B.C. Environment and Parks.
Minister Bruce Strachan an-
nounced the recipients of the

1988 Minister’s Environmental.

Awards in Victoria last month,
and Canada Safeway Ltd. was
named as the winner. in the
business-industrial category for
introducing photo-degradable
plastic grocery bags.
According to Safeway. Public

Affairs Manager Don. Bell, -
_ Safeway was the first retail
- Outlet to begin using the new

product after they were ap-

‘proached by Ecolyte Plastics of

Toronto last year, who said they

It’s time for some answers.

had a new product, “‘Ecolyte”.
He said ultraviolet light reacts
with the Ecolyte and causes the
polymer links in the plastic to
break down. After about three.
months the plastic changes from.

_photo-degradable to -bio-

degradable and disappears en-

‘tirely with no trace of any harm-
ful elements,

“We felt that this was some-
thing that would be an advan-.
tage, particularly with the litter

- problem,” Bell said. If the bags

are buried, as in a landfill site,
the product wouldn't be affected
by sunlight and therefore

wouldn’t break down.

“There is nothing we are
aware of at this point,’’ he -ex-
plained, ‘that would really
come up with an appropriate
solution for a_ truly bio-
degradable bag because it would

be a bag that would start to

disintegrate as’soon as it was
made.
“But this will really address

the litter problem,”” he said, ex- .
plaining that the bags will:

deteriorate if left on the ground
or in water, but not behind store
windows which filter out the
ultraviolet. light. .

_Commentary

- by Jorma Jykcanen

‘An open letter to federal Health .
- Minister Jake Epp;

Scientists have linked "the
retrovirus HTLV to human
leukemia for some time and
have been expending a great deal.
of energy on elucidating the
mechanism.

’ Breast cancer has been linked

to a tiny virus, genital. warts to
cervical cancer, Kapozi’s Sar-
coma to AIDS,

‘some liver cancers are suspected
to be viral in origin.
Shope’s papilloma has been

* known in’ rodents for many

years.

There is a lot of discussion
about communicable diseases ‘in
our society but the lack of

. discussion on this matter leads .

me to believe that there exists a
conspiracy of silence perpetrated

. by the medical community.:

There appears to be a syn-
drome of phobophobia within
the health community, perhaps
due to the reflection revelations

might have on the helplessness —

of technologists to effect solu-
tions to some of our most
perplexing maladies.

It would also affect health
care budgets, if public fear in-
duced a reaction to contagious
cancers, and perhaps existing
budgets would crumble to con-
struct the infrastructure. re-

quired for containment 0 of these -

viruses.

The linkage of viruses to these
cancers raises serious questions.
for health care specialists and .

for society:

evidence that suggests that each

of these cancers are viral in
etiology? :

- Police report

A 4l-year-old Terrace man
has been arrested and charged

with two counts of robbery. -
- Wilfred Joseph Maheux ap-

peared in court May 3.

The charges resulted from ~
complaints filed by Grace Fell.
Florist on April 30 and Rudy’s —

Boots N Shoes May 2. Both
businesses told Terrace RCMP
that a lone male entered their
shops and demanded money. .

A Terrace youth was bitten by
a dog May § at about 1 p.m. and
required treatment at Mills
Memorial Hospital, Local
RCMP report that they are in-
vestigating the incident.

“contact to.
Burkitt’s lymphoma, and even»

2; How do these viruses get
transmitted, and are the factors

that facilitate transmittance in-

creasing or decreasing, and what

_is the government of Canada do-

ing towards finding out?.
3.. Are the frequencies of oc-

currence of ‘these cancers in-

creasing or decreasing, and is
there a geographical en-
vironmental correlation as deter~
mined. by the recent Canada-
wide cancer survey? -

4, Are there other cancers that

_A number of Terrace residents

joined- over 500 mothers and
fathers of disabled children by.
‘learning from each other’s

parenting experiences at . the
Family Focus 88 conference held
in Vancouver the weekend of
April 23.

““T thought it was great.’ .

Pauline Whyte said,‘‘To feel the
energy of over 500 other people
who share your interests
recharges your batteries so you
can go back to your community
and make changes.”

~The idea of bringing parents
together to share information
about the challenges of raising
disabled children began last
year, when the Vancouver
Neurological Centre and the
Variety Treatment Centre in
Kelowna helped organize the

* first Family Focus conference.
1. How unequivocal .is the-

‘It’s a unique opportunity for
parents. Parents plan the con-
ference and act as key note

“speakers,” Dot Ewen, a 1987

organizer said. About 80 parents

_had initially been expected, but

Individuals . seeking

$2.00.

Terrace Child Development Centre

NOTICE OF ANNUAL
GENERAL MEETING

The Terrace Child Development Centre Society
welcomes your attendance at our Annual
General Meeting June 20,
Development Centre, 2510 $. Eby Street.

members must be members in good standing of
the Society: at least 30 days prior to the Annual
General Meeting date. Memberships can be pur-
chased at the Child Development Centre for

are viral in origin?
5. Are there ways to stop the

.transmittance of these. viruses

that the public can participate
in, and if so, how?
I for one, would like detailed

“answers to these questions and

its about time our researchers
started being honest with us
about these cancers, considering
the. fact that their research
budgets ‘are owing in large
measure to the public purse. I
shall publish your response.

350 participated. “We obviously
hit a nerve,”’ Ewen said.
- This year’s conference main-

tained the family focus, with

relatively low registration fees

‘and child care available to keep

it accessible. Funding came from
registration fees, fund-raising
activities, as. well as a Wood-
ward Foundation grant and
assistance from the provincial

departments of Health and

Social Services and Housing.
Janet. Robbins, with the 1988
conference organizng commit-
tee, said the emphasis on parent-
ing resulted in a lot of positive
feedback from participants.
Cheryl Barnard, who attended

the event both as a parent and as:

a board member with the Ter-
race Child Development Centre,
said the conference was valuable
because of the opportunity to
talk to others about the joys and

‘problems of parenting special
needs kids. ‘‘People tend to shy
away from you when you want —

to talk about these things. It’s
nice to meet a lot of people who

1988 at the Child

nomination as board

_ ‘Terrace Review — Wednesday, May 11,

Safeway receives award from environment ministry

Bell said the Terrace store
hasn’t started using the bags yet,
but there are 10 Safeway stores

_in B.C, (all in the lower main-
land) presently using photo-

degradable bags. Remaining
stores will be receiving them as
soon as there is a sufficient sup-
ply.
According to Bell, Ecolyte
Plastics is planning a new plant
to be built in the lower mainland

_after this -year or early in: 1989,

He hopes. the new source will
provide Ecolyte in sufficient
quantities to meet Safeway’s
needs province-wide.

Bell says the new bags are only

| _a part of Safeway’s efforts to

meet the challenge of environ-
mental concerns, They have

‘received other awards in the

past, one for cardboard re-
cycling because boxes from all
stores are returned to Vancouver
to be sold to recycling compan-
ies rather than being disposed of
locally. He said this not.only ad-
dresses environmental concerns
but also produces a. ‘“‘sub-
stantial” source of revenue for
the company. Another area of
ecological involvement is a part-
nership with B.C. Outdoors Un-
limited and the Ministry of Envi-
ronment in supporting ‘‘Oper-
ation Pitch-In’’, which is taking
place this week, , by providing lit-

understand,”
Parent Pauline Whyte agreed,

- saying on-site computer net-

working and message bulletin
boards aided the delegates in
finding others who shared their
interests to exchange informa-
tion on issues. She met people
from Kitimat, Smithers and the
Lower Mainland at the con-
ference.

Monique Malenfant was also
enthused about the parent -net-

working aspect,.and said the

lunches and other unofficial
functions were just as valuable
as the actual workshops offered.
Malenfant noted that parents
outnumbered professionals
about 5 to 1 among participants,
and was pleased to see more

fathers attending this year,

1988 7

ter bags for school children to
collect litter and help clean up .
the community.

There are six separate categor-
ies of the Minister’s Environ-

mental Award which, in addi-
tion to the business/industrial

category, include individual
citizens, citizens’ groups, youth —
groups, government agencies —
and environmental education, |

. Other award winners this year
included Bert Hoffmeister,
chairman of The Nature Trust
of B.C. and a founder of Wild-
life Habitat Canada, for imple- —
menting a successful curbside .
recycling program, and the ~
Williams Lake Field Naturalists
for operating a nature center on
Scout Island, a local marshland
and ecological reserve. .

There were four winners inthe |
citizens’ group category, all of
whom have worked to discour-
age elk poaching on Vancouver
Island. These were the Nanaimo
Band Council,
Fish and Game Club and club
member Ted Barsby, and the
Valley Fish and Game Club of
Lake Cowichan.

The Minister’s Environmental
Awards have been an. annual
event since 1981 and are intend-
ed. to recognize outstanding
achievement in addressing en-
vironmental concerns.

Special need conference gives local
parents perspective and encouragement

Workshop~ topics included
education and training; focusing

- ON ways parents can encourage

integration in schools and the
workplace; and the use of com-
puters as a tool for both com-
munication and family fun was

‘explored. Guest speaker Dr.
Louis

Brown of Wisconsin
shared the successes of a
U.S.-based prograin in which
functional training, equipment
adaptation, and the cooperation
of business makes meaningful
employment a reality for many
disabled persons.

Next year’s conference is be-
ing organized by a parent group ©
in Victoria, and the 1990 loca-
tion may be closer to home, in

Prince George.

TERRACE ART ASSOCIATION
BOx HW TERRACE. B.C. VEG tA4

Terrace Art Association's
24th annual

Terrace Arts and
Crafts Show

Saturday, May 14 |
10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the
Terrace Arena
Banquet Room

Pottery, Photography, Paintings,

Handicrafts...

. Something for Everyone! |!

the Nanaimo _