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8 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, November 13,1990 . The Poppy clarified To the Editor; With regards to the Toronto Police Officer's recent comments regarding the Poppy as a symbol of Remembrance Day, perhaps this will clarify his remarks that the Poppy is drug related (opium) and should not be worn. The Pop- py that is sold and worn with pride is the Corn Poppy (Papaver Rhoeas) which is considered a pesky weed in European cornfields. The most common Poppy that is grown in our gardens is the Iceland Poppy (Papaver Nudicaule), Oriental Poppy (Papaver Orientale), and an an- nual, the Shirley Poppy. The Opium Poppy (Papaver Somniferum) is wildly grown in Asia for obvious reasons. Perhaps this person who made the outrageous remark (that the sell- ing of poppies for Remembrance Day should be stopped and the Police not have to wear them, because of their relations to drugs) should have checked his botanics. The Poppy has been a symbol or remembrance since 1921 and | don't think that one man's remarks is going to change that. When 1 think about Flander's Field, I think how lovely and serene the view must be with all of these lovely red poppies gent- ly nodding their heads in the breeze. I would be happy to know if I had a loved one lying beneath Turn to Page 19 Letters io the editor Incineration is not the answer To the Editor: With all the discussion of the proposed dumpsite locations, the additional Durham Region pro- posal to place an incinerator (energy from waste facility) in Scugog Township has been overlooked. In an effort to prolong the life of any new landfill site, regional officials are at present considering the development of an on site incinerator. I do not believe that the people of Scugog or Manvers Townships really understand the tremendous im- portance of this decision on their lives. The gaseous emissions from all Life's Like That by Julia Dempsey All right already. It was a mistake. A petite faux pas. A small oversight. You know, it could have happened to anyone. But It didn't. It happened to me and for the past two weeks | have been trying to explain to azillions of Port Perry Star readers why my by- line on this column read "By Julia Ashton" in the October 27 edition. You see, it's like this. My computer wasn't be- ing very user-friendly. In fact, on that ill-fated day when | wrote the flocs on child safety week my Ma was a bit on the sour side and it just bu back up my maiden name. It's as simple as that. To be quite honest | didn't even realize the mistake until about eight hours after the paper hit the streets -- even though I'd seen my first draft, the final draft, pasted the column onto the , and skimmed through the printed paper ore I'd left work. No, it wasn't until | was at home that night, sit- ting beside my husband while he read the r that | noticed the mistake. And then it was like my former surname was written in bold, 72 point letters. Luckily, | noticed the goof-up before my hus- band. He only clued in after | lost all the color in my face and | began to moan. | knew what was going to follow: a bazillion people were going to ask me what happened -- why my name was back to "Ashton." Of course, the first phone call came from my most outspoken critic (a.k.a. my father-in-law). All the guys at his work had noticed the blunder and were razzing him about his son's ill-fated marriage. And then there were my parents and grand- parents who just happened to drop in last Sun- day out of the blue. By the look on their faces, | could tell they were more than a little relieved to see we were still co-habitating under the same roof -- especially since they dished out all that dough for the wedding only one month earlier. But our friends had to be the worse. Some were downright infuriated that the mistake had been made and told me | should lop off the head of whoever made the mistake. When | explained it was a collaborated effort between me and my Mac they offered to lop off my head for me. Goodness knows how much money ex- changed hands when my maiden name ap- peared in print. All those people who betted on the longeviety of our union will just have to put their money away. Anyway, the problem has been rectified -- hopetully for good. : Now | have the undesirable task of informing every institution | have any link to that | am no longer who | used to be for the last quarter cen- tury. A quick glance through my wallet proves this won't be a fun adventure. There's a VISA, two bank client cards, my social insurance card, health card, two hospital cards, driver's licence, age of majority card (which | still have to use all too often), and a library card. Thank goodness | had the forsight to put off getting a gas credit card until after | was mar- ri : : : Of course | should probably inform Ma Bell, the doctor/dentist offices, the mail order book club | belong to...the list goes on forever. So for all those people who don't mind parting with their money, how much do you want to bet that | will never ever change my name again! | did have the option of keeping my maiden name and if | had gotten married a couple of years ago or married a man with a surname of Jiaravuthisan (who could say that, let alone spell it) | probably would have taken that avenue. But you see, | realized over the last little while that I'm not taking his name or become a pos- session of my husband, but instead I'm becom- ing part of a family unit and in time we plan to expand that unit. I'm certainly not the first woman to change her name and | know | won't be the last. Friend and colleague Kelly Storry got married on Saturday and now will have the undesireable task of in- forming what seems like the entire world that she is now Kelly Lown. Best of luck, buddy. For Better or For Worse® | FEEL SOTOTALLY WEIRD. | WISH | COULD TALK TO SOMEONE. | WISH | COULD TALK TO SAY" WHATS | WISH SOMEONE. WOLD COME UP TO ME AND by Lynn Johnston is AND YD ELL THEM EXACTLY NOTHING. ¢ How | FEEL (on garbage burning incinerators contain extremely toxic organic chemicals and heavy metals, which are deposited as fine par- ticles over the surrounding coun- tryside. Grazing farm animals eat this poison, and concentrate it in their fat tissue. People eating locally produced meat and dairy products will also be ingesting in- cenerator toxins without realising it. Some of these compounds known as polychlorinated dioxins, are the most carcinogenic materials found on the earth. At present, the average Canadian has around 14X more dioxin derivatives in their fat than the recognized acceptable limit. This is one reason why the Canadian cancer rate per 100,000 people has been increasing at a steady 1% per year for the previous 20 years. If Durham Region gets its way and places an incinerator in Scugog, everyone in the township is a loser, for the simple fact that everything in the district will be contaminated. The Commissioner Street incinerator in Toronto was closed down because it was found to be an unacceptable health risk, so why should this method of waste disposal be acceptable for our district. An incinerator reduces the volume of garbage by about two thirds, and leaves potentially tox- ic ash which must be landfilled. This ash contains easily leachable metal compounds which will per- manently contaminate ground water. Heavy metals will never degrade but stay around forever. Toxins which are removed from gaseous emissions by pollution control equipment end up in the ash which is landfilled. The addi- tion of an incinerator to any pro- posed Scugog landfill site will transform a regular municipal garbage dump into a toxic waste garbage dump, with increased dangers to the public health. Let's all work to keep the Scugog area a safe place to live, and not be stuck with somebody elses problem. David Dietlein Zero Garbage RR. 1 Nestleton Deserves failing mark To the Editor: Once again I must take Mr. James to task for his rebuttal to my letter regarding teachers and the demise of this country. If a student of mine used phrases like "teachers fared better than anyone else during the last three decades' without even trying to document them I would grant them the failing mark Mr. James deserves for this piece of reporting. . I am not sure where Mr. Jam gets his information, but I must thank him for informing me that I will be going on strike on Dec. 13 (he might want to inform our negotiation team of this fact'), and that I will be doing so for a 12% raise (has he never attended an auction and experienced the farce of an opening bid?). The quality of the research for this piece is boggling. Furthermore, the myth of a 184 day (minimum number of teaching days) work year is easi- ly dispelled with a simple math lesson. An average Canadian worker puts in a thirty-eight hours work week; Whereas a typical teacher's work week is more like fifty hours if one takes into account the meetings, preparation and marking time, extra-curricular activities and command performances like Commencement and Parent's Night that are all part of a normal school experience. If one multiplies the minimum number of teaching days by this ten hour per day figure, then divides by the average Canadian work week you arrive at a figure of 48.4 work weeks, or 242 work days. Add to this the eleven P.D. Days we at- tend per year, and we have a work year of 253! Isn't it remarkable how numbers can be used to bolster an argument! If one uses a similar formula to calculate otur hourly wage, assuming we do settle at $60,000 per year, we end up being paid about $30. per hour. By the way, we would not be eligible: for this wage until we had completed five years of full time university plus a minimum of one month specialists' course with eleven years seniority. In actual fact, the average teacher's salary is mote like $40,000 per year, or $19.76 per hour. Try getting an "average guy on the street" like a plumber or electrician to delay their entry into the work force for five years (without pay and at considerable cost), take a one month refresher - course (paid for by them) to work for $19.76 per hour. You'd we without plumbing and electricity for some time. Whether Mr. James is willing to admit it or not, we are not the enemy. We do get upset though - about things like excessive taxes (we pay them too) ; about seeing standards of living eroded due to inflation and damaging govern- ment policies; and about the perpetuation of certain 'myths' by people unwilling, unable or uninterested in trying to unravel them. Lashing out blindly to lay blame for, rather than thoroughly researching the causes of these problems is not the best way of dealing with them! B. Robert Port Perry -- 1 5] 6 1990 Universal Press Synaicate EMMERSON INSURANCE BROKERS LIMITED 3 193 QUFEN ST., PORT PERRY, ONT. 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