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AAAS "Scugog's Community Newspaper of Choice" 6 - PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, June 28,1994 Er PORT PERRY STAR TORIAL Editorial Comment Caring For The Community It was strength in numbers during a public forum last week at the Latcham Centre in Port Perry. More than 250 people attended the meeting on June 23 to voice their opin- ions conceming the Durham Region Dis- trict Health Council's Acute Care Study. The study, released last month, recom- mended a number of changes to Durham Region's six hospitals including Commu- nity Memorial Hospital in Port Perry. The study suggested CMH would re- tain "some emergency and inpatient ca- pacity while exploring new roles in rela- tion to ambulatory outpatient and community-based modalities of care." The meeting last week was part of the DRDHC's public consultation process to receive input into the direction in which the public sees the region's hospitals tak- ing in future years. The comments from the various ses- sions across the region will be consid- ered by the steering committee before it prepares the final document to be submit- ted to Ontario's Minister of Health in the fall. And the message that came across loud and clear during the meeting was : not to tinker with what is being provided at the community's hospital at the present time. Speaker after speaker praised the per- sonal attention provided at the 46-bed hospital. Patients, families, doctors, staff and politicians told the committee in no uncertain terms how much they rely on the personal care and attention. In a small and tightly knit community like Scugog, a hospital is very important. In many cases the residents are born and die in the same hospital and build rela- tionships of friendship and trust with the doctors and staff who treat them as peo- ple and not just patients. The importance of the hospital in the community was prevalent during the fundraising for the expansion plans. Al- most half the money of the $6 million plans was raised by members of the com- Runity. With the quality of service provided at the hospital and the confidence shown by members of the community, it would be a shame to sacrifice it at the expense of an- other study. Community Memorial Hospi- tal is an important component of the com- munity, as is the personal care which is provided. The District Health Council should keep this in mind when finalizing the study. TT ---- | N WW \ N ob NM "A ---- ABC ELEMENTARY NSCH ooL "1 02 ANYWAY ? i or A Naming accused causes pain To the Editor: 'I am not usually bothered, or even con- cerned about the articles that are print- ed in your newspaper, but for one very important reason, this week I am. It is not my character to voice my opinion in this respect, however you have struck a very strong nerve and since you are wel- coming opinions, [ will express mine. I am writing in regards to the article written under the title "To Name or Not To Name" in your June 21 Random Jot- tings column. Not only was I shocked to read this but I was also hurt to think you are actually considering what you are. You start out by making very strong points as to why NOT to publish the name of an accused individual such as invading their privacy, public humilia- tion, embarrassment, and the lack of your resources to follow up the outcome, be it bad or good. Somehow, as the article evolves your strong points become faded and you state that your reason for con- sidering changing your policy is because people "enjoy reading about those being charged with a variety of crimes." I find that degrading to a community. If that is what is going to sell your paper then dis- regard any personal feelings you may be hurting and continue. Turn to Page 7 Random Jottings by J. Peter Hvidsten GRADUATING CLASS After spending a few hours running around from school to school last Thursday night, to take photo-graphs of Grade 8 graduation ceremonies, I've come to the conclusion we've got a lot of great kids in this community. Far too often today's youth are stereo- typed as foul-mouthed, scruffy kids hanging around on the street smoking cigarettes and causing problems. : But that's neither true or fair! In fact, I'd say those kids are an extreme minority as the hundreds of young people | came in contact with Thursday were neat, polite and well behaved. And there's no doubt parents are taking a very keen interest in their children. At the three school graduations I attend- ed Thursday night, parents and grand par- ents packed the hot, muggy halls to watch as their youngsters graduated from Grade 8. Temperatures in the auditoriums of R.H. Cornish and S.A. Cawker schools must have reached in excess of 100° F during the cere- monies, but it did not deter the parents from savoring this special moment. Our congratulations to all the parents and teachers who have helped send this group of young Scugog citizens to the next plateau of their lives. COMMENTS APPRECIATED Last week I wrote in this space about the Port Perry Star policy of not printing names of persons being charged for a variety o offenses. : We asked at that time for you to call or write to us with your opinions, and since then we've had a number of calls both in favor and against publishing the names of accused. Those in favor say we're are not provid- ing the entire story and one person even went so far as to say they thought the names of parents of accused youths should be print- ed as a deterrent. Others pointed out that our competition and the Oshawa papers carry the names, so people are going to find out anyway. But, to date we've only received two let- ters. One of these has been published this week without the author's name because it was not written as a "letter to the editor," but to me personally. The letter makes an appeal to keep our policy and refrain from publishing the names of the accused. The author writes, "do not fall prey to the publics' interest in other people's private lives. The accused and their family has enough emotional turmoil to deal with, without the conviction of the press as well." I should point out here that while the Port Perry Star at this time does not print the names of the accused, we have absolutely no hesitation to print the names of anyone actu- ally found guilty. That is news, and although it may cause hardship for family and friends, when a per- son is convicted of a crime the public has the right to know. For the time being, we have yet to decide if we want to fall into the pattern of naming those who have been charged, but not con- victed. It's not a decision we take lightly, so will not rush into a decision. As always, your comments and opinions are appreciated. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The Port Perry Star encourages its readers to make use of the letters to the editor column to express their opinions and viewpoints on just about any subject, as we feel a lively letters column will help make this a better community newspaper. We insist, however, that all letter writers sign their name and include a phone number for verification. Sorry, anonymous letter will not be published unless The Star believes it to be in the best interest of the public. We also reserve the right to edit letter with respect to their length, content or libelous comments ER nd