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But average Canadians are not the only people with environment on their minds. It seems some mysterious things have been happening at the offices of Canadian environmental and peace groups. The first occurence was in November at the University of Toronto office of Science for Peace. "Over a weekend someone entered the office which was locked," recalls director John Dove. "There were no signs of a breakâ€"in. They took a hard disk and controller board." The disk contained membership reâ€" cords and correspondence. Luckily the group had a backup membership list. _The Waterloo chapter of Science for Peace has no formal office, so does not Are breakâ€"ins a coincidence or something more? Neither seems to have much meaning because neither have much substance. Talking about saving the environment or being an environmentalist is on the lips of virtually everyone. There‘s no denying it‘s a â€" good thing to talk about, but somehow the talk lacks meaning because there must be more. It requires some thinking, some perspective. Just what is an environmentalist? The word has come to mean everyone, from those who put tins in a blue box to those who put nails in trees in Temagami. For some, saying they are environmenâ€" talists eases their guilty consciences while they eat at a fast food restaurant or drive their bigâ€"engined vehicles. This leads to the polluting of Prince William Sound in Alaska when Exxon‘s oil tanker went amiss three weeks ago. A long way from home, it has little to do with us in safe, smug southern Ontario. Or does it? I think it does. I think it has a lot to do with our attitude toward the environment. And a lot to do with And is it any wonder with an oil spill the size of half of Lake Ontario decimatâ€" ing birds and sea mammals and fish along the Alaska coast and threatening British Columbia? Quick, what‘s the number one issue on Canadian minds these days? The enviâ€" ronment? you ask. Correct. We‘re entering a phase in our exisâ€" tence when it‘s as fashionable to talk about saving the environment as it is to be a yuppie. Commen I‘ve never been at a Blue Jay home opener, but it amazes me to see the people who do attend. Big politicos, company CEOs, nonâ€"working newspaper types, you name it and somehow they manage to wrangle the time off. No doubt some of the bigwigs just head to the ball yard instead of their customary fourâ€"hour lunch stop, but how does an ordinary Joe like myself shake loose? Lifestyle clean up must occur They‘ve done it again. The Toronto Blue Jays, after mediocre success to start the season, have their American League East home opener Friday at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto â€" and, as is the tradition, it‘s an afternoon game. That‘s fine for some folks. But do you know how hard it is these days to beg off on a Friday afternoon, while making the boss believe that you actually need it It‘s not easy trying to get the boss to believe you.. A good friend of mine, an expert in the If we want, we can focus on the issue of a drunken sailor or we can look at the haunting pictures of oilâ€"saturated grebes and sea otters â€" whose emaciated bodies make me think about the pitiful staryvâ€" ing children of Sudan. There is the disturbing realization that by the time the public sees these photos rigor mortis has set in. Hazelwood is a man, like many others, with a severe problem and he should be pitied. He is not the problem but a sympton of something more dangerous. On the other hand, Exxon cannot bear the guilt because it is a product of our making; something we support regularâ€" ly either at the pumps or on the stock exchange. It has no conscience, only our own selfâ€"image; how we perceive the environment and how we view ourselves meshing with the environment. The focus for the Environment Netâ€" work is its "web" â€" an electronic (i.e. computer) network for environmental groups across Ontario. It is a virtual clearinghouse for valuable environmenâ€" tal information and is important in building the strength and influence of the entire environmental movement in this province. The Ontario Environment Network was not as fortunate as Science for Peace. It had no backup to its extensive software collection. Their Toronto offices were broken into in January and the entire hardware and software collection was stolen. have the same worry. 1. I have to attend the funeral of a close family friend. N.B. Sure it‘s the oldest one in the book, but when hasn‘t it worked? Be sure to say family friend, On it was scrawled the following message: "If you‘re looking for a way to get out of the office at noon Friday to catch the Jays opener against Kansas City, here‘s a list of excuses you could try on the boss." field of shaking loose, wants me to go with him to the home opener. When I told him of my predicament, he symâ€" pathized, and slipped me a sheet of Comment. Isobe! Lawson City Seen lan Kirkby "That‘s Life‘ Rick Campbell Society‘s insatiable desire to consume, to have everything, is what stimulates Exxon and other powerful corporations to produce. As long as we continue to want and not weigh the consequences of our desires, we will have disasters like this oil spill. We shouldn‘t be surprised and indigâ€" nant there was an oil spill of this magnitude â€" the largest one in history only because a larger one has yet to take place. Nor should we be surprised about the indecisiveness of the clean up. It all takes money â€"and commitment; someâ€" where the former is available and the latter lacking. For instance, Exxon stocks on Wall Street only slightly belched and quickly recovered after the spill announcement, even in light of the tremendous liability costs Exxon faces. Consider also the numbing quickness with which Exxon got its Valdez port reopened. Exxon knows its priorities. Now society has to learn its. upper management which has to be accountable to the bottom line â€" after all that‘s what it‘s in business for. So as long as we‘re committed to using His executive assistant, David Garâ€" rick, also claims his desk had been rifled through on three occasions. But it didn‘t stop there. In late Januâ€" ary NDP Environment Critic Jim Fulâ€" ton claimed an environmental report he was working on had been perused over a weekend. The report (which will soon be released) dealt with environmental and peace issues Fulton had been exposed to while on a fiveâ€"city environmental factâ€" finding tour. They have suffered significant damage from the breakâ€"in. "But in the long term we‘ll recover," said Chairman John Jackson, a Kitchenerâ€"Waterloo resident. "But there‘s the question of insecurity. Was the equipment stolen to sell it? Who knows for sure? "It makes people insecure about inforâ€" mation they‘re putting out on the netâ€" work. You‘re not sure if people are having access to it that you don‘t want to have access . . . It‘s like someone openâ€" ing your mail. That‘s the comparison that has to be made." 3. I‘m viceâ€"president of the Monarch League of Canada and we are hosting visiting royalty. Not bad, the Blue Jays are playing the Kansas City Royals. Again, head down with a clear conâ€" science. though. Virtually untraceable. Where you get in trouble is if you say it‘s your grandmother‘s funeral. Yes, the one who died when you were writing exams in university, and who mysteriously died again the day before the May long weekend two years ago. She is/was your grandmother, not a cat, so don‘t push your luck. 2. I‘ll be interfacing all afternoon with heads of government. No lie there. You‘ll pick out Premier David Peterson in the crowd and scream from the bleachers: "Premier Perm, your party has more bums that the Yankee starting lineup." . My son has a doctor‘s appointment wmm,msmvmtz.m- So when people talk about being environmentalists I wonder what they gave up as their commitment. I wonder how much they‘ve thought about the environment and humanity and I wonâ€" der how deep the commitment runs in their veins. It‘s not good enough to recycle papers, we have to clean up our lifestyles. It takes money to clean up these messes, as we‘ve seen with Three Mile Island, the pcb disaster in Kenora. St Clair River, Love Canal and Port Wilâ€" liam Sound and I don‘t believe we‘re prepared to pay those costs of living We should expect a melt down at Darlington, oil disasters on Hybernia, destruction of Yukon wildlife from oil extractions, and more chemica} blobs on the Great Lakes. equally ugly cogtumes. fossil fuels and nuclear energy. and there‘s no way around it, we have to be prepared for these situations which happen daily throughout the world. And since we fuel the need for more commeri cal goods, we must pay the piper, who comes in the guise of oil spills and 6. If none of the above work, it‘s time to shift into reverse psychology. Guaranâ€" teed to shake you loose for the afternoon. Hey boss, I‘ve never been to a Blue Jays home opener, but I have the chance to take my son Friday. Mind if I have the afternoon off? To which he‘ll reply "Hah. I know you better than that. Bumstead. You‘re really going golfing, aren‘t you? No boss, honest, I promise I‘m going to the game... A sign of organized computer thieves? Coincidence? Or perhaps a sign that the environmental movement has become strong enough that the more paranoid and secretive elements of our society see it as a "national threat"? Mmmm original excuse for the 1989 season 5. I‘ve been subpoenaed as a witness at the Dubin inquiry. 1 testify Friday Under oath? Still, full marks for best To top it all off, the Vancouver office of the Green Party (a young and vigorous environmental movement that has vyet to reach the influence of its European counterpart) was burglarized earlier this week. There were thefts, and a paper fire was set in the office. and my wife can‘t get off work to take him. Careful with this one. Your boss knows that your wife works as a legal secretary, and anyone knows that every doctor and lawyer in town is at the ‘"The man or woman wasn‘t there long enough to tell if it was politically motivated," said Vigod. "But it was within a month of the (Ontario Environ ment Network breakâ€"in), and we haven‘t been broken into in the five years we‘ve been here." Then came the theft of a computer at the Toronto headquarters of the Canaâ€" dian Environmental Law Association in the middle of February. That breakâ€"in was interrupted, according to director Toby Vigod.