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2 The Canadian Statesman Bowmanville, October 4, 1978 Section Two ditorial Comment It's A Dog's Life Sometimes we hear people say that the country is going to the dogs or that politicians are going to the dogs or that today's young people are going to the dogs. Interestingly enough, there was an article in one of the Toronto newspapers last week which suggests that even the dogs are going to the dogs. We got a chuckle out of a sto which described ways in which man's best friend has become a victim of obesity and other problems related to the sedentary life. And fat dogs apparently suffer from diseases similar to the ones that afflict their overweight masters. The whole story says something not too - complimentary about humans. So¯let's give Fido an extra pat on the head this week. With unnatural additives in his food, not enough exercise and too much to eat, he might be in worse shape than we are. No Place For A Lady? A woman's place is in the locker room. That was the finding of a United States judge who opened the doors to the New York Yankees dressin$ room last week by ruling that female reporters had a constitutional right to pursue their stories into the team's dressing room. The theory is that since male reporters were allowed access to the locker room after a game, the female reporters should be given the same privilege. Consequently, -0 women from the media headed for the Yankees' locker room last week following a game between the New York team and the Toronto Blue Ja s. While there should be equality between persons of the same sex doing the same job, we doubt if the invasion of team locker rooms is any large-scale victory for women's rights. It seems to us that most sports action happens on the playing field and we wonder how much news of any value can be obtained among the liniment and sweaty socks after the game. Dressing room interviews for male or female reporters are probably a waste of time because it seems to us as though the best opportunities for a talk are in more comfortable territory. Would a reporter interview a lawyer in the middle of a courtroom or would he interview a doctor during surgery? Sticking a microphone into someone's face while he is unlacing his sneakers is not likely to result in the most interesting comments of a game. You'll get an off-hand remark like "We all did our best and it was a good game" or "well, we aren't beaten yet. There's always next year." Then people hear these kinds of comments and think all athletes are dumb or inarticulate. It has also been suggested that if female reporters are allowed in the men's dressing rooms then male reporters ought to have the right to enter dressing rooms of female teams. And it's doubtful that the world is ready for that kind of equality in spite of our best efforts at creating harmony between the sexes. Frankly, it seems to us as though the ridiculous situation could be settled once and for all if the press was completely barred from the dressing rooms. That would also provide equal treatment for everyone. Reporters could take their chances in tracking down stories on more neutral territory before and after the games. The Electrical Future Neither opponents of nuclear power nor its supporters will find much comfort in a report released last week by a commission investi- gating Ontario's energy needs. The prelîminary findings of the Royal Commission on Electric Power Planning seem to indicate that the nuclear energy picture is not as gloomy as nueear critics believe nor as rosy as promoters of nuclear power might hope. As is so often the case, the truth of the matter appears to lie in the gray, middle-area between both sides. Or at least that's the impression you might et from reports last week on the findings of the Royal Commission. The Commission seems to believe that we are far from the day when those famous Candu reactors will power generating plants in every community, churning out an infinite supply of energy. On the other hand, there is no suggestion that these nuclear developments should be shut down, demolished and tossed onto the scrap heap. The commission seems to be saying that with oil resources running dry, we cannot afford to do without nuclear enerv. Dr. Arthur Porter, head of the Royal Commission, was quoted as saying that the next 30 years will see the transition from an oil-rich to an oil-impoverished society. He said that in the transition, nuclear power has an important role to play. The recommendations of the commission are of particular interest in the Newcastle area since the Darlington power project is underway right now. And there's nothing in the report to say that Darlington should be brought to a screeching halt because its electricity won't be needed in the future. But the document does show that the Darlington Generating Station may be one of the few new nuclear generating plants developed in Canada in the last 25 years of the century. The sight of a new nuclear plant under construction just might become as rare as the sight of a new school being built. The Commission's report suggests that Ontario Hydro shouid buiid no more than three nuclear powerplants between 1985 and the ear 2000. None of the plants should elarger than the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station. The report also estimates that the growth rate for electrical use in the years ahead will amount to about four per cent instead of the traditional rate of seven per cent per year. The Royal Commission indicated that it considers the Candu reactor safe within reasonable limits. The Porter Commission released its report after over 300 hours of public hearings into Ontario's energy requirements. It will continue its investigations before a final document is released. Horizontal Silo Absolutely my last column about trips to Europe, cross my heart and spit. Just a few final impressions and some tips to those who haven't done it before. Travel to Europe, that is. Holland is flat and flower- filled: flowers everywhere. We visited a local cheese factory and I was suckered into buying a real cheese knife with a Delft handle, and a two-pound cheese which my wife maligned bitterly every time she had to restore the peace. Went up into a working windmill, of which there are only a few left. An awesome experience, with the great stones grinding and the vast sails whirling; like something out of the middle ages. Saw the biggest flower market in the world, where the lots of flowers are wheeled in, rices flash on a computerized board,and buyers, . sitting in a sort of amphitheatre, make their bids by pressing a button which identifies them. Holland was also a sort of memory trip for me. Went within a few miles of Gorinchem, where I was shot down, and passed the city of Utrecht, where I spent several days and made the Great Escape (seven minutes duration). Same in Germany. We spent a night at Frankfurt, where I had assed three days and nights way ack then, in solitary, at an interrogation centre, waiting rather anxiously for the whips and the thumbscrews. When I was finally brought in for questioning, there weren't any, but there were subtle threats: "You know ve haf vays of making you talk." They shook me a bit by showing me a huge loose-leaf folder with the numbers of most Air Force squadrons, including my own, containing a pretty good ist of the personnel. Don't worry; I didn't talk. Didn't know anything except how to get a Typhoon off the ground and on again. Innsbruck in Austria worth visiting. Up, Up through the Tyrolean Alps, then down, down through them, everyone a bit tense on the curves, to te beautiful old city nestled like a jewel in a valley, mountains all around, Olympic ski jump just up there. Take in an evening of local entertainment, yodelling, dancing, singing. Robust good fun. There were about eighteen different nationalities in the audience the night we were there. Don't let your wife loose with a credit card in Florence, where gold and leather are beautifully worked and just half the price of back home. Venice stinks. Or so they tell me. With my bashed-up beak I didn't notice a thing. The waterways are controlled by the gondoliers mafia. There are so many tourists in St. Mark's square that even the famous pigeons have barely room to fora e Rome is remarkable, a it frightening if you get off the beaten track and the English-speaking guide. After you've seen the Pantheon, St. Peter's, The Colosseum and the Vatican City relax. It would take two months to o the city justice. A good bet for some of that relaxation is travel by express train from Rome to Genoa, where Chris Columbus was born. Train is fast, and you get great looks at the Mediterranean all the way up. By bus along the famous Cote d'Azur to tiny Monaco, rigidly ruled by a benevolent dictator, Prince Rainier. Took a look at the royal palace. Not too impressed. Rather annoyed that Princess Grace didn't pop out to say hello, but she was probably sulking over her daughter's marriage to that old, French uy, when momma wanted Prince Charles of Britain for her. Nice was nice, though men in party all woke up with stiff necks from craning to see topless bathers of the international set. Very, very expensif. Off to Switzerland, through Grenoble, in France, another Olympics site. Through the French Alps (not quite so scary) to Geneva and the calm, peace, cleanliness and beauty that Characterize that country. 'Twasn't always so. Saw the huge statues of Calvin, John Knox and Zwingli, protestant early birds, who got their kicks from burning Catholics at the stake. Then to Berne, the capital, whose symbol is the bear; a fine ancient city. And so to Lucerne, a small, lovely lakeside resort city, where you once again have to put a leash on your wife, because it's famous for gold, silver and watches, the best in the world. It's u early for a long, long ride to Paris. It's al that is eaimed for it. We saw it from four vantage points: by bus on the way through; blazing with light at night on our way home from a party; by bus and on foot next morning; and from a cruise on the Seine in the afternoon. And barely touched the highlights. I could live there for a year, and still have things to see. This is beginning to sound like a dull travelogue. Its main purpose is to suggest that when you o Europe by coach, whatever the length of your trip, you are legally on the move. If you want a relaxing holiday, stay home, or rent a cottage. If you want the experience of a hîfetime, take a coach tour. Don't listen to well-meaning friends. You don't need six rolls of toilet paper. You don't need clothes hangers (we took half a dozen and luged them all over the continent). Choose clothing with care: something for col , something for hot, something for wet, something for smart. You don't, even the women, need a new outfit every day. Arrange your tour through a reliable travel agency. It doesn't cost any more and could save you many a headache. We didn't have a single hitch, including fourteen hotels, five boat trips, two buses, one train, one hovercraft and two limousines. So. Just arrange that second mortgage on your house, and awa you go, foreign dictionaries in hand. Don't blame me if you colla pse in Cologne and have to be shiped back in a box. There'll probably e an air strike, and you can raise a real stink, even after death. Politicians Face Hampton Rat Ward 1 residents in the Town of Newcastle had an opportunity to speak their mind to their elected repre- sentatives at an incumbent's meeting in Hampton last week, but few did. Some 30 people attended a pre-election meeting at which Mayor Rickard and ward 1 regional representative Bruce Taylor fielded questions from the public. Councillor Jasper Holliday was absent. Three persons at the meeting asked questions of their elected representatives during the hour-and-one-half session at the Hampton Municipal Building. Praise Regional Government In speeches given by the Mayor and Councillor Taylor prior to the open discussion, both men praised the merits of regional government. Mayor Rickard told the audience the municipality of Newcastle is operating more economically under regional government than it had under the county system. He added that regional government has given the local municipality more authority and power than the county system did. Echoing the mayor's feelings on regional government, Mr. Taylor commented that although he has heard it said a number of times that regional ---j- t.. . - same level of services. Mr. Taylor answered that one reason for the inequality in the taxes was because Darlington has more expensive properties. He added that Bowmanville residents pay extra for street- lights and garbage pick-up. Once market value assessment is adopted as a taxation base by the provincial government, tax assessments will be more fair, he said. Courtice Heights Local residents also wanted to know why the public had no input into the planning of the Courtice Heights subdivision. "Nobody had a chance to say anything until the OMB hearing," said one gentleman. When a woman asked why Courtice area residents were opposed to the new subdivision she was told by another member of the audience that people object to it because they fear their taxes will increase as a result of more services being demanded by new home owners. Area residents also expressed some concern over the possible increase in traffic the new subdivision will create. Narrow Roads "Not one road is over 66 feet wide, if the developer wants high density he should provide the roads to carry the services," said a gentleman from the audience. Mayor Rickard reminded the audience that the building of new roads in Courtice had met with a great deal of opposition from residents when plans for the subdivision were orîginally discussed. Also in attendance at the meeting were mayoralty candidate Bob Dykstra, regional candidate for Ward 1 Ann Cowman and school board candidate Francine Newton. Each was given two minutes to tell the audience why he or she was running. governmemt is far removea from the people, he did not feel he has been any less removed from the public. Tax equalization and the Courtice Heights subdivision were two issues that dominated the evening's discussion. Tax Questions One audience member wanted to know why the taxes on his property were higher than the taxes paid by Bowmanville residents even though he did not have the Organization a Must for i Ninety-seven per cent of al] airplane accidents happen on or within five miles of the airport, reported Bob Scott, supervisor of Metro Toronto ambulance services, at a meeting in Bowmanville last week. Mr. Scott, guest speaker at a Rotary luncheon, described and showed detailed color slides of the tragic July 5, 1970 Air Canada disaster. As supervisor of ambulance services in Toronto, it is Mr. Scott's job to help co-ordinate emergency services when a large scale disaster occurs. Organization and co-operation between the resdue groups, such as the police, firemen, hospitals, ambulance services and the coroner's office are the key elements in successfully dealing with a disaster, he said. Co-operation Using the recent Toronto airport crash of the DC-9 as an example of excellent co-operation among rescuers, Mr. Scott went on to explain the function of each member of the rescue and crash elean-up crew. "Only two people out of the 107 on board died from injuries because of the existence of an emergency plan," he said. Victims of the DC-9 crash were taken to nearby hospitals, treated for injuries and released. The only man who was not rescued by the emergency crew walked away from the damaged plane onto the 401 and hitchhiked home in a state of shock. Total rescue time was 93 minutes, said Mr. Scott. Mr. Scott, who was a member of the first ambulance crew to arrive at the DC-9's crash site, was also involved in clean-up operations for the Air Canada disaster in 1970 which took the lives of all 109 people on board. He said the crash site resembled a war scene. While clean-up operations were underway security around the site was tight. Portable generators hooked to street lamps were brought in to help the police keep away looters and rodents. A local arena was used as a morque and head- quarters for the clean-up crew. One of the first steps taken in the clean-up operations was to divide the crash site into number sections. Each body part and personal effect was labelled according to the section in which it was found. Using the numbered sections in conjunction with the seating plan, officials determined body identification. Some 60,000 color slides of the crash site and the victims were taken, said Mr. Scott. The slides used for the identification purposes later ended up in a disaster library. The disaster library contains film and video clips of disasters and is used to train ambulance, police and fire personnel how to handle large "None of us is exempt from being involved in a disaster,"' he said, "Nobody is ever totally prepared."