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6 economist suntribune friday dec 27 2002 s stouffville tribune serving the community since 1888 publisher ian proudfoot letters to the editor markham stouffville residents help in world vision campaign ontario residents from all walks of life have reached out to africans facing a dev astating food shortage by donating 697 1 12 to world visions appeal for south ern africas famine relief christmas is a time for reflection shar ing and giving thanks for me it is also a time to be grateful for those who help the poor today i give thanks on behalf of our partners in southern africa who pass along their appreciation to families and individu als from markham and whitchurch- stouffville who continue to support world visions efforts to date canadians have given nearly 2 million to southern africa to help children in seven faminestricken countries however the number of people affected continues to rise and supplies are used as quickly as they are received there is hope despite food shortages that threaten the lives of nearly 18 million people that hope is based on the contin ued generosity of canadians like you and that generosity is saving lives davetoycen president world vision canada senate should owe jobs to citizens not political party in the civics class newly created by the ontario government i am studying the canadian senate ive found what i have been learning about the senate very inter esting but not very fair for those of you who dont know how the senate works this will explain it there are 105 senators they are appointed by the governor general on the recommendation of the prime minister they start their term at age 30 and hold office until they reach 75 unless they miss two consecutive sessions of parliament as well they must have a net worth of at least 4000 the senators consider and usually sug gest minor changes for bills andor legisla tion as well as for bills passed by the lower house no bill can become law before being passed by the senate most of the work done is on committees where bills get read section by section the senators hear arguments from groups and individuals who would be affected as well in recent years the senate has also taken on investigating important pub lic problems senators have also been opinion letters policy the stouffville tribune welcomes your letters all submissions must be less than 400 words and must include a daytime telephone number name and address the tribune reserves the right to publish or not publish and to edit for clarity and space letters to the editor the tribune 9 heritage rd markham on l3p1m3 email letterseconsuncom wwwdolighancom known to assess the efficiency of govern ment departments these individuals are selected by the prime minister and usually have his partys interest at stake as well each senator is supposed to represent regional interests i believe this is not a democratic system because senators are appointed by some one whose career depends on them i believe the citizens of canada should appoint someone who decides who can change deny or pass the legislation due to the lack of pressure on senators there are many problems some slip off work and dont do their job properly others try to overpower the people the cit izens put into the government i think there should be a change in how the senate is selected the senators should make it so it is in their bestinterest not to help out the party they favour but to help out the citizens they represent dfeldberg thornhill romanow healthcare report waste of time taxpayer money a rising number of canadians believe ottawa is out of touch and the credit is due in no small part to politicians like oak ridges liberal mp bryon wilfert- his comments on the recentiy released romanow health care report are its a blueprint for longterm sustainability for health care there is no gathering of any dust for this report now is the time for action only a socialist like mr wilfert approves of a 15million plus 700 per day for mr romanow boondoggle plain and simple its more of the same and a total waste of taxpayers money and time why dont mps expand their goldplat ed health- care plans to the ordinary voters eighty per cent of their drugs vision care hearing aids and dental care are cov ered if they need a private nurse it is pro vided and they get 150 for hospital expenses fact is we are already spending more money per capita than any other country with a socialist universal system canada ranks right up there with poland hungary and turkey in the quality of care its citizens receive 18th in access to mris 17th to ct almost every western european nation even sweden relies on some type of patient costsharing mr wilfert if our system is so great why has no other country in the world copied us lisa myers richmond hill editor in chief debora kelly business manager robert lazurko director marketing new product development brenda larson advertising director retail fixer sales nicole mathieu advertising director classified real estate events management gord paolucci david suzuki potential resides in our genes as a boy i remember being awed by the ability of some species to regen erate damaged body parts cut a starfish in half and both halves can recover to produce two starfish cut off a newts leg and it can grow a new fully func tional limb in its place why cant people do that even more important why cant we regenerate tissue to repair damaged organs such as our heart or lungs today researchers are getting closer to understanding why regeneration works in some organisms while not in others mammals it seems have lost the ability to effectively regenerate many tissues when mammals lose a limb the only growth that takes place in the area is lowquality scar tis sue likewise when humans suffer organ dam age through a heart attack for example the damaged heart cannot repair itself instead scar tissue forms often preventing the heart from pumping properly the only human organ to show much regenerative capacity is the liver interestingly while some amphibians such as newts and salamanders are very effective at regenerating limbs they are not as effective at regenerating tissue to repair damaged inter nal organs the striped zebrafish however is known to be able to regenerate its spinal cord and reti na as well as its fins new research has found the zebrafish can also regenerate heart mus cle researchers say after suffering heart dam age zebrafish are able to produce vast num bers of new heart cells which prevent scar tis sue from forming and allow regeneration to take place scientists are optimistic the finding will lead to new ways to treat heart disease zebrafish and humans share many genes including those related to blood kidneys and eyesight so zebrafish are widely used as mod els to help understand the function of human genes will humans ever be able to regrow dam aged limbs or organs such as newts and zebrafish its impossible to say but the poten tial for regeneration appears to reside in our genes considering heart disease kills tens of thousands of canadians every year thats a potential we would do well to unlock editorial editor jim mason newsroomeconsimcom advertising retail sales manager steve kane stevckyorkregioncom sales manager new business development distribution dawna andrews dandretvserabannercom classified manager ann campbell anncerahannercom real estate manager mikerogerson production electronic communications manager john futhey jftttheyyrngcom distribution distribution manager barry black bblackeconsuncom administration office manager vivian oneil voneileconsuncom york region events managing director debra welter dwelleryrngcom shows manager stacey allen sallenyrngcom york region printing general manager bob dean bdeanyrngcom editorial 9052942200 fax 2941538 advertising 2942100 classified 1-800- 7433353 fa 8534626 distribution 9052948244 canadian ontario press circulations audit council board member stouffville tribune a york region newspaper group community newspaper the stouffville tribune published every thursday and saturday is a member of the metroland printing publishing and distributing ltd a whollyowned subsidiary of torstar corporation metroland is comprised of 70 community publications across ontario the york region newspaper group includes the liberal serving richmond hill andthomhill vaughan citizen markham economist sun stouffville tribune stouffville sun georgina advocate york region business times at home good life yoikregioncom and york region printing