent was to support one group of candidates, then surely you owed it to your readers to have made a clear editorial statement. PENNY SPENCE, If The Liberal really intended to be unbiased, two viewpoints would have beenrmore appropriate. I respectfully submit that the cause of education is better served by the Jim Irvings than by the Ron Shephards. As a trustee candidate I have been much concerned about the lack of standards in our educational system. Hopefully the new board of education will take very affirmative steps to rectify the situation throughout York Region. I strongly favor a sound, basic core curriculum reinstated in our schools. York Region could become the model for all Ontario in this regard. In any case, my hat goes off to Jim Irving for his sincere, honest reporting on the educational scene in York County. He then goes on to talk about regional council taking over our police and fire departments. The people of Richmond Hillpalways had an excellent police department even when it was called town under the leadership of Chief R.P. Robbins. Our fire protection isn‘t any different now than it was 20 years ago. Our fire station is on the west side He also said he was confused because of the figures that our mayor and mayoralty candidate Gordon Rowe were quoting. Mills asks whose figures should we believe? My answer to this is when he finds out I hope he lets me and the rest of the taxpayers know. Dear editor In reading the letters you received and printed in the paper Dec. 1, there wag _0ne outstanding to my eye. He says, again i quote “There seems to be a lot of nit-picking.“ Isn‘t there always in anyrelection‘? How a man like Harold Mills who is supposed to be a leading businessman in the Hill for many years can write such bull---- is beyond me. This was the Guést Spot Written by Harold Mills and I quote “Hill in Bloody Mess!" Our municipalities must shoulder their responsibility. This is the first, hardest and most important job facing our newly elected councils. They must not fail. The humanity of the living conditions in our communities over the coming centuries is at stake. They must also lead forward, and even drive forward, the provincial and federal authorities. What they can do is only a fraction of what must be done. Our town, township and regional councils haven‘t been doing a fraction of what they must do. 284 Emerald Isle Ct., Richmond Hill. Ont. Mayor Richmond Hill.. Ont DAVID SCHILLER GLENN SULLIVAN, 45 Forest Park Cres Thornhil], Ont. EDITOR HAROLD BLAINE I, personally. have gained a great deal of knowledge of Vaughan and Woodbridge from this great fyiepd. r r I can understand. as we all should, why Fred has retired. We will miss this man who has given his utmost for his community. Fred has always been a “grass roots“ politician. His views and knowledge of Vaughan have always been respected by his fellow councillors and many friends. I say, “Thank you Fred.“ You will be hard to replace on our council. JACK GILBERT, He has attended to all aspects of the needs of the people of Vaughan and Woodbridge as a former reeve and warden of the County of York. The past six yearé have shown his merit as a member of Vaughan council. Dear editor It is with regret I see Councillor Fred Armstrong retiring from local politics. Over the years this man has shown he is a very sincere person. Mr. Mills then goes on to say it makes him wonder why more hasn‘t been done on Yonge Street, why don‘t we have more parking,'this town is in a bloody mess â€" that fresh ideas are needed and could not possibly do worse. He then goes on to say that maybe the region should also take over the roads in our community because it was ob- served they sanded and then plowed 10 minutes later and then sanded again â€" the taxpayers are paying double. I say the town-has been in a bloody mess for longer than two years. It has proliably taken Dave Schiller and the rest of our council 3 year-and-a- with train tracks between east and west. They sand when the roads get slip- pery, they plow when the snow gets deep or drifts and they sand again after they plow because the roads get slipâ€" pery after plowing. But of course, for aperson like you, Mr. Mills, that doesn‘t even have to drive to work, just sit in an office pushing a pencil, you wouldn't un- derstand anyway. Vaughan ’3 Armstrong great loss My reply to this, Mr. Mills is that it sure would make one wonder how you got to be a leading businessman. 7 I travel our province to other cities every day, leaving Richmond Hill. I éan téll you tfiere are times when yourare praying for sanders and plows. / letters Woodbridge, Ont Former councillor RR 1. Letters to the editor are welcome and should be ad- dressed to The Editor, The Liberal, PO Box 390, Rich- mond Hill, 0nt., L4C 4Y6. The writer’s full name and address must be included, and telephone number if it is unlisted. Unsigned letters cannot be considered for publication. The Liberal reserves the right to edit all contributions. , But alas! The whole section was devoted to politics. I discovered that out of the five pages of newspaper in the Dear editor: I opened my Liberal today and found a pleasant surprise. Being a theatre fanatic, I have always turned to the last page of your paper first, to read about the local theatrical activities. A whole new section number “D” and headed entertainment. I too, Mr. Mills, have been a citizen and a taxpayer in Richmond Hill for over 20 years. I don‘t see how Mr. Rowe can im- prove everything overnight anymore than what Dave Schiller can. I am also thanking God that Mr. Harold Mills isn‘t running for any office after reading your Guest Spot. I, for one, {loited for Schillér last time and I am not switching. WILLIAM WORSFOLD, 405 Centre St; E., Richmond Hill, Ont. half to clean up the bloody mess that was left to them. More entertainment please Sure there were grammatical flaws. Many of the ones cited, Ron, deserved your gentle rebukes. Comparisons odious But comparisons are said to be odious. Nit picking Then, in an attempt to show Jim himself lacks certain basics, the professor fine-tooth combs the column in question; Unsurprisingly, he comes up with a few nits to pick on. In a rather dazzling display of grammatical dexterity, he shows us Jim indulges in tautologies and omits words (such as ‘that') when prescribed by the archdeacon of the language himself . the great Fowler. Well, I'll be the first to admit much of the writing done for newspapers seldom merits per- petuation in marble. But, as someone once said, reporting is literature done in a hurry. As we have remedial reading going on in our universities right now. I too have little doubt our educators are trying to sort out the basics. It is quite apparent from their present track record that something is lacking. As one who has toiled in both newspaper newsrooms and the groves of academia, I feel my comments may be relevant. The professor accuses Jim of myopia. Then he says thousands of intelligent educators across North America are trying to sort out what the basics really are. I almost split an infinitive laughing at professor Ron Shephard‘s attack on Jim Irving's column on the basics of education. Professor picks nits By Tom Davey Then, too, reporters have to do all their own typing. In general, they lack the leisure to indulge in the copious drafting and rewriting â€" common in university publishing â€"â€" until their work is innocent of They have to distil the comâ€" plexities of municipal and regional budgets, cover difficult legal cases - (where it is very easy for writers themselves to transgress the law in their coverage) and, finally, make the sum of all these parts into an attractive. readable package. Readersfree You see Ron. newspaper audiences are voluntary. not at all like the somewhat captive classroom audiences. Pieâ€"porters have to cover a wide variety of subjects, ranging from education to science. Measured against the daily output of a newspaper reporter, the average academic output must be scant even though their slogan is publish or perish. On newspapers, there is rarely the opportunity for second thoughts. As Dick Beddoes once said, sometimes there isn‘t much time for first thoughts. Let‘s add some spice to our newspaper. The world is dull enough as it is. Pleaseflhere'is more to life than bad news, politics, deaths and taxes. This was equivalent to the one page we _were getting before. section, only five articles pertaining to the arts could be found. JUDY BUNKER, 190 May Ave., Richmond Hill, Ont Judy Bunker . .more to life Even so, there is no point in reaching for the stars when the adjective] ultimate for rapture in our adolescents appears to be ‘Wow‘, a sound more in keeping with the canine species rather than the one that put men on the moon. (Mr. Davey, a Bloomington Road resident and drama reviewer for The Liberal. is publications and science editor at the Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Toronto. He formerly was a reporter with newspapers. radio and television in England and Australia. as well as here in Canada. â€" Editor) Price of creativity Attention from the very basis of learning has been diverted by at- tempts to generate creativity in students. Few will quarrel with the need for creativity. As Voltaire said, “a child‘s mind is a fire to be kindled, not a vessel to be filled." And, if the educational establish- ment cannot define what the basics are, may we begin with the three Where the situation defies logic is that it exists after unprecedented amounts of public funds have been lavished on education. Other continents On a recent trip to Australia I found the subject was frequently discussed in various newspaper articles. Britain, too, thought by many to be a leader in education, now openly acknowledges a growing percentage of illiterates. grammatical error 7 Getting back to basics, student illiteracy is a growing problem. No shortcuts, no cheap tricks or gimmicks, no easy answers. And since kids usually learn by example, it's likely they'll remember what they learned in hockey and apply it to situations in later life. Fifteen months ago when I first started working for The Liberal I did the Thornhill Community Hockey League scores for Fred Simpson. the sports editor. I talked to a lot of men who‘d gotten involved with the league and given up nights and weekends to be coaches and conveners. .Most. but not all, of them got their initiation into it when their sons began to play hockey. Some just got involved because they enjoy it. It takes time, batience and stick-to-it- iveness. I was intrigued enough with the mammoth all-volunteer-run house league to ask Fred if I could do an ar- ticle on it. But the most valuable lesson these boys have learned under Ken's tutelage is that nothing really worthwhile is ever learned in‘a day. When ldid the article the team was losing badly. Right down there in the cellar. But Ken, who'd told me he also spent several evenings a week studying hockey strategy and figuring out his lines, didn‘t take the easy way out. I was very impressed with a 20-year- old named Ken Milton who coaches the teammy son belongs to. He never taught the boys to body ch_e_ck so hard ghey‘d get the quick wins. He spent hours and weeks and months teaching them the skills that make you good at the game. Pass, pass, pass. Skate, skate, skate. And a'year and a'bit later, I‘m even more impressed. 7 They stayed celiar-dwellers for two yegrsflthen gradpally began to win. By the end of last'seaan they‘d won thg Markham Mayor's Trophy. So far this year they're in first place. Inevitany with a team that‘s had 28 goals and only seven scored against them, they‘ve had to give up a couple of their better players in exchange for boys who aren't yet really good. You can almost see them gaining in confidence and starting to fit them- selves in with their new team! coach works harder It‘s not every 12-year-old who has the courage to take out a player by skating him into the boards. But every one of them can feel good about getting his limbs to do what he wants them to, or take pride in a pass that goes to the right spot so a team mate gets a shot on the goal. But it‘s a funny thing. The new players, after only a few weeks of practice, are learning to skate and pass the puck. too. TC HL Good sportsmanship Impressive coach Coaching mag/c Best lesson Iynda's lashes