PAGE 2, The Herald, Monday, May 15 Editorial While HERALD editor Ernest Senior ia away on vacation, we shall be carrying previous editorials of his in the customary editorial column. Though written two to three years ago, we feel they will still he relevant ¢o local issues or have other interst for those of our readers who have made his acqualntance through the editorial pages of the HERALD during the past five months. Few things in this world are more repugnant, repulsive, distasteful and wretched than prejudice. We have had first hand experience. By a twist of Fate, we happened to be born in Rawalpindi, in what was then known as India. India is the home of the Hindu caste system. The system began as a simple division of labor, hundreds of years ago. There, the shadow of an unstated caste person falling on a high caste person is a thing to be avoided. The social esteem given to persons of high birth versus that of low birth became burned forever in our memories at the age of five, At a still tender age we moved to England, where some unfeeling playmates made fun of our manner and dress acquired in India. We learned to expect nicknames which were “‘put- downs” until we had fought our way out of them and became ‘accepted’ by our school-mates. There we were led to believe we were ‘better’ because we attended a Church School, rather than the ‘common’ ‘Council School’ down the road, . Next came a move to the world's great (supposed) mielting-pot-the United States. Because we had what some called an ‘accent’ we were ridiculed as being a ‘Limey’; the traces of our Indian land of birth were visible enough to bring us ridicule as ‘Hinny’ (for Hindu) ‘Punjab’- -because of an Indian character in the Orphan Annie cartoon strip, and ‘Rajah’ by still others. Some who thought we were English would shrill, ‘King George is a Yeller-belly”. A few years later, when Britain, in the throes of a depression, defaulted on her W.W.I repayments to the U.S., this changed to “Why don’t you pay yer War Debts?” and won us many a cuff on the head by peers who like us, probably had little idea of what they were talking about. ; Our first awareness of color discrimination really began when we attended grade school in Goshen, New York. Goshen was then the home of the world famous $75,000 Hambeltonian Stake Cost of arson- money and lives By JOHN WARD mever bought. AJL these for trotting horses. Quite a number of negroes (they were not ‘blacks’ then) were employed in the stables, and their children attended the local schools—usually dropping out by Grade 8. Not aware of any reason why it should be otherwise, we became fast friends with one of these boys of our own age. Henry became our bosom buddy; taught us many skills-how to make a willow whistle; how to make useful objects out of cutting tin cans; how to cut glass with a pair of scissors (by holding it under water)--unsuccessfully, and told us endless tales of the other world. Henry took us to our first Negro Baptist Church service, where we heard some of the most beautiful singing in our lives. That is-until some of our other classmates began to notice the bi-racial friendship, and made life intolerable for us. There we first heard the epithet ‘‘nigger-lover’--and some pretty filthy accusations, mostly with sexual con- notations. We began, then, meeting in secret; even at the Episcopal Church graveyard. We tried having Henry at our house--until neighbors began taking it out on our parents for what they suggested was an ‘unnatural’, perhaps homosexual, ‘relationship ended abruptly. relationship. Finally, one morning, Henry failed to appear at school altogether, and our Sometime after this, the governor of New York City, Alfred E. Smith, ran for the presidency of the United States--and our education in religious bigotry--a particularly vile form of prejudice and discrimination began. By this time, we had been thoroughly in- doctinated in the meaning of the terms kike, spik, wop, dago, jiggaboo, guinea, mick, chink, limey, juicer; wog, sheeny, kraut, hunkies, frog, polack and so on. But with the presidential campaign with a Roman Catholic running, for perhaps the first time, all the ‘'stops’? were pulled out, We witnessed, terrified, the burning of the first “fiery cross’’ of the Ku Klux Klan on the lawn of the Roman Catholic candidate’s party headquarters. It was an unforgettable experience at an impressionable age. In our sixteenth year, we enrolled in a forestry corps project, where an opportunity arose to take a free cooking course in the U.S. Army School for Bakers and Cooks at Fort Slocum, on “Hey, big boy — wanna come to my house?” NEW YORK (CP) — They do it for kicks, they do it for money, for revenge, but whatever the motive, the Geltherate setting vow argon, fastest gro crime in the Uited States, Insurance industry figures estimate property loss due to arson is running at about $2 billion a year, but the actual bill is incalculable when loet production, lost wages, In- creased property taxes and higher insurance premiums suggesta to total loss aught sugges oa be as much as $15 billion, And then there is the human cost. About 1,000 persons a year die in deliberately-set fires ant jusands more are Injured. The probiem is a national one that hits every major city. Some authorities estimate that argon accounts for between 20 per cent and 35 per cent of all fires and about 50 per cent of property loages, The people who set such fires, the so-called torches, range from gangs bent on looting firedamaged apartments to jandlords hoping to turn a_ losing venture into a profit, to organized crime figures. They are teen-agers seeking kicks, homeowners who can’t meet mortgage payments, businessmen in financial difficulties and even jilted lovers seeking services are expensive, of course, with the mobster raking off a piece of the inaurance settlement asa (. One of the most shocking figures in the whole arson picture ig the conviction rate, Only about one per cent of arsonists are ever con- victed. Law enforcement ofilciais say arson is a dif- ficult crime to prove because there Js often little evidence. As one New York fire department official put it: “The thing about arson is that if it’s successful, it looks like an aceldent."' Insurance industry of- ficiala area urging that the industry itself play a bigger role in fighting arson. A Chicago consultant suggests that the insurance com- panies form a national arson and fraud division to try and cope with the growing prob- lem, Many citles are setting up special details within the fire department in an effort to curb argon. These special details work on the street, like policemen, and have met with varying degrees of SUCCESS, USE DIFFERENT LAWS Tn addition, prosecutors recently have been making use of a federal statute passed in 1970 and aimed mainly at organized crime. The Racketeer Infiltrated and Corrupt Organizations law has been used to fight revenge. MOB IS INVOLVED Reports indicate a growing involvement by organized crime. Mob figures operate as fire brokers in insurance fraud schemes, handling everything from setting the fire to providing phoney involces detailing items allegedly lost in the flames but which actually were narcotics and gambling operations, but it is also being applied against professional arson rings, In the past, arson cases often have been tried under mail fraud laws, because phoney invoices and fraudulent Insurance claims were mailed, Sentences are stiffer under the organized crime law, however. TERRACE/KITIMAT daily herald General Offlce - 635-6357 Circulation - 635-6357 PUBLISHER,..Oon Cromack y MANAGING EDITOR...Ernest Senior REPORTERS...Oonna Vallleres (Terrace-Thornhill) REPORTERS...Scott Browes (Kitimat-Kitamaat) KITIMAT OFFICE...Pat Zelinski - 632-2747 Published every weekday at 3212 Kalum St., Terrace, B.C. A member of Varifled Circulation. Authorized as second class mall, Registration number 1201. Postage paid in cash, return postage guaranteed. Published by Sterling Publishers J NOTE OF COPYRIGHT The Herald retains full, complete and sole copyright In any advertisement produced and-or any editorlat or photegraphic content published In the Harald, Reproduction is not permitted without the written 2 permission of the Publisher. Ottawa Offbeat Will Joe repeat Ottawa,-It seems like only yesterday--the Diefenbaker Conservatives had been toppled from power and the Pearson Liberals were taking over, One morning in that same eventful: week, all the deputy ministers--supposedly political neutrals, non-partisan administrators-filed into the Centre Block chamber where the Cabinet meets. Moments later along the hallway came Lester Pearson, the new Prime Minister. Where was he golng? . Into ‘the room for a meeting with “my deputies,” Could this reporter and his cameraman come too and record the truly history-making scene? Amazingly Lester Pearson replied ‘‘of course.” , So in we went. And there, seated in order of seniority around the big oval cabinet table were some 30 deputy. ministers, Non-partisans all, or so the rules of the bureaucracy would have you believe, . To their feet as a man they rose, Thundered their applause for the new Prime Minister. 7 He was one of their own--a former deputy by Richard Jackson Dief’s mista “Perhaps there were a number of high- ranking public servants who should have been dismissed,” says Dief now. “It became obvious as soon as we were out of oftice in 1963 that there were quite a number of them, about whom I had not known, who had simply been working quietly against us and waiting for the Liberals to return to power,” And he says now, when it is far too late, and long since impossible, that had he beaten Lester Pearson in the 1985 election, ‘believe me there would have been some changes made.” But he didn’t, and there weren't, He should have known--and likely did-- when ‘he saw that picture in the newspapers of the newly-elected Prime Minister Pearson being given an altogether unprecedented standing ovation by those ‘loyal’ deputies. The picture was the sensation of its day. Clear evidence, as a photograph can be, that: the upper echelons of the public service had to have worked as a Liberal underground all during the Diefenbaker years. Joe Clark is acutely aware of it and in advance . of his hoped-for victory says ‘‘new people will be brought in fora fresh perspective.” _In Dief's day, the Conservatives managed to bring in only one new deputy--an appointment of minister himself-and a Liberal, as were they alt, their own--and he was promptly fired when the And this after six years of Conservative rule during which time Prime Minister John Diefenbaker caused only one of their number--. Mitchell Sharp--to be removed, by way of requested resignation by Trade Minister Gordon Churchill, ; Some non-partisans. Now that action could be coming full circle again. If it doesn’t making Joe Clark the new Con- servative Prime Minister, he says he is not going to make the mistake Dief did. Heads will roll-quietly-among the deputies, again after 15 years of Liberal rule, all of them Liberal appointees and anything but non- partisans. Winnipeg Conservative MP Dan McKenzie camestraightout with it—there’ll besome firings — done. Over the screams of protest of Ottawa area Conservative MPs who fear a public service backlash, Joe Clark has backed up Dan McKenzie. Quietly, discreetly, But stilt backed up. “Some of the deputies,” Joe Clark has suggested, ‘‘after our winning the election, may feel more comfortable out of their government jobs,”’ Dief has told what and how it happened before, and Joe Clark isn’t about to stand still for a replay. ; In his day of power, Dief resisted party pressure to “roll heads,’ except for Mitchell arp's Some people say Dief simply lost his nerve. Pearson Liberals took power. This time it’ll be different. Much different. Radio eases. racial problems. BIRMINGHAM, England (CP) — A commercial radio station, serving this in-. dustrial city and the Weat Midlands, is helping promote racial harmony in Britain by beaming a Sunday night broadcast to the estimated 20,000 Asian listeners in its area, Some of the listeners speak English well, others nat at all. They may be Moslems, Hindus or Sikhs, but for 9 minutes they forget religious differences as they listen to the voice of Taj Hasnain, to the poetry she reads and the music she plays especially for them. The program, Geet Mala, was begun by station BRNB two years ago, the first to be broadcast by a British commercial radio station (as distinct from the BBC) especially for a racial minority. It reflects the growing awareness of the media that they have an important role to play in race relations, Said John — Russell, program director for BRMB and the man who started Geet Mala: “We knew there were many Asians who spoke no English, particularly the alder generation, and some of the younger women, and we wanted a program that would meet their needs—to listen to a language they could understand, to hear their own kind of music, to find out about their rights under the law and the welfare facilities available them,’ COMMUNITY DIVERSE Because the Asian com- munity in Birmingham is so diverse, the language used in the program is Hindustani, a mixture of Hindi and Urdu, Taj Hasnain, herself a Moslem, soon realized that if she said goodbye in Hindi, she would upset Moslems, and if she said goodbye in Urdu, she would seem to be identifying only — witk Moslems, so the compromise language had to be accepted. First hand experience with prejudice David’s Island, in New York State. One hundred and twenty student cooks were enrolled. One hundred were white, the others Negro. Once again, prejudice, racial discrimination--call it what you will--was clearly in evidence. Separate showers, separate dor- mitories and separate toilets were three of the more visible indications. When we naively asked the reason, we received some flat statements that all negroes had VD; they stank, and that if they ever got the upper hand they'd get “pushy” and it wouldn’ be safe for a white man to walk down the street—and _ no white woman would be safe from rape! There is not the time, in a single editorial, to list the instances of prejudice and discrimination and bigotry we experienced, first hand. But there did come a time when, we were certain, we met and witnessed the most horrible example of where and what prejudice can lead to, when given free rein. ; In 1945 we were in Germany, as a signalman in. the Canadian army when we saw with our own. eyes the bodies—living, dying, dead and burning of uncounted numbers of men, women and children of all ages who had one thing in com- mon. They had worshipped, or their ancestors . had worshipped, God according to the manner of the Hebrew fait. That was enough for us. NWCC News This month we print two articles from Northwest Community College relating to the university transfer program. We encourage high school counsellors to share this information with their senior students. University or College? That is the question many senior high school students are asking these days. Here are a few con- siderations to be kept in mind in making this decision. 1) Norhtwest Community College is a small school compared to the Universities. This allows for closer interaction betwen students and teachers. Some first year university classes have hundreds of students for their lecture sessions, whereas at the College the maximum class size is 30. 2) Entrance requirements for the universities are quite high. A student who may not meet the entry requirements for a university may well be accepted into a university transfer program at the College. Should a student not meet the entry requirements at a university he may go to college and then transfer toa university after successfully completing the first or second year. The university then will only consider the college grades in determining acceptance. 3) College courses are equivalent to university couses in credit, difficulty and thoroughness. The universities carefully examine college courses in order to determine what transfer credit will be give. With the exception of one or two unique courses, courses .at the College are directly transferable to ‘university programs. 4) Course choice at the rallege permits a student to choose courses appropriate to his chosen program. During 1877-78, 43 different college courses were available. Coming to the College does not necessarily limit the student's choice. 5) The College is close to home, in fact it is possible for students living in Smithers, Kitimat and Prince Rupert, as well as Terrace to take a full couse load while living at home. 6) Many students experience some trauma in going to a university where the student population is greater than the population of the home town. The College is smaller, close to home, close to the northern en- vironment where the student has grown up. 7) Finally, but not least important, is the question of cost. A year’s expenses while going to the College and living away from home are approximately $1500-1800, A student in similar circumstances at a university can expect to pay from $3000-3500 per academic year. Two Years Before the University Many students and parents are not aware that it is possible to take the first two years towards university degree at Northwest Community College. Since the advent of the Community College, the three B.C. universities have done away with the year by year distinctions. They now divide courses In most rograms into lower level division credit and upper evel division credit. Therefore a student can now take a total of 60 semester hours credit (equivalent of two full years), In couses numbered from 100 to 299 for full transfer credit to the university, There is no need to take a specific number of couses numbered 100-199 (formerly irst year) and another number of courses numbered 200 to 299 (formerly second year). Theoretically all courses could be taken from either of these numbered catagories. Sudents Planning to proceed to a B.A. or B. Ed. experience no difficulty in transferring to a university with their two years of credit. Students proceeding to . a B.Se., at this time, may not be able to obtain enough science credits for two years and should probably transfer after first year at the: College, Vancouver Foundation Bursary , Northwest Community College has received a grant for student aid in the amount of $500.00 from. the Vancouver Foundation. This grant adds to the presently limited bursary funds available to students at the College who find that financial difficulties en- danger the continuation of their studies. It is intended that the fund will be awarded in October 1978 to one or more students in good academic standing who are financing their own educational costs, Interested students should apply to the Student Services Department by October 1. ; There is a provision in the Vancouver Foundation grant that a portion of it might be converted into an emergency student Joan fund, investigating presently _ The College is ’ this possibility. The Vancouver Foundation will be continuing to administer a large number of awards and scholar- ships for students in post-secondary programs, - Briefly in the news VACCINATE HORSES VICTORIA (CP) -- The agriculture ministry has isgued a reminder to horse breeders in the Kamloops- Okanagan-Similkameen atea to vaccinate their . horges before May 31 to protect them from equine encephalomyelitis. The ministry said in a news release that the disease, known as sleeping sickness in humans, is mosquitoborne and therefore is most prevalent during hot humid spells. No cases of the disease were reported last summer.