Gov't ‘passes buck’

on wood use issue

TERRACE — Local govern-
ments say they aren’t going to ict
the province hand off the respon-
sibility of dealing with the north-
west timber shortage.

Kitimat Stikine regional district

director Alice Maitland pointed to ~~

the a recent forest service report
suggestion that communitics
‘‘rationalize’’ the northwest’s
forest industry.

She and other regional district
directors last Saturday said the
idea was ridiculous.

“T’'m really fed up,’’ said Mait-
land, who is mayor of Hazelton.
“They are using. this so-called
community input stuff to blind
the rest of the public. It’s passing

ithe buck is what it is.”’

Local communitics have vit-
tually no influence on major

forest industry decisions, she —

added. It is only the province and

the companies themselves that are

major players.

Board members voted to ask the
foresis ministry to develop a
forum to tesolve the wood supply
problems facing the northwest.

A key issue, say board mem-
bers, is the presenti million cu,m
discrepancy between sawmill
processing capability and the an-
nual allowable cut.

That type of forum might at
least help better inform the com-
munities affected, said regional

district economic development
officer Andrew Webber.

He said citizens might then
have some idea of what’s going
on “instead of being surprised all
of a sudden when your mill's

~ BONE,” 2 aso
He pointed to ‘the recent ade

dendum tothe Kalum North tim-
ber supply analysis, which sug-
gests there: may be more wood
available than the original report
indicated,

“T find if really disconcerting
that timber volumes can change
eight per:cent in-four months,’*
he said,.

Maitland says forestry ‘remains
a game of groping in the dark,
noting reports put qualifications

sunny September d days

STUNNING EARLY fall weather kept temperatures and spirits
up lately. And lust one of thase people enjoying the outdoors |

is Greenville taachar Audny Uhrig. She's pictured. here with
companion, Bingo. The two were in town for some shopping.

on almost every finding.

“That’s how almost every
forest decision has been made
over the past 100 years,” she
sald, .

Hazelton area. director Fred

-Roisum echoed.those. sentiments,

saying information recently used
in preparing new annual allow-
able cuts in the Hazeltons region
was grossly Inadequate.

Kitimat... director | Graham
Anderson repedted his call of last
March for tighter restrictions on

the exports of raw logs. from: -

Stewart.

“'There’s no way we can export
raw logs at the rate we are and
expect to have any ‘jobs left, he.
said.

Mills makes mo ney plea

TERRACE — Mills Memorial
Hospital representatives are off to
Victoria Sept. 27 to plead their
case for an‘easing of provincial
budget restrictions.

The -restrictions, which could.
force Mills to cut its bed total

from 67 to 50 by the end of the
year, don’t make sense for the
north, a Mills spokesman said last
week.

Micheel Leisinger of the Ter-
race Regional Health Care

Society said the medical services:
community here is worried that ‘a~

drop to SO beds is tco harsh a cut,
“There’s a very high degree of

concem that 50 beds might be too

low — a level that’s too low. and
might not be sustainable as far as

some of the services we provide
are concemed,”’ sald Leisinger.
«Of equal weight is the worry
that local specialists might leave
if there are too few beds i in which
to put patients.

An inability to treat patients.

culs. into their income, added
Leisinger.

“We still see the need for im-
provements but the feeling is that
with the downsizing, we've al-
ready done, we're awfully close
to that line, to losing regional ser-
vices to the point that we'll be'no
more than a community hospital
able to serve only Terrace and
Thornhill,’’ he said, |.

Dr. Geoffrey Appleton, a local
physician and, representative for

House a , hazard

- -Gouncll |

wants - ‘an

abandoned Agar Ave.
B home. demolished. as
| soon as possible. : :

northwest doctors, said the pro-
vince must finance hospitals dif
ferently in the north than else-
where.

“There are special needs in the

- north, They. allocate money by
statistics: but the statistics. don’t
apply equally,’’ said’ Appleton.

He.-said health: services else-
where recognize the needs of
northern regions,

The worry physicians have. is
the loss of sub speciallies should
the number of beds drop below a
certain level,

“A few years ago administra-
tors at hospitals were paid for the
amount of people in them. 'Thai’s
all changed now. The more
patients there are now, the worse

Clown triumph
oad

it is,” said Appleton.

Leisinger -Ggures Mills will
have to reach if it ever has any
hope of getting more money from
the provincial government.

| ‘The hospital cut 22 beds last
year but is now in the, middle of
its second year without a budget
increase. It’s been told not to ex-
pect one next year either.

‘*There’s a whole group of new
players down there, The structure
has changed,”’ sald Leisinger of
the meetings Sept. 27.

He said the board has also
asked to meet with Paul Ramsey,
the new health minister who
represenis Prince George in the
legislature,

Heating up
CITY ATTEMPTS to deal with complaints about commercial
vehicles using and parking on residential streets took an ugly
tum Friday when by-law enforcement officer Frank Bowsher
discoverad someone had traced the wards “Logger Hater”

.and “Dog Killer” (above) on his private vehicle. For details on
. the story behind the Insults, see page A3.

Test marks

below norm

TERRACE — Grade 12 students
in Schoo] District 88 scored be-
low the provincial average in al-
most every provincial exam in
June.

The numbers released by the
education ministry show the aver-
age scores in the district were bel-
ow the provincial averages in all

m - subjects except for Geology 12.

In that course students averaged
60.6 per cent — 1.5 per cent,
above the average for all B.C.
public schools.

Students here were worst in his-
tory, biology and physics.

. The 34-district:history-students...

averaged 53.4 per'cent on: their
provincial exams. — 11 per cent
below the provincial average.

Forly-four per cent of those stu-
dents failed the history exam. An-
other 23.5 per cent scraped
through with a pass (‘P’) grade.

Physics studeitts here averaged
59 per cent compared to the
provincial average of 69.7 per
cent.

In biology, students here aver-
aged 57.2 per cent. The provin-
cial average on that exam was
66.8 per cent.

Other results were:

* Chemistry 12: 66.4 per cent
district average, (67.0 per cent.
provincial average).

* English 12: 66.2 per cent.
(69.4 per cent B.C. average)

-+ Geography 12: 56.9 per cent,
(61.1 per cent B.C, average) ©

* English Literature 12: 61.4 per
cent. (66.4 per cent B.C. average)

* French 12: 60.3 per cent. (66.7
per cent B.C. average)

* Mathematics 12: 56.1 per
cent. (62.8 per cent B.C, average)

« Communications 12: 54.3 per
cent, (62.8 per cent B.C. average)

But the numbers don’t mean all
students .are poor. academic
cousins to their southern counter-
paris.

“We're striving to do the best
we can in all areas,” says Harold
Cox, the school board’s director
of instruction. ‘‘We've. got a ter-
tific number of students that did
partioualry: well in terms of

-honours.””

He said “district, ~ students
received mote scholarships this
year than ever before.

There seems to be little aca-
demic middle ground, Cox says.
Most students either excel or
score below average: -

The larger number of students
in ‘the latter group tends to bring
down the district average, he
added.

Comparisons to the provincial
average aren't as relevant because
of the Special problems that face
youth in the north, he said.

“Ttiose social and health prob-
lems — which also contribute to
a high dropout rate here — tend
to drag down exam averages.

Overall, Cox said he is pleased

with ‘the efforts of both students
and teachers.
“Our teachers have done a

tremendous job at Caledonia, in

particular,’’ he said,

TERRACE — It wasn't quite
the windfall Ron Niesner was
expecting when -he went
mushrooming picking.

. The $36 was” welcome
enough, but Niesner was ‘not
happy about the circumstances
that brought him the money.

Thal’s because the cash came
from the two and -a half gar-
bage bags of empty pop bottles
and cans he found strewn
about the bush.

“They were everywhere they
(other pickers) had stopped to

Shroom pickers |
tagged for litter

eat,’ he said, adding most
were simply thrown on’ the
ground while others were ‘hung
in the trees.

While people «. obviously
would wanl:'to fake refresh-
ments. along © on their

mushroom search, Niesner said
they should take the cans and
bottles. back. out when they
leave.

“It doesn’ t look ike 2 a lot of
these mushroom pickers really
care much about the environ-
ment,’’ he suggested.

r Copperside rome out
an. undef ated soccer, sea-.

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