Opinion Literacy af home share the skill Fight illiteracy. Read. Read to your children. Children who grow up surrounded by books and reading usually enjoy reading. Literates identified by the Southam Literacy report were more likely to recall being read to as a child, had 25 or more books in the home, regularly received a newspaper, and used a typewriter and dictionary in their home. Read yourself. The Southam Literacy survey identified high school graduates who were functionally illiterate: their unused skills had atrophied over time. Literacy is an important skill to maintain, especially since the level of literacy required for most professions is increasing. Technological change cut employment opportunities for those with less than a grade nine education by 15 per cent between 1971 and 1981, a trend the Economic Council of Canada expects will accelerate. According to a 1988 Canadian Business Task Force, illiteracy costs Canada $10.7 billion annually. Appreciate literacy. Universal education is so entrenched in Canadian society that it is easy to take our wealth of information for granted. Too easily people assume those who do not share literacy skills lack intelligence or diligence. Or that favorite whipping boy, the education system, is brought out without recalling that schools now teach much more tO a greater diversity of students than ever before. The community has to remember that it is not always easy to leam to read and write: that others may face disabilities, circumstances or cultural barriers that hamper leaming and which the school system may not be designed to handle. Knowing that, people also have to realize how hard it is to cope in the modem world without literacy. Illiteracy feeds failure and saps self-esteem, making it hard for people to - seek help or to assert their rights. Support literacy Literacy is an essential tool. With it, people can find answers to problems, learn about the world and its options, share the thoughts of those we have never met and record our own needs, achievements and ideas. . For others to share this wonderful tool, people must be willing to support basic education programs through taxes or through donations. Universal literacy ensures a better future for individuais and for society. Concemed people can volunteer. Two literacy programs on the south Island, The Leamer’s Network and HEAL, need volunteer tutors. (See story, B3). Share literacy. Leiters to the editor must be signed and contain the writer’s address and telephone number. Letters should not exceed 500 words in length and may be edil- ed for clarity, legality or taste. TheReview Serving The Saanich Peninsula Since 1912 9781 2nd Street Sidney, B.C. V8L 4P8 or PO. Box 2070 Sidney, B.C V8L 3S5 Second Class Mail Registration #0128 656-1151 Publisher: Vic Swan Editor: Glenn Werkman AN ISLAND PUBLISHERS NEWSPAPER Toy { Sse eee \ ‘ } | MERIFIEO | \ Za | cIRCULATION CONTROLLED Volume 76 Issue No.25 TheReview Wednesday, June 20, 1990 FIVE MILLION CANADIANS ARE FUNCTIONALLY ILLITERATE : — SOUTHAIA REPORT RELAX, DEAR... YOURE NOT ILLITEeATE IF YOU CAN'T MAKE ANY SENSE OF THE GST OR THE MEECH LAKE ACCORD -- YOu'RE JUST NOT A BUREAUCRAT! Our polluted environment Editor: As a child living near Niagara Falls, in the 1940’s, I knew Lake Ene was polluted with industrial waste and raw sewage. I saw all construction sites kept neat, clean and tidy. Loud noise was sup- pressed until after 8 a.m. The Lord’s Day act kept Sunday quiet for the worship of God. In the late 1960’s, living in Winnipeg, was when my children became aware that littering hurt the environment. All school children preached to adults about using litter barrels. Construction sites of the time were kept reasonably neat, clean and tidy. Loud noises of any kind were rare before 8 a.m. The Lord’s Day was observed by most, at least until 10 a.m., by being quiet. The world environment was just becoming an issue. Now it is 1990. We live in Sidney. Our children are marmied, and their generation is the main work force. The total world envi- ronment is a major issue. Presently there is a large con- struction site on Resthaven Drive. It is not neat, clean and tidy. Wood and other scrap is everywhere. Mud is tracked out onto the street for a considerable distance. Radio music pulses off the site disturbing local residents, but it does soothe the roofers applying shingles. Fast food wrappers, containers and food garbage lies all over the lot. It attracts raccoons, crows and rats. The wind blows some of it down the street and onto nearby property. The former lawn has become hay, spreading weed seed onto neighborhood lawns. Heavy equipment is started and operated as early as 6 a.m. on week days. Sunday brings no guar- anteed peace, as the noise of machinery sometimes starts before 7 a.m. This will all come to an end only when the project is complete. Do we care about this form of pollution in our community envi- ronment? If the answer is yes, we must find a way to allow construc- tion to continue, but with safe- guards for our residential environ- ment. I am beginning to think and talk about it. How about you? Gordon Macey Sidney Phone rates will increase Editor: On May 16th Unitel Communi- cations filed an application with the CRIC to compete in the long distance telephone market. Since then, our television screens have been filled with Unitel commer- cials promising a bold new tele- communications future. Don’t let these guys fool you! Unitel, an alliance between Cana- dian Pacific and cable giant Rog- ers Communications, tends to compete only in the most profita- ble telephone service, the long distance market. A tecent study by former Mani- toba Conservative cabinet minister Bud Sherman predicts that 85 per cent of Canadians will pay more for phone service if long distance competition is introduced. A gov- ernment of Saskatchewan study indicates that rates for basic local _service could rise by as much as 167 per cent. Universal and affordable tele- phone service has traditionally been a priority of policy-makers and regulators in Canada. Tele- phone companies have been given a monopoly over the profitable long distance market in exchange for keeping prices for basic local service: low and ensuring that every community has access to the telephone system. As a result, Canadians have enjoyed the second lowest tele- phone rates in the world despite the costs associated with servicing a country so large. The Unitel bid will only benefit Street Sidney parking lot. CAR IS ALMOST obscured by overgrown bush in Fourth a few big business customers at the expense of the rest of us. I urge those of your readers who want to protect a universal and affordable phone system to write to me at the House of Commons, Ottawa, K1A OAG. Tan Waddell, MP NDP. Communications Critic One last word on dry/ wet grad Editor: After reading the editorial com- nae AG@ |. a a ment and letters to the editor, Ig could not resist just one more letter in defence of the dry grad, (Class of 1990: Giving the respon- sibility back, The Review, June 6). The editor says that the issues become one of “respect” and that the students’ right to control their own destiny has been “stolen.” Responsibility should be given back to the elected grad committee to plan the after grad party. My understanding of the respon- sibility of the grad committee was to plan the ceremonies and the dinner and dance — which is what they did. The issue has nothing to do with a lack of respect by parents of students’ rights, etc., but rather a lack of respect by the students of their fellow students, who have chosen a dry grad. Bev Pearson’s letter talks about # pressure and extra risks placed on grads and police due to a dry grad party only. I fail to see the correla- tion. No additional pressure is placed on grads. The dry grad party is merely an alternative to Continued on Page All € oe