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a4 tribune february 24 1988 editors mail clarify with reference to the page 1 story published in the feb 10 issue of the tribune re an indoor pool for phase 2 of the whiten urchstouffville recreation cen- tre i feel some clarification is re quired it is my understanding that 5500 to 6000 questionnaires were sent out to residents of the munici pality out of this number only six percent were returned this represents the opinion of 330 to 360 residents in a town of close to 17000 its hardly fair to say that an indoor pool is heavily favored or an over whelming choice while the response was un doubtedly disappointing facts are facts the information from the questionnaire should have been reported in a more defined maimer such as actual numbers rather than percentages in view of the above statistics i ask do you feel phase 2 of the town recreation complex is re quired at this time- carol davis bal ontario plowmens assoc lahpton t durham res w ves moft thanks stewart and i want you to know how much we enjoy bruce stapleys stories related to indi viduals in and around stouffville we also enjoy your girl next door feature we find both you and bruce have the ability to bring alive personalities on paper keep up the good work the tribune remains an excel lent smalltown newspaper we very much appreciate the coverage you provide our church activities thanks again barbara wideman ringwood rue tfii z thettibune established 1888 cot james thomas bruce annan patricia pappas jennifer hutt editor publisher advertising manager distribution manager editorial dept denise mcdonald retail advertising susan berry manager charles canning real estateclassified advertising joan marshman real estate manager dorothy young classified manager debra welter distribution lea killer doreen deacon business office manager chris bertram national sales representative metroland corporate sales 4931300 the stouffville tribune published every wednesday and saturday at 54 main st stouffville ont is one of the metroland printing publishing distributing group of suburban newspapers which includes the acton free press ajax pickering news advertiser aurora banner brampton guardian burlington post etobicove advertiser guardian georgetown independent markham economist sun milton champion mississauga news newmarket era oakville beaver 0shdw3 whitby this week richmond hitl thornhill vaughan liberal scarborough miror topic newsmagazine willow- dale mirror metroland printing publishing distributing is a division of harlequin enterprises ltd single copies 50c subscriptions 2100 per year in canada 55500 elsewhere member of canadian com munity newspaper association ontario weekly newspaper association ontario press council and sub- urban newspapers of america second class mail registration number 0896 6402100 6492292 roaming around- false criticism hurts by jim thomas- editorials town should broaden industrial horizon when it comes to development parti- i cularly industrial development we de- test piecemeal planning i the end result is usually just that piece meal other municipalities bear the scars of narrowminded thinking i dont let this happen in whitchurch- j stouffville the towns planning advisory com- mittee proceeded properly in requesting the ibi group draft a land demand study with regard to future industrial requirements in the gormley area however in our opinion the peramaters are too small three hundred acres is trivial when coping with the require ments of industry today if a thousand acres is available go for it even persons with restricted planning vision can foresee the day when indust- rial magnates will be clamoring for sites fronting on or in close proximity to hwy 404 the locations a natural for trans portation for marketing for many reasons parking for handicapped a crowded plaza parking lot two open areas reserved for handicapped people pretty tempting some motorists are finding them too tempting they slyly slip into the spaces if only for a minute this is a municipal offense we all should be vigilante in such cases and call police immediately a few hefty fines would cure the indiscre tion in a hurfy hibernating for road department employees its been a comparatively easy winter little snow to plow little sand to spread for snow plow and sand truck oper ators retained for this purpose life must get pretty tedious so tedious they all obviously fell asleep saturday night at least the sand truck operators did stouffvilles main street was a verit able skating rink motorists inched their way through town with not a sandcr in sight two hours and several fenderbenders later they were out in force what service this is good for whitchurch- stouffville our industrial tax base has long been a source of concern this wall flower feeling is about to change we fail to see what the industrial land demands in communities like ballan trae and stouffville have to do with gormley the hwy 404 corridor is a separate entity entirely randy alcorn of alcorn and associ ates limited thornhill advised town planners to work towards the develop ment of the entire area then phase in the applications as requests are received this makes sense councillor wilf morley planning advisory committee chairman posed the question on everyones mind do we go back and look at the 1000 acres or do we take the ibi study verbatim go back do it all and do it right is our advice twenty years down the road or less- future planners will appreciate present planners foresight when someone comes into the office and begins criticizing my newspaper i immediately become defensive i shouldnt but i do human nature i guess its a throwback to ones youth each of us since old enough to walk has been taught to defend himself girls too ifsomeone sticks a fist in your face you do the same he pushes you push back you have to learn to stand up for yourself a father tells his son give him what he deserves dont take that from her a mother advises her daughter cut her down to size in some cases retaliations unwar ranted the critic means well heshes only trying to point out something we should have observed ourselves it can range from bad taste to bad breath from yellow journalism to yel low shirts if were never told the fault cant be corrected only recently a subscriber request ing her letter not be published took me to task over inability to differentiate be tween the words affect and effect so what did i do i tore the letter up and threw it in the garbage why the writer was right she meant well and was only pointing out some thing ive known for years the proper use of the words affect and effect has always been a problem smarten up jim i said to myself later youll never learn any younger just this week i received a letter from a resident at brougham she was critical of my handling of the supreme courts decision on abortion what happened she asked to words like fair balanced journalism and the other side of the story our survey the writer pointed out re quested opinions from thirteen people ten of them ministers but what about the manwoman-on- the street the writer was asking what opinions does heshe have to offer my immediate reaction was dont tell me what to ask or who to ask ill ask who i like and write what i like however after the sm6ke of indigna tion had filtered through my head i real ized she was right and i was oh so wrong the queries had been directed towards only a small segment of the town and a rather prejudiced segment at that the answers were known before the ques tions were asked what hurts most however is critic ism when one honestly and truly be lieves even knows hes right this cuts to the quick under such circumstances indi viduals editors included are justified in digging in their heels it was in this frame of mind i found sdss principal peter bright friday mr brights confident the many and varied programs offered at stouffville high are producing competent well- qualified graduates young people with abilities to make their marks in the work force at community colleges and uni versities and the sdss success figures would seem to bear this out town trustee harry bowes has the facts the dropout rate at sdss is an extremely low seven percent a far cry from the 3233 percent mentioned in the radwanski report further stouffvilles technical prog ram is looked on as one of the best in york region and possibly the province this being the case principal bright had just cause to be annoyed for mr radwanski paints all schools with the same brush perhaps sdss should have been on the radwanski checkout list if so his gloom and doom conclusions might have been lessgloomy and doomy regardless i do give the author aplus marks on three points 1 that standardized provincewide tests at least in reading comprehension writing including grammar spelling and punctuation mathematics reason ing and problemsolving and learning skills as well as in other core curricu- l lum subjects in high school be adminis- tered to all elementary and high school students at appropriate intervals throughout the years of schooling 2 that the credit system be abo lished or phased out and replaced with a common program of learning in the essential content areas for all students with no optional courses in grades 9 and 10 3 that automatic social promotion of children who are significantly behind grade level in learning accomplishment be replaced by enrollment in summer remediation programs followed by eva luation as to whether sufficient progress has been made to enable them to keep up with the work in the nest grade with or without remedial help during the school year i honestly believe from time to time its necessary for all of us to stop take a look at ourselves and see just where were headed and what were attemp ting to accomplish this selfassessment applies to jour nalists as well as educators this is ringwood at turn of the century the ringwood community has undergone majorchanges bercd by many ringwood was a busy stopoff point for since the turn of the century this is particularly tnsccf the teamsters ravelling to toronto with hotels on three cor- road layout the dogleg turn at the 8th concession hwy ners 48 and the townlinc stouffville road will be remem- editors mail protest the following letter dated feb 18 1988 has been written to whitch- urchstouffville mayor fran sains- bury by homeowners in westfield estates a copy of which is pub lished in the feb 24 edition of the tribune it reads madam mayor we have learned that a motion will be introduced at the next coun cil meeting expressing confidence in revenue propertys fulfillment of the contract and to rely on their cooperation again this year we three wish to protest this mo tion in the strongest possible way having lived here through season after season of mud noise incon venience and broken promises we have no faith whatsoever that re venue will return to finish the grad ing to an acceptable standard this year and we urge you to refrain from such a naive course of action we realize the probable reason the town has let our problems stretch out so long is the possibility that the letter of credit may not be sufficient to complete the work and the town may have to use its own funds as taxpayers we deserve better than this please reduce some of our disillu sionment with council by getting tough with revenue cashing the letter of credit finishing our grad ing and other deficiencies and let us get on with our lives and enjoy our premium priced properties oji which you unblushingly exact full taxes should you allow another sum mer to slip by without substantial completion of our subdivision we will have serious concerns about the priorities and the competence of our council john dckker carol dckker jennifer dekkcr 530 aintrec drive stouffville