stream,” he continued. é
going to require four grade 12°
examinable academic subjects be‘

| Législative Library | 7 |

Parliment Buildings

Victoria, B.C.
VaVe124

Serving the
Progressive
Northwest

eq

Tuesday, May 1,-

programs), Skip Bergsma

Comp,

SS

Deputy Minister of Education, Jim Carter, extreme left,
Is shown here with Tom Walker (director, REM Lee
Theatre}, Jerry Mussio (Executive Director of Schoo!
I (Assistant Superintendent for
School District 88), and Harold Cox (Director of In-

25 cents

‘Established 1908

struction for District 88), Carter and Mussio were in
Terrace Monday and today to get feedback on the
Proposed changes to graduation requirements for
secondary school students. .

by RALPHRESCHKE
Herald Staff Writer. .
TERRACE—. Local and regional
educators met Monday evening with
the Deputy Minister. of Education

against and recommendations: for
the ministry’s proposed white paper,
outlining changes in graduation
requirements for secondary schools.
The meeting took place last night

at the REM Lee Theatre, before an .

audience of about 40 people, some of
whom made presentations to the
deputy minister and Jerry Mussio,
executive dirrector for schools’
programs, including curriculum
development.

Saying that the criticism heard
was “clear and sharp," the deputy
minister made it understood that st
least two of the recommendations
made will be put'on the agenda for
discussion in Victoria, after 14 other

public meetings have laken place in
B.C

“Two suggestions were made
tonight, that were of the type we
were looking for,"’ Carter said after
the meeting.

“One was in our arts and sciences’
“We are

taken for graduation in the arts and

sciences stream, and this would ©

Brake failure may have caused deaths

week later, having never regained —

VICTORIA (CP) — A crowded bus
that crashed Jan. 30 on Mount
Washington, killing two students
returning from a day of skiing with
classmates, smelled of hot brakes, a
coroner's Inquest was told Monday.

Police prepare for.
challenge

‘public challenge to the Com-

Solidarity
WARSAW (Reuter) — Police
blanketed Poland's biggest cities .
Monday in preparation for May
Day demonstrations by the
outlawed Solidarity trade union.
The authorities armed
themselves with fresh summary
court powers in the Solidarity .
strongholds of Cracow, Wroclaw
and Gdansk. The sale of alcohol
was banned until May 2. .
Government spokesman Jerzy
Urban said summary procedures
were in force in 11 provinces,
including Warsaw, a3 Solidarity
prepared for its first major

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mean that B.C, students would have
to take one more course than is
needed by B.C. universities in their
entrance requirements.” :

re fietidations put forward by
one local educator would see that
four-course requirement reduced to
three; to match post-secondary
requirements, .

The second suggestion made was
directed towards the applied arts
and sciences stream. With the new
graduation requirements, students
must take courses in grade 11 that
are pre-requisites to grade 12
programs.

Says Carter, “The problem arises
because we're moving from
basically having no pre-requisite
requirements to a position where we
would be asking for four courses on
the 12 level with grade 11 pre-
requisites.”

The suggested change calls for a
reduction in the number of courses
with pre-requisites from four to two.

Carter says both suggestions will
be put to the ministry of education,
along with other suggestions for
evaluation and discussion.

Carter says submissions to the -

ministry should be made by May 30.
The ministry will then take two
months to study the recom-
mendations and possibly make

Adam Kerr, 17, and Scott Branson,

16, students at Claremont secondary

Schoo] in Victoria, were killed.
Kerr died when the bus crashed

into a ditch on the steep, twisting

road. Branson died in hospital a

munist regime since last
December.
Underground: leaders of the

union flooded streets and fac-

-. tories in Warsaw and other ‘citles

with leaflets calling for a boycott

‘of ‘the official] May Day

ceremonies.

They urged Poles to take part
in counter-demonstrations for the
release of hundreds of political
prisoners detained since martlal
law was imposed and to at.end
church services. .

eputy Minister of Education The... Deputy. Minister. says.
- Jinn Carter; to level their ctitlcleni “Geusmminmidntlins “ot iar

modifications to the white. paper,

before publishing the” results in.
August, viet vos
". Carter says that students will then:
have an opportunity. to. make their.

course decisions based on the new
requirements a‘ year before they

become implemented in the school —

system, .

During his presentation, . the
deputy minister explained: the

* reason for these changes is that in
the last few years many students
were taking the smallest. number of
courses necessary to graduate.

He said that this ‘resulted in a
hodge-podge of courses lacking
chalienge and-direction. He hopes
the new requirements will solve the
problem, he said. ' ——

Here ‘are some of the changes
as outlined in the discussion paper.

4s of September, 1995, students .

entering grade 11 will have to keep
the following requirements in mind,
should they wish to graduate.
They will have to successfully
complete’ one senior level
mathematics and science course.:
The number of electives they may
elect totake will be reduced from six
to three and physical education as a
graduating requirement will be
dropped. ,
Students will have to choose from
one of three major areas of study,

consciousness from severe head
injuries,,

A total of 64 passengers were in

- the bus, chartered from Conmac

‘Stagea Ltd., which had a seating

capacity of 45, RCMP Cpl, Ken

. _ Osmond told the inquest.

Teacher Geoff Giles said that he
was in the following bus, and when
he was about 250 metres from the

, accident scene, he could see smoke
and noticed a bad smell — “it
smelled like hot brakes."

Osmond, a qualified alr brake
inspector, sald he found two broken

. brake line fittirige on the wrecked
bus and said he believed the reat

rriculum

either an arts and science major, an
applied arts and science major, or a
Career. preparation major.

+ As well, language offerings will be-
~ expanded..ta: include ,Chinese..and.

Japanese in addition to French,
German, Spanish, and Latin.

In a handout given at the meeting,

the Ministry of Edutation concludes

" ¢hat the changes suggested ‘in the

discussion paper are not wholesale
changes, but rather, represent at-
tempts made to modify and refine
the structure that is presently doing
a good job for most students.

Many teachers are concerned that
the new requirements are not only
too rigid, but will also force students
to make career choices at an age
where they are not ready to do so.

A possible scenario might be that
the dropout -rate for graddating
sludents will increase over the next
few years as a result of this latest
government proposal.

However, Carter disagrees,
saying that in recent studies from
the United States, where such
programs are in place, the rate of
graduating students has actually
risen, ,

Presentations were heard from
representatives from
Hazelton, and Prince Rupert as well
as the Terrace area.

wheel air brakes had push rods with
“too much travel” and were out of.
adjustment,

NOT TOUCHING

With brake drum expansion from
heat generated by brake application
on the downhill trip, he said, it was
possible the brake linings were not
contacting the drums.

Rod Madill, a Grade 10 student
who is a qualified first-aider, said

the first aid kits from the buses were .

“extemely inadequate for a
situation like that,” lacking gauze
bandages and wrappings, “and
other things, just basic things were
not there,” ;

-Sunday
‘Mississippi into Wisconsin, killing

Kitimat, .

Gallup findings

OTTAWA (CP) -- In ‘an astoun-
ding turnaround that even some
Liberals found hard to believe,
Gallup reported today that. the
Liberals have pulled ahead of the
Conservatives in popularity for the
first time since August 1981.

Gallup said Liberal support in the
March 29-31 survey soared to 46 per
cent among - decided respondents

from 32 per cent the month before, °

while the Tories plummeted to 40 per

cent from 54 per cent and the NDP

edged up to 13 per cent from 11 per
1 . r n

cent. ;

The turnaround is the biggest ever -

measured in one month by Gallup in
its 42 years of polling in Canada.

"T just don’t believe it,’’ said
Senator Keith Davey, Liberal
campaign chairman. .

“But If it’s true I’m thrilled and
delighted. With this the leadership
race is a whole new ballgame, isn’t
it?”

Gallup spokesman Clara Hatton
admitted the numbers took even
Gallup by surprise and the company
had gone back and checked its data
“very thoroughly" to make sure
there was no mistake. _

Hatton admitted it ‘could very
well be” the one poll in 29 which falls
outside the four percentage-point
margin of error but doubted it. "We
think it's correct.”

'+ The four-point margin ‘of error
‘means ‘that Liberal support could

theoretically be as high as 50 per
cent or as low as 42 per cent and
Tory support as high as 44 or as low
as 36 per cent, with corresponding

‘ adjustments for the NDP. ~

‘Hatton attributed the jump to a

‘delayed reaction to: Prime Minister
an-.
nouncement Feb. 29 and the start of .

Trudeau's resignation

the leadership race.. .

Liberal. pollster Martin, Goldfarb
also vouched for the poll's accuracy, .
saying the figures are ‘not out of
line” with what he found himself in
another. poll taken at virtually the
same time for the party and he ia-
dicated an August election now
seems likely.

While the decision on an election:
will naturally be up to the new
leader the party elects June 16, if the
Liberal lead is borne out in sub-
sequent polls ‘why would you want
to wait?” .

However, Goldfarb declined to
back up his statements with specific
figures from his own poll and would

not ‘say it had found the Liberals ;

pulling ahead.

NDP federal secretary. Gerry
Caplan was incredulous.

“I don’t believe it fortwo seconds.
Nathing about it is credible, .

“Some of the research we've just
been doing, which Is not all across
the nation but is in various parta of
the nation, shows nothing like that
Liberal rise, nothing like that Tory
collapse and nothing like either 11 or
13 per cent for us.”

Caplan jokingly attributed the
whole thing toa typographical error.
“I think they got the party names
wrong. It makes entire sense only If .
it works the other way.”

A poll for the Globe and Mail
earlier last month by the Montreal-
based Centre de Recherches sur
VOpinion Publique (CROP) found
the Tories ahead of the Liberals 50
per cent to 38, about the same as the
previous Gallup on March 1-3.

The: CR

smaller margin of error, was taken
Feb. 23:t0 March 16, | |

Hurrican-force winds:

blast the

A killer storm tore into the Mid- ~

west with hurricane-force winds and
up toa 30 centimetres of soggy snow
Monday, closing roads and cutting
power lines to tens of thousands of

* homes and businesses.

The winds, gusting up to 130
kilometres an hour at Waukesha,
Wis, and almost as strong in many
areas of Michigan, Iowa, Illinois and

. Indiana, were caused by the same

storm system that spawned twisters
from Oklahoma and

one person, injuring more than 60
and levelling scores of homes.

At least three people were killed in
the powerful winds Monday in the
Midwest.

In northeastern Ohio, an 82-year- .

old Amherst man was killed when
high winds toppled a tree on to his
car. A 2i-year-old Crown City man
was killed when a power line fell on
to his coal truck in the southeastern
part of the state.

In Holland, Mich., a 27-year-old
man on a motorcycle was killed by a
falling tree limb. _

Strong winds also caused
problems across many areas of
southern Ontario on Monday.

In the Barrie area, winds gusting
up-to 50 kilometres an hour caused
peor visibility on Highway 400
because of blowing sand and dust’
_ Siding and insulation has been
ripped off some houses under con-
struction and part of the roof of a gas
Station-restaurant north of Barrie
was blown off. No injuries were
reported, but damage was ex-
tensive.

In Sarnia, there were gusts of up to

Midwest |

110 kilometres an hour, and police
were warning people to stay off the
streets after one older woman was
blown off her feet. ;

The roof of a 10-storey building
was ripped off with debris damaging
some cars.

In the Hamilton area, police
closed the Burlington Skyway bridge
to truck traffic because of the high
-winds,

In Manitoba, scores of rural
Manitobans faced at least four more
days without electricity following a
weekend -blizzard that caused an
estimated $6 million damage in. the
southern part of the province. About
500 Manitoba Hydro workers were
trying to restore power to about 4,500
farmhouses, but full service was not
expected to be back until next
weekend at the earliest, officials
said. ;

In the United States, the National
Weather Service said the sky over
central and northern Ohio had a
brownish tinge Monday from dust
blown up from Oklahoma and Texas,
and visibility was reduced to about
three kilometres. -

Pilots reported the dust extended .
as high as 1,800 metres and
forecasters sald ‘“‘many surfaces -

, Such as cars and patio furniture may -

be coated with as thin layer of Texas
and Oklahoma.”

The winds were clocked at 120
kilometres an hour across southern °
Michigan and officials of that state's
two largest utilities said power was
knocked out to more than 140,000
homes and businesses, mainly In
Battle Creek, Kalamazoo, Grand
Rapids and Detroit.

SHANGHAI (AP) — President
Reagan ended his six-day visit to
China on May Day, the Com-

‘munist holiday —_ celebrating
workers, telling Chinese Premier
Zhao Ziyang today: “We leave
with many warm memories and a
warm feeling for you and your
people.” =.

After touring a commune and
accepting congratulations from
Zhao on the success of hia trip,
the president, accompanied by
his wife Nancy, waved goodbye to
Chinese officials and Air Force
One began the nine-hour flight to
Fairbanks, Alaska.

In a farewell phone call from

to “do our utmost te continue the
relationship that we feel has been

Zhao in Peking, Reagan pledged _

established.”
Reagan, whose visit marked a

~ transformation in his long-held

antl-Communist attitudes, said’
he looked forward to visiting
China again. “We would come
with great pleasure.”

His last stop was the Rainbow
Bridge Township, formerly -
called a commune, one of the
basic units of Communist society,
“IT think itis wonderful,’ Reagan
sald,

In Fairbanks, the president
arranged to meet Pope John Paul
on Wednesday. Reagan returns to
the White House on Wednesday
night. ee
’ ghao, whom Reagan had met
earlier In Peking, told Reagan his
visit. “has enhanced = un-

Reagan pledges continued friendship

improved
our two

derstanding and
relations belween
countries.”

A transcript of the call
provided by the White House said
that Reagan told Zhao: "We
leave with many warm memories
and a warm feeling for you and
your people and we shall do our
utmost to continue the
relationship that we fee] has been
established.” ;

Reagan said he was especially
impressed with a tour of a
commune home and his visit with
the family who built it, Bao Hong
Yuan, 35, and his wife Yong Hong
Fang, 33.

Reagan spent 30 minutes with
the couple and their seven-year-
old son, bgian Fang, and their

elderly parenté, The house was
oneof the finest on the commune,
which grows enough vegetables
to feed about two million people.

Asked how he liked the com-
mune, Reagan said: “I think it is
wonderful, especially because
our host has built the home
himself."

The stop at the commune,
which also included a visit to a
child-care centre where children |
danced to the music of a small.
band, wound up Reagan's first
official journey to a Communist —
country. Though he referred
several times to the differences
in ideology between the United -
States and China, Reagan said
those differences need not get, in
the way of good relations.

. rien ROP. .poll,, ‘which ‘used | a wd iy
" harger ‘sampleand therefore had a

‘Liberals ahead J
in astonishing |

er