4 Terrace Review — Wednesday, May 11, 1988 “OPINIONS Fusion footnotes ~ Acolumn that appeared in last week’s Terrace ‘Review by Jorma Jyrkkanen requires some clarification in view of a subsequent report carried in The Economist. Jyrkkanen pointed out that there had been a breakthrough in the - nuclear fusion technique reported last month in the United States, but the story carried in The Economist indicates there are still some major obstacles to overcome to source of energy. The temperature required for hydrogen atoms to begin fusing . make nuclear fusion a practical together is in the order of 100 million degrees Centrigrade. Although scientists, after 40 years of research, have developed methods of achieving the heat, a controlled reaction, they say, may require another 40 years to harness. One of the problems is the behavior of the gas, ‘called a “‘plasma’’, under the extreme temperatures, To get a sustained reac- tion out of the gas, the temperature has to be maintained at a critical level, and up to this point it has refused to do so. One scien- tist described it being like trying to burn a damp log. Researchers admit that even when “‘ignition’’ is attained, the resulting energy will only return about three percent of what goes in = to power the system. The other bad news is that fusion reactors, contrary to some reports, will produce radioactive wastes, although on a much smaller scale than fission reactors currently in use to produce - atomic energy. The wastes will primarily consist of discarded machinery and exhausted “blanket material’’, the stuff that’s used to line the walls of the reactor vessel. Despite this rather discouraging news on research that’s supposed to harness energy in a manner similar to the way the sun does it, the thrust of Jyrkkanen’s column — that nuclear fusion research is a good way to spend tax dollars — still stands. - Avoice that willbe ~ missed in - Howard T. Mitchell, founder and chairman of Mitchell Press in Vancouver and president of Northern Sentinal Press in Kitimat, passed away May 4 at the age of 86. He started his own publishing firm ‘in Vancouver in 1928, and in the early 1960's he was the largest magazine publisher west of Toronto. ; He was a past president of the Vancouver Board of Trade, and the north | in 1964 he was President of the Canadian Chamber of Com-: merce. Howard Mitchell established Northern Sentinel Press in 1954, and through his newspapers he was a strong advocate for Northwest communities. - Howard’s love of: publishing will be raissed by the many readers of his newspaper editorials, Se Terrace Review @» Established May 1, 1985 The Terrace Review is published each Wednesday by Close-Up Business Services Ltd. _ Pubilsher: Mark Twyford Editor: -:, _.. Michael Kelly ~ =" “Staff Reporters: >. Tod Strachan . Charlynn Toews Advertising Sales: - Mar) Twyford ae Typasetting: ceo Linda Copeland ares Production: oe glim. Hall, Alvin Stewart, “> Gurbax Gili, Linda Mercer, oil Arlene Gaspar Office: Carrie Olson Accounting: Mar] Twyford - Sacond-class mail registration No. 6896. - publisher. Errors All material appearing In the Terrace Review |e. protected under Canadian copyright Registra- tion No. 362775 and cannot legally be repro- duced for any reason without permission of the and omissions. 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Opinions expressed are not necessarily those ot the Terrace Review. . BEAVER LEAVINGS BC. ‘ ) Education and health care . by Victoria correspondent Mark Collins _ : A student being turned away from a college for lack of space is not the same as a patient dying before a hospital bed becomes: available, but the perennial shortage of funding has the ef- fect of putting these sorts of people in competition. . The provincial government would like to prevent either situation from ever occurring in B.C. but there never seems to be enough money left for education after the other priorities, have been looked after. NDP leader Mike Harcourt says there always has been enough money: but blames the Social Crediters for blowing $500 million of tax- payers’ money every year on. things like the premier’s $20 million ‘personal crusade on moral issues and the family’. Advanced Education Minister Stan Hagen is not about to ac- ‘ cept that argument, but he may be quietly making the old ‘‘Let’s - Make Education a Mega- Project’? bumper sticker come true. During his spending estimates in the Legislature he - said, ‘I certainly believe the post-secondary education sjs- tem is very closely linked to in competition for economic . development.”’ -He said his appointment to the Cabinet Committee on Econom- ic Development ‘‘shows that everybody across the country is coming to grips with the fact there is a close relationship be- tween the quality and the impor- tance of post-secondary educa- tion and economic development.’”’ He makes it clear that bring- ing the provincial deficit under control still. comes first, but says, “My job is to make sure: we are able to provide a high quality of instruction out there, but at a level the taxpayers can . afford’. The one-month task force he appointed to determine whether there is enough money to meet September’s anticipated enrolment increases is a step in the right direction. The govern- ment and the opposition dis- agree on the size of the problem, but either hundreds or thou- sands of prospective students were turned away from post- secondary institutions in B.C. last September, and we may see that situation repeated this year unless something is done. The improvements. may en- large enrolment but the people - who teach the students should not hold out hope for any salary increases. Responding to Har- court’s complaints about under- paid professors, the minister said he asked the presidents of B.C.’s three universities to let him know the first time they were unable to hire the person they wanted for a particular position. For those who think the education system is already do- ing a good enough job, Prince Rupert NDP MLA Dan Miller prodded the minister with some figures about lack of appren-’ ticeship training. He said the average age of tradesmen like bricklayers and carpenters in the funds home building industry is about 57 years, He said the number of apprenticeships has dropped to less than one percent of the workforce and is forcing - Canada to encourage immigra- tion of skilled tradesmen. At the Alcan Aluminum plant in Kitimat, Miller said there are 363 journeymen and only four ‘apprentices. At the Harmac pulp. mill] at Nanaimo he said there are 300 tradesmen and zero ap- prentices. He criticized the pro- vincial government for denying young people the opportunity to receive apprenticeships. The minister said funding of _ apprenticeship is a federal responsibility but he is trying to improve the programs and en- courage industry to live up to its responsibility for job training. This ‘area of job’ training in skilled trades may be a critical place where a little more money and effort from the government could make a major difference to the future of this. province. Not only would it help the unemployment situation, but it seems to be a field where better. paying and more satisfying jobs will be available for years to. . come. This year’s budget spends ‘about $7 million: on appren- ticeship training through the Ministry’ of Advanced Educa-. tion ‘and Job Training and another $10 million through the colleges and institutes. Out of an $11 billion provincial budget, that’s not very much. Family life is generally much . better for the gainfully employed than the unemployed, so the family life program budget might be better spent on apprenticeship training. It isn’t as dramatic as doing TV com- mercials or building a new highway, but it deserves a higher priority than it has been given in recent years, aes: