The Windsor Star from Windsor, Ontario, Canada • 7

The Windsor Star OPINION Monday, December 1 7, 2007 A7 PRis past EDITORIAL VOICES FROM ACROSS CANADA Growing, shrinking to meet day's needs From the Ottawa Citizen The role of universities is often to just preserve and spread the sum of knowledge. Sometimes courses are there for learning's sake alone. Good. If universities did not store and expand the wealth of civilization, what would? Monks? And yes, universities should change to meet the needs of society and their community. It would be very helpful in Ottawa if Carleton University and the University of Ottawa took on a leadership role in the field of high tech (given its prominent role in the city) as they have in public administration.

But should universities change their mandate to meet overwhelming demographic trends? Certainly they should adapt to the times, but altering their founding principles would be a bit much. So words from Clive Keen, a retired professor of philosophy and university administrator, are interesting but may be misguided. Mr. Keen feels that as demographics shrink the number of high-school applicants, universities should begin to appeal to low-income students and aboriginal teens. Many of these young people reject traditional university programs.

A number of universities already try to attract low-income and aboriginal students with varying degrees of success. Mr. Keen, the former director of enrolment management at the University of Prince Edward Island, sees a generation of "drifting" people who are disengaged. That may be true, but it is unlikely that universities will be able to end that "drift." By the time young people have reached university age, many of their value systems have been shaped. Universities, often impersonal bodies at best, are not in the best position to save young people.

Rather, there is another way that universities can adapt to changing demographics. They can get smaller. This they are likely to be able to do much more successfully than capture students uninterested in universities. Furthermore, the people in "drift" often end up in the province's community colleges to find rewarding crafts or careers. Universities don't need to reinvent the wheel.

Our post-secondary schools must be able to grow and shrink with demand. Society does not need huge universities when there is no call for them. Mr. Keen's comments sound more like preserving excess jobs at these schools rather than meeting the needs of the community At present, good tax dollars are being gobbled up by a health system and aging public infrastructure. Do we need universities, with decreasing demand for their services, doing the same? The job of Premier Dalton McGuin-ty is to allocate precious tax dollars where they are most needed.

Those dollars should not go to universities to perpetuate an institutional size that is no long relevant to changing demographics. roney was to shred Schreiber. And that he did with surgical precision, producing a paper trail of contradictory testimony and newspaper clippings to back his contention that Schreiber will "say anything, sign anything, and do anything to avoid extradition." By the end of Mulroney's testimony, the committee found itself facing two incompatible versions of the same story Schreiber claims he received no service for his fees. Mulroney insists he travelled the world on his own ticket to schmooze with foreign presidents about Schreiber's plan to build light armoured vehicles in Nova Scotia. His accuser paints the picture of a cash-strapped retiring prime minister, looking for easy money to finance a lavishly unaffordable lifestyle.

Mulroney says he was doing just fine financially. They can't even agree on the fees paid. Schreiber insists he forked over 300 grand, Mulroney counters it at 225. Either way, each envelope had enough cash to buy a loaded Porsche Boxster and a year's worth of gas. This means the truth is still out there, somewhere in the credibility void between lyin' Brian and slippery Schreiber.

As Mulroney noted when MP Mike Wallace wondered how to reconcile Schreiber's changing versions of the truth: "You figure that one out, you're going to heaven." Yes, heaven help us when this ruckus restarts in late January, with members firing up top-five witness lists amid promises that both the former prime minister and his former business associate will return to the witness stand. It's incredible to think that we're on the eve of 2008, and Brian Mulroney haunts us still. Don Martin is a Calgary Herald columnist. E-mail: dmartincanwest.com. Bush languishes among worst hosts Libelled, blackmailed, the subject of journalistic vendettas and attempted extortion, Brian Mulroney wanted to market himself as a victim who suffered his own "near-death experience" from perennial Airbus allegations.

But he knew it wouldn't wash in a country where Mulroney polls as Canada's most untrustworthy former prime minister. So he went contrite for lour hours as a humble witness on the Parliament Hill he ruled as prime minister for nine years. Less than a minute into his opening address, Mulroney threw his legacy before the court of public opinion and DON MARTIN sought forgiveness for his wrongdoings. He admitted to having been a lousy judge of shady client character in hanging out with German businessman Karlheinz Schreiber. He never should've accepted bundles of thousand dollar bills and stuffed them into safety deposit boxes in two countries.

And he probably should've defended himself from slurs and smears years ago. The apology was the right thing to do and eliminated the ugliest lines of attack from ethics committee MPs probing his questionable business dealings with Schreiber. Unfortunately, his mea culpa is about 15 years too late to qualify as heartfelt regret. Mulroney's mostly sorry about the "perception" of his actions and the fact he got busted for shady private sector conduct unbecoming of a former prime minister. Perhaps his only true remorse in a judgment error was underestimating Schreiber's ability to Women aren't the only ones who like comfort Lately, I have noticed men, sometimes well-dressed men, will open two or three buttons on their shirts.

It does not look neat. It is obviously giving no tice that they are fed up with being choked. If they have been to a for LETTER 0FTHE DAY mal affair or party, where they feel necessary to have their shirts buttoned up to the Adam's apple and a tie to make them look snazzy, the first thing they do when they get to their car is to loosen the tie and the top button. Obviously, most hate wearing uncomfortable clothing. So why have fashion designers design men's clothing that is dressy and comfortable? As I am an old lady, I like my comfort and can find a great deal of clothing that is both comfortable and neat.

Why should men not be able to do the same? EDITH KNIGHT Leamington Golden Compass series popular among teenagers Phillip Pullman's deeply intelligent and engrossing His Dark Materials trilogy that includes The Golden Compass is not anti-Catholic, but serves as a dramatic warning against the misuse of religion for political power and gain a much-needed message in a world where wars continue to be waged across the globe by nations poisoned by want and greed. More than 10 years after the Golden Compass was published, the trilogy remains the second biggest bestseller for teens on Amazon.com, and so I found the Catholic school board's Randy Sas-so's comments that the book "is not popular with stu dents curious. His remarks that he was unaware of any theological perspective in the book and that Pullman "is not even a particularly good writer," tells me that he obviously 0 A generate today's "feeding frenzy" from an ancient scandal everybody assumed was forgotten. But if we assume Mulroney is telling the truth now, his greatest error was staying silent for so long until all this innuendo and allegation swirled into what's shaping up to be a costly Sein-feldian public inquiry about nothing. True, Mulroney now admits to stuffing wads of thousand dollar bills into safety deposit boxes scant weeks after leaving the nation's highest office.

Yes, he delayed the income tax payment until the optics of the Schreiber deal became dangerously queasy. And given that he could only recall one hour of consultation with Schreiber, you could argue his $225,000 consulting fee was a tad high, even for a double-majority prime minister. But it's hardly enough ammunition to fire up a $30-million public inquiry. Still, he delivered a masterful performance with more entertainment value than his son Ben's televised fare. It was vintage Mulroney a baritone blast of blarney mixed with an indignant defence of his character.

Any sleazy behaviour was only visible from hindsight, he argued. There were flashes of wit, such as how he dealt with a Liberal MP who attacked his failure to pay GST on his fees: "How grateful I am, to you and the Liberal party, for your strong de-. fence of the GST." He unleashed verbal Technicolor, arguing Schreiber "signed an affidavit loaded down with falsehoods, like a Christmas tree on Dec. 25." Wife Mila sat in the third row with her four children, her face a mask devoid of emotion, while hubby poured out how the family had been traumati-cally tainted by innuendo and injustice, delivered by Schreiber with giddy help from those pesky evil-doers at the CBC and the Globe and Mail. Knowing his public credibility is in short support, the only option for Mul never read the books books that have been recognized with the Carnegie Medal.the Guardian Children's Book Award and The Whitbread Book of the Year Award.

Not a good writer? If there are any adults and teens out there who have yet to enjoy this series of riveting, thought-provoking books, run to your nearest library or bookstore and pick up a copy Hopefully, the novel and now the film will engender much discussion and debate and allow young people to look deeply into important issues and make up their own minds. Lori Newton Windsor What's the fuss all about? It's a good fantasy story Due to the hoopla about the Golden Compass, my husband and I went to see it. For the life of us we cannot find any religious undertones. Our backgrounds are Catholic and Salvation Army. What is the fuss all about? It is a fantasy and a good one.

Are we all going bonkers searching for secret meanings where there are none? KATHLEEN ROCKEY Windsor Open discussion, not censorship the answer I accompanied my husband and friends to the movie theatre to see the controversial movie The Golden Compass. I don't see what the big deal is. When I was younger, my sister read the book and loved it. Now 10 years later, a movie is produced and all of a sudden the book is in the spotlight. I am absolutely horrified that a school board, whether it be private or public, would try to ban a piece of literature.

Where does it stop? I don't believe religion should be taught in public schools; does that mean all books that support any kind of religion should be banned from public schools? No, and I would never try to suggest such a thing. What are we teaching young readers if we tell them they can't read a book because we don't agree with the ideas it is suggesting? And should I mention at this point that this book is fictional? In fact, it has talking animals in it. I believe the onus is on parents to teach their children the difference be tween reality and make-believe. truly believes in then read- book should sway them from their path. TSf'W From the Edmonton Journal Do the names Warren Harding, James Buchanan and Andrew Johnson ring a bell? Well, here's a hint: Come Jan.

20, 2009, they're going to be riding a little higher on the exclusive list George W. Bush will join that afternoon. The 43rd president of the United States isn't going to have a lot of singular accomplishments to his name; credit him at least with giving those three worthies competition for the distinction of being the worst-ever former occupant of the mansion on Pennsylvania Avenue. Bush's latest bid for the basement is his refusal in the face of reports that Iran abandoned its nuclear-weapons program four years ago to admit this particular member of the Axis of Evil is not quite the threat to civilization that he has insisted. "Look," said Bush, with the petulance of a dad who clobbers a teenage boy just for looking at his daughter: "Iran was dangerous, Iran is dangerous, and Iran will be dangerous if they have the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon." From this astonishing defiance, we learn the real Bush Doctrine is that it is knowledge itself that is a threat in the wrong hands, and not just the weapons, or the technology to deploy and use them.

And that to Bush, reasons for an action are really only window dressing for decisions based on a feeling in his gut. Just for dragging the United States into war and civil war in Iraq also on basis of weapons of mass destruc tion that didn't exist Bush likely would have competed with the worst in future historians' minds. But for appearing to let ideological passions lead him toward the same blunder twice and then refusing to even blush well, one imagines voters for the Hall of Shame aren't going to find Bush a difficult choice. True, it was difficult to take seriously the sabre rattling about military action against Iran even before the release of the new National Intelligence Estimate of Iran's weapons program. But the fact that Bush still pretends "all options are on the table" is difficult to credit.

For the record in this age of history forgotten, Harding was an ineffectual poker player whose 1920s' administration is remembered for corruption, and who at least admitted at one point: "I am not fit for this office and should never have been here." Buchanan was Abraham Lincoln's predecessor in the years that led to Civil War. And Johnson was the vindictive leader who followed Lincoln, helped destroy the prospects for postwar reconciliation, and came within a single senator's vote of being thrown out of office after impeachment. And also for the record, lest any foreigner be inclined to smugness: let's remember that if the bottom of the list of U.S. presidents is low, the top is even more astonishing for the heights to which it soars. Precious few are the nations that can boast a Lincoln, Jefferson, Roosevelt or Washington in a couple of centuries, much less all four.

They're taking everything from car radios to copper wire and from house signs to church crosses. Nothing seems to be sacred any more. Thieves in Abbotsford even made off with a maple tree. work is a dirty word. Indeed, many of us are so accustomed to theft we don't even report it to the police any more.

After all, even if the cops find these idiots and charge them, what do our courts do? Sentence them to house arrest? Most of the thieves are addicts. But some are just punks who don't seem to think thieving is wrong any more. That's why we all parents, teachers, community leaders need to do our part to make them understand firmly that this is not the case. If any book is banned, whether it be about sorcerers (Harry Potter raised concerns) or conflicting religions, it will send a very sad message to our young readers, encouraging them to not read and freely express themselves. JESSIE HARDCASTLE Windsor Even if you don't like it, history can't be changed Re: Conrad Reitz's letter on the Tu-dors miniseries.

This miniseries is about history regarding Henry VIII and his separation from Rome. Although they embellish the personal lives of the people being played, the content is accurate regarding what happened in Great Britain at that time. Both Catholics and Protestants suffered were persecuted. You cannot edit history just because you don't like it. JEANMCCUBBIN Windsor Star praised for coverage of Lori Dupont inquest Compliments to The Windsor Star for its comprehensive daily coverage of the Lori Dupont murder inquest and the jury's recommendations.

I believe that your Dec. 13 editorial in support of the recommendations, and your expressed encouragement of the provincial government and hospitals to continue to fight for their implementation, will go a long way to raising workplace violence and physician privilege to a higher level on political and health care providers' agendas. I am hopeful that with The Windsor Star's ongoing support, monitoring and coverage of local efforts and initiatives from this point forward, the recommendations from the inquest into the tragic murder of Lori Dupont will have a permanent impact on workplace safety everywhere, and on the procedures in place in public- and private-sector jurisdictions for the handling of domesticpersonal relationship violence. DONNA MORO Windsor Women shouldn't be forced to wear hijab An argument over a hijab, the traditional Islamic head scarf for women, has allegedly ended the life of a young girl. Although it is important to follow one's customs and carry on one's family beliefs, something as symbolic as the hijab should never be forced upon an individual.

A hijab is a symbol of modesty and purity, and wearing it is a very big commitment. It was wrong to impose the head scarf upon her when she was not willing to devote herself to her reli gion. A If tM TIT lift 1 aAVllADHAUWAL, Windsor B.C. thieves target gifts, goodies From the Vancouver Province Everywhere you turn these days in the Lower Mainland, people are stealing things. They're taking everything from car radios to copper wire and from house signs to church crosses.

Nothing seems to be sacred any more. Why, the other day, thieves in Ab-botsford even made off with a maple tree. Now Vancouver city police are asking drivers to display a sign inside their locked vehicles that reads: "Nothing to steal but this sign. Please don't steal the sign." It is literally a sign of the times. As Province reporter John Cole-bourn noted, Christmas is a good time for thieves, because cars are full of presents.

"We will be distributing thousands of these signs," says Vancouver Police Chief Jim Chu. "We believe they will deliver a message to car thieves." Let's hope they do. British Columbians are sick and tired of getting ripped off by those for whom If a person their religion -MvSt mgone mcoie woman in The Golden ComPass Nicole Kidman in COPYRIGHT LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The contents of this newspaper are protected by copyright and may be used only for your personal non-commercial purposes. All Letters to the editor must include your full name, address and a daytime other rights are reserved and commercial use is prohibited. To make use of any of this material you must first obtain the permission phone number.

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