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p 4 weekender saturday march 14 1998 st saturday march 14 1998 vol 14 no 11 the tribune is a member of the ontario press council the tribune mtnent opinions 905 6402100 fax905 6405477 email thetribistarca editorial greater toronto board merely debating club why might we need another forum in which the mayors of our greater toronto area cities and towns can simply sit and jaw the greater toronto services board as the province con ceives of it now will be a debating society for our politicians and not much else the men and women at the table will be there to talk but wont have the power to do anything the board was meant to be stronger with authority to set strategies across greater toronto that can improve our ailing mass transit services build major roads and share our water our sewers and the responsibility for social welfare programs fairly and efficiently we know our politicians need to settle these issues and soon we can see in the lengthening grind of rush hour that commuter traffic flows freely through cities and towns and that only a plan binding the whole greater toronto area can prevent gridlock on our roads when politicians meet for their mayors gatherings they discuss many of the same big issues but too often little gets done besides the shouting the gtsb must be different the province must give it the power it needs to make the best decisions for all then per haps the politicians may finally do just that eat sensibly exercise lots die anyway the problem with experts is they dont know anything lets see nowbooze is bad for you right hold on a recent study shows that two ounces of alcoholper day might actually be beneficial to your heart oh so booze is good for you but coffee we know caffeine does terrible things to the human body no quarrel about that is there actually yes some experts say that the stimulating effects of coffee can assist the digestive process and contribute to alertness so whats good and whats bad thats the problem you can find an expert to take just about any position tobacco manufacturers can even line up doctors willing to swear that the dan gers of tobacco have not been conclu sively proven exercise its common knowledge that exercise is great oh yeah tell that to james fixx if you can get his attention fixx practically invented the jogging craze back in i the 70s he wrote the complete book of running he personally ran 10 miles a day he gave lectures and made countless tv appearances extolling the virtues of jog ging and longdistance running right up until he dropped dead of a heart attack in his running shoes and gym shorts aged 52 well at least the experts all agree that fatty foods are bad for us right cheese burgers french fries pizza anything with butter on it wrong again ladies and gentlemen may i present one more expert luann wandsnider associate professor of anthropology at the university of nebraskalincoln professor wandsnider has been study ing the eating habits of human beings oyer the past several hundred thousand years her conclusion you might as well enjoy that slab of banana cream basic black arthur black pie youre going to have it anyway professor wandsnider says our hunger for fatty foods is way more than skin deep its imbedded in our very genes she says that human beings have been giving in to their cravings for fatty foods since the dawn of time and not just because it tastes so good but because it meant survival of our species most of us are descendants of prehistoric tribes of huntergatherers that subsisted on roots and berries and whatever animals they were fast enough to catch there wasnt a great deal of fat in such a diet which made our ancestors really pig out on fat whenever they could nowadays we may drive to work sit at a desk all day and eat takeout in the evening but our genes have a long memory as far as theyre concerned were still halfnaked sleeping in caves and wondering where the next square meal is coming from so when you reach for that mars barj youre not just giving in to a spur-of- themoment hunger impulse youre responding to a millenniaold genetic shriek a shriek that says fat mmmmm- mmmmmmmm good were sort of like fatseeking mis siles says wandsnider we just cant help it finally an expert that tells me what 1 want to hear pass the gravy schools depicted at their worst dear editor theres a lot i could say about the article terrible tragedies can return to haunt but ill try to keep my words short i really dont understand where youre coming from in your article i guess you saw a school at the worst of times and never at the best of times i knew the leaders on the lake temiskaming trip there were 12 boys and one young junior master an alumnus he was a handsome courageous young man who held the school as high as the heavens i knew some of the boys whose lives were lost and i got to know many of the parents who lost their sons in the accident and who stood behind the school in spite of what hap pened this horrible tragedy and that it was occurred in 1978 in early june almost 20 years ago not in the early 80s the leaders on that trip were three of the finest men i know they letters were men full of honour trust and courage the boys you were right were bright young lives but tragedy did strike a storm high winds icy waters tippy canoes it happened a lot of time was spent trying to answer why including a coroners inquest at which no verdict of negli gence was found but understand one thing these people werent trying to take their own lives it was an accident what they were doing was living life as an adventure a bit on the edge all right but with the best intentions st johns wasnt a military school in any way not that i have anything against military schools it was an outdoor adventure school a christ ian one at that it provided challenge and excite ment and love in abundance for many teens who had found their existence to be dull and locked up in a public school system it wasnt a clergyman who read the names of those who survived the accident it was a dear friend of mine who helped to found that school and who loved those boys more than youll ever know dont equate an event from last week that you dont seem to under stand much about to an event 20 years ago that you dont seem to understand much about st johns school of ontario was an honourable school that did mire than you can ever imagine for many boys many of whom today are bright shining lives in todays soci ety its motto still rings resoundingly in my heart honour trust and courage are these principles not worth striving for today respectfully submitted by rod voss former st johns head stouffville tribune weekender ametrolahd community newspaper patricia pappas publisher andrew mair editorinchief tracy kibble editor debra weller director of advertising mike rogerson retail advertising manager stacey allen classified manager barry goodyear director of distribution vivian qneil business manager pamela nichols operations manager about us 105 6402100 v v 9056402100 9056402874 m a 905 64054 thetribistarca 6244 main st stbuffviiie oht l4a1e2 i itkhamkoinlliwl8w spummwd vrjrtru cta 8olurdj i m of uu mglrol i printing publuoitn ud dhtribuu croup of j community nwper kwhjh inehidi a ptekerine newr j advrrtjwl- aulloo benucotuit r mm bur 6vcinc5 colllowojyw coniucuon ei york mirror erjn advo clrxountrr rout elollcok cudln nabrouil po corxowo indtptnovnlaclon fw i prkinritontw thl wkmjdlmdt 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 gram mar while we endeavor to print as many letters as pos sible we regret that not all letters may be printed