Fac tle peer a ee nmin ote etm ae ean cee ce eee de eee ‘Papal passing _A local Catholic priest reflectson his meeting | with Pope John Paul Il Peak performances Terrace area gymnasts tumble and turn their way to medal at BC championships Super scale _ A new report shows how small sawmillers can boost returns \NEWS A5— \SPORTS B1 \COMMUNITY Bi i $1.00 PLUS 7¢ GST ($1.10 plus8¢GST . olttside of the Terrace area) TERRACE ERIKA Oberne, Sam MacKenzie and Julia Hill are ‘trying to get more young people out to vote at the upcoming provincial election May 17. The local women want to see the low voter turn-out in that age group increase. Group pursues young voters - By SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN LOCAL volunteers are telling young - voters. to get registered and hit the ballot box on May 17. — Julia Hill, a Northwest Com- munity College student, has started what’s called a hub of a province- wide campaign. called “Get Your Vote On.” “It’s a nonpartisan campaign aimed at the 18-34 demographic - encouraging young-people to get an opinion, get them registered to vote and doing it in a fun way,’ ’ explains Hill. “Why we focus. on the youth is. because the world is run by people who show up.and young people aren’t showing up at the polls in large numbers.” In the last provincial election 73 per cent of people under 24 and 66 per cent of people under 34 did not © vote. And in B.C. today there are 300,000 eligible voters between 18 and 34 who are not registered. _ “T think the majority of people in that age demographic don’t feel like their voice is being heard or it’s im- - portant or that they can individually make a difference,” explains Hill, \ adding the top three youth issues are the environment, education and health care. Part of the Get Your Vote cam- paign includes getting young people excited about voting. — Volunteeers are organizing sever- al events leading up to May. 17. Last - Saturday volunteers were at Hanky Panky’s distributing pins, stickers, -cards and informing people about ‘how to vote. ~ Volunteers are also organizing an event so young people can meet with local candidates in a less structured format. than a traditional debate — they’re throwing a party April 22. The three Skeena riding .candi-. dates have been invited to socialize with the young people and to get in on some more in-depth one-on-one discussion with voters. Dr. Fishy will also be playing at the party. In the interest of making poli- tics, interesting, the campaign has ‘Get Your Vote On t-shirts and what organizers call “funderwear” with . slogans encouraging young people SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN PHOTO to vote. ; “Part of our: focus which is sort of different from: your conventional political outreach is to make it fun,” says Hill. “And we don’t wait for the people to come to us — we go to them.” Local volunteers will be visiting - local restaurants , pubs and cafes in an effort to. reach their target audi- » ence, They'll also be setting up infor- mation booths at the local college to register more voters. Check your registration THOUSANDS OF area voters are registered at their previous address and that could be a problem come . provincial election day on May 17, says an official for Elections B.C. Jennifer Miller says voter regis~ tration cards will go to wrong ad- dresses, meaning voters won’t have the right information on where and when. to vote. , “We want people to check to en- sure we have their current address,” she said. Elections B.C. is the in- a dependent and non-partisan agency charged with conducting provincial elections. Overall, Elections B. C. estimates that 25 per cent-of registered voters - have a previous address on file. The percentage is: slightly better in the Skeena riding, said Miller. She said that just over 14 per cent of the population of the Skeena rid- ing moves every year, a contributing factor to having wrong addresses registered with Elections B.C. “Actually,:you’re not doing bad - in’ Skeena. In the northeast, in the Peace River South riding, for in- stance, the rate is 30 per cent,” Mill- er added. Voters can register, update or confirm their information by go- ing to the Elections B.C. website at www.elections.bc.ca or by calling 1-800-661-8683. Operators are on duty from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Friday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. «The Coast Mountains School District’s board of trustees . approved the new policy, applicable to Secondary students, 5 . on April 6. - 3 The new policy formalizes informal procedures already in place and adds new ones. Caledonia Senior Secondary vice principal Keith Axelson ‘said administrators will depend upon a lot of sources when determining searches based on reasonable grounds. “A search would be conducted if it was reasonable to sus- pect possession,” he said. “It could come from a report from a student or parent, such as a smell (of drugs) ora witnessing - of activity.” _ Student searches, | allowed only on school property, are. ~ not part of the present regulation, though Axelson said they sei ~ were performed occasionally. . ui ‘Vehicle searches, also legal only on school grounds, is. _new to the policy and also subject to suspicion on reasonable -grounds. . According’ to Axelson, who has worked ‘at Caledonia ‘since May 2004, there have been no incidents at the school . where vehicles have been searched. _ ~ “As long as protocol is followed, it gives us another tool to help,” he said, adding he’s in favour of the new measures. All secondary students will now have to sign a rental .. agreement with conditions of use for their lockers. Lorrie Gowen, the school district chair, says the form, : standard in B.C., covers any possible legal j issues of student privacy. She said lockers were , determined to be private property. “But they’re not renting the locker, they’re Tenting the lock,” she said. ‘“‘That’s how we got around that.” The district will continue to have the right to perform necessary. The B.C. Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) has fought against similar measures introduced in the Abbots- . ford school district.. * Micheal Vonn, of the BCCLA, said that boards are intrud- ing on students’ right to privacy and that enforcement should. take a secondary role to treatment. While privacy versus safety is a big issue, Gowen said the board has sided with the overall safety of all students. | As for treatment of students with drug problems, Axelson says his school offers counselling that focuses on awareness and prevention, directing students to available resources. - _ CNIS giving $300,0000 to the University of Northern British Columbia’s Northern Medical Programs Trust.. which will financially support the university’ s student doctors and nurses. The goal is to raise $6 million and use the interest to pay the expenses of student doctors and nurses. So far, $2 million has been collected. The CN money is being divided propottionally be- tween the municipalities who have already made com- mitments. Terrace is being assigned $32,000 against its. goal of raising $388,500. Before the CN amount, the city had collected $31, 631. “There is a chronic shortage of doctors in small communities and rural areas and we hope that our sup- port will help encourage them to build their practices where the need is greatest,” said CN senior vice presi- dent Peter Marshall in presenting a cheque to univer- sity president Charles Jago. _ At least three UNBC student doctors will start prac- tical training here in Terrace beginning next fall. ie 4 ‘k f 4 > , : . . hi VOL. BNO ee ee Gee www terracestandard.com ne eae __ Wednesday, April 13, 2005 i | errace | jets 201 0 win er | james | : : 2 . . By ROD LINK | dertaking,” said Talstra in recalling what “the same time as. the all-native junior’. “I’m looking forward to the organiza- “Kamloops and the winter ones are in .¢ WORK. NEEDS to start right away to pre-_. occurred when the winter games were last -basketball tournament and the Loggers’ tion that willbe put in place. If people Trai! and area. The Northern B.C. Winter... i _” pare the city to host the 2010 B.C. Winter here. “I think we’re.going to be looking _ Bonspiel for a taste of how busy the city _ want to be part of something exciting, | Games were last in the northwest in Kiti- . op .. Games, says mayor Jack Talstra. =. ° _ at one volunteer for every. two or three and area will be in 2010. . then this is how that can take place,” Har- _mat in 2004 and in 1993' Kitimat hosted : - Thousands of volunteers will be need- _ athletes.” -... The city’s announcement it was going —_ ris added. the winter games and, up. until now, has t ed and every public use facility will be “I remember after 1986 we said we ahead with its second sheet of ice helped, He said federal-provincial infrastruc- been the only northwest city to have that ( required for some purpose, he says. didn’t want to undertake anything like _ swing the. ture grants, which have have resulted in distinction. =. ° : “In addition to showing the province — that again for a couple of years in order to “That was one: of the requirements lights. installed at the Onion Lake cross) On average, more than 2, 400 partici- : ¥ what Terrace ‘can do, it will mean huge give our volunteers some time to recover. ~ two sheets of ice,” said Skeena Liberal country ski trails and money for a cov-. pants attend each games and the winter, | # ~:-, -dollars for Terrace both from the games. Well, it’s been 20-odd years now and I MLA Roger Harris in joining in on the ered'riding arena at the Thornhill Com- variety contains 23 sports covering ev-- sf "."". and from the legacy to be left behind,” think .we’re ready for this challenge,” announcement news. * munity Fairgrounds, all point to the de- erything from hockey to karate. & he added. ‘said Talstra. The 2010 games dates of March 4-7 ° velopment of facilities that will be key to’ BERR . ; ne -. Talstra made the. winning bid an- ' He said the school district and its fa- place the event‘in Terrace just after the a successful games. The provincial government has given nouncement yesterday, ending months of cilities and Northwest Community Col- Vancouver 2010 Winter. Olympics and “When you consider the infrastruc- the city a piece of crown land that is part a speculation after a local committee sub- lege ‘and its facilities will be intimately just before the 2010 Winter Paralympics. ture, we'll have much of what we need i in of the arena and aquatic centre area, cd mitted bids for either the 2008. or 2010 - involved in helping stage the games. — ' “This is going | to be big,” said Harris. place,” said Haris. '_ The. existence of the small parcel-has -: _ winter games. _ “Because of the facilities we need,: “And it’s going to leave quite the legacy. - The B.C. winter and summer games — been known about for years but only be- f It’s: been: nearly 20 years since the we’ve asked Kitimat to help us. and © for, Terrace. We're going to see athletics are each: ‘held ‘every. two years. In 2004 camea factor when the city began making. 4 city last hosted the full provincial winter ~ they’ ve agreed,” the mayor added. ~ here at the ‘pre-Oympic level.” the: ‘summer: ‘games were in Abbotsford. plans to enlarge recreational facilities. _ t _ games and nearly 10 years since it last He said people only. have to remem-: ‘He predicted. more than $1 million” andthe 2004 winter games were in Port ' Providing the city with the piece of t - hosted:the northern-only winter games... ber how busy the city was with the recent will be generated. during the. e games pe- ° Alberni: | land now means it owns the-entire area, «sf _ “This i is 5 going to be a tremendous un- bantam hockey tournament held. here at - riod. here. ° oo oe os, The: 2006, summer games are in making i it easier to build facilities. ne | irget 1 , drug activity _ | ; oe . _ .. ByDUSTIN QUEZADA | oo | ~ LOCAL SCHOOL district administrators will have expand- og __ ed rights to search students for illegal drugs come Septem- ber. : ' Under new policy guidelines, school administrators, with , reasonable grounds to be. suspicious, will be able to search students, their lockers and their.vehicles. a oP Fe Se EEE seamen, o£ 4 7 random locker searches with dogs trained to sniff drugs, if.