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A 6 - The Oakville Beaver, W ednesday, July 3, 2002 EDITORIALS A N D LETTERS Till; (HkllLM i HE,HU 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax; 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 337-5610 Circulation: 845-9742 IA NO LIV ER Publisher N EIL O LIV ER AssiK-iate PMisher TER I CASAS Office Manager JILL D A V IS Editor in Chief M A R KD ILLS Production Manager K E L L YM O N TA G U E Advertising Director R IZ IER OV E R T O L L I Photography Director STEV EC R O Z1ER Cin ulaiion Director R O D JER R ED Managing Editor THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL M EDIA SPONSOR FOR: 1 T V1 »t T P n * n & PutfttaQ A L B , am ulet A * v f * * « r r g ttn n A & m vu t. Ahflm H w arV C am Arttu t rtrrx rrr Oarrw AdMirce Qarryl Boy Thn Aim*. Boton fi'W rprw BiampMn Gtdnfcw. iVrtngton Pott. ^ tln tfo n S h o m g N m t CXy P m rt , CORngvMXxtAtaSQi C a n « c n E a ! W Mirror CfW Arfw ettv Country R oute EktM Xt* (joariten. Ffemtjorcugft Post. Gawg^towri m s m a e r t A c c r Fn » Press, Kmatun flpuow f * « n u B u s n e ® r*TM * . u n p sm rhH Wee*. i r o n y Tlw Wwfc MdrVwn [c n t* rw J A Sun, MkJaiiVPwwtsnpjBfiirw Kfcror. Mlton Canadian O u n ip cn MUton Shccorig N « n U n a u t i g a Okonaas Timm, i fe s m u .j a H tm . t a t a w Guide. Nwnmurtirt'Aunjra f r a - t o m Nortnun t w ttr q News to r fi v tw Mlrtn O a k ** Betvn. 0 * m * ^ccortQ H on. O O bm m itotfc»y Nw» O rtu JoOn O tf\a^W « j*'C ton rvton Port P«ny T>« ,s>w* O w n Sound Tribute Pwrmoton Oburvw T t* VWflk P a n C a r ty G u dt R ic J r m J M *TH sTt*v«u tf«n L t * m S c u t n a ^ i M r v . S & i M b b t n » i Irtx rv . FortM* vtung, CBy Gtarttor Recognized for Excellence by Ontario Community i Newspapers Association ' N TI (* C N A Canadian Community Newspapers Association $ Jtn&* M **** Fh %B=t W AGON \yACK] elco * u» loakvllleqaUerlts | Q afo'illr O ~ J* 0 SK Suburban Newspapers oi America F O fiB U S W fS S E X C aifN C t OrfT Th« O m h UOor 0 *Wct ^ R IA L If T A T IB O A R D / W Jg * ^ utoUtt Giving health care back its pride No one is going to look a gift horse in the mouth, but we have to w onder if the O ntario g o v ern m ent's shot in the arm to hospitals on Friday isn't ju st a band-aid. As the governm ent tells it. hos pitals will receive $9.4 billion this coming year. It's said to be a $645 boost in hospital coffers over last year and is supposed to m ark a 27 per cent increase in funding to O ntario hos pitals over the last three years. T h at's not q u ite the picture that's out on the street -- o r in the local Em ergency Room -- about health care funding. From Q ueen's Park to here at home in O akville, the increasing pressures on the health care system are apparent. H alton's. and O akville's, popu lation continues to creep higher. The segm ent o f the population that's heading into the senior years continues to m ushroom . And neither o f those facts are likely to change -- except for the fact the num bers will continue to clim b. This all com es on top o f years o f what the public has been told have been one cut after the next to the health care system . A trip to the Em ergency may prove this point. A fter years o f cuts to the heatlh care system , som e w ould say the system has been cut to the bone. Yet. after m any years in which cuts becam e com m onplace in the system , it's good new s to hear that m oney is being funnelled back in. We rem ain hopeful that it's a good sign and that it w ill be enough to fix any dam age that may have been done -- as well as co p e w ith the e v e r increasing stresses being placed on our vaunt ed universal health care program s. Perhaps, in conjunction with new strateg ies, like the recent ap p earan ce o f O n ta rio 's first Fam ily Health N etw ork (FHN ) in O akville. An FHN is a group o f fam ily physicians w orking togeth er to care for patients enrolled in the system with an em phasis on prevention and care. Doctors get paid for ensuring patients receive preventive care like PAP sm ears, 'flu shots and m am m ogram s. M aybe it will be enough to start m aking our proud health care sys tem proud again. LETTERS Til THE EDITOR Dietitians dismayed over board's soft-drink deal The following letter, addressed to Dusty Papke, education director fo r the Halton District School Board, was submitted to the Oakville Beaver fo r publication. We are writing in response to a June 23 arti cle in the Oakville Beaver regarding the Halton District School Board's (HDSB) budget. We would like to express our dismay and concern 'regarding the information included in this article. ; According to this article and confirmed by Carla ·Kisko, the HDSB business superintendent, "the board has an agreement in principle to exclusive ly provide the soft drink (Pepsi) through vending machines on its property. The five-year pact will ;net the board more than $700.0(X)." As dietitians and parents o f school age chil dren in Halton. we are appalled by the decision ·of the HDSB to make soft drink beverages more accessible in schools, particularly elemen tary schools. This decision is most disconcert ing to us because the impact this could have on ·children's food and nutrient intakes. ·Accessibility to soft drinks in schools encour ages students to choose these products over imore nutritious beverages. Poor food and beverage choices on a regular basis can lead to health problems including obe sity. ^ Obesity in children is a hot topic today as Canada is faced with an unprecedented increase in the prevalence of childhood obesity. According to a recent study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal approximately 25 per cent of Canadian kids age 7-13 years of age are overweight. The prevalence of obesity has more than doubled in the past 15 years. Whether excess soft drink consumption con tributes to overweight youths is a current topic o f hot debate. However, it is interesting to note that increased soft drink consumption has paral leled the rise in obesity rates. Some research has also found a correlation between high con sumption of sugar-sweetened drinks including soft drinks and childhood obesity. Of course, as dietitians we recognize that the issue of obesity in children is complex and involves all food choices as well as activity pat terns. Thus, we all need to promote environ ments (at home, school and elsewhere) that sup port healthy eating and increased activity in children. According to Kisko, schools are under no obligation to buy into the Pepsi deal and can opt out of this program. Schools can also decide what beverages to put in vending machines including water or other high sugar beverages including soft drinks. This option is not good enough -- we would like to see vending machines out of elementary schools completely and out o f high schools as well unless they offer healthy choices. Over the last few years, the percentage of vending machines in elementary schools has risen rapidly to about 35 per cent. These vend ing machines have affected the beverage choic es children make. For example, consumption of milk is 30 per cent lower in schools that also sell soft drinks and fruit drinks, and children who consume soft drinks average one less serv ing of milk each day. We are in support of milk because of the benefits it provides in terms of calcium and nutrients, which are important for the peak bone building years during childhood and adolescence. Given this information, it is our sincere hope that school communities including the HDSB. principals, school councils, and student coun cils opt out of the opportunity to put soft drink vending machines in their schools for the health o f their student population. There are plenty of alternative ways to fundraise that do not sacrifice the health of our children. LYNN R0BUN. MSC. RD. SANDRA SAVILLE, RD MARY O BRIEN. MHSC. RD JESSICA MACKAY LETTER (IF THE W EEK Supportive stories help to make Relay for Life a success On behalf of the Oakville Unit of the Canadian Cancer Society, we want to express our sincere appreciation to the Oakville Beaver editorial staff for your support of our first Relay for Life event. We are very proud to say that citizens of Oakville turned out in unanticipated large numbers to help us to exceed all of our objectives. To date $250,000 has been raised for our cause. This will enable our researchers tt> continue on with more proj ects/trials and. yes, even projections for cures for certain types of cancer. Also, the dollars will help us to continue to assist Oakville cancer patients in their needs, as well as continuing on with educating our citizens on healthy lifestyles. This being our first Relay for Life, we once again called on our community newspaper to assist us in getting our message out to potential participants as well as local cancer survivors. Oakville Beaver Focus Editor Wilma Blokhuis began this process with a detailed write up on the kickoff we held in January at LeDome. The committee used this article and photograph (which Barrie Erskine took at 7:45 a.m.) in numerous mailings last spring. The article on Skye MacDonald and another in-depth article on the Relay for Life program, including highlights, parking information and other pertinent details, appeared the week before the event. Great timing and very informa tive articles. Thank you, too, for your editorial the day o f the event. I have taken this very supportive, understanding message to several meetings. It is now included on my desk and will be included on the cover o f our first year Relay scrapbook. Wilma, with the editor's support and direction, wrote a front-page, in-depth article on the actual event which made us feel as if we were still at the relay. Not only did she w rite about it. Wilma stayed all night so she could capture the magic o f this wonderful evening. The exposure for this event was the best that it could be. Photographer Jamie Smith did an excellent job at the event. He stayed very late at night so he could capture just the right moment in pictures. Thank you once again for so strongly supporting our event. Our successes are because of the Oakville Beaver helping us to get our messages out to our citizens. Best wishes to all for a happy, safe summer. Let's make cancer history! JOAN GIBB MEDIA/PUBUC RELATIONS RELAY FOR LIFE OAKVILLE UNIT CANADIAN CANCER SOCIETY Stories about Bronte evoke wonderful memories Re: Focus section. The Oakville Beaver. June 5, articles by Wilma Blokhuis. It is very appropriate that the two stories ;appeared together since they, of course, refer to an identical period o f Oakville and Bronte his tories. Erla and I enjoyed reading the articles, bring ing many happy memories about the families associated with our 50 years in Oakville. As suggested in the story about Donna and Bill Hill, it was most enjoyable to swim in the har bour. conveniently done from a wooden dock located just in front of Lakeside Marketeria. the store from which most of our groceries came in the early years. Our favourite friends were Elizabeth Wilkes and Bill Hoey. who we visited often as their property was just around the comer on Ontario 1 Street and from where we often watched fishing nets hung out to dry. Bill and Elizabeth were both very involved with Oakville Arts and Crafts Inc. and many of the early exhibitions and gatherings took place in their bam before Victoria Hall became available. One of the many memories from that time (1950). was the apple cider pressing, when Bill set up for the annual production. One of my jobs was to drive over to the Wilson property on Lakeshore to pick up apples from the orchard (the present site of the Oakville water works), and bring them back to the press. Jean and Howard were also part of the Arts and Crafts, where we often met them with the Wilkes and Pullens and Youngs (Gweneth 'D inny' Young). I shared many enjoyable endeavours among which was the pottery class at Victoria Hall. Back to Jean and Howard memories. One weekend when Oakville Hydro was making some extensive alterations, the power was off for most o f Sunday. When it became known that cooking breakfast would be difficult. Jean and Howard came to the rescue by inviting everyone to join them for breakfast at the transmitter station by Upper Middle Road. As can be gleaned from this story. Arts and Crafts became very important for Erla and me in getting to know people in Oakville on arrival in 1951. The Brock Chisholm family let us share many enjoyable gatherings and dancing in the Chisholm Ball Room and Anne Chisholm became the Godmother of our two sons. These are just some of the many Oakville citizens who made us feel very much at home in their town. Thank you for making us remember! ERLA AND JORGEN POSCHMANN Pud By STEVE NEASE We welcome readers thoughts, opinions The Oakville Beaver welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considera tions and grammar. In order to be published, letters must contain the name, address and phone number of the author. Letters should be addressed to T he Editor, Oakville Beaver, 467 Speers Road, Oakville, On., L6K 3S4, or via e-mail to editor@ oakvillebeaver.com . The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish any letter.