The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

p 4 the tribgnejthurspax december 4 1997 st the tribune thursday december 4 1997 vol 109 no 80 comment send your letters to the editor to the address below ebitokmr blitz aids seniors some 160 volunteers took to the phones yesterday to pre vent seniors from being ripped off in telephone scams the oneday blitz wednesday by community group and business volunteers took aim at the increasing number of telephone frauds seeking to part senior citizens from their money called hang up on fraud the phone blitz saw volun teers contact senior citizens to inform them how to avoid becoming victims of phone frauds partners in the blitz which is coordinated by the ministry of consumer and commercial relations include the bay- crest centre for geriatric care the volunteer centre of metro toronto the canadian direct marketing association bell canada project phonebusters scotiabank and the seniors secretariat telephone fraud is expected to cost ontario seniors 35 million this year alone typically phony telemarketers tell their victims they are eligible to receive valuable prizes if they pay a fee or ask for a contribution to a nonexistent charity some intentionally target seniors with their scams markham mpp david tsubouchi minister of consumer and commercial relations is a keen supporter of the blitz noting that ontario is making it clear to unscrupulous oper ators that scams preying on seniors will not be tolerated this hang up on fraud awareness campaign is a good example of business working in partnership with govern ment and community groups to protect citizens 1fcaimada were septuplets realistic barbie could benefit society come on barbie lets go party litigious aqua song lyric as the festive season approaches i am following with some interest the revolution of the toy industry and in particular that icon of the preteen female set the barbie doll it is at great personal risk that i choose this topic for that corporate megalith of the toy world mattel inc is on the litigation warpath mattel has an army of lawyers scouring the nation for illegal use of the barbie image and name and so far has launched at least three suits one suit charges the band aqua for copyright infringement for the above lyrics to its hit song while another is against an artist who feels mattels recent efforts to bring barbie into the 90s have not gone far enough in his work this artist makes barbie a vehicle forsocial comment display ing such creations as hooker barbie and bag lady barbie complete with accessories this he says is more minute with mair andrew mair truetoiife than the bubbleheaded bleach blonde we knew from child hood mattel needless to say is not amused mattels own efforts to bring barbie screaming and kicking her sparkly high heels into the 90s have included aids committee grateful for support dear editor on oct 26 1997 an auction sale was held in newmarket to support the work of the aids committee of york region and the gay services committee of york region both committees would like to take the opportunity to thank the many people and organizations who contributed to this event and helped to make it such a successful fundraising endeavour many thanks to shawn turner administrator for arranging the use letters of the room at the newmarket health services centre and to the following businesses and individu als who were so generous in their donations and support starbucks coffee cassidys flowers and gifts whats in store chapters red devil barbecue and tavern the pineapple inn and bakeshop the curtain club glas the hum- coverage aided event dear editor on behalf of the stouffville chapter heart stroke foundation i wish to express our thanks to you for the extensive coverage you gave us for our cooking with bonnie stern evening which was held at angies eatery we feel that one of the reasons for the success of the evening was your newspaper articles wc appreciate the support you have shown our organization and your will ingness to cover our events is very greatly appreciated linda milling secretary heart stroke foundation stouffville chapter mingbird centre fabutan sun tan studio and mr greek restaurant thanks also to roy robson artist nicole davis susan dean rmt claude laincsse rmt rani johnson reflexology and tragcr therapist wafik raouf tragcr ther apist svengali spa and hair studio cathy preston tai chi instructor and reiki therapist cafe en passant the corner house benjamin moore paints susan ball rmt newmarket optical centre and brian wilkinson the mission of the aids commit tee of york region is to provide sup port education and access to digni fied care for people living with hivaids and those affected by hivaids the gay services com mittee of york region works towards making york region com fortable for the gay lesbian and bisexual community thank you to all who participated to help us realize those goals catherine white for the aids committee of york region giving her a number of careers such as pet doctor barbie dentist barbie and teacher barbie as well she is due for some cos metic surgery in the near future her ample bosom will be reduced that waspish waist is being filled out and in general barbie will be receiving more realistic proportions all around but how will this play with the kids my niece wants a barbie for christ mas doesnt care what kind just a barbie when i asked why she said cause shes pretty i wonder if she would think the new barbie was as beautiful after all women have been brought up with barbie as their model of what is pret ty or what should be sought after in life for two generations now a good- looking hunky boyfriend a 42inch bust with an 18 inch waist blonde hair and a pink camper van were what many young girls thought were in store for them in later life after much deliberations in the toy store aisles i decided on paleontolo gist barbie i am not making this up for its obvious nod to the sciences and higher education she comes with tools for digging a pith helmet and a water canteen she also comes to my disappointment with two dinosaurs not bones mind you but full colour flcshedout beast- ics accuracy is obviously not mattels strong suit yet they have an obvious impact on the youth of today they would bp wise to take a page from the book of that artist they arc pursuing in the courts they could accomplish a great deal of social good with dolls- like single mom barbie un dele gate barbie addictions counsellor barbie politician barbie stouffville tribune a metroland community newspaper patricia pappas publisher andrew jnlair editorinchief tracy kibble editor debra welier director of advertising mike rogerson retail advertising manager stacey allen classified manager barry goodyear director of distribution vivian oneil business manager pamela nichols operations manager aboutus news 905 6402100 retail sales 9056402100 classifieds 905 6402874 distribution 905 6402100 fax 905 6405477 email thetribistarca 6244 main st stouffville ont l4a1e2 the stouffville tribune pub lished every tuesday thursday and saturday is one of the metroland printing publishing and distribution group of commu nity newspapers which includes ajaxpickering news advertiser allislon heraldcourier barric advance brampton guardian burlington post cityparent colhngwoodavasaga beach con nection east york mirror etobi- coke guardian georgetown inde- pcndcntacton free press kingston this week lindsay this week markham economist sun midlandpcnctanguishene mirror milton canadian champion mis- sissauga news newmarketaurora erabanner northumberland news north york mirror oakvillc beaver orillia today oshawa- whitbyclaringtonport perry this week peterborough this week richmond ililcthornhillvaughan liberal scarborough mirror and uxhridge tribune todays seniors contents cannot be reprinted with out written permission from the publisher permit 1247 the pub- lisher reserves the right to refuse or classify an advertisement credit for advertisement limited to space the error occupied letters policy the tribune welcomes your letters to the editor please keep letters to no more than 300 words note that letters may be edited for space libel spelling grammar while wc endeavor to print as many letters as possible we regret that not all letters may be printed