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6 stouffvibe suntribune saturday nov 25 2006 suntribune a metroland community newspaper 6290 main st stoufmlleonl4a7z5- publisher ian proudfoot eorror in chief director interactive director advertising marketingpartnerships debora kelly media technology distribution director business manager john futhey barry black debraweller robertlazurko director circulation york region printing systems general manager lynn pashko bob dean letters to the editor councillors need to declare conflicts while campaigning for mayor at a seniors home i met a woman who had took care of me when i was young and one who watched my father die life and death in a heartbeat well worth the price of admission some time during this campaign i had a revelation i realized people would vote for the status quo once again because they needed someone to blame to relieve themselves of any guilt for not taking responsible action i would like to see a resolution mak ing councillors declare a conflict of interest when voting on items pertain ing to corporations with which they have had any business or fiscal deal ings that is to say accepted campaign contributions from and to those who think i have never worked a day in my life how absurd is that and i never got a debate worthy of a democracy randy mole stouffville success music to their ears the 14th annual student music scholarship concert nov 3 at stouffville district secondary school was extremely successful with more than 500 young people from six wwtchurchstoufiville schools taking part the event raised 5261 all of which will be divided among participating schools to assist their music programs receipts over the past 14 years now total more than 50000 the committee is truly appreciative of support provided this event by local businesses service clubs and individu als also the assistance of school music directors parents high school office aclministrator doris jackson custodial staff and others whose participation made for such an enjoyable evening congratulations to jennifer thunem recipient of the 2006 st james presbyterian church scholarship with the continued cooperation of the york region district school board its me committees hope next years concert can be held at the new high school under construction on weldon road jim thomas gayle atkinson and stewart mcelroy student music scholarship concert committee stouffville news game not always compatible with science a seafood could dis appear by 2050 new report was the head line but the psycho logical effect may as well have been abandon hope all ye who enter here versions of the former headline abounded recently after a ground breaking research article on marine biodiversity was published in the journal science kiss your fish and chips good- byewas another popular heading as were takes on no more fish in the sea on one hand this kind of alarming headline could be potentially beneficial because it highlights the urgency of a dire sit uation in our oceans without that sense of urgency no one will act to prevent a disas ter from occurring and we really could lose most of our sea life on the other hand such head lines personally make me want to bury my head in the sand or stick my fingers in my ears and sing choruses of la la la i cant hear you when news is so depressing and on such a huge scale it can make individuals feel powerless and when people feel powerless they tune out thats not how change happens interestingly the actual title of the research article published in science was impacts of biodiver sity loss on ocean ecosystem ser vices the point about the potential for catastrophic declines in sea life abundance was a relatively minor one in the study used to highlight the urgency of the need to change the way we manage our oceans the main thrust of the article was much more interesting that thrust was the importance of biodiversity in maintaining healthy marine ecosystems the international study head ed by researcher boris worm out of dalhousie university in halifax looked at a variety of marine ecosystems and how well they handled stress it concluded that the more david suzuki diverse an ecosystem is the better it is at dealing with stresses such as overfishing biodiversity has long been seen as an important factor in the sta bility of landbased ecosystems more biologically diverse ecosystems on land tend to be more stable helping to secure the continued functioning of the entire system this was the first comprehen sive study to find the same is true for waterbased ecosystems dis covering a consistent pattern across 32 smallscale experiments and through reviews of 12 coastal ecosystems the conclusion has major ram ifications for the way we manage our fisheries which still tends to be based on individual fish stocks rather than the ecosystems in which they are embedded according to the new study were going about it all wrong if you want to protect individual fish stocks you really need to protect entire ecosystems unfortunately that story isnt very newsy disappearing seafood is without the news hook of the dire predictions for the future of seafood the article may not have made the front page or any page at all in the popular press so either by chance or by design the reports authors rolled out their study baited with the sweet smell of disaster and reporters took to it like sharks to a chum line resulting in headlines around the world- most newspapers and televi sion stations stuck to the total collapse angle often ignoring the biodiversity story altogether more thoughtful journals however did focus on the actual thrust of the study fisheries management and biodiversity in its news pages science used the headline global loss of biodi versity harming ocean bounty for example while the economist ran with new research points to a bet ter way of protecting fish stocks whether the popular press sto ries were motivational or paralyz ing remains to be seen but the fact remains right now the spectacular and the spectacu larly awful make headlines ln the news game the rest is just details that puts the way the main- stream press reports news at odds with the way people become motivated and makes social change even more difficult than it already is take the nature challenge and do more atwwwdavidsuzukiorg letters policy the suntribune welcomes your letters all submissions must be less than 400 words and must include a daytime telephone number name and address the suntribunerescrves the right lo publish or not publish and to edit for clarity and space letters to the editor the suntribune stouffville on l4a7z5 jmasonyrngcom editorial editor jim mason jnuisonyrngcom assistant editor rickvanderlinde tvandertindeymgcom interactive media marketing advertising manager dawna andrews dandreiviytngcom advertising retail manager staceyallen sallenyrngcom classified manager ann campbell acampbellymgcom assistant classified manager bonnie rondeau brondeauymgcom new business development 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