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8 economist sunsuntribune saturday dec 3 2005 suntnbune a metroland community newspaper 34 civic ave 3rd floor stouffvhie on l4a 7z5 publisher ian proudfoot editor in chief debora kelly business manager robert lazurko director production interactive media john futhey advertising director retail flyer sales nicole fletcher advertising director classified real estate events management cord paolucci distribution director circulation barry black director circulation systems lynn pashko marketlngpartnersmps director debra weller york region printing general manager bob dean letters to the editor start with bully not victim cycling on left side safer re if youre being bullied live with it nov 20 i am grade 10 student i am also a former victim and witness a to bullying i do not believe ignoring and allowing a bully to continue his or her taunting is the best solution furthermore while izzy kalman can devise countless dont be a victim techniques he fails to pinpoint the source of bullying problems the bully a victim can ignore bullies walk away or seek parental intervention however bullies wont experience a sudden change of heart and immediate ly cease taunting with the loss of one victim they will most likely seek another assisting the victim does not eliminate a bullying sit uation the 23million school antibullying programs funded by the province should include the traditional guidance counsellors and teachers and how vic tims should deal with bullies programs as well as ways to detect early signs of bullying behaviour and how parents and teachers can deal with and prevent bullying carmen wong thornhill re cyclists targets on york roads nov 12 it is fearsome and unnerving to ride a bicycle on the right side of the pavement with motorized vehicles whizzing past you usually exceeding the speed limit a few months ago a young boy cycling in the gta was struck down and killed because the driver of a large transport truck claimed he did not see him what is this telling us we have to start using our common sense since it is considered inappropri ate if not illegal to ride a bicycle on the sidewalk we have to determine how all vehicles use the road nonmotorized cyclists should ride on the left side of the road so that they can see the oncoming traffic and the motorized vehicles can see them i can assure you as a cyclist who rides on the left side of the road it is safe and far less unnerving special lanes for riding on the right side of the road are no guar antee a cyclist will not be struck down by a vehicle sometimes we should let common sense prevail instead of outdated laws that are no longer protective of non- motorized vehicles in ever increasing and congested traffic lincoln james markham to a survivor h is is a story of perse verance and the tri umph of human will in the face of adversi ty- nick kristmann was born in 1925 in the village of neu- slankamen in a historically trou bled part of the world formerly part of the austro- hungarian empire and later yugoslavia it is near the border of croatia and serbia his family was prosperous their substantial farm includ ed a vineyard and delivered boun teous crops life was simple but hard work was rewarded and the table was full the second world war changed all that for the kristmanns were ethnic germans when nick was only 17 he found himself in the german army and was sent to guard mountain pass es undertrained under- equipped and underprovisioned through the winter cold ask him if he saw any action and hell say no but he saw a lot of snow captured by the russian army nick spent four years in a soviet prison camp at stalingrad sub jected to hard labour on nearstar vation rations when he at last returned to his village haggard and thin but a grown man he learned he was now an orphan dispossessed by the new regime the remaining kristmanns lost their land and home and fled to a depressed postwar germany talented at all things mechanical nick found work on a us army base and also found a bride maria meanwhile his brother mathias emigrated to canada becoming a farmer in the holland marsh nick was in a pub in oberlinach in 1954 watching the news on that brandnew inven tion television when it flashed a scene of destruction hurricane hazel thats my brothers farm he exclaimed to the disbelief of 0 it- ft- 5 m bruce annan the other patrons nonetheless the kristmanns by now including children hennina erika and walter were convinced to try a new life in bradford by 1958 when baby veronica came along nick had decided the vegetable industry wasnt sufficiently lucrative to sup port his young family he turned his skills as a plumber to the booming toronto construction industry in 1960 disaster struck on a job site a wall collapsed and fell on nick he became a paraplegic fated to use a wheelchair the rest of his life the thenworkers compensation board helped him retrain and he spent decades as a camera technician this was back in the days when electronic devices were repaired rather than thrown away and replaced for 45 years nick has battled through continual health chal lenges including multiple surg eries but he has kept on keeping on thanks to the merciful inter ventions of his own physician and the good folks at southlake and sunnybrook hospitals his condition requires consid erable daily support provided by a series of care workers theyre led by the cheerful ministrations of mary smith who accompanies him to various casinos in search of the elusive jackpot he tells his worried daughters when they have trouble reaching him on the phone that he only gambles once in awhile hardly ever really life doesnt always turn out the way we expect and hope but few of us face the challenges nick has overcome in his eight decades yet those closest to him rarely hear a word of complaint about the hand fate has dealt him theres an example for those of us who man age to feel sorry for ourselves despite bountiful good fortune nick hates attention so his family wont be throwing a bash for his 80th birthday dec 9 but perhaps if youre driving in the bradford area and see nick in his motorized wheelchair heading out for his daily tim hortons you could give my fatherinlaw a friendly wave happy birthday nick keep rolling along bruce annan is a york region writer and consultant he can be reached bruceannangmailcom comments regard ing this column for the letters page can be sent to newsroomeconsuncom letters policy the suntribune welcomes your letters submissions must be less than 100 words and include a daytime telephone number name and address the suntribune reserves the right to publish or not publish and edit for clarity and space letters to the editor the suntribune 34 civic ave box 154 stouffvilleon 14a7z5 jmason8yrngcom editorial editor jim mason jmnsonymgcom administration office manager vivian oneil imieilyrngcom events management shows manager bonnie rondeau hrontlemiyrngcom production manager pain nichols pnicholsyrngcom advertising classified 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