INSIDE COMMUNITY EVENTS B2 AT THE LIBRARY | SHEELAGH MEIKLEM Surviving parenthood cre we are, two and a half months into a new year, still wrestling with winter! A dire consequence of this is that we have spent more time than usual confined to barracks with our loved ones, Now we are made extremely aware of the success or failure of our parenting skills. Can this rude, disrespectful, Batulent fellow really be the same boy who came toddling to greet me, flinging himself at my knees and clinging desperately with chubby arms? In the midst of my despair, I discovered a book by Dr.Robert C. and Nancy J. Koldny : How to Survive Your Adolescent’s Adoles- cence. This is an in-depth guide to positive parenting of teens and covers every imaginable situation that might arise. Another :xcellent book is Adolescence: the Survival Guide for Parents and Teenagers by Elizabeth Fenwick and Dr. Tony Smith. This book has case histories and work sheets for both parent and teen, with plenty of sensible solu- tions. A good question to ask oneself during rough passages is ‘‘Is this a hill I’m prepared to die on?”’. : Logical Consequences: a New Approach to Discipline by Rudolf Dreikurs is a classic on how to instill good behaviour in children of all ages. Unruly behaviour may be a sympiom of other problems. Helping Your Hyperactive/Attention Deficit Child by John F.Taylor is a comprehensive guide detailing the strengths and weaknesses of various different approaches to this problem. Can this rude, disrespectful, flatulent fellow really be the same boy who came toddling to greet me, flinging himself at my knees and clinging desperately with chubby arms? Parenting the Fussy Baby and High-Need Child by William Sears, M.D. deals with the dis- cipline and care of much younger children, from birth to age five. Parenting is never easy and sometimes cir- cumstances conspire to make it even more dif- ficult, Single Father’s Handbook by Richard Gatley is not a new book but is still relevant for fathers who have custody or fathers who only have weekend access. And of course there are several books along the same line for single mothers. Another responsibility of parenthood is feed- ing the young, not always as casy as it sounds. Susan Powter has published a lighthearted cookbook called Hey, Mom! I’m Hungry! full of low-fat casy recipes designed to appcal to youthful appetites. Great stuff such as Cream of Garbage Soup, Turkey Gobble di Good, and Fruit Patch under a Cloud are quick to make and fun to eat. We have other things that we must pass along to our children not the least of which are moral values. These are the foundation of character and are absorbed from us in such subtle ways that we may not realize what we have in- advertently taught. The Moral Intelligence of Children by Robert Coles is a very interesting book on this subject. The knowledge of right and wrong is imparted to children at a very car- ly age: illustrated by fairy tales as well as Mother’s firm ‘‘No!”. A fascinating view of folk tales as learning tools is imparted in Returning to the Teachings by Rupert Ross. After years of hard labour we receive one of the best rewards for being a parent, grand- parenthood! Becoming a Grandparent: A Life Transition by Sheila Kitzinger is a guide to this important passage, based on intensive research among grandmothers in many countries. Another reward of parenthood is to be able to observe our adult children as they move through life with such compassion and generosity. of spirit, with humour in the face of adversity, We can only hope (hat some small portion of these character traits came through us, not in spite of us, A mystery scries featuring a single parent is by Lyan S, Hightower, Sonora Blair juggles her duties as a Cincinnati police detective as well as a widowed mother of two in Flashpoint and Eyeshot, the first two entries in this graphically exciling police procedural, Henry James said ‘Three things in human life ate important. The first is to be kind, The sec- ond is to be kind, And the third is to be kind.’’ Caledonia team captures physics title INGENIOUS solutions to complex problems propelled six students at Caledonia Sr. Secondary School to first- place at the provincial Physics Olympics two weekends ago. The local students beat out 47 other teams from across the province to become the best in B.C. and capture a large trophy, now sitting in a case at Caledonia. Ryan Orr, Kosta Sainis, Solveig Adair, Melissa Da Silva, Simon Hilcove and Norman Geerhaert —- along with six other physics stu- dents who weren’t actually on the team — made the trip to UBC. But their winning entries —a precision catapult and an electrical resistor made out of edible food —- will remain on display at UBC for one year. Those two entries were the key to winning the overall title of the six-event compe- tition, The catapult required the students to fire a projectile over a wall and land on a target. The closer to the bullseye, the better your score, The tricky part was that they were supplied rubber bands out of a box that varied greatly in elasticity. But the team worked out that the elastic band sup- plied could be stretched and worked until it supplied a consistent force of eight Newtons when stretched 20 centimetres. They built the catapult to that specification, and the machine performed ad- mirably. All three counting shots fired bit the golf ball- sized centre bullseye. Their nearest competition wasn’t even close, *‘With the catapult, we just knew we'd do well,”’ said student Ryan Orr. ‘We practised every day for a few weeks,’” The resistor posed an un- usual challenge because it had to be made from food. Some teams tried straws filled with ketchup or soft drinks. But the Caledonia students said those efforts were doomed to fail because those materials turn into a battery when you pass elec- tric current through them. ‘*You end up producing Fy NANCY STONE-Archer and John McGowan play a TERRACE STANDARD The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, March 19, 1997 - B1 OLYMPIANS AGAIN! SECTION B 638-7283 | CALEDONIA PHYSICS student Melissa Da Silva adjusts the team's edible resistor as teammate Solveig Adair Icoks on. Below, team members Simon Hilcove, Norman Geerhaert, Ryan Orr and Kosta Sainis pose with the Caledonia precision catapult that blew away 47 other teams from across the province. voltage,”’ Orr said, adding that defeats the purpose of the resistor. The students tried dozens of foods, before settling on spaghetti bumed to carbon. But individual sticks of the blackened pasta crumbled when: electric leads were attached, so they ended up powdering the bumt spaghetti and packing the black powder into a piece of woods Then. they found that com- pressing the powder a certain degree gave it in- creased resistance. The contraption worked, producing more resistance “Caledonia has so many fine students. It seems every year we have a simply superb group.” than any of the other teams, and securing another event win. To prove the material was actually edible, the students ate the burnt spaghetti pow- der, said Melissa Da Silva. ' Wins in those two events were enough to give Caledonia overall victory. “We sort of knew we were going to win,’’ Da widow and a Vietnam vet who develop a disturbing relationship in The Watering Place. Silva said. ‘“We were just so far in the lead after the catapult,”’ This is not the first time a team from Caledonia has done well at the Physics Olympics, Allen Wootton’s students consistently finish in the top ranks of the annual event. In fact, teams coached by Woolton have finished in the top ten in every B.C. Physics Olympics _ this decade. And they’ve fin- ished either first or second in five out of the last seven years, Logic would dictate that such a record is more than just good luck, and that per- haps the teacher has some- thing to do with it, But Wootton dismisses suggestions he’s responsible. “Caledonia has so many fine students,’’ Wootton says. ‘It seems every year we have a simply superb group.”” His students, however, are quick to insist that Wootton is precisely the reason for Caledonia’s run — and for a physics program that’s the envy of many larger schools. **He’s just so good at pre- paring us,"’ says Kosta Sainis. ‘‘He’s the best.’? Play explores a | heritage of violence PLAYWRIGHT LYLE Kessler doesn’t Iet his audience off easy. Tustead, he challenges the viewer with all the complexities of life — love, grief, violence and humour. They're all there in Terrace Little Theatre's latest production The Watering Place, which begins it’s mun tomorrow “These are four equally talented actors who have made an extremely deep committment to the play and to themselves, I’m in awe of the work they’ve done,’’ -director Marianne Brorup Weston on the cast of The Watering Piace- night at the McColl Playhouse, Directed by Marianne Brorup Weston, the play explores ihe violence passed. through generations by focussing on one Chicago family, grieving from the loss of their son in the Vienam War. “This is one of the first of ¢ genre called ‘the vel on the doorstep’. plays,’ says Brorup Weston. ‘‘One of the things it looks at is haw a vet deals with life after return: ing home from a very unpopular war,’ In this case, the character Sonny, played by John McGowan, shows up as (he best fricnd of the family’s dead son, Ronald. Sonny manages to win the favour of the mother, played by Sharon Lynch, much to the chagrin of the father, played by Alan Weston. The story evolves over the next five weeks, as Sonny stays with the family and develops a disturbing relationship with their recently widowed daughter-in-law, played by Nancy Stone-Archer. “These people are all very isolated emo- lionally,’’ Brorup Weston says, ‘‘There was very littke support for the vets or their families after the war. Sonny comes home io find he’s nol a hero and this family with- draws into themselves. *” Brorup Weston says the play really belongs ta the east, all veleran actors, who have put an amazing effort into making it work, | 7 "These are four equally talented actors “who have made an extremely deep commil- HAVE YOU NOMINATED A.VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR? NOMINATION. FORM: PAGE A3 inent to the. play and to-cach other,’ she says. ‘I'm in awe of the: work they've done. It humbles me,.’*. The Watering Place opens tomorrow, munning from March 20 ta-22 and then again next weekend, March 27 16 29. The play will also be the theatre group’s eniry into the Skeena Zone Drama Festival.