oa kite Td ee

a ee i me ge ge
Se EE Sia ire ena

a et RL OE eee gk ces ees

scngieneeee

Page A4 — Terrace Standard, Wednesday, February 14, 1990

ERRACE STANDA

eS

" ESTABLISHED APRA, 27, 1968' :

Régiatration No. 7820 4647 Lazalie Ave., Terrace, B. ¢.,\ veG 188. * (e0a) 638-7289

Serving ‘tha Terrace area. Pubiched on Wednesday ofeach week by £aniboo Press (1989) Ltd. at 4647 Lacele ave. Terrace, British Colum,
Stories, photographs, Imustrations, designs and lypestyles in the Terrace Standard are the property of the Ponrriht holders, Including Cariboo Prass (1959) Ltd,, its il

. Production Manager: a

ot Na

Sports, Malcolm Baxter — Nows,...
“Rose Fisher — Front Oftice ‘Manage
i pesetting/Daskreom:.*

: Yi
a ee cay Ridin — ‘Advertising Manager; Janet Viveiros = Advettising Congultant, *
“Sam Collier = _Aavetang Consuilant, Kathrine Hicks — Graphic’ Artist

Special thanks to all.
Our: contributors and
‘correspondents for
Aheir time and
1 talents, ms

hustration repro services and advertising agencies. ei all ae
frepreduction in whole or in part, without written pernéssion, Is specifically proibhid. Edouard Credgeur.: ~ a
Atburized as second-class ral pending the Post Offce Department. or payment of postage in cash, Pile ie

= ~ “ “

~ EDITORIA

‘imply revolting

There’s the old joke about the servant
who rushes: into the king’s quarters.
“‘The peasants are revolting,’’ gasps the
servant. ‘‘Of course they are,”’ responds
the king.

That, in short, is what all the fuss is _

about concerning the provincial govern-
ment’s latest fiddle. over paying for.
education, Taxpayers are revolted by
what education costs and the profes-
sional bureaucrats in the education game
are revolted by the idea of asking the tax-
payer for money.

The way things stand now, the provin-

‘ cial government gives each district a

chunk of cash. Anything it thinks it
needs over that, it raises taxes. Under the
proposed mew system, each district
would get a chunk ef money, there
would be allowances for inflation, For
anything after that, the school district
would need voter approval.

It’s a simple concept and one that is
supposed to be at the foundation of our
society — the requirement that taxpayers

have a say in how much they should pay
and where it should go. But, to listen to
those who are a cozy part of the educa-
tion factory, it’s heresy. One report last
week, painted the horrifying picture of

school trustees ‘going hat in hand’ "to

taxpayers. Imagine that.

- What’s right with this proposal is 5 that
it places with the taxpayer a form of con-
trol over what, up until now has been a
bureaucracy that has governed and
financed itself. What’s wrong with the
proposal is that it has all the appearances
of an election campaign platform clever-
ly designed to divide and conquer.

Overall, the idea is sound. And if
school districts and their employees
don’t like it — that’s tough. It is their
job to provide education. It is also there
job to seek the assurances and support of
the taxpayer. In the marketplace it’s call-
ed selling your product. If a business
doesn’t provide what the paying
customer wants, then it doesn’t last for
very long.

Higher learning

For the past month Prince George
residents have been drooling over the
prospect of a northern university. That’s
sbecause~ its main campus would be
“located:in that city and that means jobs
“and more money circulating in that area,

Their optimism is based on a report
calling for the formation of a northern

’ university based mainly on the lobbying

efforts of Prince George residents.
There are two reasons for the op-
timism, One is that the provincial
government has all but promised such an
institution would be created. The second
is that .we’re close to an election and elec-
tions mean the expenditure of large
amounts of money. to increase the
government’s chance of being returned
to office. Just how close that election is
can be measured by the province’s

response — yes, it likes the idea but no,
there hasn’t been any money set aside
yet.

a northern university should have
regional campuses, each one specializing
in ihe main economy of the area in which
it is located. That proposal has survived
in the report mentioned above but
doesn’t have the . Prominence it had
earlier.

Lately there’s been a strong northwest
lobby to have here a forestry faculty of
the proposed northern university, Given
that wood processing is the dominant
economy of the area it does make sense.

It’s something to keep in mind before
things get confused with the building of
an educational bureaucracy and its ivory
towers.

Checking out ° check up

. Going to the doctor is as
diverting as preparing income
tax.

‘-’m not apprehensive about
pain or physical discomfort. I Bifocals
just shiver with the anticipation by Claudette Sandecki

of ‘being clad in nothing more

Through

than a jacket fabricated from
bleached pulp, and elastic im-

When first proposed, it was suggested ~
‘ruined his whole day. Let’s

ee Sa

prints.

:-\My expectations grow from

‘the moment I jot the appoint-

ment on my calendar.

. “The first hurdle is selecting an
outfit from which I can quickly
change to patient garb. For this,
I sift my closet for an ensemble
emobodying the largest number
of examination criteria:

Cuffs must. be loose enough
to push above the elbow. Once,
I.wore a blouse with fitted cuffs
that refused to go higher than
mid-forearm. To bare.a target
vein for the lab-tech to draw a
blood sample, I had to disrobe
one arm. Which IF could have

~ managed with ease of people in
- the lab’s walting room would .

have averted their eyes.
«The blouse or sweater can be

a pull-on if I’ve recently had my

hair cut; otherwise I'll opt fora
button or zipper closure. Pan-

tyhose and elasticized slacks do

away with garters and belts,
And::I-.always take along my

largest. handbag to secrete my.

glasses, scarf, gloves and novel.

“Shoes can be a predicament.
Slip-on pumps streamline the
doffing. Process. . But in. ex-

change . for” their: dash of ©

;frantically stuffing my. unmen-.

elegance, I’m predisposed to
pneumonia, Thus for a winter
exam fur-line boots are the sen-
sible option — though they're a
tad incongruous with the tissue
vestment.

. Given a choice, I schedule
medical exams in July. Then I
need only sandals, and one layer
of clothing. That’s all the hook
on the examining room doar.
- will hold, More is sure to slither
to the. floor, distracting . the
physician from my. spiking’
blood préssure,

The office nurse leaves me’
with the chipper assurance,
“Doctor will be right with
you”’, She returns to the securi-.

ty of her familiar work sation,

decently clothed, comfortably

. warm. Meanwhile I'm left in the

examining room wondering
whether “‘right with you’’
translates into two minutes or
9, ol

, If the doctor arrives within
two minutes he may.catch me

tionables into my handbag. On
the other hand,-if I’m left to
wait half an hour,. I'll be so blue.

she'll think’I'm seeking a. second Pe

ee

opinion before undergoing
valve surgery.

Two paper napkins the color
of skim milk sit folded on the
examining table. One shakes
out into a cropped jacket with
plastic ties at the collar. The

larger napkin masquerades as a

sheet, to preserve my modesty.
It: makes no bid to ward off
chillblains.

’ There’s nothing else to do but
don Mac-Blo's finery, hop. Up
on the paper-draped table, and

cozy up with the industrial- sized

paper towel.

;Coem to think of it, visiting
the doctor in winter has its
bonus — at least my. feet are

“warm,

=>
=.

ar
3

ary

Asa,
THERENTE.

mn

uy

Referendum ae
simply no good

VICTORIA — Fleeing to
Hawaii immediately after an-
nouncing that school tax
referendums would be resur-
rected for the third time in 20
years, was one smart move by
Education Minister Tony
Brummet.:

Sticking around might have
face it, basking in the sun and
letting the warm sand run
through his toes must have
beat listening to the chorus of
scorched cats that greeted his

‘decree, back here at home.

Seeking temporary political
asylum in Hawaii also got him
off the hook, as far as ques-
tions by the media are con-
cerned. I certainly have a ques-
tion or two. For example, I
would like to know where the
minister found the courage to
refer to the referendum scheme
as tax relief.

From where I sit, it looks as
if all the minister's plan will
accomplish is a shift in the
burden of collecting taxes from
the provincial government to
school boards.

According to the new school
funding plan, the provincial
government is to take over the
cost of students” basic educa-
tion estimated at $5,259 per
student package, they will have
to go to referendum.

The strategy is by no means
anew one, In 1969, W.A.C.
Bennett had a similar
brainstorm. Of 33 referendums
held between 1969 and 1972,
only six passed. When the
socialists hordes stormed the
gates in 1972, they quickly kill-
ed the education-by-
referendum method.

In the early. 1980s, Bill Ben-

nett's Scoreds came up with a
similar idea. Again, they of-
fered to pay the basic cost of
education and force school
boards to raise money locally
if they wanted more. After a
while, the scheme was scrap-
ped again, until now, when

Vander Zalm's Socreds decided

to have yet another go at it.

. Then as now, the reaction
has been extremely negative, ;
Except for the government,

From the

Capital
by Hubert Beyer

‘nobody wants any part of it.

sak

Initially, teachers across the”
province even threatened job
action, and although they have
now softened their stand a bit,
they still maintain that trying

_ to finance eduication by

referendum will be disastrous,

Parents, too, are angry, The
B.C, Home and School
Federation plans an anti-
referendum campaign. Federa-
tion president Maxine Wilson
says her group plans to warn
parents that the referendum
plan will hurt the education
system.

School trustees like the idea
even less. Some have said they
may resign from their posi-
tions. Others have warned that.
nobody will want to run for
school trustees any more if the
government implements the —
plan, .

Schoo! trustees like
the idea even less,
Some have said they
may resign from their

‘positions,

‘hich, ‘With | a little ‘luck; ‘might

even be blown up | into a full-"
blown election issue.
But even if the government

were serious about wanting to.

curb spiralling taxes, tying:: <’-

- something as serious as educa- °

tion to the whim. of the voting. ee

public is not to be commend-..
ed.

Governing by referendum is is.
not part of our system. One of:
the few exception are © 7:
municipal capital expenditure. _ :
budgets, By law, municipalities
cannot spend | more than they: .
collect in any given year,

Plans for capital projects |
that cannot be funded out of :

the current budget must be ap-
proved by the ratepayers who®..

aren't always inclined to agree.”
with the need for the projects...

‘ Voters in the city of Victoria ,

last year turned down a $55

million referendum, killing, |
- among other things, plans for

a new police station and‘a: new. mn

sports arena.
Some people’ were, of -

-tefloat the referendum some:

“time in the future. The. police

. course, disappointed, but ete a
is always a-possibility to: © «). -

- . would be just as happy about «0

You may well ask whether.
the government was asleep at
the switch, Shouldn't they
have expected this reaction?
They did, they did. In fact, ‘so
far, everything is going as" -
planned, including the strike
threats: by teachers, The only
problem may be that the
teachers will come to their
sense and refuse to take the

. bait dangled so temptingly in
front of them, -

You didn't really believe
that the government introduc-
ed the referendum scheme to

“avert a tax revolt,’* as Brum-.
_ met claimed. The idea was to

create a bit of ¢ a confrontation

’ Some of the kids would be"
. grand parents by the’ time the: a

~ getting their new quarters five,
years from now: re
An education referendum, :

on the other hand, can’t be™
just put on hold until the:
voters ‘are in a’ ‘better moo

voters might feel inclined, to” 1
pass a referendum... a
In-a nutshell, the referen-

_ dum idea-is just as unaccep-

table and unworkable now as.
it was in the late 60s and early
40s, and ‘the fact that’ people . :
are fed up with. rising taxes has
nothing to do'with it, Now as
then, the idea.should be ae

ed to-die a: merciful: death. .

ETAND THIS WAS A: QUAINT LITTLE. TEA:
ROOM "TL SLY MADE IT INTO A VIDEO
PARLOR, AND THAT WAS AN OLD -
FOLKS HOME: BEFORE SLY BULLDOZED
ITFOR AN EQUIPMENT YARD... a

Pants st SINS 5 epeATN
COMPANY WHICH IS REALLY
JUST A TAX SHELTER AND
JVER THERE SLY's BUILDING
A DISCO AND BODY RB. .

Lesson ONE , NEVER "|.
WRE A GUIDE WHO: ff
REALLY , Kelouls THES