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Pupils guinea pigs again? Cancer society’s thanks Humane complaint old Dear editor: It’s great to be a citizen again. But after three years’ immersion in education in York County, it's im- possible to simply forget it. â€" So the other Héy I fried to find out what the new board was doing about its policydon_ pesoarco in! §cho_ols. ' I célled the board office for a copy of the one-page draft. The director’s office flatly refused to provide me wjph oqe. Was it secret to parents like the research projects themselves, I asked? No, the new board had a policy that only let certain people see it, I was told. Horse feathers. 'I was one of the trustees who wrote those policies. Dear editor, We wanted the public to know what we were doing and tell us about it! Well this board doesn’t, I was told. ' This would be the largest dump in Canada, would have a “life” of up to 35 years. [write in response to the letter by Dr. M. S. Hillar in your Feb. 2 edition, in which he states he complained to the Toronto Humane Society about neglect to some horses, and his complaint, he states, was ignored. They enabled the Richmond Hill and District Unit of the national society to pass its objective and reach a total of $50,268.23. Garbage was a big issue a couple of years ago and many of your readers may think that the problem has gone away. “Not so”. The Environmental Assessment Board is in the middle of its longest hearingrin its history in Maple. Enquiries have been made into this serious allegation. The facts are this complaint and the incident that produced it occurred in 1962 â€" some 15 years ago. Further chats with Chairman Craig Cribar and several other trustees confirmed it. My own trustee, Harry Bowes slipped a hot photostat of this semi-secret elitist document into my mailbox in a plain brown wrapper. Dear editor: It is about to decide on the proposals from a number of owners and garbage haulers concerning the GOOâ€"acre site proposed for that village. We would like to take this opportunity of saying thanks to all captains, can- vassers and donors for their support during our 1976 Cancer Society cam- paign. I locked 'rfiyself in the bathroom to read it. L0 and behold I saw why they had it under wraps»! They‘ve left out the bit about parents giving consent before their children are used as guinea pigs in research projects! Dear editor - If we didn’t even know that bit was left out, we might sit quietly at home trusting and expecting to be consulted until some night at the dinner table when our children happened to drop The lawyer for the Kleinburg ratepayers asked where was the missing region? A good question indeed, since the proposed Lawyer Robert Macaulay was able to argue for his client Milani and Milani that the proposed development was not a regional concern. Yet last year in Kleinburg, a village in the rural area in the region’s scheme of things, a development that might well have added 3,000 people to the town of Vaugan was before the OMB. The region was nowhere to be seen. The argument was that Markham had too large a share already of the region’s development in rural areas. Letters Watch Map/e dump hearing Region housing priorities bad The region sent a lawyer and a planner to an Ontario municipal board hearing last week to fight against the potential addition of 79 people to Markham’s burgeoning population. In an)? event, the matter was outside The L'De'al IS Published ever Wednesday by Meuospan Communlly Newspapevs L-mued NON“ DIViSIOD. WhICh also publishes The Banner In Auvova, Newmarkel, The Woodbndge Vaughan News, and The Bolton Emevpnse PAGE A-A WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2, 1977 PUBLISHER J.G. VAN KAMPEN 6111: Zl‘ihtral 1010‘ Yonge Slreell Richmond Hill L4G 4Y6 Ontario Once again my thanks for all your support, on behalf of the Richmond Hill and Thomhill units. Gerry Crack, 1976 president, 102128 Yonge St., Richmond Hill, Ont. what they’d been quizzed about at school concerning their fears, heat rash, sex life, family hang-ups, religious beliefs or finances. In the bad old days, a great many “teacher testers” were playing amateur psychologist, so the province passed a tough new policy. With this kind of support from all volunteers, we believe the slogan Cancer Can Be Beaten will become a fact. the jurisdiction of the Toronto Humane Society. It should have been made to the Ontario Humane Society, whose responsibility it was. If Dr. Hillar, or any of your readers, have complaints of neglect or abuse of animals, they should be addressed to the undersigned, where they will promptly and properly be investigated. G. D. HEPWORTH, Chief inspector, Ontario Humane Society, 8064 Yonge St., Thornhill, Ont. Then we’d find out it was someone’s “rgsearch project.” It would produce an incredible number of trucks travelling through the southern part of York Region, hauling in garbage from Metro and many of the surrounding areas. Next Tuesday, March 8, at 8 pm. in the hall of St. Andrews Presbyterian Church is the time for citizen to meet the Environmental Assessment Board members and express their feelings about this huge and threatening development. Please come out and speak up. JOHN BECKER, The regional solicitor even says he was sent to fight a case in court for four days over whether a particular piece of paper had to be produced with a land severance. His bosses should get their priorities sorted out. Regional governments were set up, or so we were told at the time, to cope with powerful forces, particularly the pressure for growth, that local governments could not handle. Instead, when powerful forces clash in Kleinburg, the region ducks. But let someone try to build 22 more houses or drive eight miles per hour over the speed limit and the region has a team of trained specialists to put them in their place. The lack of a regional opinion on one side or the other smacks of irresponsibility. improvements in trunk services would be a regional responsibility. Box 873, Maple, Ont Joy Horton . . . bathroom secrecy EDITOR HAROLD ELAINE So I’m in a pretty pickle. I’m holding a semi-secret paper that denies me my rights, possibly even borders on illegality. I’m not allowed to comment publicly about it because I’m not Well this was one that the director apgroved without telling anyone. What they did about it we really don’t know because they discussed it in secret. So what pray does the director have up his sleeve for us next? The old board finally passed a law that the director had to show a brief summary of planned research projects (never the questionnaires or details). So as a trustee I saw summaries. The select groups of citizens who are permitted to see the proposed new policy, and maybe even some new trustees, may not know much about the secret part, so may not twig to what’s Sure the government of Bill Davis has made mistakes. The government of Bill Davis has been responsible enough to recognize those mistakes and has taken The trustees stopped 'it ofily after it was well under way when they ac- cidentally heard about it. Well the old Board didn’t buy that argument. But the director apparently djcln’t give up.r Just a month ago I understand he recommended the very same project to the new trustees, still without parental permission involved. missing â€" p responsibilities! The Ontario educational system is among the finest in the world. It is used as the basis of study and evaluation by educators near and far. He even has his own definition of what is, and what isn’t, dabbling into our childrens’ psyches which sneaks around the provincial law. We all remember last year when over 1,000 students were to be subjected to a humiliating and degrading question- naire and follow-up therapy in a scuba tank for their personal fears and anxieties by a “teacher-tester”. We wére told that it in no way in- volved psychology or mental health. It requires that only professional psychologists can test students and only after receiving written consent from the parents. But here in York County, despite the new law, we're still in the bad old days. The director does not like parental consent and spoke against it repeatedly because it “slows things up” and anyway “Sam knows best”. As you know I am a candidate for the Progressive Conservative York Centre provincial nomination next month. As such I feel some response to his com- ments are timely now. Now Mr. Stong does the same thing. He is attempting to use scare tactics to undermine the public’s confidence in the Ontario education system. It is most unfair for someone in political office or a position of trust and respect such as a member of the legislature of Ontario, to attack our public institutions. Dear editor: Since the public sometimes has a short memory and recollection of the article may be vague by the time we are facing each other in an election battle, I would appreciate the op- portunity to challenge Alf Stong the Liberal MPP on his recent report. Alf Stong seems to be adopting some of his leader‘s tactics of late. Stuart Smith has a great habit of throwing out comments which are misleading and downright dangerous. He has twisted facts and taken phrases out of context from the recent Interface Report by Stevenson and Kellough. I personally find this repulsive and unfair to the public. Challenges MLA .S‘ tong parent’s rfghts and I have first hand personal experience of just how beneficial a junior kin- dergarten program can be and of the I was not on the original committee which was accorded such a poor reception by our board of education. But I wish now I had been. One statement by Margaret Coburn of King that she “had more people speaking against junior kindergartens than for them", should inspire the parents of King to stand up and be counted. Perhaps these people feel they are facing a small handful of individuals who will be easily quashed. What about Mr. Stong’s comments and claims that students coming out of high school are not what they used to be. Maybe some trustees will ac- cidentally read this too and agree to slip in the words “and written permission received from the parents” before “guinea-pigging” our children. Nothing less will do. allowed to see it Your front page article of February 16 “Jr. Kindergarten issue lives on" prompted me to re-evaluate the previous articles, letters, etc. con- cerning this situation. I think if you look back through the letters and literature of our history you will find the same comment has been made about every generation coming along. This is a topic I personally feel very strongly about. After speaking to Mrs. Diana Lofsky, a concerned, involved but overburdened citizen, it appears that individual effort is to be the only solution. What concerns me most is the con- descending attitude of what appears to be the majority of our elected trustees. Our institutions have undergone unprecedented expansion. While many jurisdictions are experiencing shor- tages in such key professions as nur- sing, medicine, dentistry, teaching, engineering, etc. â€" no such shortage exists in Ontario. in the 19605 the educators said we needed more freedom in our educational system. The Progressive Conservative government acted on that advice. A University or community college education is within the reach of everyone. Jr. kin dergarz‘en since 7 940 ’s Students drifted away from the traditional core curriculum. A great number of parents made sure their children stayed with the three “R’”s. But many didn’t. An Ottawa University study claims students entering their school are in- ferior to the class of 1961. In 1961 only steps to correct them As a résult Tom Wells, the education minister, has acted to restore the compulsory core curriculum. Today We are educating more students, for longer periods of time than ever before. (MRS) JOY HORTON, RR 4, Stouffville, Ont. My experience By Kathy Love Opinion healthy, happy attitude toward school demonstrated by a four-year-old currently enrolled. The issue here can’t be whether or not a child would benefit, as programs such as this have been in effect for many years in every area but our own. He should be involving teachers, students and parents in the process of education so collectively we can make what is already a good system even better. It is a personal decision to enrol a child of age or not. I spoke to the York, Toronto, Scarborough, Etobicoke and North York board offices regarding the length of time the individual programs had been operating and found four years to be the minimum. It is easy to wreck a Cadillac, but it takes many to build one. KERRY GILMOR, I challenge Mr. Stong to assume the role he was elected to. He should be attempting to restore public con- fidence. This naturally meant the over-all academic standing of the university class was lowered. No longer, though, is it just an elitist institution. Today your average student, who may blossom academically later in life, is given the opportunity of higher education. The Toronto board instigated its first in the 19405. In every case they had been enthusiastically received and had shown good feed back within a short Through the 1960’s expansion of existing schools and creation of new universities across this province combined with a progressive student aid system. University doors were thrown open to countless thousands who were previously denied. Kerry Gilmor . . .Ont.schools fine the elite in both academic and in economical social status were allowed access to a university education. time 67 Richmond St., Richmond Hill, Ont. Thorn/ea Secondary horrors I was referred through these contacts to individuals in the business offices of the ministry of education who men- tioned the problem of declining enrolments in much of our area. Obviously what is required is a show of hands from concerned people from every area in York Region. This is not a fad topic for discussion, it is an established fact and should be treated as such. Mrs. Love resides at 73 Laverock Ave. in Richmond Hill. â€" Editor) This represents the same geographical area essentially, neigh- bours’ children and ssimilar economic circumstances. Surely the possibility of a revenue producing potential can at' least be investigated thoroughly. I could see the wheels turning in my daughter’s head, and knew she’d suddenly been put in a new position. She was now the defender and definer of this subject, and wasn’t waiting for someone to be this for her. Not a bad stance for any teacher to prgvolfe in a 1+year-qld mind; The majority of math students will figure out apples are $3 a dozen, and milk $1 a quart, a bit of a rip-off in any system. Particularly interesting is the suc- cess the York County separate school board has enjoyed the past two years. When yo'u-can gét him to discuss it seriously, he professes to be offended by_ _the_“sla_ckness” 9f the system. My daughter, on the other hand, is doing fairly well there. Popsicles, my children inform me, cost 20 cents at school. Across the road at the Becker’s store the same item sells for 7 cents. _ You’d also think they’d blush at charging 25 cents for a fresh apple, or a half-pint of milk. 7 He seems to spend most of his time in “the jungle," a plant-lined sanctum sanctorum incidentally known for its stimulating poker games. (My God, the man is a dunderhead. The school is a disaster.) Then I thought about it. It occurred to me the teacher had really forced at least this one student to do some thinking about the very nature of mathematics, about its im- mutability, its logic. And heid done it without the kind of dogmatic insistence that kids either react against or ignore. In the same week we also had a discussion about the Thornlea cafeteria. And this sight, of teenagers congregating in shopping plazas when they should be in school, is one of the things that incenses parents and gives schools like Thomlea a bad reputation. How many passers-by kfiow the reasons for? it may be purely economic? You’d think a school that can stimulate kids to use their brains would know they’d be smart enough to cross the street if there was a clear 13 cents profit in it. Even’the school’s staff admits it’s rather free-wheeling system isn’t right for every child. P So I accepted that quite happily, though she’s still busy sorting it out. On any given day you can stand on a comet in Thomhill and take a quick smey with guaranteed results. Talk to the first 10 people who pass by about Thornlea Secondary. Eight of them are sure to have horror stories of ruined youth to tell. But memories of years of stultifying boredom in the public school system when I was a kid incline me to support it. If it enriches even one kid in 20 and raises his or her horizons above the mundane, it earns its place in the community. I also recognize it isn’t for everyone, and I’ve got a son who’s the perfect illustration of this. All the school has done for him is to tug-p him into a budding horticulturist. This is going to keep kids from hanging around the plazas? The early childhood education department of the North York board of education, headed by Mary Scanlan, believes firmly in the benefits and would be only too happy to show classroom facilities and curriculum details to those involved. Some of the unconventional goings-on even manage to shake up some of her preconceived notions. I havé to admit my first reaction was somewhat Pavlovian. _ Yesterday she came home in high dudgeon about her math class. The teacher had told the class the acceptable answer to any problem would be the one the majority arrived at. 'e “Fortunately,” she muttered as she paced the kitchen floor, “the majority’s been right so far.” Brothers parents Wheels turn/n g Unconventional Pupil decline In the jungle By Lynda Nykor Iynda's lashes