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economist sunsuntribune saturday oct 2 2006 stouflville suntnbune a metroland community newspaper 6290 main st stoufivilleonl4a7z5 publisher ian proudfoot editor in chief director interactive director advertising marketingpartnership debora kelly media technology distribution director business manager johnfuthey barry black debra weuer robert lazurko director circulation york region printing systems general manager lynn pashko bob dean letters to the editor mayor fails to create tree bylaw re auto dealers coming to hwy 48 sept 16 perhaps a more appropriate town motto for vvrutchimhstourrville is country lost to the city the development of a major auto mall on hwy 48 north of main street has resulted in the loss of a few dozen crimson maples that embowered the old farm laneway the developer says people dont have to go all the way to markham when the mall is built the average person buys a new car every 55 years this hardly seems to be a major inconvenience to me mayor sue sherban has had three years to put a municipal tree bylaw in place yet has failed to do so maybe the time spent coming up with a town flower or organizing golf tournaments could have been used to find a way to pro tect the municipalitys trees while there are still some left to protect dougmcghie s stouffville town appeal affected by daycare an open letter to the ballantrae community centre board of directors we are a group of parents community members and staff whose mandate is to form a link between the community and the york region district school board we are very concerned about the possible displace ment or closure of the ballantrae child care centre fiftyone ballantrae public school stu dents use the daycare which is about one- fifth of our school population we are very concerned parents will choose to withdraw their students to attend school closer to another daycare facility if the centre closes or moves the closest day care centres are 15 km away in stouffville or aurora something like this would have a huge negative affect on diir school and ulti mately the community if there is not a daycare in our communi ty we strongly believe house prices will be affected negatively many of the families who now use the daycare moved here because of the centres proximity to the community and the elementary school we are the community and we are asking that our community centre be available for use as a daycare facility specifically the ballantrae child care centre marinabrock ballantrae cochairperson ballantrae public school council more dentists sometimes call them charismatic megafauna but most people would just say theyre cute and fuzzy certain animals such as bears tigers and the great apes have become poster children for the environment because for many people they symbolize the beauty and majesty of all nature steve irwin was not one of those people mr irwin the famous crocodile hunter was killed by a stingray last month whole diving off the coast of australia he became famous not for showing the world the cutest and cuddliest of creatures but for highlighting those that terrify us the most crocodiles snakes spi ders and other creepy crawlies im currently in australia on a book tour and was scheduled to meet up with mr irwin in october sadly that meeting will now never take place and i will miss out on spending time with someone for whom i feel a great deal of kin ship and respect growing up in canada my pas sion and my playground was a swamp near my home there i waded through cattails to catch frogs fish spiders snakes and anything else i could get my hands on i was utterly fascinated by these creatures and had a burning curiosity to find out what they did how they lived what they ate and what ate them piquing peoples interest in the environment with the worlds most charisr matic creatures may start them on the road to understanding and respect for all of nature i would not be surprised if mr irwin had similar experiences as a child both of us seem to like things david suzuki others might call ugly or dirty to us they are all beautiful icajyiimiristand why people gravitate toward the most charismatic loveable creatures it can even be beneficial and educational piquing peoples interest in the environment with- the worlds most charismatic creatures may start them on the road to under standing and respect for all of nature after all march of the penguins would never have become the international sensation that it did had it been called flight of the turkey vulture but thats precisely what made steve irwins role so important true he often went after the spectacular creatures himself just not the pretty ones at least not pretty to most peo ple he went after the ones either unknown or vilified hunted down and despised by most of humani ty hes been criticized for doing this simply for the rush or to feed his ego but in so doing he put the spotlight on creatures that would otherwise been seen by the gener al populace only in our night mares every creature has a role to play in an ecosystem ugly dirty or microscopic ones are often the most important it has been said humans could disappear off the planet and the rest of nature would flourish and thrive but if ants disappeared the natural world would be thrown into chaos humanity will not protect what we fear or do not understand mr irwin helped us understand those things many people thought were a nuisance at best a horror at worst that made him a great edu cator and conservationist at a time when interest in the basics of science like taxonomy the discovery and classification of living things is waning in favour of hightech fields its a role that will be sorely missed famed harvard biologist edward o wilson coined the term biophilia meaning an innate love and kinship for other biologi cal creatures mr irwin had it in spades and he wanted to share it with the world it was his enthusiasm for life on this planet any life that made him so remarkable steve irwin may not have focused on the charismatic megafauna of the world but the world clearly saw many of those same characteristics in him me the nature challenge and learn more at wwwdavidsuzukiorg letters policy the suntribune welcomes your letters all submissions must be less than 400 words and must include a daytime telephone number name and address the suntribunerescrvcs the right topublish or not publish and to edit for clarity and space letters to the editor the suntribune stoufmlteon l4a7z5 jmasonyrngcom editorial editor jim mason jmasonymgcom assistant editor rickvanderlinde rvanderlindeymgcom interactive media marketing advertising manager dauma andrews dandrewsymgxom advertising retail manager staceyallen sallenyrngcom classified manager ann campbell acampbellymgcom assistant classified manager bonnie rondeau brondeauymgcom new business development manager mikerogerson mrogcrsonymgcom production team leader sherry day sdayymgcom editorial 9056402612 fax9052941583 advertising 9056402612 classified 18007433353fax 9052941538 distribution 90576402612 ax board mnr cwc suntnbune a york region newspaper group community newspaper the sinvtribune published every thursday and saturday is a member of the metroland printing publishing and distributing ltd a whollyowned subsidiary of torstar corporation metroland is comprised of 70 community publications across ontario the york region newspaper group includes the liberal serving j richmond hill and thornhill vaughan citizen the erabanner newmarketaurora markham economist sun georgina advocate york region business times north of the city yorkregioncom and york region printing