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sa4 wednesday january 18 1984 editors mail classic dear editor does the editor of the tribune really consider a nude ice sculpture as classic i see nothing classic about it any more than if the model was for real why is a woman snow ice or in the flesh so intriguing minus her clothes would your paper have published a similar photo if the sculpture had been a man i doubt it women are no longer considered the sex objects they once were this change in attitude has been long overdue sincerely helen palmer rr 3 stouflville personal dear mr thomas please allow me to make a per sonal observation with regard to a subject i see often in the tribune obituaries ive often wondered how many unrelated readers take the time to check through such stories i personally find them very in teresting because most of the de- ceased or members of their fami lies are known to me however its the personal approach adopted by your paper that interests me most even the persons i dont know are brought to life through your writeups im sure this means a great deal to the nextofkin some newspapers i know in cluding weeklies shun obituaries as dead news im glad this poli cy hasnt been adopted by the tri bune each one in a lifetime con tributes something to his or her community thats worthy of edito rial comment sincerely isobelle carter albert street stouffville ttte trigone the tribune established 1888 james thomas bruce annan joe anderson editor publisher advertising manager editorial dept jim holt audrey green display advertising dept bryan armstrong terri bernhardt real estate classified advertising joan marshman circulation manager doreen deacon national sales representative metroland corporate sales 4931300 published every wednesday by metroland printing publishing distributing at 54 main st stouffville ont tel 6402100 single copies 40 subscriptions s1650 per year in canada 54500 elsewhere member of canadian community newspapers association ontario weekly newspaper association ontario press coun- cil and suburban newspaper of america second class mail registration number 0896 the stouffville tribune is one of the metroland group of suburban newspapers which includes the acton free press the aurora banner aaxpickering news advertiser the bolton enterprise the brampton guardian the burlington post the burlington weekend post the etoblcoke advertiserguardian the georgetown independent markham economist sun the milton champion the mississauga news the newmarket era the north york mirror oakville beaver oakville friday beaver oshawa this week oshawa this weekend richmond hill liberal thornhill liberal the scarborough mirror the stouffville tribune and woodbridge liberal metroland printing publishing distributing is a division of harlequin enterprises limited 6402100 6402101 r roaming around a film meant to shock by jim thomas editorials uxbridge twp plant was public knowledge bill balliriger mayor of uxbridge vented his wrath on the editorial depart ment of this newspaper last week con cerning what he described as the prem ature release of a news story related to a japanese firm establishing a plant in the lazy lake area of uxbridge township mayor ballinger said he informed the tribunes audrey green that something big was in the wind but asked her to keep it quiet until the transaction was signed and sealed by publishing the story under the heading japanese firm com ing he claims she betrayed his confi dence this newspaper however claims mayor ballingers confidential tip that we respected at the time lost its confidentiality when the planning and development committee hosted a gathering of 23 residents at an in camera discussion on the night of jan 9 that same week an advertisement was published by the region of dhrham telling of a public meeting in thje council chambers at whitby on jan 18 purpose of the meeting the ad read is to permit industrial uses in a re creational environment a map elear- lyjindicating the site was included further above the names of regional chairman gary herrema and regional cljsrk cw lundy the advertisement read information related to this ap plication is available in the office of the planning department admittedly a casual observer might not twig to anything important going on however it was certainly the intent of the region and we trust the township for interested residents to find out and indeed learn more if not then why advertise the fact that more informa tion is available the fact the tribunes audrey green broke the story first is due not to a bet rayal of confidence but to investigative journalism on her part that involved many hours work and many long distance phone calls the fact mr ballinger refused com ment after all the spade work had been done was his decision he was given the opportunity others contacted by this newspaper spoke freely including the regional chairman how the mayor and council of ux bridge township wish to make informa tion available to the public is their busi ness how the tribune wishes to make information available to its readers is our business this newspaper only pub lished something that was already known to 23 people this newspaper only published something that had already been made public through a paid adver tisement this newspaper only pub lished the facts facts the people had a right to know in plain truth we were only doing our job and for that we offer no apologies everyone even weekly newspaper editors deserve a night off one night out of seven friday evenings my choice saturday too if i can work it however with sports editor jim holt absent on an sevenday vacation hes back now its been necessary to perform a few addi tional duties down at the arena and else where so the towns kept informed on our athletic endeavors last friday i had to do double duty first the stouffvillemarkham chapter of christian action counci had sche duled a meeting at emmanuel interna tional for 730 pm and at nine our midget allstars were taking on the classic oldtimers of the amateur hockey league if the first didnt run too late and the second didnf start too early i felt i could put in an appearance at both one of the subjects up for discussion at the christian action council meeting was the setting up of a crisis pregnancy centre somewhere in the stouffville- markham area while the need for such a facility is far from humorous the ques tion of dont tell me or youre not undoubtedly flashed through my wifes mind when i announced my reason for attending for i noticed a strange smile on her face as i headed downthe hall and out the door yes to establish a crisis pregnancy centre was high on the evenings agen da but it was only part of or a hopedfor solution to a much more important issue that of abortion i honestly admit that as a layman i would never sit in on such of discussion in my opinion men have had far too much to say on the topic already what do they know however as an editor i felt it my duty to attend and to inform that was my only reason for being there two things struck me as i entered the hall first the size of the crowd most seats were filled and second the age of the crowd many in their teens and twen ties each of us has or should have a per sonal opinion on this highly controver sial issue i favor freedom of choice not that my opinion should count for ill never face the trauma of having to make that decision however thousands of north americans do every day the seriousness of the situation cannot be ignored where do you stand no one man or woman can honestly answer this question until after they see the film that was shown at emmanuel friday night its entitled assignment life and putting it mildly its a shocker sure it was produced in the united states and certainly the purpose was meant to shock but for firsttime viewers myself included it was a shock beyond belief no im not doubting the films authen ticity its just that when it involves lives of other people particularly the un born we can become very blase about it all we have a way of turning our minds of f those things that seemingly don t con cern us this film doesnt permit this even though with respect to certain scenes some in the audience myself included preferred not to look what stand has the church community taken on this matter mine presbyte rian and ill be sternly corrected if im wrong says abortions are permissable when the life of the mother is in jeopardy or the baby is known to be malformed some will say this is too liberal some will say its not liberal enough certainly freedom of choice violates the thinking of many many of the same who will never have to make that choice those who must should first see the film i saw friday its guaranteed to make you think twice window on wildlife the tip is in the bill by art briggsjude reason camouflaged will it never end will the landfill blight that has plagued whitchurch- stbuffville more than fifteen years nev er be forgotten it would seem not at the last meeting of planning com mittee jan 3 this scourge was resur rected once again this time as a means o blocking or at least postponing approval of a tenlot estate subdivision irv the area of kennedy road cone 6 and the aurora road fthc possibility that effluent from the landfill site could permeate this proper ty was given as a reason even though thc location is 1 j4 miles away the speaker a former councillor went even further he suggested re sidential buildup should be restricted as far north as st johns sideroad as far south as the bethesda road and as far east as the uxbridge townline if the subdivision opponent is serious then he must also be serious concerning the health and welfare of residents now living in this area is he advising they all should move out or that simply no one new should move in to us it all smells like another case of im in youre out so stay out these blustery days with the winter bird population more or less stabilized in the vicinity of backyard food sources it gives us a good chance to observe first hand the makeup of some of our feath ered visitors the neighborhood leafless trees coupled with the white back ground quickly discloses the various wintering species as they appear by now too most feeding shelves are a hive of avian activity that provide many in teresting observations though what birds are seen to eat is important what they eat it with is even more so the beaks and bills of birds are really tips to their ways of life look carefully at this feature of your feath ered guests and you will see what we mean the cardinal for example like all the other members of the grosbeak family has a stout bill for cracking the larger seeds and while the cardinals come singly or in scattered pairs their kingsized cousins the black and yellow evening grosbeaks descend by the dozens on sunflower seed hando similarly shaped but much smaller in comparison are the beaks of the spar row family buntings finches and wild canaries they too are partial to sunf lower seeds but dine a lot on other small weed seeds as well some winters flocks of crossbills make their appearance and these par rotlike actors arrive with a pair of built- in pruning shears actually the speed with which they husk the scales off pine cone and other such seeds is fascinating and makes the domestic budgie look like a minor leaguer in this respect occasionally a brown creeper arrives its usually seen working upwards on the tree trunks using its sickleshaped bill to deftly glean dormant insect larvae and eggs from the bark crevises the woodpeckers go one step further note their pointed beaks with these sharp chisels theyre able to cut through the bark allowing their flexible tongues to follow the wood borers to the very ends of their tunnels another sharpbilled bird is the nuthatch its picklike beak prys hiber nating insects from bark crevises opens acorns or separates the seeds from dried fruits around feeding stations they apply this instrument to good use on sunflower seeds peanuts or chunks of raw suet looking at the boistrous blue jay we notice a strong bill for opening nuts or when the opportunity arises tearing flesh i once noticed a jay eating dead minnows left on the ice near a fishing hole and on another occasion was sur prised to see one of these big blue rascals fly off my feeder at gormley carrying a house sparrow although berryeaters like the cedar waxwing seem to possess a relatively strong bill they prefer fruit which in- cidently they seem to rool around in their bills before devouring in fact the slight hook in their beak seems particularly suited to this manoeuvre if you have a tree or shrub nearby with winter persis tent fruit such as mountain ash or high- bush cranberry you will get a good chance to see these handsome crested birds in action of course the concentration of small birds around a feeding station some times attracts less desirable species such as a shrike often called the butch er bird these small flying predators really carry the tools of their trade one only has to get a close look at their heavy notched bill to realize its a death- dealing weapon to say the least and its with this same hooked armament that the shrike carrys its victim aloft often to impale it later on a sharp thorn or strand of barbed wire start this winter then to give your feathered friends a little closer look for often theres a tip in the bill as to the birds character habits and feeding preferences