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Does anyone care any. more what Margaret Trudeaâ€" u. a rather silly woman with verbal dysentery, among other ailments, has yet to reveal? Not me. Does anyone in this country even care any more whether the federal election occurs in April, May or June? Does anyone even care any more whether there is a federal election,. in which we might exchange a rightâ€"wing reform party for a rightâ€"wing party, either winner being at the mercy. in a vote, of a rightâ€"wing leftâ€"wing party? Day after day of listening to the news, and watching the news, and reading the news. has created in me. at least, the greatest sense of apathy I‘ve ever exâ€" perienced in my life. And I have a hunch that millions of Canadians agree with me. Does anyone care that Prince Charles was seen jogâ€" ging on a beach in Australia, that Pierre Berton has written another book, that Canadian writers and arâ€" tists and theatres and publishers all claim they need more of our tax bucks to survive? Not me. Only they. Does anyone care any more how many Christian Arabs in Beirut killed how many Muslim Arabs in Beirut? Not me. A colleague of mine describes an organization at the university he attended. It was called the Apathy Club. It put out notices like these: "The Apathy Club will not hold its usual meeting this month." Or, ‘"True to its convictions. the Apathy Club failed to elect a new president, when no one ran for the office. and no one showed up to vote for those who did not run."‘ ] I have a feeling that Canada is turning into one vast apathy Club. Oh. we‘re not yet quite completely liâ€" Citizens of Waterloo, look up! There is an important part of your city‘s downtown core you may not have seen yet. â€" s S â€" Monday night turned out to be photo night at city council. One delegation showed slides of two historic landmarks in the downtown area that they would like to have designated under the Ontario Heritage Act. The second slide presentation zeroed in on other downtown properties, but the main focus was on peelâ€" ing paint, junky sign selection and generally poor maintenance. The first group,. members of the Local Architecâ€" tural Conservation Advisory Committee (LACAC), were successful in getting council approval for desigâ€" nation of the historically valuable properties at 7 Cenâ€" tral St. and 88 William St. W. Hopefully the buildings will be preserved as an important part of nineteenth century Waterloo. At the end of the regular council meeting. those present saw another group of downtown buildings in slides that emphasized the architectural features of properties along either side of King St. in the downâ€" town core. Several of the slides showed the building trimming in the view you would get if you stepped There must be hope for me yet! I‘ve never won an award of any sort.or been given a fancy title but upon hearing that Maggie Trudeau has} won the title of *Housewife of the Year", any number of titles and awards come to mind. After all, if you take the liâ€" berated Maggie as an example, you don‘t have to be an expert in the field to be given a title of national or international scope. > For any number of reasons, Maggie‘s face does not immediately come into focus when I picture the reciâ€" pient of ‘"The Hgusewife of the Year‘‘ award. My stereotyped vision of the North American housewife. a woman whom I highly regard as a professional in her field, is of a woman who:~a. manages to successâ€" fully run a household on a shoestring budget despite the fact that the cost of living rises from week to week:; b. is a mother of one, two, three or more chilâ€" dren during an age when values are constantly being challenged and the educational system has changed to the extent that it is not only necessary for ihildren to be literate in English but in French as well and math instructors talk in metres and centimetres not inches By Geoff Hoile Terry James According to Hoile * o *ay Asefie J* C * s +C Oe A Using our 1979 ‘"Housewife of the Year‘® as an exâ€" ample, the North American houseéwife is a woman who: a. has assistance in running her household and doesn‘t have a financial worry in the world; b. is a mother of three children but believes it is quite alright to leave them in the care of a nanny and visit them on birthdays and holidays: c. finds herself unable to cope I guess I was all wrong. If this recent award is any indication of what the Narth American housewife is all about I (and probably many others) are terribly misinformed. "oomg" Outside the larger cities, where there is constant hype from the sports writers, sports are dying out. Small towns and cities that used to pack their arenas and baseball grandstands to watch the home boys fight off thoseâ€"infidels from the next town. draw ony handfulls of spectators these days. £ feless. You can see this by reading the Lettersâ€"toâ€"the Editor columns. where all the cranks, quacks and bigots are given a chance to sound off. back and looked up. Don‘t do it! There‘s traffic out there. Try looking from across King St. 80 _ and feet ; c. is a loving, devoted wife to the man in her life (providing this love and devotion is reciprocated. of course); and d. still manages to contribute to her communify either in the form of a volunteer or as a career woman. . The housewife of today knows who she is. that she is needed and loved and that she has something to conâ€" tribute to her community and her family and that she is doing the best she can. But when all the news is bad news â€" unemployâ€" ment, falling dollar. violence., threat of wars â€"we are inclined to tune out, and to tune in to some sort of esâ€" capist entertainment. Well. what‘s the cause of all this apathy, you might ask. I believe it is the result of modern communicaâ€"< tion systems. which are supposed to bring the world closer together, and are, instead, making individuals harder and more selfâ€"centred, as they find themselves drowning in a flood of worldâ€"wide miseries which they feel helpless to alleviate. â€" Does anyone really care about the killing of baby seals except those directly involved: the Newfie hunters trying to supplement a meagre living:;: the protestors who enjoy the publicity they get; and a number of old ladies of both sexes who compose feroâ€" cious letters to the editor condemning the hunt. while downing a few slices of spring lamb and mint jelly? This apathy is reflectéd in all sorts of phases of our society. It‘s considered a big deal if there is a 60 per cent turnout for an election. Beneath some of that peeling paint you could see the intricate brickwork that was the forerunner of twenâ€" tieth century concrete, and steel and glass. _ I‘m reasonably sure the object of the exercise was not to embarrasgs or ridicule any of those downtown merchants guilty of neglecting their building‘s mainâ€" tenance, but rather a sincere attempt to stimulate acâ€" tion by holding up a mirror. Not me. My sympathies are completely on the side of the sealers. It’s;fiard. dirty work they do, and they I guess we all get a bit sloppy from time to time when it comes to cleaning up the exterior of the old homestead. I can think of at least 30 things I would rather do than paint our storm windows. And a drive around the city will confirm that downtown business establishments aren‘t the only vintage structures sufâ€" fering from neglect. The main difference is. however, that more people see the downtown business core, and the city as a whole is generally judged by what people see there. Ald. Mary Jane Mewhinney raised the question of how many downtownâ€"businessâ€"sector landlords actually occupy the premises and how many are. in fact, abâ€" sentee landlords. Since no one present knew the answer. the question remains a rhetorical one. But it Bill Smiley By Geoff Hoile To take on a responsibility (that of a husband and three children) and then run away from it to "find oneself** is a little less than honourable and doesn‘t deserve an award. . "‘find herself**; and d. has probably never volunteered her time and energy to any charitable organization and can‘t decide whether she should be a journalist, photographer, movie actress or author so dabbles in a bit of everything mfiklhe hits on one that brings her, a lot of publicity (in this case in the role of author) and a lot of grief to others (her family and the family of those she claims to have had romantic flings with). Had I been on the panel of judges who selected the recipient of this award I‘m afraid Maggie would have lost out. Call me old fashioned if you wish, but I still find my definition of the North American Housewife more honourable than the modern version. I can‘t help but admire the mother, wife and career woman who manages to handle all aspects of her life compeâ€" tently. with marital problems and leaves her husband to probably gets right to the heart of the situation. Bob Rowell, in presenting the slide exposee, did a good job of pointing out that downtown redevelopment is a twoâ€"way street. City administrators are constantâ€" ly trying to revitalize the core by studying parking, traffic, housing, zoning, lighting, landscaping and just about anything you can imagine that might bring peoâ€" ple downtown. Work should be starting soon to plant trees and install old type street lights on King St. beâ€" tween Herbert and William Sts. The slide show ended on a positive note with some shots of Rochester, N.Y. suburbs and neighboring cities to demonstrate how they have maintained their historically important buildings as focal points in town planning. It is ironic that most of the examples of quesâ€" tionable facade involved the covering up of vintage building fronts with materials of lesser quality and dubious design. A good part of the charm of older culâ€" tures in Europe and elsewhere lies in the atmosphere of the towns and villages, which in turn is merely a grouping of the centuriesâ€"old buildings. O He}g in Canada, old we are not. Which makes it all the more remarkable that we tolerate the covering up of what little restorable architecture we have left How did I get away over here in Newfoundland, if I‘m so apathetic? Well, maybe I‘m not. And that‘s a good sign. Apathy leads to constipation. Constipation leads to hemorrhoids. Andthe next thing you know, my daughter will be saying to her kids, *Don‘t worry. boys. We never seem to have a cent. But Grandad has piles." Ah,. dear, it‘s an age when some people seek to swell out of their little selves, to engorge themselves, on publicity. If it were not for the ubiquitous media, ever seeking to touch the lowest of emotions, there would be no problems about the seal hunt. The Newfies would run a few protestors off the edge of an ice flow,. and that would be that. * Where were all these silly twits when it was not baby seals that were being slaughtered. but baby brothers, and uncles and eousins and fathers, during the Great Wars? I don‘t remember too many letters to the editors in those days. The same sort of people who write protesting letters today about the seals, are proâ€" bably the spiritual descendents of those nasty old women (of both sexes) who went around pinning white feathers on guys in civilian clothes during W.W.1I. And gave you surly service and short measure in W.W.II, always accompanied by the snarl, "Don‘t you know there‘s a war on?"‘ This to guys in uniforms. don‘t do it because they are sadists, any more than the killers in a slaughterâ€"house enjoy knocking sweet litâ€" tle calves over the head, so that you can have your veal and your calfâ€"skin gloves. When it is proved to me that the harp seal is an endangered species, I‘ll join the protestors. Not before.