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6stbimsmtjnemsmurdayay52007v suntnhune 6290 main st stouflvilleonl4alg7 wwwyorkregioncom publisher ian proudfoot editor in chief debora kelly business manager robert lazurko director interactive media technology john futhey director advertising distribution barry black director circulation systems lynn pashko york region printing general manager bob dean its easy to point fingers without having all facts re offensive photo shows lack of respect for less fortunate letter to the editor by james simm may 3 often we judge other peoples actions based on our own experiences one day my fiveyearold son was jumping on our trampoline with a sevenyearold friend my son inadvertently gave his friend the finger and his friend reported it instantly now the friend had seen this action at school and knew the label for it but my son had never been to school and i knew he didnt know such an action existed did he actually give his friend the finger my son would say no because he did not know what this action meant but his friend would answer yes for clearly the middle finger was shown can one correctly judge ron elliotts actions then according to james simm the fin gers in the air represented mr elliott being insensitive rude disrespectful insulting demeaning and robbing this child of his dignity mr simm states mr elliott inten tionally wanted to make this child the butt of the prank and make him appear silly well mr simm if you put your fin gers behind this childs head then we know that would be your intention but how can you be certain of mr elliotts intention how can you be sure mr elliott even defines fingers behind the head the same as you likewise do you know how much time mr elliott and the boy spent together before and after the photo were taken mr simm you state this child was clearly not a friend were you there cari you be certain they were not mr simm also states mr elliott has a lack of respect for those less fortu nate i see it differently i see an older gentleman who has given his time and money and risked his health to go to another country to serve perhaps mr elliott actually did give of himself just so he could go to africa to insult and demean the people perhaps he wanted to rob people of their dignity but if so would he really have to leave the country perhaps he could follow your exam ple mr simm and sit at home and vil ify and criticize those in our own town its much easier that way dontyou think caralyn shantz stouffville mysterious phenomenon has scientists baffled what happens to them is unknown the adults are simply gone thou sands of them no corpses left behind nothing out of place they are just gone it may seem like the setup for an episode of csi but this mystery isnt about missing people its about missing bees strange as it may seem a mysterious phenomenon called colony collapse disorder is threatening bees across the united states and may be making its way into canada the problem has researchers baffled all of the adult bees in a colony will suddenly disappear without a trace leaving behind only a small number of juveniles the hive appears unaffected just deserted remaining juveniles refuse to eat the stores of honey or pollen left behind other bee colonies mean while avoid the deserted hive even though healthy colonies normally raid abandoned hives for leftovers whats going on scientists dont really know but concern is high enough to have prompted a working group of researchers in the us to study the problem from what they have been able to determine so far stress may play a key role colony collapse disorder is hard ly the first problem honey bees have encountered in north america bee populations are in serious trouble suffering losses from mites pesti cides and monoculture crops espe cially in the us there five species of bumble bees have disappeared in less than a decade in fact the dirth of natural polli nators in the us has led to a grow ing industry of migrant domesticat ed bees each spring tens of thousands of bee colonies are packed onto flatbed trucks and driven across the us to stop at various farms and pollinate crops but all that travel isnt good for bees bees are naturally used to hav ing a variety of food in their diets david suzuki but on these trips they are stuck with a single food source the crop they are expected to pollinate they are also packed into their hives for long periods of extended driving exposed to temperature fluctuations and high levels of car bon dioxide in addition this kind of largescale movement of stressed- out insects creates ideal conditions for the spread of pathogens all of this adds up to bad news for bees but researchers still dont know which of these factors or all of them or something else entirely is triggering the collapse of colonies in the us fortunately we havent seen the problem in canada yet although bees here are also declining and under tremendous pressure we dont have such a largescale migrant bee industry right now which could be preventing colony collapse disorder from getting a foothold on this side of the border why should you care about the fate of some insects well honey bees are of course important for the honey they make but they are also one of the most effective pollinators we have in the us they pollinate more than 3 billion worth of fruits and vegetables annually according to the us department of agriculture 30 per cent of all american fruits and veg etables come from plants that have been pollinated by insects especial ly bees so bees are very important indeed pollinators in general pro vide an essential service that would be extraordinarily expensive if not impossible to replicate in other ways yet natural and domesticated pollinators are by and large consid ered irrelevant or externalities to our economic system if we want to ensure this essen tial service is available in the future we need to look at all the factors resulting in their declining num bers from pesticide use to mono culture crops and genetically modi fied crops to the loss of forested areas that provide homes for wild bees and work to reduce these pres sures and keep this critical ecosys tem service functioning colony collapse disorder may be the most recent and dramatic of bee mysteries but their consistently declining numbers is just as dis turbing take the suzuki challenge at wwwdavid suzukiorg 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 to publish or not publish and to edit for clarity and space letters to the editor the suntribune box 154 stoufmlle on l4a7z5 jmasonyrmgcom editorial editor jim mason jmasonynngcom interactive media marketing advertising manager dawna andrews dandrewsynngcom advertising retail manager stacey allen sallenynngcom classified manager ann campbell acampbellyrmgcom production team leader sherry day sdayyrmgcom distribution manager megan 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