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6 -The Canadian Champion, Friday May 30,1997 SOPINION THE CNADIN CHMPIO Box 248, 191 Main St. E., Milton, Ont. L9T 4N9 (905) 878-2341 Fax: 878-4943 Classified: 875-3300 Ian Oliver Publisher Neil Oliver Associale Publisher Rob Kelly Editor Karen Huisman Circulation Manager Teri Casas Oflice Manager Tim Coles Production Manager Ted Lindsay Rezail Sales Manager The Canadien Champion, pablisheri twice weekly ai 191 Main St. t., Milton, Ont., L9T 4N9 (Box 248), ns one of Then Metroland Pninting. Publinhing & Dittri- bating Ltd. group of suburban companien which includes: Ajax / Pickering News Advnrtiser; Alliston Heraldllourinr; Barrit Advance; Brampton Guardian; Burlington Post; City Parent; Collingwood / Wasaga Cannectien: East York Mirror; Etobicoke Guardian; Georgetown Independentl Acton Fret Prets; Kingston This Week; Lindsay This Wnnk; Markham Economist & Sun; Midland / Penetanguithene Mirror; Missittauga News; Newmarket / Aurora Era Banner; Northumberland News; North York Mirrar; Oakville Beaver; Orillia Today; Oshawa / Wbitby I Clarington I Part Pnrry ibis Wenk; Peterborough This Wenk; Richmond Hill I Thornhill I Vaughan Liberal; Scarborotgh Mirror; UxbridgeI Stouttoille Tribune; Today's Seniors. Attvertising is accepttd on the condition that, in thn event of a typographical error, that portion of tht advtrtising space occupied by tht nrronnous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signatare, will net bie charged for, bat the balance of tht adoertisement will be paid for ai tht applicable rate. The pub- lisber reserves tbe rigbt ta categorize advertiseaents or decline. Red, yellow don 't make green 1 was especiaiiy alert when out on the road last weekend. While it was the infamous May 2-4 weekend, il seemed as though almost every motorist used that as an excuse to drive like a moron. I found myseif vigorousiy shoking my fist at cars weaving aroutd me. 1 was honking ai those who didn't signal, only 10 receive their icy asares as tboogh it was my fouit. As mucb as I wouid like t0 think it however, such atrocious behaviour is flot conftned 10 the odd weekend. We are o society of terrible drivers. The common perception seems 10 be that young people are the root of ai that. Yet, I often ftnd that many of the people my age with whom 1 ride are better drivers thon their parents. Unlike drivers my age, our parents have flot recentiy compieted driving school. Many of them are stili working with what they ieamned 20, 30, 40 years ogo. Things have chonged. Young people today are much better prepared to handie driving on our roads thon our parents ever were, and perhaps are even now. 0f course new drivers Iock the experience of mony more senior motorists, but one does not need experience t0 know that one signais when cbanging lones. Once someone bos their licence tbough, il's for ton eosy for them to keep it lfor 50 years without having to take another driving test. 1 can't even begin to imagine the infinite num- ber of factors which could alter one's driving abilities in 10 years, let alone 50. Drivers shouid be required 10 undergo testing or participote in a refresher course from an accredited driving school every few years. Such a regulation would only solve baif the Perspective probiem, however. We simpiy hove 10 stant foi- Iowing the miles. OnIy about five per cent ol' automobile colli- sion are actuaiiy accidents. The other. 95 per cent are as the direct resuit ol' human error and/or misjudgment. There is octualiy no excuse l'or failing to sig- nal, nor are there excuses for runosing red lights or failing 10 stop ait o stop sign. As for speeding and weaving, where is tbis place that is so spe- cial that you must drive twice as foot os everyone else 10 gel there? So to help, I've comne up witb a few simple driving miles to remember: Stop should be seif-explonotory. Red and yellow do not equal green. Signoliing ailows you to beat other drivers to a given spot legitimateiy. Driving and weaving creates the worst knots Don't drive around someone who's weoving, nor weove around someone who's driving. Speeding wili gel you 10 a collision much faster. And 10 tbink Ibat by actuaily foliowing the miles of' the road we could reduce vehicle colli- sions by more thon baif. Et almost sounds too simple, docon't il? Maybe it is worth the drive Pack and load. Unioad and unpack. Pack and load. Unload and unpack. Thaî's why I don't drive 10 the cottage every weekend. Unlike hubby, who seemo 10 have an orgonizational knock for getting there and bock with the least omount of fuss, thot skill continues 10 elude me and I find 1 spend a large omount of lime witb pre-trip and post-trip octivities - both of which are a drag. I got away witb flot going up on the Easter weekend, but I couldn't ask for special favours to, miss the Victoria Day weekend aI the cottage. Since hubby reguisrly makes the cottage bis weekend getowoy (get away from what or whom?), we do flot have 10 go through the trodi- tionai opening-up-the-cottage ceremony. We already know whot water pipes have l'rozen and burst and we have aiready hod tbe field mice fient among our tua toweis. The 18- yeor-oid drove up in the infamous bug on Friday night witb a carload of groceries. That kid will do anything 10 escape wasbing dishes. As a îrode-ol'l, he bad planned the week- end's menu and purchased the neicessary food, oltbougb we discovered over the course of the weekend thot he had overesîimated by four peo- pie. Careful look shows the answer will be there Tbe poients caiied me in tears... tbey didn't know wbat 10 do or wbere 10 tom. Tbeir son, James, an eleventb grader, is now getling 50s (and worse) on bis tests ai school. Yet, be got al As and Bs in eicmentary scbool and middle school. Wbat's going on? Fie says be saiied îbrougb eiementory and rniddie scbool witbout doing mucb studying, so study skilîs mnay be iacking. Fie says be wanîs 10 do weii, but taik is cbeop and bis motivatio iust be questioned. In Janses' cases, other possi- bilitiies (issemory delîcit, stress, drugs, psychi. atnic issues) bave been ruled out. How con we identify wbat is going on? To galber informationl, 1 met witb James, bis Leach- ers, bis parents, and iooked carefully aI bis tests, bomework, and bis student record. A crucial part of Ibis is 10 look carefully at bis tests and home- work, because bis errors wiii oflen tell you wbat you need 10 know. Here's wbat 1 found. James bad no trouble concentratiflg in at least somne of bis classes. His work on science lobs and computer keyboarding, for example, is con- sistently bigb (80s and 90s). Tbis tells me be con concentrate, aI least for 72 minutes (o ciass), 50 an attention delicit is probably flot Use issue. be doesn't work carefully and be doesn't cbeck bis work, signatiing a probiem in motivation and/or sludy skiiis. In the course of conversation, be bold me tbat p - h he's gelti ng scared because be's reaiiy trying 1SYC lOO gyI bord and stili flot doing weii. I pursued wbetber , > e knows wbat il means 10 "reaiiy try", because in th 90S he neyer reaiiy bad 10 do it before - il ail came in tre ~"Ç 5 easiiy in the eariy years. It toms ouI that be a - - * - as a test in two days and be basn't even read the chapter. James didn't bave a dlue how 10 study for a test. To lest Ibis notion, be agreed 10 meet me twice a week for three weeks, 10 prepare (prop- eriy) for bis next test. Il' he got 90, he would know that the issue reaily is study skilis He read the materiai on lime, I questîoned him on bis onderstanding ol' eacb new section ol' materiai, we reviewed the oid materiai each lime, E obtained extra sampie problemo from the teacher ond gave bim timed proctice tests (10 proctice bis test-taking skiils). He 801 a 97. Il' you knows wbat 10 look for you con osuoliy tell il' the probiem is motivation and/or study ukilîs. If il is not, then you sbould obtain somne professional help. In looking over bis tests, we find some very interesting patterns. On a recens math test, be 801 56 per cent. A dloser examination, however, reveais that he did better on the later, barder questions thon be did on the eariier, easier ques- tions. Furtbermore, in examining bis errors, be was ol'ten able 10 identify what he did wrong and provide the correct onswer. This meons that the level of difficulty was flot Use problem. The same test (and several others) reveoied that virtually boif of the points losI were due 10 careleso calculotion errors, wbieb in tomn mode the final onswer wrong even if he understood Use problemt ond bow te, soive il. This tells me UsaI On the Ho mefron t Soturdoy, 10 my surprise, the rest of us actuai- iy lefI the bouse aI 9:35, oniy hall' an bour bebind sehedule. Tbere were five of us - the driver (me), the 10-year-old and bis friend, tse 1 3-year-old, wbo was sulking because she wanted tu stoy home, and a Korean student wbo was going 10 experi- ence cottage country for tbe first time. On principle, we bave 10 have our fîrst dip of tbe season on the May 241h weekend. In my younger, fooiisb days, 1 wouid bave tiptoed in for a brief encounter wiîb frigid water, but 1 lefI tbat deligbt 10 the 10-year-old. Tbe 18-year-old foilowed suit loter in the weekend. Paul, the Korean, jusî sbook bis bead in disbelief at the crazy Canadians. 0f course, nature's welcoming commitîce was out in full force. Tbe biackfiies bunted us down mereilessly. Paul is a city boy for Seoul. s0 we tried our best to initiale bim in the ways of rougbing il in the busb. I took bim on the officiai boat tour aroond our smal lake. Hie endured 40 minutes ol- rougb seas and coid winds. H-e stili managed a smile aI the end of our excursion. Later, we tbrew bim ouI mbt tbe elements 10 mow the iawn. The kids introduced bim 10 a nasty game that bad mysteriousiy mode ils way Irom one of the relatives' cottages on the otber side of' tise lake. Hour after bour mbt tise dead of nigbt. Pou) tbrew the dice wiîb the rest of the addicted gain- blers, figbling l'or conîrol ol' the world in a never-ending game ol' Risk. t am al'raid Paul was 100 polite 10 puil out. Wbat's a stay ait the cottage witboul o requi. site bonfire, even if il was in o drizzie? Tbe two young boys found the usual sticks 10 poke mbt the fire Iben brandisb dangerously about. Evenîually, Use moon peaked Usrougb the sbroud of clouds and even a few stars twinkied. We lis- tened to Use frogs croaking in the swomp. Maybe that time spent packing and ioading, unloading and unpacking was worth it. Mil