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6- PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, April 20, 1999 " "Scugog's Community Newspaper of Choice hs By Sig oe | 188 MARY STREET - PORT PERRY, ONT. - L9L 1B7 PHONE (905) 985-7383 FAX (905) 985-3708 BUSINESS OFFICE Office Mgr.....Gayle Stapley Accounting...Judy Ashby, Janet Rankin Retail Sales.......Kathy Dudley, Heather Callan, Leslie West Ge A _Qocna Member of the Canadian & Ontario Newspaper Assoc. Published every Tuesday by the Pont Perry Star Co. Ltd. - 188 Mary Street - Port Perry, Ont. EDITORIAL: E-Mail: port.perry.star@sympatico.ca ; : Publications Mall Registrations No. 07881 Publisher.................J. Peter Hvidsten PRODUCTION ADVERTISING G IM r....Don MacLeod Trudy Empringham, Pam Hickey, Advertising Mgr. .......... Don Macleod Publications Mail Agreement No, 1389068 GENA eneral manager....Don Macl.e : ch Subscription Rates: Managing Editor..... Jeff Mitchell Rhonda Mulcahy, Robert Taylor, ~~ Advertising Sales: Deb McEachem, 1 Year - $37.45 6 Months - $19.79 Foreign - $96.30 News Reporters .....Chris Hall Barb Bell, Richard Drew, Ginni Todd, Cindy Jobin, Gail Morse, Includes $2.45 GST Includes $1.29 GST Includes $6.30 GST Freelance - Heather McCrae, John B. McClelland Daryle Wright, Scott Ashby Lee Nowensky Editorial comment Time for board to mend fences Interesting, isn't it, how sometimes what is seemingly the most innocuous of plans can lead to a campaign of passionate protest. Such is the case right now in Port Perry, where plans by the Durham District School Board to pave over a small patch of green space to create more parking has angered neighbours and others. Everyone recognizes that parking in the vicinity of the school is a problem, and that the creation of more off-street spaces is a logical solution. The problem is the site chosen by the board: A small parkette at the south end of the school property where, several years ago, a history class did some research on their prede- Cessors. | They unearthed the foundation of the old Port Perry Grammar School, which had been razed by fire in the 1920s. A bronze memorial, detailing the history of the old school, was unveiled during a Port Perry High School reunion in the late 80s. The decision to pave over the area has been met with anger by neighbours, who claim they had not been informed of it, and dismay by his- tprians. Each group has offered what they see as viable alternatives for new parking sites. It's too bad it's come to this, but now it seems the board has some fences to mend. We suggest a public meeting, at which those concerned over the parking lot plan could air their views. The neighbours are certainly familiar with the area, and may be able to offer insight on alter- native sites that could solve the parking problem, and preserve the historical site. It's worth a try. | 4 g RN 25 74 <7 5% Fo >, , Sorry MARV, BUT YouRkR APPEAL OF THE OFFICIAL PLAN HAS BEEN REJECTED! / 7 Z.> Orr 4 JL 1% ord', v lle 7: To the Editor: the school. Surely, our students are As residents of Port Perry, we would like to express our concern over the proposed new parking lot for the high school. Destroying a historic site and attractive green space is not in the best interests of the town or its people. We note that an alternate area was suggested for a parking lot on MacDonald Street, at the base of the football field. This appears to be an excellent solution. to be unable to walk that distance to However, the students are thought not weaklings? They must be highly embarrassed to know that some people think of them as such. Furthermore, for visitors to our historic town, Queen Street is the main entrance road. Let's try to keep our town beautiful by not destroying its green space while we still have some remaining. Enci Dhanoosingh and Lucy Stubbs oa concsnonanomet gees wr PLY 3s z Random Jottings by J. Peter Hvidsten ®¥% | TERMINATING One of the relaxing week- THE 'TUBE' ETRY A [ fl end rituals Nancy and | enjoy is IAHR spending a quiet hour Sunday morning, sipping our coffee and catching up on the news in the morning newspaper. Last Sunday, while | was reading all the hype about Wayne Gretzky's retirement, Nancy, sitting at the other end of the table, piped up, saying, "Did you know that by the first grade, most children have spent the equivalent of three school years in front of the TV set?" | | have to admit, | didn't know... and at that par- ticular moment | didn't really care... as | was deep into the sports section, finding out the Leafs had blown their last game of the regular season, and the Raptors had finally broken their five game los- ing streak. | mean, what's really more important? It was a little later that morning when Nancy . returned to the TV stats, saying she'd read in the newspaper that next week was International TV Turn-Off Week, and suggested we give it a try, by going without any TV for a week. Reluctantly | agreed, saying it wouldn't bother me one little bit. There's really not much good on the TV these days anyway, and half the time | find myself channel surfing. In fact the main things we seem to watch are the news and shows like 20/20, Dateline and W5. So we informed the kids that, starting after the Simpsons Sunday night, the TV was being shut down for "Turn-Off TV Week." Quite predictably we were greeted with a chorus of moans and groans. But that's just what we've done. Effective Monday last, the plug has been pulled and our house was purged of all electronic signals which seem to consume our lives. No Simpsons... no MTV.... no Disney... no Ally McBeal... no sports... no news... no, no, nothing! This may be a little extreme in this day and age, when television is such a large part of our lives, but sometimes extremities teach us lessons. For example, here are just a few of the stats which prompted this attempt at TV withdrawal. Did you know... * The average child from 2 to11 years of age watches 1,197 minutes of TV per week.... that's almost 20 hours!!! * Parents only average 38.5 minutes per week in meaningful conversation with their children. * When a child is asked to choose between spending time with their fathers, or watching TV, 54 per cent of 4 to 6 year-olds chose the tube. * The number of ads aired for sugar, fat and caf- feine-loaded junk food during Saturday morning cartoons is more than 200. There's a lot more disturbing stats which reveal the effects of television on our minds. It's said to produce a negative impact on attention span and perception of reality... and it can create aggressive behavior in some, while in others produces both catatonic and vegetative states of mind. That may be, but not in our house... at least for the next week. |