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would like to offer an alternative to Sean Strickland‘s Iama]gmnu(inn {Chronicle, Sept. 29, 2004). While some evidence shows "bigger is better‘, there are many more examples which show the reverse. As far as libraries go. I paid $20 in Kitchener for a library card. A librarian there told me the computer systems are already closely aligned â€" if I returned a book to Waterloo that belonged to Kitchener, the Waterloo library could update my account. So further aligning the two essentially means somebody doesn‘t get that $20. My idea is the dissolution of the Region of Waterloo. In reading the Ontario municipal act, it is clear it is an anomaly â€"TWO municipal governments. Quiz 101 1. Name the largest library in the city of Waterloo? 8. How many people live in the city of Waterloo? 2. How many square feet is it and how many users on a daily basis? 3. Name the second largest library in the same city and how many square feet and users does it have? 4. Name the third largest library in the city of Waterloo and answer the same quesâ€" tions. 5. How much does a membership cost for those that are not university students (hint] for anyone to use the library on a yearly basis? 6. How many are alumnus or students and hold a valid library card already? 7. How much will the joint venture or single venture of the proposed new library cost a taxpayer per year? (this is a hard one and likely more in line with RIM Park, eh?) 9. How many have used a public library in the past three months? How many of Other examples prove bigger is not always better University libraries deserve more thought My reasons are thus: first, there is no reason why the municipalities cannot share services when necessary, most places do this already on a ‘quid pro quo‘ basis, and if this isn‘t already being done then somebody isn‘t doing their job. Proposed transportation funding model must change r I Tracy Morency‘s Sept. 22 letter "New formula is a step in the right direction", regarding the provincial governâ€" ment‘s proposed funding model for school transportaâ€" tion, deserves a response. First, it‘s important for people throughout Waterloo Region to know that. contrary to the impression left by Morency‘s letter, the Waterloo Catholic District school board has no intention of turning a legitimate and necessary debate on the inadequacy of the government‘s transportaâ€" tion funding model into a Catholic vs. nonâ€"Catholic issue. Injecting religion into the debate as Morency has done with phrases such as "Catholic school boards are already whining about the money they stand to lose..." is very unhelpful to students of all denominations. As Education Minister Gerard Kennedy has said. "There is no religion in buses and there is no religion in this formuâ€" la." There‘s a context here that needs to be understood With 475.000 people spread across 1.382 sq. km., the Regron of Waterloo is one of the largest and fastest growing areas in Ontario Since 1991. the population has experienced average annual growth of 1.5 per cent. By 2016, the population is projected to exceed 560,000. Twentyâ€"nine per cent of area residents are Roman Catholic. The Waterloo Catholic Disâ€" trict school board currently operates 47 elementary schools The coterminous Waterloo Region district school Board operates 100 elementary schools â€" twice as many. The Catholic board operates five secondary schools, whereas the public board operates 15 secondary schools â€" three times as many. The Catholic board has 24,000 students, while the public board has 60,000 students There is a massive difference in the size, scope and trans portation needs of both boards An additional bit of context Morency neglected to men tron is that the Catholic and public boards jointly operate a Coâ€"operative Transportation Service {located at the public board‘s office} to achieve maximum efficiency in transport ing approximately 25,000 students to school every day 10. How many have used their personal or work computer search engines in the past three months for info? 11. How many people really think we are under serviced with libraries in Waterloo, aside from those that seem to have a real bee in their bonnet to spend more money that we don‘t have? Just checking for the real facts, not just what task forces can manage to produce to try and convince the population that we are grossly under serviced in a small town, with two universities and a college in it. your kids have been there either? How many have used their school library? To check answers, the University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University and ask for any of their numerous libraries; but don‘t call the city as apparently are the last to think of where we have libraries available. Second, Waterloo is the smallest of the three entities, with a relatively small size and number of streets but a highâ€" Iy affluent population (relatively). There is no reason Waterâ€" loo can‘t ‘go it alone‘ just as thousands of cities do across Canada. Third, democracy, we know, works best the closer the people are to their government. Political decisions should be made close to home, while economic sharing of resources should be done on a departmental basis. Technolâ€" ogy enables us to share resources with cities virtually anyâ€" where in the world â€" not just Kitchener but wherever it‘s most expedient. As we saw with RIM Park, the regional government closes its eyes and says ‘good luck\, even in a situation that has virâ€" tually bankrupted future financial opportunities. Many people, particularly newcomers, are not even aware that the majority of our taxes go to the region, NOT the city. This so In April 2000, the Coâ€"op was hailed as a shining example of efficiency and costâ€"effectiveness by the Ontario Educaâ€" tion Improvement Commission, in a widelyâ€"publicized provincial report entitled "Best of Effective Practices." Clearly, the problem isn‘t religion, or the failure of local boards to cooperate. Rather, it‘s the fact the proposed transportation formula treats very diverse boards as all apples â€" when Ontario‘s education system is really more like a giant fruit cocktail, where each spoonful gets you something different. Both local boards do things the way they do â€" as effiâ€" ciently as they can â€" to meet the varying needs of their stu dents. The walking distances Morency is so concerned about are a product of this. For example, the public hoard operates a number of "senior" schools restricted to Grade 7 and 8 students, where as all 47 Catholic elementary schools run from JK through Grade 8. It‘s not right or wrong; just different. Such differ ences account to a certain extent for the existence of differ ent walking distances between the boards The problem with the proposed transportation model is that it blindly treats Waterloo Region‘s two boards as if cru cial factors such as number of schools, geographic disper sion of schools and number of students were equal. It does this by allocating "transportation" funds based on the num ber of students each board has, rather than on each board‘s unique need to transport children to school. This, in a nutâ€" shell, explains why the Catholic board (which already robs money from other budget lines for transportation) is being cut by 37 per cent in its transportation allocation at the same time the public board will receive a 27 per cent increase The difference lies solely in the fact the public board has three times as many students. The formula has nothing to do with how many students each board actually needs to transport The issue would be exactly the same if the size of the boards were reversed in favour of the Catholic board. And Judy Greenwoodâ€"Speers Waterloo LETTERS 'l‘O THE CHRON en it comes to W:Irat[ir congestion along the existing Highway 7 corridor between Guelph and Kitchener, and the province refusing to solve it at the moment, frusâ€" trated motorists can blame regional politicians for not thinking out a more creative and less costly solution to solving the problem. There is a better route (than the one currently being proposed) which could have been done by now. From Guelph it would go along the present Wellingâ€" ton County Road 124 (forâ€" merly Highway 24), Kossuth Road (Waterloo Regional Road 31}, then over the Grand River to connect to Fairway Road (Waterloo Regional Road 53) in Kitchâ€" ener to Highway 8. Waterloo Region is planâ€" ning to extend Fairway Road across the Grand River and Kitchener‘s River Road will Epp should have learned by now J(ON eventually be extended south to Highway 8. Why not take advantage of these projects? This new Highway 7 would be a fourâ€"lane road with traffic signals at key intersections and limited access to any development which may occur in some areas along the corridor. they can sink it down a lunatic idea known as light rail tran sit on a route the majority of people don‘t even travel. _ Finally, the idea that increased expenditures justify this need for constant growth is so played. If you ever mention to a politician that they must have more money now that there are more houses â€" ‘No,‘ they claim, ‘because we have to pay for all the water, streets and services for those people, which means we break even‘. Boy, that‘s ‘smart growth! If the people of Waterloo are truly patriotic, they wouldn‘t stand by as the majority of their taxes go to the regional headquarters in Kitchener. The stretch of the highâ€" way between Guelph and Cambridge would be shared with Highway 24, while the remainder of Highway 24 would wrap around the eastern and southern parts of Cambridge as a bypass for that city and go beyond to Brantford. This proposal is taking advantage of existing road infrastructure in the area such as roads that have already been built, the Hanâ€" lon interchange in Guelph, and Highway 8 road work in Kitchener. The reality is that funding student transportation based on overall enrolment automatically places a disproportionâ€" ate number of Catholic Boards â€" with traditionally smaller enrolments and fewer, more widelyâ€"dispersed schools â€" at a very distinct disadvantage. It also kills two birds with one stone as far as Highway the formula would be just as flawed Hopefully even Morency would agree that a "transportaâ€" tion" funding model should be based on the needs of boards to "transport" students. If it isn‘t based on transportation needs, here‘s what hapâ€" pens: last year the Toronto District school board received $39,307,236 in transportation funding, but spent only $35,699.556 of it â€" a $3.6 million savings. Yet, because of its huge overall enrolment. and despite the fact an overwhelmâ€" ing percentage of its students can walk to school. the gov ernment‘s transportation model gives that same Toronto board a massive influx of $8.13 million in additional trans portation money â€" meaning the board now has almost $12 million more in transportation funding than it spends Contrast this with the fact that. for 2004â€"2005 the Water loo Catholic board, despite all its efficiencies, is projected to spend $532,000 more on student transportation than it cur rently gets from the government â€" and that‘s before the 37 per cent cut! It doesn‘t take a rocket scientist to see the proposed transportation funding model must change. We are very encouraged by Minister Kennedy‘s recent staternent that "...students will not lose out. If the draft for mula proves to be wrong, it will be fixed..." We look forward to working with the minister to fix the model and ensure an equitable transportation funding model for all beards â€" Catholic and nonâ€"Catholic alike â€"â€" is achieved John P. Shewchuk Sr Manager, Public Affairs Waterloo Catholic District School Board 7 and 24 expansions in the ared K0. The new Highway 7 curâ€" rently proposed will only lead to more urban sprawl and is out of place in comâ€" parison to this new alternaâ€" tive. It‘s interesting how Waterloo Mayor Herb Epp supports the $130 million new Highway 7 expressway as proposed. 1 thought he would have learned from the previous RIM Park scandal and would have been a bit more efficient on the matter. It‘s poor leadership on his part and maybe he and the rest of council should resign due to the incompeâ€" tence they have shown to date which is pretty much self explanatory. Michael Archibald Waterloo Nicholas Ermeta Cambridge