TE R RACE STANDARD The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, February 28, 2001 - 81 INSIDE SECTION B COMMUNITY JENNIFER LANG EVENTS B2 638-7283 | CHARLYNN TOEWS Does a bears... » in the woods? O NE DAY, in the late ‘80s, my husband and [ were wandering around in the woods just north of Halifax, Nova Scotia. We saw a skunk and her four babies, who were all as cute as kittens, Then we saw a large patch of dark red tiny wild strawberries. Such intense flavour! I stuffed my face, I ate them all. Too late, I tealized what I had done. I said, “I have just stolen food from the bears, haven’t 1?” Dave nodded gravely. “Not only that,” he Said, “You have robbed the earth of the straw- . berry seeds that otherwise would have been re- turned to the forest.” It took a moment, but then I understood the . implications of his statement. 1 said, “That ’ means, in order to avoid compounding my hei- + nous theft, I really should come back here when, um, I need to.” . “Yes,” he said. Yam sorry to report that it was the sewer system and eventually and unfortunately the - salty waters of Halifax Harbour which became the eventual recipient of the potential bounty _of the woods, wasted and washed away. Tf a hungry bear later wandered into an .urban landscape to feed at a garbage dump ‘and was shot as a result, would that be partly my fault? Yes. Better to stay in our apartment in north end Halifax and eat strawberries J purchased at ,Sobey’s with money I earned downtown after taking the bus.over cobbled and paved streets. But wait! What if my apartment building had teen constructed on a piece of land that had, a long long time ago, hosted a large and successful patch of delicious dark red wild strawberries? would be guilty of stealing fruit from bears, not once in the woods, but year after year! My rent money would encourage the owners of the building to continue this lengthy and premedi- tated crime. And the large lot Sobey’s supermarket ac- cupied — what if that had once been a favour. ite bear-berry buffet? My high-rise office downtown might have been the site of soil superbly suited to sustain strawberries. That means my so-called “pay cheques” were the proceeds of a criminal ac- tivity. My employer, the Nova Scotia Advisory Council on the Status of Women, was nothing but a fence, laundering the payola of ill-gotten gains. Never mind the miles of asphalt 1 covered ‘daily on my commute. Imagine all those crushed dark red strawberries, like blood on the road. “..flushed heartiessly away into the deep briny sea...” if only it were possible to float somehow. delightful red sauce, a big bowlful for only a dollar in the many waterfront pubs, and then . there were the scallops, the clams, beautiful ’ ‘lobster (sweet lobster!) and, of course, the wild Atlantic salmon, That's what I especially liked to steal from the ecosystem of that area, all consumed in strawberry-smashing build- ings, and the remains Mushed heartlessly away into the dark briny sea, singing Farewell to Nova Scotia! ; Some urbanites on this coast are becoming increasingly concerned about the bears around here, and the salmon, and the trees. It seems some consumers and environmentalists prefer wild salmon. The Nature of Things recently did a show on agrizzties, then one on how the re- mains of salmon that bears leave, help to feed the trees, Hey! I've got an idea! . ‘Perhaps there is a way for them to have ‘their cake — or wild salmon - and eat it, too. Consumers in urban centres further south — ,who enjoy dining upon wild salmon and wha : ‘are concerned about the trees and the bears in ‘this area should return the, wm, remains 'to the bush, In order not to compound their theft of biomatier, they really ought to travel here | when they, you know, need to, Thus feeding. the trees, which helps the bears. And, in order to avoid encouraging the - crushing of more wild strawberries, travelers to the northwest should come as close as possible ‘ 10 floating — they could jump on a plane. Haw- kair has reasonable prices, and if concerned ’ people from as far away as New York want to . fly up here for a deposit, I understand Air Ca. nada has a really good deal. ‘ ” Delicious mussels with garlic butter or a Peace mission to Bosnia A young reservist signs on for seven months in the war-torn Balkans By JENNIFER LANG FORMER Terrace resident Kevin Fawdrey is helping the people of northwestern Bosnia make it through the winter. As an army reservist who vo- lunteered for a seven-month peacekeeping stint in Bosnia, he’s handing out the basics: food, clothing, boots, blankets and even wood stoves, ' The 22-year-old is a member of Nanaimo’s Fifth B.C. Field Regi- ment Royal Canadian Artillery, which is affiliated with the B Bat- tery First Royal Canadian Horse Artillery of Shilo, Manitoba. Since Sept. 21, he and four other young Nanaimo reservists have been stationed in Bosnia near the Croatian border. His du- ties include patrolling city streets and farm iands as well as handing out supplies to the people who live there. Their area of responsibility is _ north of their military camp (referred to fondly as “Kamp Krusty”), located near Tomisloy- grad, and the town of Glamoc. His unit is part of the Second Princess Patricia Canadian Light Infantry Battle Group’s operations in Bosnia, where peacekeepers are stabilizing the area. They’re also helping to imple- ment the provisions of the Dayton peace accords for the eventual pull-out of NATO-led forces in Bosnia-Herzegpovina. He wraps up his tour of duty , April 2, but the experiences al- pee ready appear to have broadened his horizons, says his. mother, Dawn, who lives in Terrace. PREPARING FOR PATROL: Kevin Fawdrey inside an AVGP Grizzly in war-ravaged Bosnia. her son through letters and more recently by telephone and email. “Tt’s sounds like he’s in the Toom next door, it’s so clear.” Many of the buildings were de- vastated by the fractious, biller war and fields are loaded with land mines, “T think he’s certainly seen en- ough destruction over there.” Her son has sent home a video- tape documenting his daily rou- tines and patrols. “It wasn’t quite as glamorous as [ thought,” Dawn says. Apart from one incident with a physically violent, unarmed civil- ian, Kevin’s unit has been sate, even though ethnic and religious differences have divided the for- mer Yugoslavian state. Her son’s rank permits. him to shoot back if he’s fired upon, she points out. Prior to joining the army re- serves, the Caledonia grad’s clos- est involvement with anything mi- litary was playing paint bail. “That was it!” Dawn taughs. He moved to Nanaimo in 1999 and joined the reserves after talk- ing with recruiters at a local mall. The son she describes as laid back and easygoing soon applied to volunteer in Bosnia. may lead him into the field of corrections. “Before he left, he had no idea what he wanted to do,” Dawn says. Jn addition to three weeks’ va- cation in Australia, he’s taken day trips to Budapest, Hungary, and ta neighbouring Croatia. “He’s got the travel bug,” Dawn says, adding Kevin wants to trave] to Europe next year with his younger sister Michelle, who’s also in the Nanaimo army re- serves, The pay for a " peacekeeping volunteer is, “Not bad at all,” she says, adding he should have some _ She has kept in contact with MECHANICALLY minded Meghan Westerman took the top spot in tha. auto- motive service competition at a recent skills contest for college trades students. They've got the right stuff By SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN SPARKS WERE flying, engines were revving and sawdust was settling in the various trades workshops at Northwest Community College Feb. 16. That’s because the col- lege was hosting a regio- nal. skills competition for trades students in the northwest. Budding welders, mechanics and carpenters had their know-how tested in time limited skills tests. Local automotive trades technician student Meghan Westerman took the top spot in the automotive ser- . vice competition. There were five differ- ent scenarios in which Westerman had to : prove she had the right stuff. “I just wanted ta do the best I-could,” she said. about the compelition. And her best turned out to be the best. But beating out the other students in the com- petition didn’t come as a surprise to Westerman’s instructor Tom Logan. “No matter what that young lady does, if she puts her mind to it she can de it.” “Meghan is a great stu- dent. She studies hard, she’s totally dependable,” said Logan. “She's just gifted.” — : Westerman decided to take the eight month course at NWCC because she has always been cur- fous about what makes ears tick, =~ Getting hands on exper- ience is one of the high- lights of the program for Weslerman. Events like the skills competition also gives her . exposure to scenarios she may have to face out in the real working world. Westerman is currently the only female of 16 stu- dents taking the automo- tive trades technician’s course at the college. But being the only girl doesn’t matter that much to her, “At first some of the guys think ‘oh, she’s just a girl’, but it didn’t take long to fil in,” said Westerman. Her easy-going perso- nality, eagemess to learn and her determination are all qualities that Logan. says will serve > Westerman well, . “No matter what that young lady does, if she puis her mind to it she can do it,” he said. His plans on returning. home savings when his tour ends. Around Town Are genetically modified foods a threat? OVER THE PAST decade, big changes have taken place in agriculture, But the impact of genetically modified plants on their surrounding environment is only now being uncovered, say the organizers of the workshop, Genetically Modified Foods: the Dangers and the Alternatives. Maureen Bostock, a member of Seeds of Di- versity Canada, says 48 different crops have been genetically engineered, a list that includes soy- beans, corn, canola, tomatoes, cotton, wheat and squash, Terry Klokeid, a Saltspring Island-based organic farmer, grower and seed seller, comes to Terrace March 2 to present the workshop, sponsored by Seeds of Diversity, a national organization promot- ing the conservation and use of heritage plants, and cooperates with the Canadian seed bank to grow and save heritage wheat varieties. To find out what you can do as a consumer or a praducer, drop by Northwest Community College's room 2001 at 7 p.m. Food donations count COMMUNITY nutritionist Flo Sheppard estimates a family of four in the northwest needs to spend $150.06 a weck to eat a basic, nutritious diet. That’s way more than people on fixed incomes can afford, Sheppard says, pointing to a diabetic on income assistance who has just $45 per month fo spend on groceries, forcing her to turn to the food bank. “It was difficult to offer her suggestions that would mect her nutrition needs for an entire month,” Sheppard says, adding people living in poverty are more likely to suffer poor health. That’s why she believes it’s crucial to make food bank donations that are healthy and nutritious. She recommends foods from Canada’s Food Guide that offer a variety of grains (think: whole grain breads, bran muffin mix, pasta), vegetables and fruit (tomato sauce, canned vegetables, dried and canned fruit), milk products {parmesan cheese and evaporated milk), and protein (cans of tuna or salmon, baked beans, chili, soups, nuts, and seeds}. “All people have the right to good quality food,” she says. “The food bank is not a way to get rid of dented cans or undesirable foods.” UNBC comes to you STUDENTS THINKING about applying to univers- ity or college are invited to come out to hear what the University of Northern B.C, has to offer at an information session at the regional campus in Ter- race (4741 Park Ave.) March 8, starting at 6 p.m. UNBC president Charles Jago, students, alumni, faculty and advisers will be among the delegates at the session, aimed at high school and college students here, UNBC will also hold a meeting. here March 12 on its masters degree in education program,