A4 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, June 24, 1998 ‘TERRACE STANDARD ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, 1988 PUBLISHER: ROD LINK ADDRESS: 3210 Clinton Street Terrace, B.C. * V8G SR2 TELEPHONE: (250) 638-7283 * FAX: (250) 638-8432 EMAIL: standard@kermode.net Regional pals © IF THERE’S ANYTHING a New Democrat believer loves it’s process — that horrible word by which a carefully layered bureaucratic ap- proach is taken to life. You have to have a vision statement, you have to have a committee, you have to have endless meetings about other end- less meetings. It was no wonder then that the New Democratic government fell in love with the idea of taking control over health care decisions out of Victoria and into the regions. It offered boundless op- portunities for planning, research and com- mittees with long, official sounding titles. And so were created regional health boards and community health councils, administrative bodies that were to take over functions of exist- ing health care bodies and make facilities more efficient within the context of local and regional control. That didn’t last long in the northwest. Although a regional health board was created and hundreds of thousands of dollars invested, the concept was flushed in 1996 by then-health minister Joy Mac- Phail who said northwestern communities couldn’t get along when it came to the idea of making decisions on what’s best for the regional health care, Community health councils would survive, but secretive bureaucrats in Victoria. would still swing the big, budgetary hammer. Now two years later those community health councils are indeed beginning to work together. Each has found a common cause in having budget crunches affect their hospitals. Each agrees that a regional body is needed to provide more and better psychiatric care. And each is be- ginning to understand that Mills Memorial Hos- pital has a special circumstance because its in- tensive care unit is a regional service not recog- nized by the provincial government when it ladles out health care dollars. - These common fronts could very well prove the provincial government wrong in its assumption that northwest health councils can’t co-operate. And if that’s the case, the provincial government should recognize this by beginning to allocate regional dollars for specific health care functions which could then be divvied up as needed. As things stand now, there’s a lot of effort being expended in proving a monetary need to the provincial government before anything can happen. It would be better to expend that energy in doing the job rather than having to plead with the government down south. Just say hello THEY’RE EASY to spot by their vehicle, dress, or slightly quizzical look. They’re tourists and within weeks, theyll be coming to town. And they’ll be bringing money with them — a short commodity given the shaky state of the lo- cal and regional economy. | For too long we’ve failed to give tourism its just reward as one of the economic pillars. This year, that must change. So when you spot a tourist, offer a handshake or answer that ques- tion. The response could very well result in a beneficial financial return to our area. PUBLISHER/EDITOR: Rod Link ADVERTISING MANAGER: Brian Lindenbach PRODUCTION MANAGER: Edouard Credgeur NEWS Jeff Nagel » NEWS: Anita Dolman NEWS COMMUNITY: Alex Hamilton Toor WininED OFFICE MANAGER: Sheila Sandover-Sly 1928 WINNER ADVERTISING CONSULTANTS: CCNA BETTER Sum Bedford. Janet Vivei NEWSPAPERS LE MAR KETER: nie vets ok COMPETITION TE : Patricia Schubrin ADVERTISING ASSISTANT: Kelly Jean TYPESETTING: Sylvana Broman DARKROOM: Susan Credgeur CIRCULATION MANAGER: Karen Brunette SUBSCRIPTION RATES BY MAIL: $56.18 per year; Seniors $49.76; Out of Province $63.13 Quiside of Canada (6 months) $155.15 (ALL PRICES INCLUDE GST) MEMBER OF B.C, AND YUKON COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION. CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION ARD (#CNA of B.C, PRESS COUNCIL Serving the Terrace and Thornhill area. Published on Wednesday of aach weak at 3210 Clinton Steel, Terrace, British Columbia, V8G 5R2. Stories, photographs, illustrations, designs and typestylas in the Terrace Standard are the proparty of the copytight holders, including Cariboo Prass (1969) Lid., fis illustration repro services and advertising agencies, Reproduction in whole or In part, without written parmission, Is specifically prohibited. Authorizad as second-class mail pending tha Past Oifica Dapartmont, for payment of postage In cash, Special thanks to all our contributers and correspondents , ‘for their time and talents }CANT G0 10 SCHOOL... MY GUN IS IN THE REPAIR SHOP... some children need help VICTORIA — ‘‘On average, children whe receive quality carc¢ — whether by their parents at home, by other caregivers, or through formal child-care arrangements — live longer, happier and healthier lives than those who do not enjoy such starts,’” says Joba Millar, Provincial Health Officer, Throughout the year, Millar monitors the health of British Columbians. He wams us of possible epidemics. He reminds us that it’s flu season and time for shots. He keeps tabs on vaccination programs. And once a year, Millar gives us a massive dose of reality-check medicine by analyzing the current state of health of the province. In this year’s annual report, Millar focuses on the health ‘and development of British » Columbia’s children, from birth through the elementary school years. The goed news: British Columbia’s children — are among the healthiest in the world. Infant and child death mates have shown a continuous decline, and most school-aged children say they are healthy and feel physically good. The bad news: some children still fall through the cracks, Aboriginal children, children in low-income families, and payers. “Government funding covers only 15 per cent of the tolal cost of child care ser- vices. Nearly one-third of parents report child-care bar- riers such as cost or difficulty finding the care they feel com- fortable with,”” he says. But Millar points out that any investment in our children’s health will bring handsome fu- ture dividends in terms of a healthier society that, in keep- ing with the old proverb of an ounce of prevention being worth a pound of cure, needs to spend less on health care. Millar has never shied away from touching on sensitive political issues. In this report, he calls for public support of efforts by aboriginal people to achieve - self-government -as part of the solution to bring the health of aboriginal children: to the -same level’ their- non- aboriginal counterparts enjoy. “On most measures of health, aboriginal children do not fare as well as others. Sud- den Infant Death Syndrome, injuries, dental disease and ex- posure to second-hand smoke are examples of health prob- lems that are more frequent among aboriginal children than the total child population,” Millar says. “While this lower level of health remains unacceptable, FROM THE CAPITAL HUBERT BEYER children living in the North and in parts of Vancouver ex- ' perience high death rates, com- ‘pared to the rest of the pro- vince’s children, ' Millar doesn’t just point to . inequities; he makes recom- mendations how to address them, And while some: of his recommendations involve common sense and litle monetary investment, many of his proposed solutions require political will. Among the Eormer is bis call for comprehensive programs to . encourage non-smoking, healthy eating, and regular physical activity at a very young age. His demand for universal access fo qualilv child care without financial barriers, however, is bound to come wilh a price tag for tax-, 4 aboriginal children have made significant health gains in ~ recent years, and many aboriginal communities have begun to make improvements in the conditions that affect . their health.” Stating that his comments aren’t meant as criticism, Mil- lar, nevertheless, gives a can-~ did assessment of where society has failed to provide the means of improving the’ conditions of British Colum- bia’s less fortunate children. “Problems such as child - and inequities in health status are well-known’: Child | poverty rates have shown no - poverty and long-standing. improvement over that past 30 years,”’ he says, Pe a ae ee ee ee “Some children do not sur- vive, grow, and develop to ° . their’ full’ potential. Preventable “deaths, illnesses and injuries : do occur. Mental and emo- tional health is an area of par- ticular concern.’” Millar’s report should be re- quired reading for every Brit-. ish Columbian. Copies of the report can be obtained from © public libraries as well as from , the office of the Provincial” Health Officer at (250) 952- 0876). It’s worth the read. Beyer can be reached at: Tel; (250) 920-9300; Fax: (250) 356-9597; hubert@cooleom.cam Missing — one little second EVERY REGULAR weekday moming I tune in to local radio for the 7:30 newscast. If I’m on schedule, ’m spooning up Shreddies with milk as I listen to the major events around our afea, Recently I’ve felt compelled to gulp my last spoonful, to rsh headlong into my working day, as though I’m a dynamic CEO devouring my power breakfast before snatching up the keys to my luxury truck and zooming off to the work site, My = stomach ~— churning adrenalin rush comes from the newscast being shortened to 59 seconds, Is the lopping off of one sec- ond intended to lend the news broadcast a trendier, zippier at- titude? Does 59 seconds make the day’s events sound more Urgent, up-to-the-minute? Perhaps the missing second is swallowed up by electronic switching. Or maybe 59 seconds seems less expensive to the sponsor, ELDERS SAY ae IT HASN'T me CEN THIS WARM SINCE more fact-filled, more precise than a whole ‘minute. Sixty seconds has a stick, pre- packaged ring to it, suggesting less care and personal attention on the part of reporters. As someone once wrote, this letter would be shorter if ] had .more time to write. Stop-watch edit- ing is work, On the other hand, seeing as we've gotten along reasonably well for almost a week without BCTV news, it could be our community daesn’t generate enough headline news to fill a longer time slot, We wouldn’t want our mews read at a f THROUGH BIFOCALS. CLAUDETTE SANDECK] the way $11.99 gives the im- pression of being a bigger dawdle, like an under speed bargain than a price tag of $12 tape, simply to pad an extra even. second of air time. Then again, the shorter Another thought occurs to broadcast could have to do me. What if — due to our cco- with union conlracts. Suppose nomic dowasturn and mill union employees have an ar- closures — the sponsor can af- Tangement whereby they are ford to pay for only fifty-nine obligated to work only 59 sec- seconds. Radio advertising is onds out of every sixty, inex- expensive, its message fleet- change for improved job — ing, unlike a newspaper which securily, can be hunted out of the recy- Granted, 59 seconds sounds cling slack weeks later to look FLLuTion f! on YEAH? So WELL ITS... GLOBAL WHY WAS (T BECAUSE «++ - WARMING !/ || THrs WARM I TAAT 1S). YOU... THE CURSE |! 80 YEARS AGOZ A YOU NORTHERNERS _ Starchers saving up a particular ad for price or phone number. Nah, The fifty-nine second newscast is probably the radio station’s attempt 1o grip our at- tention for their entire mes- sage. The average person’s at- tention span has shrunk to three minutes, according to re- Searchers paid by goverment grants to study such vital social issues, Any mother of tecnagers could have enlightened re- em months of gruelling calibrations and meticulous recording of find- ings. Newscasters admit each year news clips become briefer and briefer, sound bites shorter and shorter. Testing has proven TV E-mail: ee a | eo a2 8 ® viewers and radio listeners have the aitention spans of fruit flies, That’s not our only similarity to fruit flies, according to scientific evidence released this week, but that’s a whole separate issuc, ~ AND WE GET CONFUSED BY MORE THAN A. GENERATIONS