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Page 6 — Halton Hills This Week, Wednesday, November 4, 1992 EDITORIAL End of an era With the return of the space shuttle Columbia to the Kennedy Space Centre Sunday, an era in Canadian space travel ended. Astronaut Steve MacLean was the third -- and final -- ~ Canadian to fly with the National A and Space A under an agreement the space agency had with Canada. Under the terms of the 1983 agreement, three Canadians blasted into space to conduct Canadian designed experiments on every- thing from the Canadarm to space sickness. MacLean counts himself in with the ranks of Roberta Bondar * and Marc Garneau as Canada’s astronauts. The three have served Canada well on the missions as payload specialists and have paved the way for future Canadian astronauts aboard the space station Freedom -- an international project expected to be flying by the year 2000. And Canadians are currently training at the Johnson space cen- tre to be mission specialists -- journeyman astronauts who routine- ly fly on shuttle missions conducting various functions on the shuttle We should all be proud of the accomplishments of our astro- nauts and those that helped put Canada in space. We should be especially proud of the efforts of the families of those people who were good enough o suffer through the long periods without their loved ones. We should also be proud of a government that had the foresight and sense to see that Canada could have a goal t play in space. It may be one of Ottawa's rare moments of genius. Minister's comments questioned The following letter sent sent to Rush Gier, the provincial Environment Minister and a copy filed with Halton Hills This Week for publication. Dear Minister: The attached article from the Burlington Spectator includes state- ments that you made at a confer- ence of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario. Is it indeed you opinion that region-wide composting would make Halton a leader in the indus- trialized world in that type of waste management? If this quote is accu- rate, are you aware that Halton’s approach is inconsistent with the principles that you set out in The ‘oad to A Conserver Society, June 17, 1991? In Halton Region centralized com- posting is being initiated prior to, rather that in conjunction with, “Second Harvest” programs, live- stock feed programs, direct land reduction/grass-cycling/backyard composting programs and area- municipality leaf and yard waste composting. Halton’s approach is inconsistent with the first conserver principle - conservation. Halton is working with Peel Region and Peel has thus far con- tributed $10,000. Inter-regional composting is inconsistent with three conserver principles: account- ability, personal responsibility and social involvement. in many ways, a centralized com- posting facility is no different from what we now call a “sanitary land- fill”. Centralized composting will not change attitudes and behaviors. If you believe that we must change a “consumer society into one that conserves” The Road to a Conserver Society, June 17, 1991), then it is your responsibility to ensure that waste management ini- tiatives are consistent with conserv- er principles. you were not fully aware of Halton’s approach, I request that you retract your statement. Sincerely, Diane van de Valk Pumpkin heads! Students at Joseph Gibbons Public School had their pumpkin-carving abilities tested last week during a competition at the Georgetown school. Posing with their entries are: Grade 3 student Robert Whiteman with his entry in the funniest pumpkin category; Candace Waterkamp, also a Grade 3 student, with a dain- ty pumpkin contestant and Grade 2 pupil Jamie Felton with one of the scariest pumpkins in the ean past tion. The entry, carved by Candace with the help of her sister and another student at the school, won top honors in the daintiest pumpkin category. Photo by Dianne Cornish Letters Welcomed Halton Hills This Week wel- comes your letters. Letters must be signed and include your full name and address. Names will be with- held on request. ton Hills This Week reserves the right to edit, revise, or reject any letters on the basis of factual errors, punctuation, spelling errors. or as a result of space limitations. Send your letter to: The Editor Halton Hills This Week 232 Guelph St., Unit 9 Georgetown, ON L7G 4B1 i (HIS WEEN Halton Hills, and is Lar in Oakville arte Q.E. Web Printing. In the ever iph St., Georgetown, Ont. L7G 481, ‘goods or services may not be PUBLISHER: Ke eee! EDITOR: y y time. REAL ESTATE MANAGER: Kathy Toth CIRCULATION MANAGER: Marie Shadbolt PRODUCTION MANAGER: Kathleen fopolsek HALTON HILLS THIS WEEK'S IS INDEPENDENTLY OWNED & Ae 873-3918 PHONE: 873-2254 Family Violence Anger management difficult By Jacie B. Palmer Anger management is probably the most difficult problem we al face. Some of us have slow burning fuses while others know how to let anger out al little at a time to avoid those massive explosions. Good communication seems to be one key. a my case, I have a slow burn- ing fuse which explodes over the silliest of things. It is only now that I'm beginning to realize that I have put a lid on my anger for most of my life and then display it at inap- propriate times. The past couple of sessions my therapist has been dead on. He me with his insight into the nuances. God is it hard - looking at myself in such detail. When we started this process I had a single goal in mind. Any other topics - I really didn’t want to share. The peripheral stuff, while important was not part of our ses- sions. Anyway, a couple of times I put down a serious situation and said :"It’s OK. I don’t want to talk about it.”. He called me on the hidden hos- tility and anger. Sure the anger is justified but since the situation is out of my control I was simply not interested in discussing it with him. “Look at that, you’re doing it again, Jacie!” - and I was. So we discussed the issue and what I was doing about it. On the surface I was handling the problem but I wasn’t dealing with my anger. I'd never been aware of how often I ignored my anger and hostil- ity. I just walk away. I guess I’ve always closed my mind to it, held it inside and wished it would go away and leave me alone. In that same way I’ve han- dled some of my relationships with family. I always figured that if I couldn’t initiate changes then I'd ignore the situation. Bad move! Ignoring plus a lack of communi- cation only makes situations worse and eventually some little thing will tick me off and I will explode. Are you the same? Of course, I’ve been aware that I need to challenge certain issues with individuals and I’ve been great HELP US HELP OURSELVES at improving communication but I haven’t been successful in con- fronting the anger thing. e really bad part of initiating any type of behavior change is that you will screw up by over-reacting. A couple of times I’ve watched myself do it. I recognized it - that’s important. I seem to do better the next time. I know now that I began repress- ing my anger when I was a small child. I realized that there was no- one there for me and that no-one really cared. I felt no-one listened to what I had to say and that my opinions were not valid. In marriage I'd try to communicate but would eventu- ally give up when honest attempts were ignored. Grin and bear it - that was me. I suppose that’s why I'd sometimes over-react to a kid coming home late, a spilled glass of milk or a messy bedroom. They were not the issue at all - my misplaced anger was the issue. I was totally frustrat- ed with my personal life. Now I'm learning to deal with anger in a more responsible way. I’m trying to confront issues in more positive ways. Sometimes creative pursuits, fit- hess activities or sharing frustra- tions with a friend will place situa- tions in perspective. At other times Isimply c1 I’m glad I’m finally aware of what makes me the person I am. know the soul-searching will take a lifetime but if my relationships with others are improved I will be a much happier person. Taking care of myself is what it’s all about! The only person you can change is yourself. Now I realize that my first oblig- ation is to myself and that others and their needs must always be sec- ondary. It’s not easy to change forty years of learning and inappro- priate behavior patterns but being aware is ace to elicit some fun- damental chan; Sometimes 1 look at others and realize that they are oblivious to what is happening in their lives. They are so busy dealing with the everyday hassles to just get by a work and home that they are not cognizant of the “whys”. Anger management is a big prob- lem for all of us and we can all do better if we look inside ourselves and honestly appraise the reasons for the anger and hostility we feel. Feel free to contact Jacie in confidence by directing letters to her attention at Halton Hills This Week. All correspondence will remain confidential. Jacie can be reached in person through the Distress Centre at 877-1211. Leave a mes- sage and Jacie will get back to ou. If you are in crisis, call the Distress Centre or 911.