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4 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Wednesday, August 6, 1986 Editorial Comments 'Mother Nature "For thé past three summers, Lake Scugog has been a mess, literally. The lake has been clogged with aquatic weeds which took all the fun out of boating and fishing. And the seemingly endless beds of weeds poking through the surface of the water turned this beautiful lake into an eye-sore. A Task Force was established to examine the problem and come up with some recommendations for remedial actions. The Task Force concluded that solutions to the infamous weed problem were either impractical or financially impossible. People worried that the lake was dying and it would kill the important tourist and recreation industry in the Township. This summer, there has been a change. The nasty milfoil seems 10 be disappearing, or at least is not anywhere as thick as it was in recent years. The boaters are back in force, the fishing is fine, again. The reason for the disappearance of the milfoil? It could be a small aquatic moth which lays eggs on the tips of the plants. When the eggs change to larvae, they burrow their way into the stalk. A federal researcher says conclusive scientific proof that the moth lar- vae are having an effect on weed growth will have to wait until fur- ther tests are complete. But the evidence points in this direction. Not only is milfoil disappearing from Lake Scugog this summer, it is disappearing from other lakes in the Kawarthas. If the small moth is the reason, then maybe there is a lesson here. Sometimes, things are better left to Mother Nature to correct in her own way without the intrusion of men and their machines. Sanctions It is very easy and tempting to dismiss as sheer hypocrisy the decision by Canada and several other Commonwealth nations to im- tough economic sanctions against South Africa. After all, if Canada judged its trading partners on the basis of their human rights records, we would find ourselves imposing sanc- tions on all but a small handful of the nations in the world. "Canada routinely does business with any number of ruthless dic- tatorial regimes where rule of law has no meaning, free elections are a joke, corruption in high places in the norm and millions of people have even fewer basic human rights than the oppressed blacks in South Africa. Examples are a dime a dozen, starting with the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union, both of which have relied heavily on the efforts of Canadian farmers for their food. Canada has threatened to cancel the popular USSR-Canadian hockey series over the Soviet's refusal to allow Jewish citizens to emigrate. Canada maintains close relations with the State of Israel, despite the sad fact that non-Jewish citizens are denied many fun- damental rights. As for the Black African nations who are pushing the issue of sanctions, well, their human rights record is abysmal at best. So why has Canada joined the bandwagon to impose tough sanc- tions against South Africa? Because apartheid is a calculated and deliberate policy designed to keep 20 million blacks in total political and economic slavery to the white minority. Whether the sanctions do any good in changing the policies of the white rulers remains to be seen. In fact, critics of sanctions say they will simply throw the country into total chaos leaving it ripe for revolution or civil war by the communists. Maybe it will, but a statement condemning apartheid must be delivered to the South African rulers, telling them to hasten changes before the chaos rips the country apart. Change from within is the only hope of averting a blood-bath in South Africa. Sanctions, hopefully, will speed the process of change. (C CNA the t J. PETER HVIDSTEN Member of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association Publisher and Ontario Community Newspaper Association Advertising Manager Published every Tuesday by the Port Perry Star Co Ltd, Port Perry, Ontaro J.B. McCLELLAND Editor Authorized as second class mail by the Post Office Department, Ottawa, and for cash CATHY ROBS payment of postage in cash News & Features pS Subscription Rate: in Canada $15.00 per year. Elewhere $45.00 per year. Single Copy 35* Second Class Mail Registration Number 0265 e nis, , a) A ©COPYRIGHT -- All layout and composition of advertisements produced by the adver: tising department of the Port Perry Star Company Limited are protected under copyright and may not be reproduced without the written permission of the publisher Chatterbox by Cathy Robb Now my job will be even more difficult. As every reporter knows, there's nothing like a photo of a cute kid or an animal, preferably both, ~ together, to sell newspapers. Children often make the difference between an attractive front page and a dull front page and we photographers keep this in mind whenever we're out on an assignment. Thankfully, kids are usually willing subjects. In fact, whenever I go out to a public school for whatever reason, I can almost count on being deluged with offers by kids to "Take my picture and put it in the paper." -Kids trust photographers, for some reason. Maybe it's the thrill of publicity that allows them to lower their defences, who knows, but one thing's for sure -- children will follow a camera anywhere. ¥ Obviously, this is what got 11 year old Alison Parrott in trouble in the first place. Even though she was taught street-proofing by her parents, and was considered wise to strangers, she let her guard down and allowed a so-called photographer to abduct and eventually murder her. The killer had his plans well mapped out. Pos- ing as a reporter-photographer doing a story for a sports magazine, he actually phoned her at home and arranged to meet her at Varsity Stadium in Toronto for an interview and photo session. Alison called up her mom to ask permission and her mother, Lesley promptly gave it. "A little bit of profile,"' was encouraged, Mrs. Parrott said, as "part of the prize for having work- ed hard." And why not? Had the killer been a reporter, there would have been a glossy story to be clip- ped, hock about by parents, and scotch-taped in a scrapbook All parents like to see their childrens' work glorified in print, whether it's a Girl Guide All- Round Cord, a student's academic achievement award, or an athlete's medals. Parents call the Port Perry Star on a regular basis asking that a picture be taken of young Johnny. Which is great. The Star staff almost always agrees to the request. Lots of times parents don't even have to ask. On many occasions I have phoned families and asked to do interviews with children. Very rare- ly do they say no. Often I meet the kids at school, or after school, in my office. It's not rare for me to do an inter- view, or take a photograph, without the parents being around And on special occasions, like Festival Days, the Port Perry Fair or the Santa Claus parade, I literally sqek out children to take pictures of, knowing in advance that the pictures have a good chance of making the front page. In those circumstances, parents are rarely available to ask permission from, or to talk to. I worry about this sometimes. I mean, here I am, a complete stranger, approaching these kids to take their pictures. They don't know me from a hole in the ground and yet they always agree to my proposals, even if the photos are sometimes taken slightly away from crowds. I've asked children to come away from the harsh, glaring light of the street to pose in the bet- ter lighted conditions of shade, and the kids never protest. They don't realize how easy it would be, once they're away from other people, to just snatch them up and take them away. If I was a child molester, I could do it, no problem. And that's what worries me. Obviously, I'm not a child molester. But so- meone who is could very easily pose as a photographer and do exactly what I have sug- gested. In Alison Parrott's case, it's been done. In my way of thinking, parents should sit their kids down right away and warn them specifical- ly not to be taken in by the promise of a picture or of having their name in the newspaper. They should tell their children not to trust strangers in my position so readily. I realize this might make my job more difficult in the future, that it might make it harder for me to grab good, candid photos for the paper, but I think it's important. After all, a human life is infinitely more valuable than a lousy promise of publicity. EDITOR'S NOTE: The issue raised in this column by Cathy Robb is a critical one for all newspapers, including small community weeklies like the Port Perry Star. This paper is now taking immediate steps to obtain proper identificiation cards for our photographers, cards which will be prominently worn and displayed when our photographers are on assignments. However, if any parent has any doubt about the identity of a photographer for the Star, please feel free to contact the Star office at 985-7383. J i f | | ] 3 i H