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It was in the way of a musical indoctrination-a project of the K-W Women’s Symphony Committee. On the theory that young people can't be expected to appreciate good music until they have heard some, they have been bringing children and the K-W Symphony together in annual pro- grams for 25 years. Last year 2,000 attended the concerts and this year the number isnearly tripled. Conservative leader Robert Standfield, speaking in Win- nipeg last weekend, 'warned that the House of Commons may be in for a spate of four-letter language. The pros- pects, frankly, leave us cold. _ In this day of the permissive society, when many maga- zines and movies are heavily laced with Obscenities, it may have been inevitable that such language would be heard in the Parliament Buildings. But isn't it disappoint- ing? .- - Another innovation this year is that the concert will be performed by the Junior Symphony. In this way, the young- sters are going to find that the concert will be performed by the Junior Symphony. In this way, the youngsters are going to find that "serious" music (much of which, by the way, is anything but serious) is not only for all ages to listen to but to perform. _ The Women's Symphony Committee has, of course, a not-so-secret purpose in introducing the young people to symphony music. It is helping to assure future audiences for the symphony orchestras. The committee, and particularly - the chairman of its children's concerts' committee, may be congratulated on broadening the youngsters' musical horizons and proving that culture can be more like candy than medicine. This Tuesday. one of the younth audiencesever to at- tend an event in the University of Waterloo's halls of high- er learning attended a symphony concert in the physical ed- ucation building. They were all about 10 years otd--3,300 Grade 5 pupils hused in from all over Waterloo County. It all seems so childish. The words are shown off like a schoolboy's first experiments with forbidden words or a college newspaper's new-found freedom of expression. It's as if they had invented some of the oldest words in the language. The men who are elected to Parliament are supposed to be a country's finest. And the debates that take place in the Commons, by tradition, should be the finest. Speeches made in these chambers have lived long after the men who made them. They are the history of this land. Being remem- bered as the first parliamentarian to use a four-letter word seems hardly a noble goal. Part of" the disappointment lies in the fact that every vulgarity is a poor substitute for the right word, and its use shows the sad lack of command of the magnificent English and French languages In recent years, the Ontario government has stream- lined the issuing of drivers' licences, and has earned the thanks of every driver in the process. When will it do the same for vehicle licences? The lineups outside the Belmont Avenue issuing office last Saturday emphasized the ridiculous inconvenience of this old system. The office has organized the protess to a high degree, but the system itself is archaic. And getting the new plates is only part of the battle. The owners then had to struggle to get the old plates off and the new ones on. There were doubtless many knuck- les skinned in the process. F rib-i-fleéntheolored stickers, to be easily affixed inside the corner of the windshield, could be issued when the annual tax is paid - by mail. . . "riiiCrV/Gifire argiiments against such a system, but we're waiting to hear them. Why should licence plates be changed every year? Not only is the job difficult, but memorizing a new number seems to take all year. Why not issue permanent plates with new cars, as is done in the British Iles and Ireland? '.uiii"iri'iiGaAi-.iihitiilusus _ . ',. (. _" urwmzumm - .' a' " -eroteortiititti"reittrtFteeet . ' [ N System' outdated Worthy project Poor substitute I Reuders' 'idt'idA, to the editor I The letter by D. Snyder which appeared in The Chronicle, Feb. 18, must be countered lest those citizens who were not at the meet- ing of the Waterloo County board of education be misled and dis- couraged from attending future lit contrast to D. Snyder's feel- ings', we were very pleased to see so many people in attendance: There were between 200-300. It was probably one of the best at- tended meetings of the board. An actual count was difficult because there was not adequate seating and many people had to stand or perch on folded tables at the back of the room. The lack of.seating was one indication that the WCBE does not expect 'or welcome a large attendance of citizens. Their action in preventing a CBC news- man from making a tape record- ing of the session was a further indication of their attitude toward "open meetings." It was never made clear why the survey on discipline was un- dertaken nor why the board failed to consult qualified psy- chologists, including their own psychological services, about opinion surveys; the effectiveness of punishment; learning disabili- ties and emotional disturbance. It is remarkable that the com- mittee on discipline did not seek Had the man from the CBC been allowed to record the ses- sion, D. Dnyder could listen to a replay and hear that the youn'g man criticized in his/her letter did not purport to represent his colleagues but rather a group of interested people, most of whom were students. Perhaps D. Snyder does not allow" that university students can be parents who hope that education will be a pleasure for their children; that schools will be places to enjoy learning instead of the dreaded building watched over by teachers and a principal around whom the fear of the strap hangs. preventing any meaningful communication be- tween them and a troubled child. to study the role of emotional disturbance in creating discipline problems. If indeed this is the problem then effective treatment or therapy is the answer instead of punishment. - / MM We are tired of the narrow view which automatically condemns anything coming from the uni- versity. It is time this community recognized the university as a valuable resource centre. It is also time for this community to take a more active interest in education and the activities of the Waterloo County board of educa- tion. mun . I nun noun! l thaq TED and LOIS CADELL "ii:), An opal letter to the citizens of Waterloo. Were you asked? The Ontario Municipal Board Feb. 18. on a split decision, decid- ed to approve the Spadina Express- way for Metro Toronto at an es- timated cost of $237 million. You, " a citizen of Ontario, will pay 50 percent of this amount - Le: tuis million. Will it benefit you? You have every right 9 ask. Meanwhile, thank you for your gift (even though some of us are looking the gift-horse in the mouth) Who do you ask? Your member in the provincial house. Recently the fiery Mr. Trudeau has been accused of quietly for- mulating Obscenities in parlia- ment. If the accusation rings true, it took presons with knowledge of the same "obscene language" to interpret the words. _ The-years in which Pierre El- liot Trudeau has been our prime minister -are marked with one particular pattern. He has proven that he is very impatient regard- ing opposition given without com- mon sense for pubiicity's sake. Even our young people are re- belling because of the false values and hypocrisy of the so-called es- tablishment. If Mr. Tredeau'g mouth should be washed out with soap, may I suggest the same brand of soap be used for scouring the minds of theinterpreters. First of all I wish to congrat- ulate the newly-elected premier on his unwillingness to give the plea of the separate school sys- tem a fair hearing. Mr. Davis got off to a good start last week when he publicly stated that he and his government will in no way give a listening ear to the Catholic call for financial as- sistance toward support of the separate high school system be- yond Grade 10. I can't help wondering how much Catholic support he expects to get at the future provincial or federal polls. I doubt whether Mr. Davis pays any attention to the Irish strife which has become a national night- mare. We always maintain it can 't happen here. I wouldn't bet my last dollar on It. Mr. Davis said that if he were to start a school of his own he EM. GRUETZNER. 63 Glen Rd., NORMA SANGOI. Toronto 287 would not expect any financial sup- port fmm goyerpmeett, He forgets that Catholic schools have been in existence for a long time and there are many of them. He also fails to appreciate that they have always cooperated by teaching exactly the same curriculum " the' public school system. The only slight variation for which they. have been condemned is for having classes on religion. The separate high schools have also had in their employ some of the country’s finest teachers, es- pecially priests, brothers and nuns. They are dedicated teach- ers because of their chosen state of life. ' Many of these substitute as part-time mothers or fathers to students whose parents are out swinging. - The Catholic high school dilem- ma is a very serious and involved problem. How could what took years to build be knocked down with one blow? That would be con- trary to logic. I earnestly hope that the provincial government will eventually realize the complexity of the situation. What would happen if all Grade 11-13 student were without educa- tional buildings and facilities all of a sudden? What would the de. partment of education do to cope with such a situation? It would be physically impos- sible to infiltrate these thousands upon thousands of students into ex- isting buildings. The effects of such a disaster would be cataclys- mic. One of the very basic steps to- ward _better human understand- ing should be the desire to listen to one another's story and to make some form of committment so that there might develop at least a faint nicer of hope and peace among men. No one indivi or party has all the answers. l would thoroughly recomm that the Hon. Mr. Davis retra his statements and make some kind of human attempt to take another look at the current issues concerning RC schools. Mr. Davis stated publicly on several occasions that the ques- tion of support of the separate schools was not economical but rather philosophical. When he ask- ed to elaborate on his interpreta- tion of "philosophical" by one who had had a personal confronta- tion with him it tumed out to bear a religious difference connotation. The dilemma of the Separate school system is not to be taken lightly by anyone. It is more ser- ious than we think. It is perhaps later than Mr. Davis thinks. min“? 9W CR. HOPEFUL divi r. mm tetra rr ' 'i'lp.'; r,' 2‘ 'iliSAil