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2 saturday nov 23 2002 economist suntribune at the schools im trying to keep my dreams alive until recently ive thought of the world as a place of relative peace and harmony i believed as i am sure many of you have that we lived in a utopian socie ty free of fear and chaos but the events on and since sept 11 2001 have made me think otherwise perhaps its just the harsh reality of growing up but ive come to realize my mom wont always be there to set things right especially when the thing that needs righting is the world since the overwhelming devastation of the us ter- rorist attacks thousands of people have lost their lives and thousands more might if iraqi leader saddam hussein doesnt accept the united nation security councils demand that weapons inspectors have free and unfettered access to anywhere in iraq my fear is without full cooperation the us and some of its allies will have no choice but to declare war on iraq this in turn may result in a third world war something i could never even fathom i sat at home flipping through tv channels show ing remembrance day cer emonies not thinking any- thing would interest me suddenly the image of a fallen soldier flashed across my screen i stopped and watched bombs crashed and bul lets flew by but these men stood resilient knowing any hesitation or wrong move could result in dieir death and the deaths of those around them the picture quickly rick schie at the schools writer changed to a quiet field lined with graves as the camera moved slowly about one grave came into focus and caught my eye i did the math and realized the person in that grave was only 16 one year older than me i could never picture myself going to war and when i turned my back i or the man beside me could be killed where we stood i can only imagine hav ing my life flash before my eyes and thinking of the tremendous pain it would cause my family and yet millions of peo ple only months older than me face this fear every day im not sure how long i sat there and contemplated that concept i do know that it was dark before i could drag my thoughts back to the present i used to believe our society had evolved per haps naively thinking something like war could never happen again but with every passing day my greatest nightmares are becoming reality i ask this of politicians everywhere please help me keep my dreams and not my nightmares alive rick schie is a student at pierre elliott trudeati high school in unionville teacher of the month nevia deacetis a grade 5 teacher at st mark catholic school in stouffville uncovered alex fiorinis dyslexia which was impairing his ability to read and write despite his obvious intelligence staff photomike barrett teacher opens door to literacy by jerome watt staff writer nevia deacetis a grade 5 teacher at st mark catholic school in stouffville ended a nightmare for 10yearold alex fiorini no matter how hard he tried alex couldnt get the hang of reading and writing that is until ms deacetis suggested he had dyslexia a diagnosis confirmed by experts a short while later dyslexia is a condition that makes it difficult to properly interpret written language and is not related to intelligence it was pretty hard alex said some of the words that looked hard and big turned out to be easy the diagnosis ended years of aggra vation for alex and his family in the past teachers had suggested he would outgrow the problem the family hired a tutor for alex but still he struggled he also had his eyes checked the doctor told us he needed glass es to correct his vision his mother lynn said he said when he gets these glasses his marks will go through the roof we waited and waited his marks didnt improve the struggle took its toll on alex he had always been a goodnatured boy but his mother could see a change in his demeanour it was very frustrating as parents she said he was getting frustrated because he couldnt do it wed end up fighting and crying they werent able to find die cause up until now now he can get help for his condi tion just the fact that alex knows hes a bright kid and he just has to learn differ ently makes him happy lynn said now he knows hes not stupid ms deacetis said shes just doing her job and doesnt deserve any accolades i dont deserve this she said of being named york region newspaper groups teacher of the month for november its really alex hes a great kid i wanted him to show it her reward is seeing her students do well its so nice to see them succeed she said thats everything to me alex is a bright student ms deacetis said he was doing well orally but when it came to reading and writing he strug gled heres a kid who knows his stuff she said its just hard to see letters upside down ms deacetis said alex is enjoying school a lot more these days his selfconfidence is a lot better she said hes a lot happier now ms deacetis had experiences similar to those of alex when she was in grade 5 and is just carrying on the tradition i was a kid who struggled she said the teacher spent her time with me she boosted my confidence i saw her do the same thing with other kids too i want to give back what was given to me alex said not only did ms deacetis identify his problem she also made learning fun shes got a good sense of humour he said she gives us really fun work shell give you a chance to cooperate in class ms deacetis and her class will receive a pizza lunch from pizza pizza at hwy 48 and 16th avenue in markham flowers from linds floral boutique 6287 main st stouffville a workshop to improve communication skills by inside out with karen armstrong and a hardcover book teacher of the year from contemporary books published by mcgrawhill filled with 400 insightful quotes from americas greatest teachers if you would like to nominate your teacher for december please submit a brief letter describing why your teacher is tops by dec 12 see our address on page 6 mmammmimmemgmr dr h h walji optometrist hons bsc msc od fios do you suffer from dry eyes at best artificial tear drops or even tear gels can in the interest of your better eye only temporarily soothe symptoms of dry eyes they health from the practice of have to he applied several times during the day and dry red itchy burning watery tired eyes could be symptoms of what is called dry eye syndrome dry eye syndrome is a disorder of tear deficiency or lack of tears on your eyes that leads to the above symptoms there are five common causes an overactive tear drainage system aging eyes natunilly become dry eyes dry working recreational and home environments contact lens wearing medications such as antihistamines and beta blockers depending on the severity of your problem the common range of options are supplemental artificial tears and tear gels night a safe and effective but less wellknown treatment is using small wellfitting tear plugs to close your overactive tear ducts by blocking the tear drainage ducts more natural infectionfighting tears bathe and soothe dry eyes this nonsurgical method is the most effective way to provide longterm relief of your dry eyes dr hh walji 6633 hwy 7 at ninth line m4nmm 3937 website dr waljicom email mr drwaljidrwaljicom 3 ycairfiti row