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Pesticide decision was democratic Did a commando hired by lawnâ€" care companies hold AKâ€"47‘s against the back of councillors, or did councillors cast their vote freely, without coercion, ie. in a democraâ€" tic manner? yvear sentence she negotiated in exchange for testimony against Bernardo. Her participation in the crimes. as evidence proved, was just Su.sam Koswan‘s assertion, that the recent decision made by the regional council on the issue of pesâ€" ticide banning "...is just abysmal and goes against what democracy is all about..." begs strong disagreeâ€" ment. The answer is obvious, Koswan‘s disappointment at the outcome notwithstanding. It is, indeed, the beauty of democracy, that majority votes preâ€" vail in spite of (abysmal?) minority dissent. Decision causes families more grief Continued from page 10 â€" Saf,', the U.S. president is having a rough time these days. He‘s plummeting in the polls like a robin with a hernia. _And yes, as members of your family fall away, Christmas loses some of its poignanâ€" [ suppose it‘s less surprising that more vets are turning out than there have been in years past. That is, more of the eligible folks are parading than in years past. There are far fewer left. _ Their pace hastens as you get older. When you get to be about 80, the years seem to speed by as if they were merely months. This is especially so at Christmas time. The holiâ€" day seems to come on like a runaway train. Ah yes, but when you were a tot the Christmases seemed eternities apart. What a contrast it is to what it was when we all got home. Death, for most of us, was suddenly something that was long decades away. True, it‘s something that is nearer to us each day we pass here. Of course, that‘s true for all of us all the time, but it has an urgency compounded as we get older. For example, they‘ve got plastic Christmas trees now. They‘re hard to tell from the real aluminum ones. It‘s hard to explain except that it may have been that we vets had â€" or thought we had â€" better things to do with our time than parade with our colâ€" leagues to the cenotaph on Nov. 11. A:ong about this time of year we realize how swiftly he years roll by, and how they pass much more quickly s the decades click in. It‘s particularly hard to accept when you‘re a member of one group. As a veterâ€" an, for example, it‘s brutal to see your felâ€" low vets falling every month, every day. And it always happens that there‘s something new you‘d like to have shown them. Speaking of Memorials: You could call it ironâ€" ic but the farther we get from the war‘s end, the more impressive the tributes have become. How Christmas has changed LETTERS TO Tom Fahidy Waterloo I go to Waterloo Square on Tuesâ€" days, Saturdays and Sundays at noon and on Thursdays at 4:30 p.m. There, 1 enjoy listening to either of the two excellent Ukranian pianists who were in Ukraine, Olena Klyucharova and Andriv lykhonoy. II is great that Waterloo Square management has (wo pianists playing for the enjoyment of the mall customers. Beautiful classical music, nostalgic bigâ€"band era music, jazz and popular music of yesterday and today. They have a style of their own, interpreting the melodies with warmth, emotion and vigour; conâ€" veying to the public that music is an expressive language of its own. 1 have observed all kinds of peoâ€" ple stop and listen and thank the young artists. From toddlers to the The least the justice system can do is keep a close watch on this proven sex offender as she makes a new place for herself in the free world. Not just for the sake of the Mall offers beautiful music as, if not more, heinous than his. SANDY COMMENT cials less irritating? Ah well, but he‘s doing the best he can. That scares you, eh? But George hasn‘t ever been too swift. For example, the other day he was catching a flight on his Air Force One, but he couldn‘t rememâ€" ber the number. Again and Again: Faithful old TV is cranked up for the Yuletide and, again this year, they‘ll do the anthems until they‘re threadâ€"bare. Oddly. the people who talk most about the good old days are always the first to comâ€" â€"â€"â€"l plain when the TV set goes on the o :.;. Big Celebration: We didn‘t have TV when we were kids, but the family had a monster sitâ€"down dinner on Christmas Day â€" all the aunts, uncles and cousins. And, of course, grandma and grandpa Baird were hosts â€" none too agile at that but as genial as can be. It hasn‘t seemed like Christmas for a few years. Our only daughter died too soon, and her sudden death carne shortly before Christmas. She reveled in the holiday. Now her son. Ben, feels the observance is lacking something. So does his dad, Steve. And his granddad feels the loss no less. May you have a splendid Christmas with all your loved ones by your side And yes, if the products are really "mild", "soothing" and "refreshing", why can‘t they make the commerâ€" Say, wouldn‘t the crime rate be slowed considerably if they put as many cops on the street a there are on television? Ah yes, you know your memory is failing when you tune in the reâ€"runs and they seem new to you. Say, have you noticed that movies on TV are getting shorter. Any day now we‘ll be watching the Five Comâ€" mandments. We are told that history repeats itself; but then so does television. elderly, they smile, make positive comments and even do a couple of dance steps. There was a fiveâ€"yearâ€"old boy who watched. Little by little he got closer to Olena while she was playâ€" ing and before she knew it, he was sitting beside her. Many people have asked me for information as to when do they play and who are they? Also whether 1 have anything to do regarding their being at the Square. My only connection to them has been my delight, as both of them have taken me back to the forties, fifties and sixties when we danced the Swing, the Tango and the Vienâ€" na Waltz. They have also taken me to concert halls with pieces of Chopin, Strauss and other masters. Congratulations to First Gulf and the management of Waterloo Town Square. Thanks for the delight to our ears. population at large, many of whom fear her days of killing and torturing aren‘t over; for the sake of her vicâ€" tims‘ families who feel like their children‘s lives and deaths are meaningless. Jorge Luis Serrano Waterioo University of Waterloo also won a championship of their own, in a way, being named the top comprehensive school in the country for the second straight year. Even more outstanding is the fact that in the past 15 years of MacLean‘s rankings, Waterloo has placed first in the reputation survey every single year except two. A couple of plays later it was left up to kicker Brian Devlin and he split the uprights with a 32â€"yard field goal to clinch the oneâ€"point victory. The sport of football is having [ oo omm q mommy mumenecmcou resurgence across the country with more interest in the CFL and more kids playing minor football and trying out in the university ranks. What a month it has been for our local universities. While Laurier wins the Vanier Cup, they also ranked in the top 10 schools their size in the annual MacLean‘s magazine ranking of Canadian universities. __ More than living on reputation alone, Waterloo was also ranked top Comprehensive University in the country, most innovative, highest quality, and also No. 1 for leaders of tomorâ€" President David Johnston was quoted as saying. "For us to be the outstanding university in the country is a wonderful honour. But it is a great responsibility for those of us here to ensure we‘re doing everything to establish a reality that will produce a reputation of great quality in five years‘ time." The ceremonial bell ringing was in celebration of the grand opening of The Waterloo Institute for Computer Research (ICR) in Manhattan. The institute will allow Waterloo alumni in New York a chance to connect, and it will obviously provide an opportunity to showcase the university and its talent to the world. It will also naturally help Waterloo attract talented stuâ€" dents from the northeastern United States. From a mud field with a couple of portables in 1957 to Wall Street the University of WaterI00o is a true Canadian success story. The game went back and forth, and late in the fourth quarter Laurier was faced with a third down and 16 yards to go. The game was on the line. After the snap, veteran quarterback Ryan Pyear stayed poised in the pocket and delivered a perfect strike to receiver Dante Luciani for a first down. The entire Laurier community, alumni, fans, and staff need to be commended for getting behind this great effort. In fact, 50 buses of fans made the trip down the 401 on Saturâ€" day. Much of this Laurier squad has been through a lot together including the wellâ€"reported incidents a few playâ€" ers had with the law a couple of seaâ€" sons ago, in addition to their 1â€"7 record that year. The fact the Hawks have overcome this and have manâ€" aged only one loss in the past two seaâ€" sons is a true testament to the power of student athletes, athleticism, team work and a solid work ethic. Locally our strong high school programs have made signifiâ€" cant contributions to the Hawks and the Warriors. Just last weekend the Bluevale Knights lost in a playoff game to come up one short of playing for the Ontario championship. They also deserve recognition for a fine season. Successfully combining athletics with academics is tough to do, and for the Hawks and Knights to do it so well is something our entire community can take pride in. University of Waterloo wows the world It seems that no sooner had the president uttered these words he was fulfilling his pledge with the university front and centre ringing the bell at the New York Stock Exchange. E.â€"mail your sean@seanstrickland.com . Ask anyone who watched the game and they will tell you what a great match it was. Strong defenses, good offense, ground attacks, aerial strikes, this game had it all and will go down as one of the best Vanier Cups ever. This was the second Vanier Cup victory in Laurier history (the first was in 1991} and all the players, head coach Gary Jefâ€" fries, his assistants, and the athletic department need to be conâ€" gratulated for an exemplary season. Waterloo claims two more successes at an ending to a storybook season. The Wilfrid Lauriâ€" Wr Golden Hawks defeated the Saskatchewan Huskies 24â€"23 in a fantastic football game in front of more than 16,000 fansat Hamilton‘s Ivor Wynne stadium on the weekend. questions/comments STRICKLAND to