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p4 tribune march 6 1991 is top priority for all of us t he war is over and it is now time we resumed the fervor we displayed in the last few years with regard to the environment there is no concern more pressing inflation the recession the gst free trade none of these matter in the long run because without some definitive action now there will be no long run locally there are dozens of groups politicians businesses and individuals who can see the forest for the trees and have taken up the cause but there are still many of us who having a passing regard for the future of our planet and it is to these people we all must target our efforts for change big business can filter smokestacks and politicians can legislate environmentally sound ideas but if we do not start at the grass roots level that is all us in our homes jobs and cars the efforts of others will be wasted we all have a part to play so lets get to it children in comedy are no laughing matter television kids have really changed since the days of the cleaver clan it seems that kids on sitcoms today are made to appear smarter than their parents it seems they run the household or portray someone who could do the job more effectively than their tv moms or dads take for instance the sitcom full house this show when im forced to watch it makes me want to kick the tv across the room the writers make the kids lippy and a little too big for their britches the little kid with the lisp i dont even want to know her name is a mouthy little brat she is constantly telling everyone off and acts far too disrespectful for my liking but no one i chum with agrees with me they all think shes a real cutesy real funny kid and some even find her the star of the show do shows like this not rum kids into hollywood wannabes no one can tell me that the attitudes of these tv puberty busters dont rub off on the children that watch them look at bart simpson that spikehaired little underachiever at least hes in cartoon form which should give most kids the idea of fantasy but 61 bart really is influential i bet a gumball under the desk that barts smart- aleck face dons the chest of at least one kid in 25 1 cant imagine wally cleaver ever telling june not to have a cow man at the dinner table tfind it hard to fathom the beaver laying down the law with ward and telling him where to stick his sunday afternoon chores and can you imagine laura ingalls telling charles to hits the trail and to clean out his own chicken coop im sure this new kiddie humor is a reflection of a new generation of independence kids today are more aware of the worlds problems and some take and active role in todays society kibbles bits many are forced to grow up quicker than in the days of leave it to beaver and little house on the prairie and maybe thats good but does respect have to fall by the wayside in the process teaching runs in my mothers side of the family her mother was a teacher and principal of a local school in the early 50s and my aunt and uncle are both teachers in toronto however my uncle recendy retired because he was sick of competing with as he says a bunch of smartmouthed impudent brats every day meanwhile my aunt who has taught kindergarten for 10 years says she has noticed a change in kids attitudes even at that early level obviously this isnt a new thing i remember in the 70s the prime of my school days no one really respected teachers we all thought most were a bunch of bumbling idiots not because they didnt know their stuff but because they couldnt control their class we all needed to be shaken put of our boots by a teacher in order to do well we wanted to be taught with a firm hand at least i did there were select handfuls of teachers that were strict and whether i liked the course or not i always did well with these teachers are we making a mistake by laughing at the smartmouthed remarks of young children will these children grow up to be intelligent patient and successful or will they grow up to be spoiled selfcentred greedy adults with no respect for others im not a parent yet so i cant say how easy or hard it is to set kids straight but ive made a vow to make anykids i have respect me at home i think it all comes down to that tomorrow never comes for dieters stouffvilleuxbridge tribune publisher editorinchief editor advertising director business manager promotionsdistribution operations manager patricia pappas jo ann stevenson andrew mair debra weller chris bertram mgr jennifer hutt pafri nichols staff reporters tracy kibble erao di matteo juhe caspersen photographers sjoerd witteveen stave somerville real estate joan marshman retail sales karen mcguckin classified doreen deacon debbie amundson uxbridge distribution ariene maddock pubsshed every wednesday by metroland printing publishing and distributing at 9 heritage rd markham ontario l3p 1 m3 tel 2342200 second class registration number 1 247 the stouffvilleuxbridge tribune published every wednesday at 54 main st w stouffviue is one of the metroland printing publishing and distributing group of suburban newspapers which includes the acton free press ajaxpickering news advertiser aurora banner brampton guardian burlington post elobicoke advertiserguardian georgetown independent kingston this week lindsay this week markham economist and sun milton champion mississauga news newmarket era oakville beaver oshawawhitby this week peterborough this week richmond hilvthomhilwaughan liberal scarborough mirror topic newsmagazine wiltowdale minor metroland printing pubesning and distributing is a division of harlequin enterprises ltd national sales representative metroland corporate sales 4931300 6402100 8529741 hits hard to go on a diet when your stomach just sent out for a pizza snoopy circa 1985 but then i wasnt remotely contemplating such an exercise in selfdenial until i was invited to join two friends on a weekend jaunt to niagaraonthelake we were bound for a hotel which offered everything including a swimming pool at a time of year when my psyche is too fragile to adjust to the sight of myself inlast years swimsuit when the invitation was first issued march sounded a long way off so i put it on the mental back burner and continued to attack the winter blahs with gusto accompanied by large helpings of nanaimo bars muffins and crusty bread five days before i was due to depart my personal expansion could no longer be ignored and i went on a crash diet on the first day of extreme privation a friend came around bearing four large fresh danish pastries slathered in icing one of which she offered to me no thank kates corner km you i said with an infuriatingly pious air im on a diet i watched in anguish as cheerfully ignoring my strength of mind she demolished one herself with guiltfree abandon when she left she neglected to take the others with her they perched on top of the fridge leering at me invitingly but still i resisted when temptation threatened to engulf me i tried on my swimsuit the sight which met my eyes in the mirror was not a pretty one and if anything made matters worse because i realized what a hopeless task i was taking on a slim me in five days it would take all of five weeks even supposing i could stick to my resolve i tried to comfort myself by remembering that even stick insect- types dont look their best in a swimsuit in darkest march when the pallor of winter skin bestows on everyone that uncanny resemblance to an inert extra from a hammer horror movie but theres no denying that even pallid skin looks better when its stretched tautly across the stpmach when i was once more safely encased in jeans and one of those enormous sweatshirts which comes to the knees and hides a multitude of fleshy sins i contemplated ways of overcoming the cruel moment of truth but no matter how hard i tried i knew id still end up looking like someones granny if i resorted to a swimsuit designed to camouflage reality remember those frilly skirts which made your legs look like tree trunks or the loudly patterned suits with lots of shirring over the stomach under which control panels fought a valiant but losing battle with gravity eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we diet and tomorrow im happy to say never comes