The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, March 12, 1997 - B14 TERRACE STANDARD: INSIDE SECTION B COMMUNITY CRIS LEYKAUF EVENTS B2 638-7283 JUST A THOUGHT KATHY FLORITTO ince sharing the salient points of my house-planning — friend's angst that building her dream home may be frustrated by her less than dreamy income, I’ve sent clip- pings to her from the March 5 The Terrace Standard that may push her ‘go’ button, A consulling firm has recommended en- vironmental guidelines for future develop- ment within our City limits. Eventually, in some form, these recommendations will be- come part of our Official Community Plan. My friend’s community is reviewing its own Plan and environmental concerns are as prominent there as here. Land isn’t labelled a finite resource without reason. At some point during one particularly busy week, God, in His infinite wisdom, said ‘‘Enough already!’’ and He closea the land creation office forever. Barring a few notable reclamations and the litle bits that pop up from the ocean floor occasionally, much of what we’ve got is under water and will remain so. What's left includes deserts, mountains, the Grand Canyon and what we like to think of as suitable spots for dwellings and workplaces. I think the idea was that we'd live in harmony with other life forms on the planct, or that we'd at least figure out a way to maintain ourselves without zapping whole’species into extinction. Historically, we haven’l seen it that way. Since the same ground we prefer for building homes, malls and parking lats very often serves as habitat for myriads of wildlife species, we dished outa ton of eviction notices. Today, we know that utilizing the land for our own needs doesn’t have to mean an- nihilation for every tree and critter in our path. By destroying the habitat of some, we lowered the mortalily rate for others, In at- lempling to decimate the Latter, we darned near destroyed ourselves. _ Now, community land use doesn’t simply refer to how we dig it up, pave it over or build on it. Now, we look at the resources that give that land its character — the trees, the wildlife, the minerals - everything. The consultants recommend that about 750 acres within the city be secure from de- velopment to. protect the trees, fish and the preferred real estate of the bald cagle, the great blue heron, the tailed frog and the western sereech owl, The frog and the owl, apparently, don’t live here, but the accom- modations are right, so if they were lo visil, they might decide to stay. I'd probably drop the ‘mights’ in favour of the ‘what ares’ but heck, maybe the best deli in town for the black, Kermode and the occasional grizzly will be returned to ils former accessible state (sans fence). Not an environmentalist’s view, I'm sure, but | could get a few more pictures, , Don’t laugh — our garbage dump rivalled Banff's as a tourist attraction. However, removing 300 hectares shrinks the available resource and will likely put further strain on any house-dreamer’s bank account. If, as also recommended, future subdivision proposals must ~ include analyses {rom landscape architects or regis- tered professional foresters, surveys and plans for managing the trees, stormwater and contralling erasion and sediment, the price tag will increase even more. Nothing wrong with the recommendations, but im- plementation means developing will cast more and the end user will pay for it The second news report dealt with cily council's desire for sidewalks on all strecls in new subdivisions, except, perhaps, cul- de-sacs, Again, it sounds good, but it’s an- other cost to he borne by folks like my home-planning pal. A future with restrictions and mandates such as these means that while she may not he delighted with today’s lol’ prices, my friend will like tomorrow's: much less. Saving for another couple of years ma simply stave off the inevitable, a She might be well advised to pare down the size and cost of the louse as much as she can (there goes that wonderful bathtub!) anddoitnawl) ss DOZENS DESERVE RECOGNITION THIS IS YOUR chance to honour someone who's made life in Terrace better. The 3rd annual Volunteers of the Year celebration goes into full swing this week, with nomination forms on page AJ in this week's paper. The forms are also ’ available at Overwailea or the Terrace Standard office. This isn’t your average contest, In the last ovo years, the outpouring of entries and emotion attached to the Volunteers of the Year pro- ject surprised all of us here at the Standard, Dozens of volunteers — many of whom were un- known to much of the com- munity — were nominated and got a Lit of well- deserved recognition. Many had never sought publicity for their efforts, but you could hear the sur- prise and joy in their voices when they were told they'd been nominated, — The people who nominated them were delighted to finally have the opportunily ta’ —. publicly credit their volunteers’ gen- erousity. And it also showed the enlire community the scope of what volunteers do — from assisting seniors, to lit- eracy tutoring, to breast- feeding support, and count- Bring us your vo less other cfforts. We'd Tike to think it all helps encourage others to try the life of giving. Cnce all the nominations are in our judges will name one Volunteer of the Year aud two runiers-up. Anyone who does unpaid volunteer work is eligible. And they’! also name a separate award for special services volunteers. That's specifically created — lo recognize. volunteers wha take training to become spe- _ elalized, for example search and rescue volunteers, vic- tim’s assistance volunteers and volunteer firefighters. The judges this year are Overwaitea manager Dale Lutkin, city councillor Rich McDaniel, and the Terrace Community Band jeader and last year’s Jim Ryan — who was named fast year’s Volunteer of the Year, Now it’s up to you ta get the ball rolling for 1997! lunteers Here’s how it works i Turn to page A3 of this week’s paper and cllp out the entry form there, @ Fill In the form, naming the local volunteer you think deserves recognition, thelr phone num- ber so we can track them down, and as much in- formation about them and their history as a volunteer as you can supply. Feel free to attach a letter if the space on the form Isn't big enough. We afso need your name as the nominator and your phone number. mw Then drop off your completed entry at the Ter- race Standard office at 3210 Clinton St., or fax it to us at 638-8432, You can even e-mall your entries to us at standard@kermode.net, Once we get the form, we take over. We com- pile a short profile of your nominee, and publish it In our next edition. gw After nominations close on April 4, our Judges will sift through all the nominations and name three Volunteers of the Year, plus a Special Ser- vices Volunteer of the Year. We then publish photos and Interviews with all the winners. @ All nominees are Invited to the Volunteer Bureau's annual volunteer appreciation luncheon In April. There will be a ceremony there, where the winners will recelve commemorative plaques. The Volunteer of the Year will also be treated to dinner tor two at the Terrace Inn. Equality still a long way off Women's group president speaks out against racism By DAVID TAYLOR ALLEGATIONS OF racism and sexism should nol be the end of a discussion, they should be the beginning. So says Joan Grant- Cummings, president of the National Action Committee on the Status of Women. She was at the Northwest Community College in Ter- race last weekend as guest speaker for the Terrace Women’s Conference — part of the celebration of In- temational Women’s Day. “The perceived value of women, aboriginal people and those of colour is not the same as it is for white people. We need to change what we have learned.’* Joan Grant-Cummings- “Tt doesn’t help to stand up, say somcone’s a racist and then sit down,’’ she says. ‘‘We have to look at the underlying social values and structures that per- petuale racial stereotypes in this country.’’ Grant-Cummings says racisn «and = sexism = are learned in our society, sometimes subtly and some- times not so subtly though socialization. “The result is that the per- ceived value of women, aboriginal people aid those of colour is nol the same as it is for white people,’’ she says. “We have lo change what we have leamed.”’ Ironically, according to Grant-Cummings, people get hung-up on the stereotyped image of a racist or sexist person — as sonic- one who is uneducated, stupid or in the KKK. “Historical analysis debunks the myth that racism was due to ig- norance,”’ she says. ‘It was not an accident. Il was a strategy uscd in slavery and eclonialism and it’s built into our political, economic and educational systems.”’ In fact, Grant-Cummings — says the most insidious racism and sexism is found in the average person, “The hardest to deal with is the middle class,”’ she says. ‘They try to sweep the problems under the rug and pretend like they aren’t there."’ That's why = Grant- Cummings says employ- ment equity aud affirmative action programs are so im- portant. Such programs, which seek to balance the number of male, female and ininority employees wiibin a company or government agency, have been criticized by some as being dis- crimisatory -- , qualified white men. ‘‘When I speak to young, while men in universities, they tell me they feel like they are an endangered species,” Grant-Cummings says, “T tell them to tum on the TV. Look at who has positions of power, wha runs the corporations, who ‘Look at who has positions of power, who runs the corpora- tions, who runs the governments, They are largely white men.”” Joan Grant- Cummings- runs the governments, They are largely white men.” Affirmative action and employment equily — pro- grams, according to Grant- Cummings are a necessary step in the right direction. “They aren’t about giving woinen or coloured people jobs," she says. ‘They're about rooting ont hiring practices that screen out certain groups of people.” - ALONG WITH the address from Joan. Grant-Cummings, the Terrace Wom over the Weekend Incllidéd-several workshops. That’ $ Ann Peltier workin workshop. Instructors say that creating the dolls offers women a different method to against” en's Conference held at the college g on an Empowerment Doll at one. JOAN GRANT-CUMMINGS, president of the Nation- al Action Committee on the Status of Women. And Grant-Cunumings dis- misses scine women’s con- cers that such programs are singling women cut for spe- cial attention, thus hindering any chance of real equality. “That's a classic symbol of how the suppressed come ta accept the status quo,” she says. “One of the big- express their inner selves, ee tem ee te amma mmm wee, me ccna tmnt mcf batts ch tet “set, eee, ' meee Safin some, gest costs of institutional- ized racism and sexism is the acceptance of it.”’ Grant-Cummings Says racism is not necessarily a bigger problem in small cities like Terrace, il is just more easily hidden . since there are fewer oppressed people to resist it, But she says it’s definitely there, “Just look at the power structure,” she says, “Aboriginal people here are not in positions of power.”’ The struggle to change the slatus qua, Grant- Cummittgs says, is some- thing that will cantinue throughout her life. “You have to figure out ways to dismantle it every day,’ she says. ‘Each gen- eration has a different role. Today we eal in the same restaurants and live in the same neigbourhuods, but we have a long ways to go,’’ True equality between races aud sexes, she says, is somelhing thal can be achieved one day. But to get to that point, there has to be - open and honest discussion about the underlying attl- tudes and values that con- linue to oppress women and people of colour. “We have to get over our fear of dealing with It,"’ she says. ‘When you cover it up and candy-coat It, the op- portunity for learning © is losl,"’ ee -