Ad - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, December 11, 2002 TERRACE > STANDARD ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, 1988 PUBLISHER: ROD LINK ADDRESS: 3210 Clinton Street Terrace, B.C. « VBG SR2 TELEPHONE: (250) 638-7283 « FAX: (250) 638-8432 WEB: www.terracestandard.com EMAIL: newsroom@terracestandard.com About time IT’S NOT exactly a gripping title, “Report on the 2002 Budget Consultation Process,” but its content is a must-read for us all and particularly for provincia] finance minister Gary Collins concerning what it has to say about rural B.C. The report comes from the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Ser- vices, struck by the provincial legislature to take comment from the public and then to re- commend how the province should structure its budget next year. This past fall, the committee made up of 11 Members of the Legislative As- sembly (the sole NDP MLA was Joy MacPhail) received 303 oral and written submissions. From those submissions, the committee re- leased four recommendations. What’s startling is that each of the four recommendations speaks to the condition rural B.C, is in nowadays. Equally as startling is the admission by the committee that provincial budget cuts have af- fected rural B.C. far more than in the cities. In the committee’s words, “The situation is becoming critical for resource-dependent com- munities hit hard by the combined impact of the government’s restraint program and the current economic uncertainty in forestry and the mining sector.” The committee advocates assistance for rural communities, more money for schools, making transportation a top priority to develop natural resources and restoring child care subsidies (cut this year by the province) to make it possible for lower income people to find and keep work. While a northern response to this might be “Tell us something we don’t know,” the’com- mittee’s report should give pause to Mr. Collins and his advisors embarked as they are on their ideologically driven budget-making journey. What the province has done is cut jobs and services in rural areas which traditionally have provided stability in times of natural resource economy downturns. We can argue all we want about whether it makes sense to artificially sup- port small-town B.C. or not, but the simple fact remains that when a place like Terrace loses, as it has this year, at least 60 provincial govern- ment jobs, everybody hurts. To be sure, the Liberals say they have a plan to replace the provincial government economic presence with jobs from the private sector. But there is a gap between the former and the latter and when that gap is wider than first believed, the province has a responsibility to bridge it. The tricky part is that committee pays hom- age to the government by saying it should conti- nue its plan to balance the budget and to cut spending. That sounds like more bad news for tural B.C. But it is bad news that should be buf- fered by giving the committee’s recommenda- tions due and proper consideration. PUBLISHER/EDITOR: Rod Link ADVERTISING MANAGER: Brian Lindenbach PRODUCTION MANAGER: Edouard Credgeur NEWS: Jeff Nagel NEWS/SPORTS Sarah Zimmerman NEWS /COMMUNITY: Jennifer Lang CCNA BETTER FRONT OFFICE: Darlene Keeping & Carol McKay NEWSPAPERS CIRCULATION SUPERVISOR; Tem Gordon COMPETITION ADVERTISING CONSULTANTS: Bert Husband & Stacy Gyger TELEMARKETER: Stacy Gyger COMPOSING: Susan Credgeur AD ASSISTANT: Sandra Stefanik SUBSCRIPTION RATES BY MAIL: $56,25(+$3.94 GST)=60.19 per year; Seniors $49.50 (+$3.47 GST)=52.97; Out of Province $63.22 (+$4.43 GST)=67.65 Outside of Canada (6 months) $152.34 (+$10.66 GST)}=163.00 MEMBER OF B.C. AND YUKON COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION, CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION AN @ CNA Serving the Terrace and Thomhill araa. Published on Wednesday of each weak al 3210 Ciinton Street, Terrace, Sriish Columbia, V8G 5h2. Slorlas, photographs, ilustrations, dasigns and typestylas in tha Terrace Standard ave the property of tha copyright holders, including Cariboo Press (1869) Ltd,, its lltustration repro samvices and advertising agencias. ; Reproduction In whole or In pact, without wiitian permission, |s specifically prohibited. Authorized as second-class mail panding the Pos! Office Department, for paymant of postage in cash. 2002 WINNER . Pawst Crtemtts and Fobos D 8.C. PRESS COUNCIL (www.bcpresscouncil.org) Special thanks to all our contributors and correspondents for their time and talents © a ABOUT CANADA THAT DISTINGUISHES &E (pp us FROM — MORE OUR TARGETS. A brother po HELFERSKIRCHEN, GER- MANY — His blood pressure had dropped to 35 over 25. He didn’t look much like the bro- ther anymore | had known all my life. I had received the kind of phone call one dreads from one of my brother’s five sons. Their dad had taken a turn for the worse, and was in inten- sive care in an induced coma. Next day, | was in Germany. Thursday, Nov. 7: The sight of my brother hooked up to do- zens of wires and tubes, sub- ject to forced breathing, his eyes occasionally open, but empty, without recognition be- cause of likely brain damage, the result of not enough oxy- gen reaching the brain, made me seek refuge in memories. Flashback: it's 1938. Kari Heinz, 11, six years older than me, and I are in a beautiful Ba- varian village at the foot of the Alps. We were sent here because nother ‘was sick: Ah, what memories of kids from the city, seeing the majesty of the Alps for the first time, of riding on oxen-pulled wagons piled high with hay, of harvesting and thrashing grain, of collecting fresh eggs in the morning, of ri- ding horses and milking cows. Friday, Nov. 8: The attend« ing doctor says it’s a matter of an hour or two, but my brother stubbornly refuses to die. His blood pressure remains steady Broadway ligh’ THORNHILL JUNIOR Sec- ondary School now sports a Broadway-style marquee on its front wall announcing school events to passing motorists travelling Highway 16. My first thought when I saw the scrolling words in orange light bulbs was, “Good grief! Five schools closed, kids crammed in classrooms, half their equipment doesn’t work, yet the school district has money for a doodad.” My second thought was un- printable in a family newspa- per. In fact, no school board funds went into the cost of the marquee, which is in the $10,000 range. A smaller mar- quee inside the school an- nounces block changes and other student messages. The marquee was funded mainly by the Parent. Advisory Committee from the school’s share of gaming commission binges. The shortfall was made up from in-school funds derived from gym rentals and pop ma- chine sales. The marquee’s job is to oe THE GUN CONTROL PROGRAM REFLECTS SOMETHING WE U.S. ' ZN en sy! al i — ae i\ O ; FROM THE CAPITAL. HUBERT BEYER at about 35 over 25. Whenever he opens his eyes, I hope in vain for some sign of recogni- tion. They remain empty, star- ing through me. Flashback: October 1944, Mother, Kari Heinz and I sit in our tiny kitchen/living room in Stadiprozelten, a small village in northern Bavaria, to which we had been evacuated to es- cape the increasingly heavy air: “death: We wish it were over raids or: Duesseldorf.i wy Karl Heinz has to leave next day for the Russian front, which by now is in Czechosto- vakia. He is 15 years old. In its last throes, the Hitler regime is drafting children as cannon fodder for a madman’s dream. Saturday morning, Novem- ber 9. It’s been more than 24 hours that the doctor thought my brother would last no more than a few hours. As in life, he refuses to give up, fighting the ‘THROUGH BIFOCALS: CLAUDETTE SANDECKI “increase the effectiveness of communication to parents and community”, a goal identified in the school’s most recent ac- creditation carried out several years ago. Messages will bols- ter the newsletters sent home to parents. Any editorial com- ment would gel me into trou- ble, Already the marquee has announced the band’s craft fair, parent-teacher report card interviews, and a Parent Advi- sory Committee meeting. The principal is looking forward to 02-41 SLA a eri) en, WE A CA nA MOU 5 bef, a Gat GS aan al. AY: th (4 af : 4S! ay. Ue ’ Ne eg AS es : ‘f i CU BO ys his final tribute inevitable with every ounce of strength left in his weakened body. His five sons, Edi, Tho- mas, Andi, Holger, Stefan and 1 continue our death watch at his bedside. Flashback: April 1945, The German army, beaten and de- moralized is in full retreat. Thousands of German soldiers stream through Stadiprozelten. Many throw their weapons into the river Main that flows by the town. Those who can get them, change into civilian clathes. We haven't heard from my brother since he left for the front. My mother asks the odd soldier what conditions in Cze- choslovakia are like. Dehuma- nized by the horrors of war, some tell her cruelly that if the Russians haven't killed her son, the Czechs surely have. All mo- ther has left is tears. Saturday evening, Nov. 9. The machine keeps Karl Heinz breathing. His blood pressure ‘keeps. hovering just this:side of and feel guilty for it, even though there is no hope. We leave at about 1] p.m., asking the nurse to phone if my bro- ther’s condition worsens. Flashback: September 1953. My brother’s first son, Edi, is born. I'm an uncle for the first time. Somehow, I feel older, if not more responsible. To the dismay of Regina, my sister-in- law, J keep getting my brother inte trouble by talking him into posting future triumphs when one of the school’s bands or sports teams wins their next provincial or national award. The school’s November 21 parent-teacher interviews en- joyed the best ever parent turnout. Were parents respond- ing to the marquee’s reminder? Were parent numbers the re- sult of a series of introductory meetings last June with in- coming Grade 8’s when par- ents and students talked about what you need to do to suc- ceed in junior high school? Or were parents keen to learn how well their kids were adjusting after the turmoil of last spring? Most parents drop by the schoo] several times a week ferrying kids to or from clas- ses, Sports and band practice. But for the Thornhill commun- ity at large the marquee offers one more way to learn what is happening at the school be- yond the three R's, “The school exists in the Thornhill community,” says the principal. “It’s important the Thornhiil community un- derstands what the school is going on pub crawls with me. Sunday morning, Nov. 10. The phone call comes at about 6:20 a.m. Karl Heinz is fading fast. Thomas gets there first, just in time to witness my bro- ther’s last few breaths. Death comes at 7 a.m. My other ne- | phews and I get there at 7:10 a.m. We all take a last look at him and are finally able to cry. Flashbacks: I think of the good times we had together, I think of the time he and I went union) ona week-long trip on his mot- oreycle. I think of the time he - gave his little brother 20 marks © so he could take a few more rides at the midway. I think of the times he and I went pub-crawling, coming home in the wee hours of the ~ morning, able to sleep only a— couple of hours before we had to report for work in our dad’s bu- SINeSS. I think of how his eyes Tit up and how he hugged:me, ;every ‘time I visited him 'from Canada. fi think of the 67 years I had my. brother. What great years they were, The day my brother went into a coma, a little boy was born to his youngest son, Ste- fan. My brother has left, Mario has atrived. Another cycle is complete. Beyer can be reached at: E-mail: huberi@coolcom.com; Tel (250) 382-6900; Web hitp://www.hubertbeyer.com 's in Thornhill trying to do in the bigger picture.” He enjoys showing off his school, and welcomes anyone who wishes to stop in a visit his school. The marquee is connected to a computer. Words appear at the touch of a keyboard. Mes- sages must be readable to the passing motorist, so will be ten words or less. Watch for a new message once or twice a week depending upon need and rele- vance. Fresh messages will ap- pear when dates pass. What I thought to be a spendthrift modernization tums out to be old hat in lower mainland schools. Sure, I’ve seen those climb-the-ladder- with-an-armload -of-letters bill- boards front and center in news stories when the camera pans to identify the site of a news story. But a scrolling message in Broadway lights struck me a flamboyant and a poke in the eye during these cutback times. Tums out no school board dollars went into this electronic — . newsletter. i AL OKAY PEOPLE COVER YOUR EYES AND HOLD YouR BREATH! WE'RECROSSING. “ag! M THE ARCTIC CIRCLE ! YOU WON'T GET HURT IE You FolLowW (NSTRUCTION.C !! AND MARTEN USEP To CURSE THESE OLD SEISMIC LINES 1!