‘TERRACE STANDARD ROB BROWN PR uestion: What do China, Peru, Israel, Egypt, Indonesia, Turkey and Haiti have in common, other than the fact they are chronic abusers of human. rights? Answer: At one time or another, their governments hired the public relations. firm of Hili and Knowlton to clean up their image. Did the slick sell work? After all, selling China after the problems in Tiananmen Square’ must have been a formidable task. When was the last time you heard, read, or watched anything negative about China in the entertainment/news oozing from the corporate, media? The glories of the Chinese experiment in en- terprise and the softening of the communist po- litburo that made the wondrous economic growth of the world’s most populous country ‘possible are all one hears from the media biz these days. * The selling of China, Israel, Peru, and Egypt -are one thing, but you would be forgiven for, ‘thinking that no firm, no matter how slick and powerful, could possibly sanitize, package and sell the image of Papa and Baby Doc Duvalier. After all,-weren’t they the murderous thugs who ran. Haiti according to the principles of govern- ance pioneered by Josef Stalin? - And what about Indonesia’s Suharto, whose genocidal proclivities make Saddam Hussein look like the proprietor of a day care centre? If . you think such feats are impossible you need to. know more.about Hill & Knowlton, 3, Pd Bibi on ey pitino oo The marketing of the tobacco industry’ is the” foundation of today’s multi-billion dollar P.R. industry. The founder of the mega firm Hill and Know- Iton, one John Hill, designed a brilliant and ex- pensive campaign the American Cancer Society called “a delaying action to mislead the Ameri- can public into believing that no change in smoking habits is indicated from existing sta- tistical and pathological evidence.” Hill & Knowlton was the public relations firm for the tobacco industry from 1953 through 1968, while millions of North American smokers died agonizing deaths from smoking related diseases Eighty years ago, GM discovered that putting tetraethyl lead in the tanks of their vehicles in- creased. engine compression, giving their cars power and with it a competitive edge. Despite the fact that lead was widely known to be ha- zardous to human health, the automotive indu- stry, the manufacturers of tetraethyl fead, and the mining industry fought for years to downplay those risks. As a result over 30 million tons of lead escaped into the environment in the US alone, In the 1970s Dr. Herbert Needleman studied 2,500 school kids and discovered that faster cars meant slower kids. Lead accumulation in their bodies not only impaired the mental development of his study group, Needleman concluded, but it also led to lower intelligence, hyperactivity, attention defi- cits and delinquency. When minor statistical errors that did not af- ‘fect the validity of the report’s findings were found in a draft of Needleman’s report, Hill & Knowlton led a campaign to discredit him. When faced with an obdurate American pub- lic that will, in the words of retired US army public relations P.R. official, Hal Steward, “wonder why American soldiers are dying for oil-rich sheiks if and when a shooting wat starts,” George Bush the Elder had to be more than a little pleased when video news releases of a young 15 year old Kuwaiti girl by the name of Nayirah hit the airwaves. Sobbing, she described how Iraqi soldiers en- tered a hospital in Kuwait City then took 15 ba- bies from their incubators and left them on the floor to die. The footage was played around the world, provoking a strong emotional response. After Desert Storm abated, it was discovered thal Nayirah was the daughter of the Kuwaiti Am- bassador to the US, and that her testimony was orchestrated by Hill & Knowlton. Hill & Knowlton has transformed the leaders of Latin American death squads into agents of altruism, tobacco pushers into health nuts, toxic wasle generators into saviours of the wilder- -ness.This is the nature of the P.R. business where the truth is secondary to_fulfilling the needs of the client, no matter who they are and what they want to say. ' The fish farming industry has recently hired a public relations firm to defend the ecologically indefensible actions in our coastal waters, They must. have a lat of money, for they have hired a _firm that charges as much as $350 an hour, They've hired Hill & Knowlton... - = spasit theie” SHE" Aislynn Lansdowne, 11, and her horse Kit took part in a horse camp over spring break. She’s a member the Terrace Pony Club — an international organization which teaches horse riding, jumping and stable management to young people. SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN PHOTO Equestrian education Pony Club teaches young horse lovers about more than just riding. learning about horses last.week. +, Ld what’s called stable management, says one of the club’s instructors Kirsty Evans. The local children and teens between 11 and 18 are part of the Terrace Pony Club which held a horse camp March 17-20 at Cop- perside Stables. ; The Pony Club is one chapter of an interna- tional organization geared toward people under 21 to teach them the ins and outs of jumping, riding and dressage. The local club has 13 members from Ter- race and four from Kitimat. Across Canada there’s more than 3,500 members. There’s a lot more to this club than just ri- ding. These young peorle also spend time on “c-Phe club members gain practical know- ledge about caring for horses including horse “Well, you learn about all the muscles and the tendons in the body,” says Kendra Lans-~...J j downe, 13,'a four-year. member of the Pony | Club. re cae ae (eb Her family owns three horses and she says and what themselves.” . “If they hurt themselves then you sort of know what's wrong they did that type of in-depth learning helps her take better care of the animals. “If they hurt themselves then you sort of know what’s wrong and what they did to to themselves.” Lansdowne and her sister Aislynn, 11, were excited to spend spring break at the camp. the harse’s body works. SNOWBOARDERS are gearing up for this weekend’s slopest anatomy — at last. week's camp the children took part in the dissection of a horse leg. The idea is to help them understand how oe ‘WT yle contest at Shames Mountain. They'll have to hit obstacles like this rail (above) throughout their runs at the competition. SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN PHOTO Rail riders ready By SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN TERRACE area snowboarders are pearing up for a new and exciling event slated for this weekend. A slopestyle contest challenges snow- boarders to complete a course riddled with jumps and obstacles which they must ride on while being judged for style and consistency. The AH Season's slopestyle contest happens March 30 at Shames Mountain's newly-developed terrain park. The terrain park has three major obsta- cles the snowboarders will have to incor- porate into their runs, says event organi- zer Kristian Grey. There will be three jumps made out of snow which each boarder will have to hit. In between are a variely of other ob- stacles including rails -- just like hand rails — and fun boxes, which the riders can choose from to include in their run. While big air competitions are judged morte on amplitude:-than style, in this type ‘of contest riders get higher marks for landing each jump and utilizing each ob- stacle cleanly. “It’s as if you're riding from top to bot- tom in the snowboard park without falling,” says Grey, also an avid snow- boarder. "In slopestyle you have to land as many jumps as possible to get the most points.” Uf a rider falls after allempting a cer- tain obstacle momentum is lost which could hamper the rest.of the run. “If you don’t land one jump you might not-be able to make it to the next one,” says Grey. _ , , The contest is based more the success- ful execution of each trick so it’s not timed. Because of that emphasis on style, spectators can-look forward to seeing some solid performances by local riders. “Slopestyle is more about consistency - it just shows what the better skilled ri- ders are capable of doing,” Grey says. The best of two runs competition is scheduled to start. at 11:30 a.m. allowing - competitors to. practise inthe morning... “] like riding horses,” says Aislynn, whose favourite part of horse back riding is jumping. The students spent three days gaing through various classes and finished the camp off with a mini-horse show. Sports Scope Fourth place TERRACE'S Kore Melanson rink curled its way to fourth spot out of the province’s best juvenile curling rinks earlier this month. The B.C, boys juvenile championships took place March 14-16. Chris Calder of Prince George won the bronze medal game 6-4 over the Melanson rink. Lacrosse clinic here ANYONE interested in Jearning about lacrosse or even starting a local lacrosse association is invited ta take part in an introductory clinic here this weekend. The B.C. Lacrosse Association says people from Kiti- mat, Terrace and the Nass Valley have shown some in- terest in playing the sport, so they’ ve scheduled a series of clinics in the region. Interested coaches, officials, volunteers can take part in an information session while potential players attend a skills clinic. The clinic is open to people aged six to 16 and must come with sportswear and running: shoes. Sticks and balls are provided. The March 29 sessions are 2-4 p.m. at the Terrace arena. For details call Carol Wall at 635-3025. Racers ready... THE TERRACE stock car association is already in the planning stages for the upcoming season of high speed, side-by-side racing action. The group meets on the first Thursday of each month at 4618 Haugland Ave. at 8 p.m. For more information call 635-9060. Not enough pins . TERRACE'’S youth five-pin bowling team wasn't able to pull out a repeat gold medal performance at this year's provincial championships. The Terrace quintet was the favourite going into the provincials having easily nailed gold at last year’s pro- vincials. The defending champions finished fourth in the province after the provincial playdowns in Kelowna March 14-16. “It was a little disappointing,” concedes coach Eva Wilkinson. “But you know, anything can happen on any given day.” ee _— With a combined score of 4,372 over four games the ~ {eam was just 27 pins behind the bronze medal winning team. ;