Reporters Diary

Press, 8 May 1978, Page 2

Reporters Diary

No cheaper to save WITH an eye to the continuing energy crisis, the Ashburton County Council’s works committee has recommended that lighting in its Mayfield subdivision should be discontinued. This was in spite of a letter from the Ashburton E 1 e c t r i c-Power Board which said that most of the charge for lighting went towards capital ex* penditure and maintenance, and that the power saved by turning off the lights would be insignificant. The council might want to reconsider, said the power board, because the charge would be the same whether the lighting was on or off. Offensive bosses LEGISLATION making it a felony for a boss to pat his secretary on the bottom or to coerce her into providing sexual favours has been introduced in the Michigan legislature. Employers convicted under the bill, sponsored by Mr George Cushingberry (Democrat), would face up to 15 years in prison. “I just feel it’s about time for bosses to quit abusing employees by intimidating them and coercing them into performing sexual favours or be faced with losing a job,” Mr Cushingberry said. He was introducing the bill now because of society’s in-

creased awareness of sex= ual abuse by persons in position of authority.

Waiter!

A YOUNG city worker went to lunch with a friend last week, both ordering clear vegetable soup, two sandwiches, and an apple. As soon as they began to eat the soup, they realised that it was tenanted. Weevils had taken up residence in it. The manager apologised profusely, blamed the lentils, and refunded their money. The pair ate their sandwiches and left, carrying their apples. As one was about to bite into her apple, a green worm wiggled out of the core. They seemed fated to be carnivores. Sun-power ONE OF the first celebrants of International Sun Day was a little blinking light on the top of a water reservoir at Cheviot, North Canterbury. The light is activated by a battery whenever the water drops below a certain level, and the battery is kept fully charged by a solar panel. Such solar power systems are a direct spin-off from American space technology. The New Zealand agents, Chloride Batteries, Ltd, have supplied others

for navigational beacons on small islands in the Bay of Islands, and the lighthouse service is planning to instal solar systems in its Hauraki Gulf lighthouses. Ten solar panels and battery packages have been bought by the Forest Service to power tele-communication networks in remote forest areas. Scaregull A FULL-TIME human scarecrow will be hired by the Auckland Regional Authority if it goes ahead with a planned rubbish tip at west Auckland. The site proposed for “sanitary landfill” is strongly opposed by nearby residents, although half of the 200 acres are already being used as a piggery. The Royal New Zealand Air Force is concerned about birds being attracted to the site, causing hazards for aircraft using Whenuapai base. But it has agreed not to object if certain management procedures are followed, in* eluding the appointment of a full-time bird-harass-ment officer at a cost of $lO,OOO a year. His job would be to discourage the seagulls by preventing them from making any landings. Not “lady-like” Seven English schoolgirls have taught their headmaster an unforgettable lesson in sex discrimination, The girls, pupils at Altwood Comprehensive School at Maidenhead, Berkshire,

were given a free choice of subject and opted for a class in car maintenance. When 45 boys made the same choice, and the class became over-subscribed, the headmaster Mr Maurice Edwards, told the girls they should select a more lady-like subject. But the girls, all aged 13, raised a 100-signature petition and threatened to take their case to the Equal Opportunities Commission. Mr Edwards checked the law and found that his pupils were right. “Now we will have to completely rearrange the timetable to fit them all in,” he said. Sneaky ATHLETES who are able to judge their pace fairly accurately may have been a little disappointed about their performance in the Park-to-Park run yesterday morning. It was promoted as a 10.5 km course, but one or two runners mentioned that it seemed a little more than that, and so it was checked again by the organising c mmittee, and found to be almost a kilometre longer. The real distance was kept a closely guarded secret, so that almost all the runners thought they were trying to complete 10.5 km The distance was deliberately left off the certificate reproduced in “The Press” on Friday, and it was not until the runners collected their certificate at J he end of the run that they realised they had run further and done better than they thought. The true distance was 11.4 km. — Garry Arthur