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LETTERS Libriry board article is appreciated We would like to thank you for publishâ€" ing an article about the 1983 Board of the Midwestern Regional Library System. The members of public library Boards devote a lot of their personal time to this work and it is a pleasure to have them recognized by the local press. Clinton Lawson MRLS director Kitchener, Ont. Reports failed to mention Measure Canadian On January 18th, 1983, a Toronto butchâ€" er, Michae! Desborough, filed suit in federal court charging that Canada‘s metric laws are in violation of the Charter of Rights. Mr. Desborough is represented by one of Canada‘s bestâ€"known lawyers, Clayton Ruby. What many of the news reports failed to mention is the fact that Mr. Ruby was retained by an Ontarioâ€"based organization fighting forced metric â€" Measure Canaâ€" dian â€" and that this citizens‘ group is paying all Mr. Desborough‘s costs. _ . Measure Canadian was founded in Febâ€" ruary, 1982 by a group of small businessâ€" men in Brockville, Ontario. Since that time, we have grown to have members in all provinces of Canada and from all walks of life, and all age groups. Measure Canadian was formed because of our frustration with the failure of political institutions, and a multitude of other organizations such as the Consumer and Civil Liberties Associations and the Canadian Labour Congress, to represent the concerns of Canadians over the way in which metric was being implemented in this country. It was obvious that Canaâ€" dians needed a credible vehicle to carry the fight to the government and Measure Canadian grew out of that need. The directors of Measure Canadian are all responsible and respected members of their community. They included several city aldermen, a newspaper editor, a member of the Ontario Legislature, a former M.P.. a police sergeant and an acâ€" countant. Measure Canadian is committed to paying all costs for the first stage of Mr. Desborough‘s challenge out of funds raised primarily in eastern Ontario. The direcâ€" tors of Measure Canadian have given freely of their time and money to carry the fight to this stage, but to continue, a much larger number of Canadians must get involved. We are fighting a Metric Comâ€" mission with a $26.5â€"million dollar budget When 2,000 angry Canadians took Parâ€" liament Hill by storm last month to protest Pay TV programming, they were bonded by a common concern: that Pay TV will increase the distribution of pornographic material that portrays sexual violence & sexual exploitation. Letters and phone calls to my office have convinced me that the same concern exists in our community. The threat of the intrusion of pornography on television has sparked a serious debate among all factions of Canadian society â€" where do we draw the line between our definition of the minimum standards of public morality and the infringement on the rights of adults to enjoy what they wish? The airwaves are public property. For that reason, a licence is required for their use. What is transmitted across Canada, therefore, has to be approved by a governmental regulating board, The Caâ€" nadian Radioâ€"television and Teleâ€"comâ€" munications Commission. The fact that Playboy Inc. took to the airwaves last Friday, indicates that CRTC‘s decision to licence Payâ€"TV‘s "soft porn‘ programâ€" ming was illâ€"considered and not necessariâ€" ly in the public interest. Or so the recent outcry would suggest! There is more than enough soft and hard core pornography available to those Canaâ€" dians who wish to make private transac tions to acquire it. While it may be WALTER McLEAN and the only effective way we can combat them is with our own money. _ _ Measure Canadian has provided Canaâ€" dians with a credible, viable and respected vehicle of protest against forced metric. Our court case is providing Canadians with their first day in court, and 1 urge caring and concerned citizens to help in the fight. Get involved! Write: Measure Canadian, P.0. Box 415, Brockville, Ontarâ€" io. K6V 5V6. Steve Yeldon, Chairman, Measure Canadian. Brockvilie, Canadian. He doubts statement As a resident of Waterloo until mid 1982, I was able to observe the fluoridation referendum of 1981. At that time, a former medical officer of health of Waterloo stated in a letter published in a newspaper that vevery reputable scientific authority throughout the entire world strongly advocates the addition of fluoride to the water supply." a I doubted the accuracy of this statement but it intrigued me. In order to check its accuracy, I contacted the national governâ€" ment of each of about fifteen countries outside North America. 1 asked the appropriate Ministry in each country for information on 1. the official government position on water fluoridation, 2. the exâ€" tent of use of water fluoridation in that country. arguable that Canadians should be able to acquire, privately, what they so wish, it is my view, that as long as a public licence is required, the Parliament of Canada would not wish to choose to "allow"" through the licence issued under its authority, the increased distribution of pornographic material. The idea that the CRTC is supposed to make its decisions based on its view of what is in the best interests of the general public is not new . Two current examples of the use of the CRTC‘s legislated power are the codes of advertising ethics jointly developed between the CRTC, broadâ€" casters, and advertisers and the recently released report of the Task Force looking at the question of sexual stereotyping on television. 1 received replies from eleven countries. In most cases it appeared that "blue ribbon‘* panels had been established in the mid 1970s or even more recently to study the fluoridation question and report to the government. For example, in Sweden such a panel had recently recommended against water fluoridation and the governâ€" ment was studying the report and had not yet made a decision. L did not receive a clear indication of the official government view on fluoridation in the cases of Austria, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, or West Germany. Denmark is officially against fluoridation. Australia, Finland, Netherlands, New Zealand, and United Kingdom are offiâ€" cially in favour of fluoridation. In Australia and in New Zealand, about 65%, of the people receive fluoridated water. In the UK .. the figure is about 9% . In Finland, one town, about the size of Waterloo, receives fluoridated water. In Switzerland. Basle (population 250,000) receives fluoridated water. The CRTC should require that all pay television companies subscribe to, and work within, the guidelines included within the report on sexual stereotypes. The concerns compiled and discussed by the Task Force‘s report highlight the three key issues at the heart of this conâ€" troversy: Fluoridation of water is not in use in Austria. Denmark. Netherlands, Norway, Sweden. and West Germany. U 1. ‘"Women should not be used as sexual stimuli or lures, or as attentionâ€"getting but otherwise irrelevant objects." _ Further information resulting from my correspondence was recently published in ~Social Science and Medicine", volume 16, _ 2. "Broadcasting should not demean or degrade women through the images used to portray them." pages 2155â€"2158 Ultimate degradation Edward Farkas Don Mills, Ont. 3. ‘"Male dominance and female submisâ€" siveness are at the very heart of the stereotypes of men and women. Pornoâ€" graphy reflects the extreme portrayal of dominance and the exploitation of women‘s sexuality...." CRTC President John Meisel and the Minister of Communications, Francis Fox have the responsibility to see that Payâ€"TV upholds its commitments to Canadian content and production, and that all conditions of licence are honoured. Hon. Perrin Beatty, P.C., M.P., the Opposition Spokesperson for Communicaâ€" tions, has called for CRTC officials and Payâ€"TV operators to arrive at "voluntary standards" for the industry. He cites that all forms of production within Canada‘s business community have complied with voluntary agreements of one form or another to better serve the Canadian pubâ€" lic. Ultimately, it is up to the individual Canadian to define "entertainment" for Payâ€"TV corporate officials by not paying for programming that offends. Permit me please, to speak for a moment on a subject very near, and as of the other night dear, to my heart. The letters I have received indicate to me that citizens of Waterloo have not forgotten that pornography is not about sex, but about violence. The question is not of how much flesh is revealed in the shows produced by Playboy Inc. The deeper, more vital issue is the instituuonnligation tying ties. _ This is no laughing matter"â€" in fact, taking a quick glance back, this is just about my most serious column of 1983. of sexism and the degeneration of attiâ€" Only those who have experienced the helpiess feeling of not knowing how to knot can empathize with the predicaâ€" ment that prevented me for well over a quarter of a century from complimentâ€" ing my Sunday best with a neat Windsor, half Windsor, fourâ€"inâ€"hand or even dimâ€" ,nc. To them, I am sorry to say guys (and 1 suppose gals too) that I am leaving your fraternity to join the boring majority who rise each day, go phifft, phfft, phifft in front of the mirror, and trot off to work, the perfect triangle a la neck. Yes, thanks to a neat little folding pamphlet stationed near the cash box of my favorite clothiers, I sat myself down the other night, and for an hour practised til I was practically blue in the face (couple of minor errors) learning how to properly perform what until last week had been (for me) an elusive magical act. L can‘t complain that over the years I haven‘t had help attempting to overâ€" come this particular dilemma. 1 suppose what it boils down to is a) I hate the claustrophobic feeling of having my neck in a noose, b) hence, as my boss, my parents and my girlfriend will tell you, I almost never wear the damn things, and c) when I do wear one, invariably someone with a modicum of boy scout background is in the vicinity and instantly is recruited under the threat of pain afd torture to phfft, phfft, phfft over, under and around for me. The first problem with neckties reared its ugly head early in my youth. Quite simply, the necktie was not "in""; those puny tartan bowties were the rage for everything from school pictures to family portraits to Christmas dinner at Grandma‘s. Oh, and heaven‘s to Betsy, let‘s not forget church, where | was however, too preâ€"occupied with crotchâ€" biting grey flannels to be bothered by a chokeâ€"down. w'I"Vhing.«s didn‘t really pick up much through junior high and high school. referring to the manly art of WATERLOO CHRONICLE, WEDNESDAY. FEBRUARY 16, 1983 â€" PAGE 7 RICK CAMPBELL Knot funny when a royal blue tweed clipâ€"on (yes necktie, the kind that always invite the big yank served me well for a half dozen years. Didn‘t matter what color suit I was wearing, no sir, just slap the blue tweed in place, clip, clip and off I went. If I recall, the sucker was about eight inches long and about half an inch wide. Could have got a great price for it five years ago, had I the foresight to realize that disco duds would bear a startling resemblance. Really had to straighten my act up come university though, when college drinking cronies derived a perverted pleasure from whispering to all the girls that my tie (same one) was fake. It took about three months before I caught on to the "do you work in a pizza joint?" cracks. Embarrassed by the criticism, I went out and bought two paisley ties, the kind that blacklights make dance all on their own, wide enough at the bottom that an 18â€"wheeler could easily pass on the left. (Ed note. â€" always learn from your mistakes, those very cravats will have a table of their own at my garage sale this spring. Euopean imports, you know ...) And of course, coming off the educaâ€" tional assembly line and dropping right into the sports field these past six years. the call has not been the greatest for sartorial splendor. Kind of makes them suspicious at dusty softball diamonds and racetrack backstretches to see someone in a pinstripe threeâ€"piecer and silk accessories coming up to ask quesâ€" tions. Therefore, the long and the short of it is, no, until now, I have never learned to tie properly. Instead I‘ve gone the route of when someone nice does come along to create that perfect triangle, 1 just slip it over my head hanging preciously onto the short part, and leave the #?%$&*"? thing intact in my closet, at the ready the dozen or so times a year it is called upon. Now, thanks to a little pamphlet that on three faces contains more valuable information than any election brochure I have ever seen, my troubles are behind tudes about our own sexuality. me. But 1 am also a better person because of them. Strange, 1 never thought the day would come when 1 would admit 1 know knot of what J speak I appreciate the issues identified in the following letter from a concerned constituâ€" ent: ...""My husband and I have two children, ages 11 and 9. We are only too aware of the struggles which the nuclear family is experiencing today, due to such things as the economy, threat of nuclear war, divorce rate and now the threat of the intrusion of pornography on television. We do not desire to purchase Payâ€"TV, as we encourage the pursuit of more selfâ€" rewarding and challenging activities in our children, such as reading, music, skiing, swimming and youth group activiâ€" ties. Should pornography be included in the Payâ€"TV and our children attend a sleepâ€"over at a home which has Payâ€"TV, there is no way in which we can prevent or control their viewing of this."" The letter continues: ...""We are trying to encourage mature and wholesome attitudes in our children regarding sex and all other areas pertinent to a wholesome and healthy society. Pornography, on the other hand, will cause distortions and totally wrong concepts in the minds of young and older Canadians alike, regardâ€" ing sex, women and physical aggression. Pornography is ultimately degrading and demeaning to both sexes. It dignifies nothing; certainly not Canada and her people! "