A4 - The Terrace Standard, Monday, December 30, 1996

STANDARD

ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, 1988

ADDRESS: 3210 Clinton Street Terrace, B.C. * V8G 5R2
TELEPHONE: (604) 638-7283 * FAX: (604) 638-8432
_ MODEM: (604) 638-7247

Spare us»

THERE ARE so many teenagers wandering the
streets weekdays it’s hard to figure out if
‘school’s in, school’s or if anybody really cares.
They are on what the education system calls
‘Spares, time that used to be spent in class taking
‘a subject. But now, in our modern world, it’s
‘time which now seems to be devoted to mischief
‘making.
: Here’s how it works. Teenagers in Grade 11
-and 12 must complete a minimum number of
‘courses in order to graduate. But that minimum
‘number — 13 — doesn’t fill the 16 course slots
‘provided during those two years of senior
‘secondary education. The result? Some students
‘at Caledonia Secondary School can take up to
‘three spares during those two years. Anyway you
‘figure it, that’s a lot of idle time.
: Ina perfect education world these spares would
-be used for doing homework, projects, studying
‘or perhaps taking subjects by correspondence
‘which aren’t offered through classroom instruc-
tion.
- Instead, the spares seem to be the occasion for
lurking in the hallways of Caledonia, loitering in
-the parking lots or just plain hanging around.
- The issue of spares is a touchy and controversial
one and was brought up at the recent meeting at
Cal to discuss vandalism and violence at the
school.
What to do? Should school officials shoo off
those on spares, they head downtown. Those in-
terested in amateur anthropology can easily spot
the migration routes of students, strewn as they
-are with pop cans, candy bar wrappings, junk
‘food containers, cigarette packages, bits of clo-
‘thing, ripped up homework assignments and
‘ heaven knows what else. -
. The root of this problems lies in the assumption
‘that teenagers can adequately manage their own
‘time within a school framework in a productive
; manner, But it appears they can’t.
' Fixing this problem is daunting, Wiping out
‘ spares means having students take more courses.
;And more courses means more teachers and
‘more material and that costs money — some-
' thing which the school district or the provincial
: government doesn’t have.
‘ One possible — albeit optimistic — start to
‘fixing this is to have students undertake more
community projects. Shovelling snow from the
‘ sidewalks of senior citizens, cutting lawns, pick-
‘ing up garbage —- anything like this is better
: than what goes on now.

: The future?

: THE UPSIDE of Montreal-based Avenor’s offer
* to swallow debt-ridden Repap is that it is an ex-
- perienced forest products company with relative-
: ly deep pockets and which appreciates what
; Repap’s assets can add to its holdings.
. The downside is that Avenor knows Repap’s
: Prince Rupert pulp mill is a bit of a sick puppy
; that’s expensive to operate without major im-
: provements and suffers because of the high cost
. of providing fibre to it in the northwest.

Avenor has already acknowledged this by a

: separate financing deal aimed at the pulp mill as’

: part of its plan to take over Repap. Should the
: Avenor offer go through, expect it to do some-
‘ thing about Repap’s northwestern operations
* very soon.
A eC
PUBLISHER /EDITOR: Rod Link
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MEMBER OF B.C, PRESS COUNCIL ;

, Serving tha Terrace and Thornhill area. Published on Wednesday at each waek by Cariboo Press {1959}
+ Lid, af 9210 Clinlon Strast, Terrace, British Columbia, VBG SR2, oe

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abvaseciatio a
Re

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Special thanks to all our contributors and correspondents
- “for thelr tlme and talents

a a re

“TPS THE FOUGHT THAT COUNTS... ia
AND I'VE BEEN THINKING... Ji
'D RATHER HAVE THE MONEY...

A year of political spectacle

VICTORIA — The year 1996
is one the NDP won't likely
forget, nar will the Liberals, It
was a year that provided a
never-ending feast for political
junkies.

January saw the reigning
NDP government in disartay,
Premier Mike Harcourt had
resigned over the lingering
fallout from the Nanaimo
Commonwealth Society
scandal, allhough he bad noth-
ing to do with it personally.

Polls show that the Liberals
have a huge lead over the New
Democrats and most observers
believe an NDP defeat at the
forthcoming election to be a
foregone conclusion,

Also early in January, then
Finance Minister Elizabeth
Cull announces that the
government would be bringing
down yet another balanced
budget. It is an announcement

months later,

In anticipation of the in-
evitable election campaign, the
Liberals drop the first hints of
a reslraint program they will
implement should they win the
election. Still vague, the pro-
gram calls for a reduction of
the public service by 15 per
cent.

By February, the NDP
leadership race is in full swing,
Glen Clark appears to be the
anointed successor tc Mike

step u

DEAR PREMIER Clark:

In the last 15 years, our edu-
cational system has aimed in
more directions than a
weathervane in Twister. We
deserve stability.

Having another acting minis-
ter, especially Joy MacPhail,
makes me nervous.

As health’ minister, she
recently had lo accept that a
departing Vancouver hospital
official had the legal right to a
$500,000 golden handshake.
She may still be in too much
shock to oppose the prospect
of Terrace paying out a similar
severance award ta an admin-

istrator,
And as minister of three
major portfolios — health,

Jabour, and education — Mac-
Phail controls $13 billion of
B.C.'s $20 billion budget.
Such power, may exhilarate
MacPhail, but it’s not in the

over
thal will haunt the NDP a few —

THEY THINK THEY'RE
Tost’ So COTE THEY

CAN GET AWAY wItd ! °
ANYTHING! AND CHEELY. THINK We
were / [tents )

)
THEY REALLY DON'T NTIME 2: .

UNDERSTAND |!

FROM THE CAPITAL
HUBERT BEYER

Harcourt, but Corky Evans is
bringing a refreshing new tone
to the campaign.

In a milestone development,
the government sigus an inter-
im agreement with the Nisga’a
~Tong-standing * fahit

claims. ” ‘

As ‘expected, Glen Clark
wins the NDP leadership race
and becomes British Colum-
bia’s new premier, but he's off
to a bad start, Early in March,
B.C. Hydra becomes involved
ina major scandal involving an
off-shore project.

Clark acts decisively, firing
Hydro board chairman John
Laxton and shortly after ap-
pointing former Socred cabinet
Minister Brian Smith as
Hydro's new boss,

THROUGH BIFOCALS
CLAUDETTE SANDECKI

best interest of taxpayers. No
individual can satisfactorily do
the work of three. Unless the
original three were
malingerers.

Skeena’s MLA is probably
better qualified and more expe-
rienced to be education minis-
ter than anyone who’s served
in. that. capacity since .1981.

HERE THEY
Come! You -

Op. veguiagr

Does?! 1 THowsur
Yol) WERE TALLING
ABOUT Your FAMILY :

The new budget is intro-
duced, and again, the govern-
ment insists that il will balance
the books. I point out in a
column that the budget is a
meaningless document that
should be taken wilh a large
dose of salt, a prediction
proved to be right,

Just hours afler the budget
comes down, Clark calls the
election. Polling day is May
28. Polls show that the brash
new premier is tuming things
around for the NDP, The Lib-
eral lead is shrinking.

During the election
campaign, Liberal leader Gor-
don Campbell comes out of
hiding, but too late. Clark suc-
ceeds in convincing voters that
the province’s finances are in
good shape although, as it
turns out, he must have known
that we were, in fact, heading

* for a deficit,”

‘On May 29, the NDP is back
in the saddle for a second term,
even though the Liberals got
the majority of the popular
vote.

By July, the icing comes off
the NDP cake. Finance Minis-
ter Andrew Petter admits that
instead of a surplus, the

government will post a deficit.

Subsequent revelations show
clearly that the NDP knew
about the impending deficit be-
fore and during the clection
campaign, The opposition and

Aad that matches him against a
long, formidable roster,

Helmet Giesbrecht taught
math and counseled junior
high in this district for 24
years. He doesn’t have to rely
on bureaucrats to tell him what
classroom life is like, or what
teachers and students need to
succeed,

He also served five years as
aldennan and four years as
mayor, and has ribban-cutting
calluses to prove it,

Who better to guide the edu-
calion ministry and negotiate
with teachers than an MLA
who's been president of a
teachers’ union? Giesbrecht
headed the Terrace District
Teachers’ association from
1987-1989, on the heels of the
first ever teachers’ strike in
B.C,

The turmoil left by that strike
gave the Terrace school board

the media turn on the heat, ac-
cusing Clark of having lied to
the voters.

Hard on the heels of the
budget fiasco comes the
government's decision to raid
the Forest Renewal Fund to
cover part of its budget deficit,
despite previous promises that
the fund would be inviolate for
all time. It is the second issue
that will haunt the NDP. for the
rest of the year.

The session is one of the
most acrimonious ever to take
place in the traditionally unru-
ly iegislative chamber. The
budget blunder and the Forest
Renewal debacle dominate the
debate, and when the session is
aver, the Liberals are the clear
winners.

For the remainder of the
year, the government is under
siege. Even commendable de-
cisions’ Such’'as’ the creation of
a new ministry to deal with
children do little to improve
the government’s image,

In December, the Liberals
score a final bull’s eye. Reel- —
ing under a _ never-ending
media and opposition barrage,
Education Minister Moc Sihota
caves in and resigns. The year
couldn’t have ended worse for
the beleaguered government.

Beyer can be reached at Tet:
920-9300; Fax: 385-6783; E-
Mail: hubert@coolcom.com

p, Helmut Giesbrecht

an excuse — in their dim
eyesight — to sign five-year
rollover contracts with two top
administrators, cantracts which
are naw monkey wrenches in
the gears as an amalgamated
district begins to crank up.

What excuse did a later
board have for signing a third
roll-over contract, unless glau-
coma is contagious?

Over the next few months
our School District 82 is likely
te create headaches for a min-
ister. Because rather than an
administrative staff, we have a
Broadway cast, each with his
own understudy, An education
minister who knows the script
from memory, and lives near
the stage, could be an asset.

If a cowpoke can be forests
minister, why not an ex-
teacher as education minister.
Or is the logical fit not enough
ofa gamble for you? ‘