Condom machines

and present reality

An Open Letter to.

School Board 88;

I am an internationally cer-
tified childbirth educator and I
would like to speak in favor of
condom machines in our high
schools.

My reasons are simple: I am
absolutely petrified of the AIDS
virus; I believe many teenagers

-are having sex whether we

discourage them or not; I don’t
‘believe a condom machine in
and of itself has the power to
make a chaste person promis-
cuous; and [ am committed to
trying to prevent as many cases
of AIDS as possible.

-T am tired of hearing quotes
from the Bible, of how chastity
before marriage is the corner-
stone of society, how ‘wrong’ it
is to be gay (are gays maybe not
the modern-time lepers Jesus be-
friended?), of how all you have
to do is not have sex and you
won't be punished. That's not
our present reality. Our reality is

that we have a high.rate.ofteen-. -
age pregnancy, a high rate of .

sexual abuse (any AIDS cases

found there yet?) including
among numerous Christian
religious groups, and our AIDS
rate for teens is increasing.
Those are our facts.

Condoms may break, and the
pregnancy rate may not be 0 per-
cent, but if one condom saves
one life, it’s worth it. ] am get-
ting the scary impression from
what I am reading that people in
this town want to punish people
who are having sex outside wed-
lock with a lethal dose of AIDS,
and then, while they die a slow
and painful death, in true
Biblical fashion, brand them
publicly in some way, so that all
good Christians (Pharisees?)
may avoid them.

Please listen to the Skeena
Union Board of Health, and re-
spond to the facts, not to
religious or right-wing moral
pressures. Help save lives —
don’t condemn even one teen to

‘an AIDS sentence, no matter

what t their behavior.

: Hage Penne fey tay ote ma As

” Marianne Weston,
Terrace.

One camper’s tale
from Furlong Bay

Jo the Editor;

’ |. am writing to inform the
public of many persons’ ignor-
ance,

My husband and I recently
went on a four-day camping trip
to Furlong Bay with high hopes
of relaxation and enjoyment (so
we thought). But read on. It
started with the first day of our
trip, and a very rude fellow, hav-
ing a picnic in the parking lot of
Furlong Bay, rudely approached
me, informing me to have my
dog leashed while I was on my
way to use the telephone. I
realize I was wrong to not have
my dog on a leash, but I also
realize, being in the mental
health field, how important your
approach is, as well as your tone
of voice, and his was far from
appropriate and was downright
ignorant.

Now, day two as I was about
to prepare supper, I discovered
that steaks I had stored in a
cooler had been stolen. Now for
day three. Saturday at 1 p.m.,
my husband parked our 1981
Toyota Corolla outside the gate,

_as he had to work at 5:45 a.m.,
and the gates don’t open until 7
a.m., only to discover the rear
driver’s tire had been removed,

as well as our jack and butterfly

wrench from my trunk. Luckily
enough we had another tire, jack
and wrench.

We now had been away from
home two days; our friend, who
brought out his boat and
camped out Saturday night,
discovered his keys had been
stolen from his boat, which was
parked right in front of our
campsite, I would like to advise
the ignorant and inconsiderate
individuals to know that Tues-
day morning, my husband and
friends made one last ditch at-
tempt to search for our be-
longings. And they discovered
the keys for the boat on the
campsite sign, with thanks to the
park’s ranger. Our tire, jack and
wrench were about 12 meters
from where our car was parked.

So people, please be more

considerate to innocent people. .

There were unneccessary calls to
ICBC and RCMP whom we all
know have a hectic schedule,
and no time for such childish
behavior.

I guess there is a silver lining
to every cloud (now that’s a
positive attitude).

And what if I were not a local
resident, but instead a tourist,
what impression would this per-
son have had of Terrace? Don’t
forget, we’re supposed to pro-
mote tourism, not demote it.

Signed, ‘‘The
Happy Campers”’.

Name withheld at writer’s re-

quest. . ne

‘Meech Lake: a Whole _
Being’ waits for recognition

To the Editor;

This past weekend I watched
the news for the results of the
meeting between the students
from: Quebec, New Brunswick

and Ontario. My reason for be---
ing excited about the whole -
- event was that fresh minds with

hearts willing to look beyond the
present were meeting, to discuss
‘with open minds, Canada’s
dilemma.

ae 6. suppose you might say that I
‘am a naive person. Of course, I
have been recognized officially
as a person by Canada for a little
more than 30 years now,

I am sad to see that although
each of the provinces involved

-had support from the students

on-both sides of the question,
they came to the same conclu-
sions our politicians arrived at.

As a member from one of the
First Nations in this great land,
known internationally as
Canada, I understand and still
experience: the feeling of
spiritual, moral, physical, men-
tal, economical and educational
genocide.

Quebec is asking to be recog-

‘nized as a ‘Distinct Member’’

within the Canadian mosaic.
From my perspective, Quebec

will never fully realize this status —

until they are prepared to give
others what they are asking for.
When the federal and B.C.’s
provincial governments of the
day, back on Jan. 12, 1976,
came to the Nass Valley and
said, yes, we are prepared to sit
and negotiate the settlement of
the Nisga’a land question, I felt
that day, ‘“‘now Canada as a
whole recognizes us as persons’.

Our president of the Nisga’a
Tribal Council, Sim’oogit
Hleek’, the late Chief James
Gosnell, announced,  ‘‘Today
the Nisga’a Nation are now
prepared to share the resources,
God our Creator, has provided
for our survival as Nisga’a, with
our neighbors, the province and
the nation of Canada.”’

Back on Jan. 12, 1976, the
federal and B.C. provincial
governments: made a commit-
ment to the Nisga’a. Their
refusal to live up to their com-
mitment to the Nisga’a leaves
me to question their sincerity in

. ‘dealing ‘with:

the unresolved
components of the Meech Lake
Accord.

of the First Ministers’ meetings,
Iam appalled at each Premier’s
and our Prime Minister’s refusal
to address the First Nation’s of
Canada, who ask, ‘“‘Will we also
be recognized as ‘‘Distinct
Members”* of Canada?’’ |

For each of us to understand
the: ‘integrity’? of the Meech
Lake Accord, before it is passed

and enacted, shouldn’t the rights .

and title to their lands of each

First Nations of Canada be rec- - -. -

ognized and affirmed by the
federal government and each
provincial government? Section

35, subsection I, of the Con- ©

stitution of Canada proclaims it.

Our governments refuse to rec- .

ognize and affirm it. Their word

must not mean a thing to them.

I want to be recognized as a
“‘Whole Being’’. ;

Sim’ oogit K’eexkw,

Herbert Morven,

Gitwil’naak’il LaxCibuu,

- Gitlaxt’aamiks, Lisims,

Nass Valley.

Questionable value of itinerant labor

To the Editor;

It is the time of the year when
you see a lot of vehicles with
out-of-province licence plates.

Some, of course, are driven by
tourists, whom thé: “erchants®:
welcome I am sure, but a good
number of them you will find
parked all day at construction
sites,

In case you find it strange,
like 1 did, that tourists spend
their time on construction sites,
let me explain what is going on.

In Terrace, Nelson Homes are
building family dwellings for
Muks-Kum-Ol, costing close to
$2 million, The workers on site
(no one from B.C.), who are
employed there, drive vehicles
whose licence plates indicate
Alberta, Saskatchewan and even
Washington State.

Klein Construction from
Alberta are building a $12
million school in Prince Rupert
and 90 percent of the workers on
this site are not from Prince

Rupert, indeed not from B.C.

MK Bay Marina in Kitimat
has work being done by Lux

Construction from Saskatoon.

The Cataline Motel on
Highway 16 is jammed with out-
of-province workers.

‘Prairie Schooners, pickups,
campers and trailers occupied by
these gypsy workers are every-
where, at campsites, construc-
tion sites and road sites. When
asked to leave, they simply move
somewhere else.

Does it matter that these
workers flaunt motor vehicle
regulations, pay no B.C, taxes,
disobey health and safety regula-
tions and in general contribute
little or nothing to the com-
munity?

I believe that the taxpayers of
our communities who pay for
these construction jobs, either
directly or indirectly, deserve
better. I also believe that the

provincial government and cor-

porations like Nelson Homes

‘should be insisting that workers

on jobs in our communities, be
the people who contribute to the
welfare and the prosperity of the
-community;in’short, keep our
community alive in good times

and in bad, not companies and

workers who leave nothing
behind except their garbage.

‘John Jensen, President,

B.C. Northwest District

Council; Carpenters,

Terrace,

Legalized robbery

To the Editor;

I wonder if I should join some
kind of an Anarchist Terrorist
Liberation Party. Did you get
your local tax bill in the mail last
week? 1 got mine, Local taxes
have doubled since 1982. Yes,
doubled.

Not my pension, of course.
My 30-year-old - little house
needs a new roof, my car is com-
pletely finished after 12 years on
the road, and my wife never
took a job outside the house be-
cause she had to look after our
three grandchildren free of
charge. Now her legs give up on
her. We also pay private school-
ing, since public schools ban
Jesus Christ from their class-
rooms.

What is a 70-year-old pen-
sioner supposed to do when he
gets such an outrageous bill in
the mail? I don’t even have
money to buy a new car or any-
thing else J am in need of. If it

gives up the ghost we have no

way to go shopping. Starvation

might be next.

Does the City of Terrace real-

ly need all that money?
_ We do have an arena, a swim-
ming pool, a library, a theater
and lots of fancy schools that
look like palaces to me.

We no not need a civic center,
nor do we need a new Skeena
high school. Teachers will strike
again for higher wages this year.
And what do these schools often
turn out? Nothing but hoodlums
who are hooked on drugs, sex,
vandalism and welfare money.

I could bitch a little longer,
but I am sure our city fathers
and mothers, planners and ad-
ministrators, up in their ivory
towers, wil} not pay any atten-
tion to me.

Yes, a Tax Revolt is overdue.

Bill Homburg,
‘Terrace.

Library roof leaking again

The library roof has been at it
again. It sprung another leak
over the weekend of June 3rd.
The crack that éaused the leak is
believed to have developed over
the winter near one of the ven-
tilators. After repairs were com-
pleted, the city maintenance
crew flooded the roof with water
to make sure there were no more
leaks.

Library staff member Gillian
Campbell said they were lucky;
water damage was minimal this

time. Some atlases, wall pic-
tures, and the carpet in the back
office got a soaking.

Roof leaks at the library are
an on-going problem, stemming
from the fact.that the roof is flat
and has skylights. It can some-
times be difficult to trace a leak
back to its source because water
might enter through a ‘small
crack in one part of the roof,
then exit in an altogether dif-
ferent location. .

As I watch the daily coverage :

Lice ashi cee A

teeta

eA TET PS ORE PETE ET STAN RE TS EO SI Tc aaa mma a a . sams me - — — : tennant - ; : sa one