Page 14, The Herald, Friday, October 12, 1979 PENSIONERS Starvation a fear OTTAWA CP -MaryS., 67, a sin pensioner, hates having to buy toilet paper or soap or toothpaste because she can’t eat it. She is constantly afraid her next cheque will come late and she will run out of food. Anna F., 20, a mother of two whose husband cannot find steady work, dreads the thought of winter because last year's heating bills are not fully paid. Lorraine M., a midde- aged mother abandoned by her husband, knows that her three children’s diet of bread, macaroni, rice ond hamburger is inadequate but it is all she can afford. These three stories are typical of 1,2 million canadian women living in poverty, says a Natimal Council of Welfare report released an Monday. In the report, the 21- member council, appointed to advise the federal government on welfare policy, recommends changes in social programs, tax rules, the labor code and marital-divorce laws to steer women out of poverty, It recommends higher welfare and pension benefits, tougher equal pay laws, stricter enforcement of child maintenance orders, parental leave rights for men and women workers, hassle-free divdorce laws and tax credits to benefit low Income parents. In the firat study of its kind ~ singling out the nature of poverty among women only - the council found that one in 1) men cannot support their families, that three of five poor adults are women and that cae in six women are poor. It said that 1,219,000 women or 16 per cent of the female adult population live @ an income below the gpvernment-calculated poverty line. That is com- pared with 851,000 men or 11 percent of the male adult population. The govemment's poverty line scale ranges from an annual §$3,inoyhe govern- ment’s poverty line scale ranges from an annual $3,520 for a single person in a rural community to $14,536 for a family of aeven in a big city, The poverty line fora family of four in a medium-sized dity is $9,974. The general rule of thumb is that familiea spending more than él percent of their income on minimum food, clothing and shelter necessities are poor. . The council said the root of poverty among women Is the @roneocus assumption that the male half of the population will always financially take care of the female half. “When the male provider fails to materialize, or leaves or dies, women are suddenly told It is up to them to find ways to support themselves and their familles,*’ the report said. “Not surprisingly, many women in those situations are unable to cope, Given their lack of preparation and the little support they find in aur society, what is more: surprising is that so many ere managing as well as they ere, The council faund the largest group of poor wornen are married, Their husbands are unemployed, earn a low income, have seasonal or part-time work, are disabled or have retired. The married women total % per cent of the female poor population, not including women with stingy husbands a@ grandmothers and aunts living with relatives because they have no money or their own, Following are highlights of - the council's recom- mendations: , -Marital y laws that automatically make a husband and wife equal co- owners and co-managers of all property except gifts ‘or inheritances. Any couple wanting another arrangement could get a marriage contract. No-fault divarce laws and stricter enforcement of child malntenance' payments ordered by the courts, Abolition of tax exemp- . tions for children on grounds they usually enefit Tusbands, not wives, and benefit the rich more than the poor. Instead, child tax credits, for women only and benefitting low-income earners the most, would be increased, -One year parental leave rights for working mothers and fathers in any job. Temporary absence rights for either spouse to care for a alck child. -Higher welfare benefits, Fora mother of two children aged nine and 12 the annual benefits now range from a high of $4,240 in Vancouver to a low of $4,704 in Saint John N.B. +Incressed guaranteed income supplement benetits for poor pensioners. Ex- tension of the ald age security and income sup- plement benefits to poor retired persons between age @ and 65. Eligibility begins Dow at =_ age 5. -Tougher equal pay laws that compare the value, not just the required skill, of a job, Government boycott of companies which do not comply with equal pay or afirmative action rules, -More government ape: GIRLS NOT ED TORONTO (CP) — A Montreal doctor says prenatal procedures Identifying a child’s sex in the womb have resulted in some parents asking for an abortion because the child was. not male. Dr, David Roy, director of the Centre for Bioethics at the Clinical Research Institute, said the New England Journal of Medi- clne has reported 10 to 15 documented eases of parents requesting the abortion of female fetuses, Roy told a family studies conference at Seneca College that the new procedure iden- tifying the sex of a fetus Is used to determine prenatal defects. “We are coming to a, point of serious regression, to a falling away of civilization.’ Children cheated KELOWNA, B.C. (CP) — Some children in the Central Okanagan School District - are being cheated when it comes to education at the kindergarten level, teacher spokesman Judi Harries said Wednesday. . Mrs. Harries asked the school board to change a standing formula in order to decrease the size of kin- dergarten classes to a maximum of 20 students a class, The present formula allows for 2 maximum of 26, She said there are 248 chil- dren in classes of more than 20 students and ‘that’s the number of children who are being cheated.’ By HOB DOUGLAS OTTAWA (CP) — Can Le and a few Buddhist friends are trying to meet what he says is an “urgent spiritual need” among the growing number of Vietnamese refugees In Ottawa. Rev. Wing Mak of the Chinese United Church and other Chinese Christian leaders also find strong social and spiritual needs among the refugees and are gearing their church pro- grams to meet them. Vietnamese Buddhists want a place where they can worship, but there is no Buddhist temple in Ottawa, Le saidina recent interview. So the Ottawa public servant is busy trying to find. a temporary home for a Buddhist temple or pagoda, Refugees with a Christian background have a choice of several established Chinese- speaking churches in Ot- tawa, Mak’s Chinese Unltedr Church, for example, already has Bible classes, English classes and social . groups for the newcomers. There are similar groupe in other churches, “We feel there is an urgent spiritual need because a lot of people were uprooted in their country and they need something spiritual to cling to, to asslociate themselvas with," said Le. Mak said refugees are pre- occupied at first with getting jobs. But ance they find em- ployment, ‘‘they like to come together — there is a social i) ' iF} Rev. Paul Lal's Chinese Alliance Church has set up a special group for ‘new Chinesespeaking Viet- namese refugees so they can relax together and share experiences. Like most Chinese Christlan’ groups, the alllance church provides refugees with English classes, translation services and information on everyday Canadian life, Le's group is just getting under wey Unlike the ethnic Chinese fleeing Victaam, the native Vietnamese are largely Buddhist and not Christian. — The Vietnamese-speaking community has heen growing steadily in the last four years since the fall of the old South Vietnamese government. Le, who has been in Cana But until recently, Viet: namese Buddhists in Ottawa have had to travel to a Montreal pagoda or temple, about 160 kilometres away. The Montreal paguda was bullt only two years ago. Now, about 60 people have gathered together to establish a Buddhist © association and are hoping ta find a temporary home in an unused city school, Later plana call for a permanent De eid that buddhist temple would serve about 1,000 Vietnamese Buddhists that an ’ association would hold us together and give wus splritual support," he said, The Chinese Catholic Centre and other Chinese churches are. sponsoring refugee families, whatever thelr religious beliefs, and hold services in Cantonese and Mandarin, the two main Chinese languages, . Church-conducted English classes are popular as refugees prepare themselves for jobs. “We do what we can for those who come to us £0 they feel accepted,” Mak sald. His church had a Thankagiving weekend outing for refugees and the Catholic centre had a picnic for them recently. Lal’s: alllance ehurch mixes recreation with English classes on Saturday mornings at a local cotm- munity centre. “We hope we can hire a Buddhists need a temple | fulltime worker to work with the refugee program,” Lal sald, New view of © children now: NEW YORK (AP) — Until the mid-1850s, 12-year-olda were sentenced to death in England. In the United States, anyone older than 14 was tried as an adult. Before: that, the Puritans labelled as ~ criminals children who were rude or disobedient to their parents. But the’ Western world moved into the 20th century with new concepts of children's culpability. Laws were passed to mete out justice “in the best inter- eats” of a miscreant child, They were sent to refor- matories and other remedial programs. 4 Now the pendulum is swinging back In the U.S. with a series of violent and well-publicized crimes by teenagers — a 13-year-old sitting on a Harlem stoop casually guns down a 16 year-old passer-by; a 15 yearold murders a policeman during a Maryland robbery; two teenagers are murdered in a California Youth Authority reformatory. ; New York, once con- sidered the country's most - liberal state, has a new law allowing 13-yearolds to be tried as adults. . Traditionally liberal Mas- sachusetts ia about to enact a law requiring juvenile repeaters to be tried as adults, and Tlinois is cracking downon multiple offenders, . ‘ California has increased the prison term for youthful murderers and gives prosecutors more leeway in prosecuting _{veniles, Even relatively crime-free Iowa has a new criminal Uplands Baptist Church Corner of Halliwell and N. Thomas Zion Baptist Church Corner Sparks and Keith Pastor Paul Mohningor Sunday School?: 45 a.m. Morning Worship 11:00 a.m. _ Pastor Bob Losyk 635-2807 9:45a.m. Bible Teaching Sunday School 11:00. a.m. Morning Worship Service 7:30p.m. Singing and Bible Study Wednesday 8:00 Home Bible Studies “You Are Welcame at Uplands” ATTEND THE CHURCH OF YOUR CHOICE tee ee ee THIS SUNDAY 4830 Straume Avenue, Terrace 635-2912 SATURDAY EVENING SUNDAY MASSES 9:00a.m. 7:30 p.m. St. Matthew's Anglican Church 4726 Lazelle Avenue 635-9019 Sunday Services - 10:00a.m. Sunday School. Adults Discussion. Christian Reformed Church Sparks Street and Straume Avenue Reverend S. Van Daalen Sunday School - Terrace 10:00a.m. Sunday School - Remo 1:00 p.m. 11:00 a.m. Worship Service — 5:00 p.m. Worship Service 11:00 a.m. - Hoty Communion for the family Minister; Reverend Lance Stephens - 635-5855 SACRED NEARS PARION SALVATION ARMY JX 1:15 a.m, 7:30 p.m. 9:30 a.m. Christian Education Hour 4907 Lazelle Avenue Minister Reverand Dave Martyn 635-6014 Worship Service 11:00 a.m, KNOX UNITED CHURCH 4637 Walsh Avenue SUNDAY 11:00 a.m. Family Worship Service 7:30p.m. Evanglistic Salvation Meeting TUESDAY NIGHT . 7:30 p.m. Bible Study and Prayer Meeting - You To WEDNESDAY . 7:30 p.m. Ladies Home League Fellowship Worship SATURDAY 7:30 p.m. Youth Group Christian Counselling Emergency Welfare Spiritual Resources 635-5446 or 635-2626 House of Praise 3406 Eby Stroet 635-3015 — 635-3657 Sunday Worship 10:30 a.m. Education & Instruction. Thurs. 7-8: 30 A class for all ages CHRIST LUTHERAN CHURCH Corner Sparks Street and Park Avenue 3341 River Drive Terrace, 8.0. 638-1561 Reverend &.L. White Sunday School 10:00 a.m Reverend R.L. White Morning Worship 11;00.a.m. Evening Worship 7:30 p.m. Prayer Service Weclnesday 7; 30 p.m. Reverend Rolf Nosterud 635-5862 Morning Service 11:00 a.m. CHURCH OF GOD Church School 9: 45 a.m. Sunday School, Confirmation Youth and Advit Classes code with mandatory sen- fences for violent criminals that can be applied to juveniles. oo. ‘The irony is that juvenile crime appears to be decreasing natlonally after rising for nearly two decades. According to FBI crime statistics, arrests of children under 18 increased 283 per cent between 10€0 and 1875 — to almost 1,7 million from less than 600,000, In 1977, the last year for which there are final reports, arrests were down to 1,24 million, ‘Criminologists attribute the drop to fewer teenagers; children born during the post-war baby boom have reached adulthood, But they're at a loss to ex- plain the upsurge in teenage violence, The most recent FBI figures show 48 per cent of those arrested for violent crimes — murder, rape,’ assault —- were under 18. Experts from the liberal to the hard-line have agreed for years that changes were needed in juvenile justice laws still operating from a base in early 20th-century reform morality. _ _ ~ The old system was based on the premise that juveniles were reformable, It was a revolving door — arrested youngsters followed a cycle of warnings, probation, foster homes, community care and reformatories. A majority of thee arrested =~ 80 per cent by some estimates — are what the system calls “stalus offenders.” A kid ls caught scrawiing graffiti on a subway train: another is a petty thief, a truant, a runa- way, a schoolhouse brawler, er drinker or a pot smoker. ‘ The new approach draws a sharp distinction between petty offenders and kids guilty of serious crimes, “What's happening is that people are saying ‘there are good kids and bad -kids,’* says Paul Strasburg, head of New. -York City’s now Juvenile Justice Agency. . “They say, ‘What we're going to do is take the good kids out of the system altogether, and then we're going to take the bad kids and lock them up.'” New York's old law reired that anyone under 16 be tried in family court. Now id-and 15-year-olds Must be tried as adults for serious felonies — robbery, assault, homicide — and 13+ year-olds can be tried as ‘Nobody's en aDpY, but this is better than what we had before,” says District Attorney Mario Merola of the Bronx. “Thirteen individuals covered by this law have committed 15 homicides in the Bronx since September. I'm not talking about dreamland, I’m talking about urban problems.” Despite reforms and ex- periments here and there, most criminologists believe there's a long way to go before a reasonably uniform and successful system of juvenile justice emerges nationally. A study by the Institute of Justice compared juvenile crime in New York's borough of Manhattan with suburban Westchester County and with Mercer County, N.J., which includes Trenton, It found fewer -tepeaters in Mercer and concluded that the reason was consistency — ane juvenile judge has’ been there for 17 yeara. i] ~ eto, ara I's time to cal} your Welcome Wagon hostess. {Lois Mohninger 635-5309 | Evelyn Anweiler 635-5571.