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economist suntribune thursday march 7 2002 stdufmletriburie a metroland community newspaper 9 heritage rd markham ont l3p 1m3 publishen ian proudfoot editor in chief brenda larson director of advertising debra welter deputy editor debora kelly editor jim mason production manager pam nichols distribution manager barry black electronic communications manager john futhey classified manage ann campbell retail sales manager stephen mathieu inside sales manager stacey allen business manager robert lazurko office manager vivian oneil editorial boards treatment of trustee lacks character the york region district school board has come up short on the character count east gwillirnburywhitchurchstouffville trustee bob burrows rightly took the board to task last week for its questionable handling of his request to determine the cost of the boards character education initiative while the board refused to release financial information to the democratically elected member of the board mr burrows said a reporter from the toronto star received the details from the boards public relations officer education director bill hogarths reply im not denying trustees information but im not going to respond to requests that are taken totally out of context and are totally totally unreasonable smacks of imperiousriess his suggestion hiring more staff would be necessary to meet the request ridicules not only mr burrows integrity but that of the tax payers to whom mr hogarth is accountable and like good sheep in a move defying common sense the board denied mr burrows request to be provided the same information given to the reporter mr burrows is not the only person ques tioning the character education expenditure while the initiative itself is more than laud able some eyebrows are being raised at the decision to embark on the program at a time when the board is publicly bemoaning a finan cial crisis caused by government funding cuts for goodness sake teachers and parents are telling us there simply arent enough text books to go around in some schools for anyone to suggest money was taken away from textbooks for character education is naive and inappropriate was board chairperr son bill crothers arbitrary response then prove it mr burrows quest was straightforward and his question fair its not appropriate to withhold informa tion from a trustee that staff is so willing to give to a reporter mr burrows said hes absolutely right the boards actions make a mockery of its character matters initiative respect responsi bility honesty empathy fairness initiative perseverance integrity courage and opti mism failure on all counts e bl tory leadership ahead soft rights g letters to the editor character initiative money better spent on school books re trustee cant get numbers saturday march2 as a high school student it appalls me to read how the york region district school board has been spending taxpayers money on character education i have seen posters and heard presenta tions regarding character education and i find them to be abig waste of money when schools still dont have enough textbooks or goodequipment there arent even enough high schools around for kids in my area instead i must take a long bus ride everymornirig and after noon the money that went towards charac ter education could have been used to build more schools regarding character education what is its real importance what difference is the board trying to make with character education just because it tells students how to act does not mean we would actually change who we are to meet the boards standards if it made any difference at all would we still be hearing about bullying in school would students be getting better grades from character education students dont need posters and speeches oh how to become the perfect person we gradually change when we experience more of life 1 think cutting out character education and using that money for more important matters would benefit everyone a tax cut would help parents since much of their hard- earned money has been spent on character education rebecca guan markville secondary school prayers offered for police officer killed in traffic accident on my way to work in scarborough last month i heard on my car radio the horrific news of an accident where a female police officer named laura ellis was killed at brimleyand huntingwood intersections i pass through this intersection every day as my workplace is only two minutes away from it on that day i had to avoid the area as it was closed for a police investigation as i approached the intersection the next day i stopped my car got out and offered my hindu prayer to give eternal peace to the departed soul as i understand very well how painful it is to lose a loved one since the day of the accident i play hindu devotional songs on my car stereo while pass ing through that intersection i dedicate the music to the memory of laura ellis and offer my sympathy to her fam ily friends and entire police force sureshpatel markham letters policy stouflville tribune- welcomes your letters all submissions must be less than 400 words and must include a daytime telephone number name and address the newspaper reserves the right to publish or not publish and to edit for clarity and space write letters to the editor 9 heritage rd markham0ntl3plm3 email letters9econsuncom stouffville tribune serving the community since 1888 canadian circulations audit board member ontario press council canadian publications maa product sales agreement 1403419 subscription rates by ma 1 year 6955 thursdays only stouffville tribune published every thursday- and saturday is one of the metroland printing publishing and distributing ltd group of newspapers which includes the ajaxpickering news advertiser alliston heraldcourier barrie advance barrys bay this week bolton enterprise brampton guardian burlington shopping news burlington post city parent collingwoodwasaga connection east york mirror erin 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family to be uprooted for a father to have to drive four or five hours oneway to visit his wife and baby is a trying circumstance but we should be wary of those who try to turn compassion into political capital in the midst of national soulsearch ing over health care its easy to see this incident and several similar ones as yet another failing of ontario health care its disastrous for these women and their babies said liberal health critic lyn mcleod well its sad frustrating probably infuriating but its not disastrous disastrous is when a baby dies and the sad truth is until quite recently many of the premature babies who live today didnt make it the hoptons child weighed less than 25 pounds and measured 15 inch es he suffered from bleeding on the brain undeveloped lungs a blood clot and low blood pressure at birth today he is alive unfortunately still in hospital but on a bright note hes closer to home at mount sinai hospital the fact these babies live is a sign of how much our health care has improved one side effect of more pre mature babies surviving is busier neo natal wards i am in no position to disagree with markham stouffville hospital president dr jim maclean who says the current system doesnt allow enougtfleeway for emergency situations but the specific situation that led to the recent transfers to buffalo was a viral outbreak at two of the three hospitals equipped to handle highrisk births certainly sending the babies to another city was preferable to exposing them to disease should the systemhave the capacity as vaughankingaurora mpp greg sorbara says to accommodate such sit- uations of course it should did it ever you have to wonder especially after vicki janes of keswick shared her story of being flown from buttonvlue to kingston to have her baby and nearly being sent to buffalo this case happened 12 years ago long before mike harris could be blamed for creating a healthcare crisis this suggests in recent history par ents have faced difficult situations with the healthcare systemregardless of the political party in power the goal should be every baby should get a happy healthy start in a hospital close to home arid every politi- cal party should be creating policies that work toward that v but they should all be very careful about throwing stones when that ideal is not achieved