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Page 4, News, Wednesday, October 26 , 1988 eres Newspaper Assn. = Editorial Page The Terrace Bay-Schreiber News is published every Wednesday by Laurentian Publishing Limited, Box 579, Terrace Bay, Ont., POT-2WO Tel.: 807-825-3747. Second class mailing permit 0867. Member of the Ontario Community Newspaper Assn. and the Canadian Community General Managet......Paul Marcon Editot...........+..-....Greg Huneault Admin. Asst..........Gayle Fournier Production Asst...Carmen Dinner Single copies 40 cents. Subscription rates: $15 per year / $25 two years (local) and $21 per year (out of town). - SADD story. could have a happy ending The students who attended the recent meeting of Students Against Drunk Driving (SADD) at Lake Superior Secondary School summed up a prevalent attitude: society is no longer tolerant of those who drink and drive. They have taken it upon themselves to share that message with students of elementary and secondary school age. Still in the organizational stage, the local SADD chapter has a big task ahead if they are to organize and spread the mes- sage that adolescents must develop more respon- sible attitudes toward this issue. With the help of concerned adults, local youth can achieve a great deal to educate their peers about the dangers of drinking and driving. However, parents and others must become directly involved in order for this program to work. One interesting and effective component of SADD is the "Contract for Life." It is basically a contractual agreement signed by one or both par- ents and their child. Not only is it a responsible approach to dealing with any problems, but it teaches the teenager responsibility. By signing the contract, the teenager agrees to call a parent "for advice and/or transportation at _any hour, from any place, if I am ever in a situa- tion where I have had too much to drink or a friend or date who is driving me has had too much to drink. \\D SUGGEST HE'S ALL HYPED UP A parent also has a responsible and effective role in this agreement. He or she agrees to "come and get you at any hour, any place, no questions asked and no argument at that time, or I will pay for a taxi to bring you home safely. I expect we would-discuss this issue at a later time. "I agree to seek safe, sober transportation home if I am ever in a situation where I have had too much to drink or a friend who is driving me has had too much to drink." If your situation does not apply to this con- tract, but you would still like to become involved in this worthy local cause, contact Constable Wes Fenton of the Terrace Bay Police Department. 'Letters to the editor' are very important to the readership and to the community which the newspaper serves. . The letters act as a forum for discussion, a means to inform the public or authorities of a concern, or sometimes they can provide a great topic of conversation over the fence or kitchen table. They also provide ideas and suggestions for. and criticisms about local issues. They can be funny, angry, sad, or a little of everything. Write one today, sign your name, and help provide a service to all. Write: Box 579, Terrace Bay, Ont. POT 2W0 If | had to choose between music and sex.. "If I had to choose between" music and sex, I would pause a long time." (Donald Barthelme) Well, I daresay the U.S. Novelist somewhat overstates the case for most of us, but maybe not. Perhaps music really is that important to most people. I only know that it's not for me. I don't know who left out what in the fetal fondue-my mom and dad whipped up - all I know is I came out of it with a couple of conspicuous gaps in my chromosomal repertoire - viz: the genes responsible for manufacturing head hair and music appreciation. Which is not to say that I don't like music - I do. Everything from Fats Waller to Gustav Mahler; from Jascha Heifetz to Harmonica Jake. I like i+ fine. I just don't love it, is all. Other folks are more sensitive. I have a friend who can't hear more than a dozen bars of Beethoven without crying. The Syrian general Nicator fainted at the sound of a flute. I once demonstrated all the symptoms of sea sickness after listening to an accordion band at a polka party, but I don't think that counts. I can identify with what the English writer George Eliot had to say on the subject. "Music," wrote Eliot, "sweeps by me like a messenger carrying a message that is not for me." It was even harder for Eliot, of course. She lived in the 19th century - which means she went through her entire life without once hearing a Barry Manilow ballad. Maybe that's our problem. Maybe we've rotted out our musical molars on a diet of Melodic junk food - too much Manilow and Madonna, an overdose of doo wops from Little Martha and the Vibetones. Come to think of it, why are we subjected to such cruddy music so much of the time? Why is the hit parade constantly clogged with vapid tunes warbled by tiny talents like Tiffany, for crying out loud? Who ever voted for the syrupy treacle of Muzak? Wouldn't it be great to walk into a mall or an elevator and hear Ella Fitzgerald or Moe Arthur Black Koffman or Liona Boyd coming over the public address system? But perhaps that's the whole point of gonadless music. Maybe it's a kind of aural narcotic to keep the workers drowsy and the shoppers grazing peacefully. Music as a crowd control agent? Why not? Officials of the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto have a problem with teenage hooligans who congregate in the midway, drawn like moths to the loud rock music that's played there. Too often the louts work themselves into a frenzy and go on a rampage, trashing stalls and starting fights. he Pe One CNE_ official. has : 'proposed a sure-fire, hassle-free way of making the rockers disperse. "Play Country and 'Western music over the public address system," he says. "It's the -. orily music they really:hate." Interesting idea - music as crowd repellent. ' If that. works, maybe' we would twig to the notion of using music as a crowd attractant, a psychic balm to bring people together-and make them feel good - which, if I'm not mistaken, is the whole point of music. They're already doing it in other parts of the world. In the subways of New York and Boston, passengers often come upon the incongruous sight of a string quartet or a woodwind ensemble playing classical music on the platform. It's a service provided by the Transit Authorities in an attempt to soothe the frayed nerves of commuters. How does the travelling public like it? "Beautiful," said one damp-eyed straphanger who had stopped to listen to a brass quintet deep in the bowels of Grand Central Station. "If they had a little more music, you'd feel more comfortable down here. People wouldn't be so mean." _ Sounds to me like an idea that's too good to leave in the subways. Bring it out of the American underground, I say. And since we're obviously not going to be allowed to vote on Free Trade, let's at least make sure that the idea of Good Music in the Streets is high on our list of imports. *%