6 Terrace Review — Wednesday, November 2,

Armchair critics —
avoid involvement

Sponsorship by either the city or the Chamber of
Commerce. Is this a cry for help from a frustrated
and overworked Riverboat Days Committee? Or is it
simply a statement of fact that Riverboat Days is truly
a community event, and there should be more involve-
ment by everyone in the area? -

Since this Riverboat Days began, it has.been _
organized and coordinated by a handful of dedicated
residents who are expected to please everyone in the
area, including hundreds of summer tourists, with an
event of major proportions. But every year, there are
judgements and criticisms. from. local “spectators”
who never become involved.

The ultimat responsibility for organizing and pro-
ducing each event, however, rests with the individual
sponsoring group or club. A poorly organized event,
or as was the case this year with some events — no

event at all — is a problem which runs much deeper in

our community’s collective will and spirit than the
committee can be held responsible for.

This then, may be the motivation behind the « com-
mittee’s writing a letter to Mayor Jack Talstra. River-.
boat Days has become a part of our community and .

_ should be organized by paid employees, working for
the community, who have the backing, funding — and
most importantly, the time — necessary to put on an

event which is truly a ‘‘community event’’. One which |

everyone can feel a part of. One where every resident
is a proud ‘‘superhost’’ to the hundreds of tourists
who drive hundreds of miles just to witness the
celebration.

After receiving the committee’s letter, council decid-
ed they should sit down with representatives of the .
Chamber of Commerce and committee to see ‘‘just
what their problem is’’. But before the Riverboat Days
Committee starts to applaud any support, they will

have to remember that this is only a Committee of the -

Whole meeting and no real indication of any action.

In the meantime, they will have to operate as
before: trying to organize local clubs and groups, as
they have already begun to do, waiting for their
response, which all too often will be at the last minute

— then take the heat from a few critical ‘‘spectators”’
who could always have done it better but never seem
to give it a try.

CNA

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- (GWE UP..NE sre
200 HOURD ON Sane A
AND | peel

MAKE DOR TAL
OF THls....

Can the government learn?

~ by Janet Lennox
This essay by Caledonia

Senior Secondary School stu-
dent Janet Lennox received third

All material appearing in the Terrace Raview is PY ize in the Terr ace Review's re-

cent editorial essay contest,

“Why can’t the Royal Com-
mission on Education educate
the provincial government? In
their recently released-report, A
Legacy for Learners, the Royal
Commission recommended that
the weight of Grade Twelve ex-
aminations be decreased from
fifty to thirty percent of a stu-
dent’s overall mark. The pro-
vincial government, however, .

has decided to postpone the im- .

plementation of the commis-
sion’s recommendations citing

the time it takes for adjustment -

as an excuse,
The ramifications of this
decision are very serious. As it
stands now, the present Grade
Twelves must live with the old.

regulations that the commission

has already decided are unjust.
According to the commis- ...
sion, final exams ‘‘cannot hope

to evaluate all the objectives of
a course’, They have also ex-
pressed concern that since final: .

exams are one-shot affairs and
are so restrictive, they’re not as.
effective or useful as other
methods of evaluation. Yet it is
these same examinations which
account for one-half of a

Grade Twelve student’s final

grade,

. For example, is it fair that
on the French final exam the
oral component. of the language
is completely ignored? Oral —
skills are extremely important
in any language and yet the ex-
am overlooks this essential
component. Obviously the ex-
am is not a fair method of
evaluating the material which is
covered. in the classroom. -

“The same problem exists for

_ students who are taking

physical sciences such as .
chemistry or biology. Lab. work

counts for a substantial portion

of a studeht’s mark in class,
but in an exam situation these
practical skills are ignored.
How can an exam that .
overlooks this important ele-
ment of the course be worth so
much? .

‘For these reasons, it is im-

’ perative the provincial. govern- .
-ment act quickly. The. report:

on education has been issued -

_and flaws in the system have -

been found. It is the govern-
ment’s responsibility to im-
prove the education system, not’:
to hinder these much- needed
changes.

Women and the Free Trade Agreement.

Letter

To the Editor;

Ellen Woodsworth of the
Women’s Economic Agenda
based in Vancouver. spoke in
Terrace on October 39th and
30th regarding the impact of free
trade, the Meech Lake Accord
and privatization on the women
of Canada.

Many of us attending the
workshop were familiar with the
words but not the economic and

political concepts which these -

policies represent, By the end of
the workshop, we all understood
more or less that free trade,

' privatization and the “Meech
- Lake Accord are three strategies

which undermine the nature of

Canadian society to permit
unrestrained money-making at
the expense of the working peo-
ple.

- What protects working people
are universal social programs:
Unemployment Insurance, Can-
ada Pension Plan, Workers
Compensation, medicare, etc.
The Meech Lake Accord shifts
power from the federal govern-
ment to the provinces which
makes it possible for provinces

to spend the tax dollars collected .
federally i in different ways.One |.
province may choose to opt out.

of a: federal universal program

— before Meech Lake, it could”

hot.

Free Trade i is.less about trade >
than ‘itis about the economic ;

and political control of Canada.

In this Free Trade Agreement,
we have given GATT the right to .
determine what in, Canadian
society and economic system is a
subsidy. Subsidies are those
things which assist Canadian
business in the production of
goods, Americans consider
medicare to be a subsidy, as is
Unemployment Insurance: con-
sidered a subsidy — because it
make the production of goods
cheaper.

The ‘Canadian - “economy. is -

considered internationally to be
“quite ‘successful, 7
econonty : of the U.S. is con. -
sidered to. be ‘in decline. Ms.-.-

Woodsworth - eloquently: con-.
i ae .Pontinued on page 6

while: ithe 0