Ad - The Terrace Slandard, Wednesday, September 3, 2003 ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, 1988 PUBLISHER: ROD LINK TELEPHONE: (250) 638-7283 * FAX: (250) 638-8432 WEB: www.terracestandard.com ADDRESS: 3210 Clinton Street Terrace, B.C. « V8G 5R2 EMAIL: newsroom@terracestandard.com Back to basics THIS WEEK, as parents, students and teachers start the school year with one hand tied behind their collective backs because of Friday closures, it’s time to consider what kind of education is be- ing provided, Recent changes to legislation enable school dis- tricts to make extraordinary changes in how they structure educational offerings. Schools can be designated as magnet ones, of- fering a specialized curriculum in music or sci- ence, for instance, to complement basic.educa- tional requirements. Schools can also be designated as “traditional ones” in that the emphasis is on reading, writing and math. These have become popular in other areas of the province where parents have decided that the core essentials of education need to be stressed. What’s particularly interesting about the tradi- tional school concept is that it establishes what the great majority of people think schools are all about in the first place — teaching young people how to write, read and do arithmetic in a struc- tured setting where individual performance is en- couraged and enhanced in a community setting. This combines quite nicely with our school dis- trict. The district now has an accountability con- tract with the provincial government and, by ex- tension, the public. Low standards, when com- pared to provincial averages in reading, writing and arithmetic, are to be raised by 2005. How that is to be accomplished by closing schools one day a week is very much open to debate and speculation. A four-day school week may be structured to offer the same amount of classroom hours as a five-day week, but whether or not the same kind or quality of education can result, whether a student’s mind remains stimu- lated over a longer day or whether a teacher can hold students’ attention is about to become part of a grand experiment. Given the enormous tasks schools now have that stray beyond the educational basics and given the demands of fulfilling this district’s account- ability contract it may be time for the district to retrench and declare itself a traditional school dis- trict. Such a move would demonstrate that the dis- trict has a goal and purpose in providing the best structure possible for the training of young minds so that their owners go on to become the best citi- zens possible. It would breathe life into the accountability con- tract by converting its rather formal stilted and bureaucratic language into something that all can understand. Finally, the district would demonstrate a con- nection to parents and community, building good will at a time when it needs it most. PUBLISHER/EDITOR: Rod Link ADVERTISING MANAGER: Brian Lindenbach PRODUCTION MANAGER: Edouard Credgeur NEWS: Jeff Nagel NEWS/SPORTS Sarah A. Zimmerman NEWS/COMMUNITY: Jennifer Lang 2002 WINNER CCNA BETTER FRONT OFFICE: Darlene Keeping & Carol McKay NEWSPAPERS CIRCULATION SUPERVISOR: Terri Gordon COMPETITION ADVERTISING CONSULTANTS: we Beri Husband & Denise Young TELEMARKETER: C.J. Bailey COMPOSING: Susan Credgeur AD ASSISTANT: Sandra Stefanik SUBSCRIPTION RATES BY MAIL: $57.94 (+$4.06 GST)=62.00 per year; Seniors $50.98 (+$3.57 GST )=54.55; Out of Province $65.17 (+$4.56 GST)=6). 73 Outside of Canada (6 months) $156,91(+10.98 GST)=167,89 MEMBER OF B.C, AND YUKON COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS seaman (eC) CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION . CN. A AND B.C. PRESS COUNCIL (www.tepresscouncl).org) Sonia eerTY Mipeee aeeediatinia Witit Eelseter oad Pelee Serving the Terrace and. Thomhlll area. Published on Wednesday of each week at 4210 Clinton Street, Tanace, British Columbia, VG 5R2. Stores, photographs, HMlustrations, designs and typastyles in the Torraca Slandard are the property of tha copyright holders, including Carboo Press (1969) Lid,, its fllustratiqn repro sorvicas and advertising agancias. Reproduction {n whola or In part, wilhoul writtan permission, Is specifically prohibited, Authorized as second-class mall panding the Post Oflce Department, for paymant of postage in cash. Special thanks to ali our contributors and correspondents for thelr time and talents GAS 859 — AY IT'S 86.9 Va ACROSS THE ye ; STREET 4 —| OFFICE] a FFICE ‘ @ ~ GAS | 'G 859 91. ; ; (_ J WE CAN — po BeTreR | THAN THAT / FEICE OIRnEs HOW COMPETITION AFFECTS GAS PRICES We're getting what we voted for VICTORIA - Now that the na- tion has recovered from its na- tional identity crisis caused by Peter Mansbridge’s beard, a columnist’s fancy turns to more mundane matters such as the state of the union or, more precisely, British Columbia. It was refreshing to learn after a recent column I wrote about the fiscal performance of British Columbia govern- ments over the past 25 years, that polarization in this prov- ince is alive and weil. Readers with left-wing views applauded the findings that the NDP actually per- formed ‘much better than the Socreds or Liberals in the fis- cal responsibility department when total expenditures were measured against. deficits, while my right-wing friends thought I ought to be commiil- ted. Then again, as it stands, Premier Gordon Campbell’s New Era doesn’t look nearly as rosy as promised. | Much of the current ma- laise is, of course, beyond the government’s control. Campbell didn’t have any- thing ta do with 9/11, the fall- out of which is still playing havoc with the tourism indus- try. He didn’t cause the soft- wood lumber dispute, which has thrown forestry workers onto welfare rolls and caused mills to shut down. Nor can we hold the premi- FROM. THE CAPITAL | HUBERT BEYER er responsible for the stuttering US economy. But a still small voice keeps whispering in my ear. It says: “What about the mas- sive tax cut?” What about it, indeed? The vast majority of British Col- umbians, me included, got about a six-pack’s werth of tax breaks, while a few, more af- fluent British Columbians were rewarded with tidy sums. The tax cut failed to do what the government hoped and promised it would. It did not rekindle British Columbia’s ailing economy. It did, however, end up compris- ing the better part of the budget deficit. I think that without appear- ing too partisan, we may con- clude that the big tax cut wasn’t one of the Liberal gov- ernment’s brighter ideas. That same small voice keeps whispering things about the fast ferries. It may have been former premier Glen Clark’s folly to order the three ferries built at a cast of $450 million. But is it any less senseless to sell them for $18 million? At least the construction of the vessels kept British Col- umbians working and was a shot in the arm of our ship- building industry. Inquiring minds also still want to know whether the pro- to types might not eventually have led to a healthy ship- building export industry, Proto types are always ex- pensive, The first computer CD Rom drives sold for $1,200. Now you can buy them for as little as $49. The new owner of Clark’s folly says he may well use the ferries on a Seattle run. Now why didn’t our government think of that? oo It probably did, but the fate of the fast ferries, which had been firmly established in the minds of British Columbians as a gigantic fiasco, was sealed. While in opposition, the Liberals had made so much political hay with the ferries that, no matter how good they may have been, they had to go. Also questionable is the government’s intention to sell off B.C. Rail, not because it is losing money but because the auction would funnel some badly needed cash into the government’s coffers. At least, we may suspect that after the recent blackout in Eastern Canada, the sale of B.C, Hydro is off. True, the government has repeatedly said it doesn’t plan to sell the Crown corporation, but the public still had its doubts. In spite of the less than stel- lar record of the Liberals after nearly two years in govern- ment, however, their fortunes are once again rising. In the latest poll, the Liber- als popularity had risen, while that of the New Democratic Party had dwindled. Go figure. I suppose part of the reason is the unimpressive list of can- didates lining up for the leader- ship of the NDP. I mean, how inspiring can a guy be, who pedals his bike to press conferences to show his concern for the environment? | Tf, as the cynics would have it, we always get the govern- ment we deserve, we can’t re- ally complain about having elected the NDP in 1991 and the Liberals two years ago. We deserved them both. But since I am not a cynic, I feel I have the right to com- plain. Beyer can be reached at: E - m ai d hbeyer@coolcom.com. What? Can you say it again? HOLD A microphone in front of someone not accustomed to being interviewed for broad- cast and listen to them stum- ble over three-syllable words in an effort to sound knowl- edgeable. Panic strikes. Juggling the questions being asked, the un- usual circumstances, and their need to use words big enough for the occasion, I suspect their mind goes blank, I sympathized with their vocabulary errors, but smile nonetheless, Not that they intend to be humorous, Archie Bunker style. Think of the episode when the Bunker family had something momentous to cele- brate. Archie went out and bought a “maggot” of wine, No, these interviewees are reaching for a word they prob- ably know, but in the stress of ‘the moment they pick a word _farther down the dictionary page. Last week, a firefighter in- ‘terviewed on CBC News about his experience being caught in “a fast moving forest fire that trapped him and half a dozen other men in a Kelowna street ? a GEE!AS A NEW-] NO PROBLEM! B COMER HOW Do |GETA RIG | TMEET PEOPLE THROUGH BIFOCALS. CLAUDETTE SANDECKI so that they had to leave their hoses behind, tried to convey what had led to their dire sit- uation. _ “The fire behaved in a way we had not apprehended,” he said. The fire came too close to apprehending the firefight- ers, In March, when the eight American soldiers who had been taken prisoner in Iraq were released by their captors, a father in Alabama choked back tears as he tried to ex- press how happy he was to see his son rescued by the U.S. TRUCK AND Hey mat! Fes MY WASHER? helicopter. “It was the capitu- lation of what I had hoped for,” he said. In another interview [ don’t recall the subject or the person being interviewed, the inter- viewee figuratively held up his hands and said, “I don’t want to cast aspirations on anyone.” Close, but not the word he planned to say. I do remember a fire chief who remarked that something was “the fruitatton of all our hard work and preparation.” A suitable word, perhaps, if he were an orchardist. Then there was the mother of little girl suffering from a severe chronic illness. The . mother was interviewed on CBC Radio’s forenoon show. Over months the family had gone to many doctors, and the daughter had been given vari- ous forms of treatment, with no discernible improvement in the child’s health. Not seeing any rainbow in her daughter’s future, the other sighed, "She is no better desp- ite a full spectacle of treatments.” 7 TGOT 8 Wipes AT , | THE TANNER! ez LLL é The language flubs I'm re- ferring to are in no way similar to the radio of TV news report. This gives you lines such as the Prince Rupert reporter reading news about the politi- cal landscape in B.C, “Liberals blame the province’s deterior- ating social conditions on prev- ious decisions made by the s0- cialites.” And just who might these socialites be? E wouldn’t know because I don’t mix the the up- per crust crowd. Like inexperienced inter- viewees, some writers reach for a Roget’s Thesaurus to ferret our four-syllable words. I don’t. I do consult a thesaurus to give ~ me a wider selection in the hope of finding the most apt word, but I steer clear of big wards [’m not familiar with. Better a three-letter word [ know that a tongue-twister I’m not sure about, Writers, unlike. inter- viewees, have the luxury of time to think, sort, weight be- fore expressing a thought. The shorter the word, the less rope to entangle the pen or the tongue, V7 4 SACKS oF \\ thece FEED! ) HELL BEA LOCAL WHEN HE SNEAKS OUT OF TOWN)! Eee ad ir \j aa)