PAGE 2, THE HERALD, Thursday, July 13, 1978

The public is continually told that ‘Health is
everybody's business‘. But let the public try to
change anything or suggest a change and see
what happens.

No! The ‘‘Science of Health” is a closed shop.
Or should I say “closed shops”. Just as the Post
Office issaid to to have four separate internal
unions - and goodness knows how many external
ones - so “‘Health” has been divvied up and
parcelled out into tight little empires.

Don’t believe me? Well, we have the Dentists -
health empire of the teeth. This empire has its
colonial department and sub-departments -
dental mechanics, colleges, societies hygienists,
and publications. Mental Health, with its
technical jargon and, again, its colonial empire
and pyramid structure with the Psychiatrists at
the apex; its maze of institutions, branches,
colleges, magazines, societies - and laws to cover
them ail. .

Then there are the opthalmologists - who
seldom see eye to eye with the other branches of
medical sciences, and compartmentalize more
commonly into subdivisions of optometrists,
opticians, technicians and, Iam sure, even have
staff to correct misleading editorials such as this
will undoubtedly be deemed.

Victoria Bureau
by_Tony MacGregor

VICTORIA - It may appear to observers of B.C.’s
political scene that the only fighting ta the legislature
fakes place between the government and the op-
position parties.

But that isn’t so, Some of the most angry and
emotionally charged battles in the legislative
buildings have taken place between members of the
press gallery and politicians.

One cabinet minister in a fit of rage (although not

‘too enraged to label his comments off the record)

called gallery members a bunch of anuses - using a
more down to earth expression. -

Leader of the official opposition Dave Barrett,
although excluding working members of the press,
consistently blasted what he describes as the
capitalist press. oo

Some politicians have even gone so far - in private -
of accusing gallery members of taking bribes,
although they never produce proof of their ac-
cusationas. . ;

The NDP’s chief criticism of the press gallery is that

itdoesn't dig enough. It doesn’linvestigate. It doesn’t
analyze and it doesn't cover debates thoroughly
enough.
SENDP menmaber's point to the Pennock scandal which
culminated, in the resignation of former speaker Ed
Smith after it was discovered he had placed his girl
friend in a sensitive government posisiton. ;

That story was broken by a Vancouver columnist
rather than by full-time members of the gallery some

May Report

Thirty-three awards totalling $84,360 and two
pensions amounting to $462 were announced during
May under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Act.

A50-year-old Vancouver man suffered fatal injuries
when, for no apparent reason, he was shot by an
unidentified assailant on a Vancouver street. The
victim's widow and four dependent children were
awarded a lump sum payment of $7,500 and a total
monthly pension of $362.

Following a verbal exchange a 17-year-old New
Westminster man was struck in the right eye by
sholgun pellets fired by another man.. He suffered
permanent loss of sight to his right eye and was
awarded a $100 monthly pension.

A 44-year-old man from the B.C, Interior sutfered
severe head injuries when he was allacked and struck
hy a man outside a hotel premises. He sustained a
skull fracture and a contusion to the left lobe of the
brain. As a result of his injuries the victim was
disabled for a period of approximately one year. For
loss of wages and injuries suffered he was awarded

- $15,000.

While walking to a parking lot in Burnaby a 34-year-
old Vancouver man was altacked and beaten by
another man during an attempted robbery. He suf-

fered multiple contusions and abrasions to his neck, .

head, righthand and thumb. For injuries suffered the
victim was awarded $500.

As he stopped to check on the condition of a woman
who had run into the path of his vehicle a 31-year-uld

Had enough? I haven't touched on the field of
audiology, but before leaving it I must say a
sincere ‘‘Thank God’’ that B.C. is one of the few
enlightened provinces that, in the last few years
has recognized how much in the dark the public
has been in the matter of deafness, and how a
handful of manufacturers of hearing devices
have been soaking the public selling often the
wrong types of ‘“‘aids” at profits known to reach
1200 per cent. -

There is still no known cure for “nerve deaf-
ness’’ - the mast common type - but there can be
and there should be and there will be, once the
public.is given all the facts and can bring about
the necessary research into the causes and the
eventual cures.

That men - or women, in an age of advanced
technology such as we have entered, should have
to go through life with balding heads - or else
cover them with clumsy shag rugs laid on top or
(Ugh!) tucked under slices of lifted scalp, etec.- is
a shocking reflection on priorities where more is
spent in researching new underarm deodorants

an into curing the unsightly disease which
causes baldness.

Itis hardly likely that the world will reach that
state of perfection Sir Thomas More labelled
“Utopia” (which I think is a Greek word for
‘nowhere‘,) but would it not make sense, froma
health standpoint to be a lot less isolationist and

bring the mysterious world of health together —

of whom kenw of Smith's relationship to the girl.

They alsoctaim that the most important legislation
passed during the last session, the forestry act, was
almostentirely ignored by the media. They claim that
eight researchers spent three weeks helping NDP
Forests critic Bill King prepare a speech on the. bill
and the speech rated only one paragraph in one major
B.C. daily newspaper. ;

Press gallery members counter the criticism with
the argument that they are not the ones who decide
how much space a story is given. -

They also claim that they are presented with such
an array of diverse legistation that it is impossible to
give a detailed analysis of each bill.

And some will admit that friendships with
politicians which develop as a matter of course out of
working relationships sometimes blind a journalist lo
a good story - which may have been the case in the
Pennock scandal. ‘

But it is perhaps to the gallery's credit that it has
been attacked with equal vehemence by both the
government and the official opposition. And it is also
to the credit of gallery members that they are willing
to admit that legislation doesn’t always get the in-
vesligative analysis it, warrents, : t
_ But that’s a problem that could be solved by more
journalists and more specialized journalists. And the
resolution of that problem rests with the owners and
managers of the media rather than with working
journalists. ‘ ,

Violence In B.C.

Victorla man was attacked and punched in the face by
a male acquaintance of the woman. He suffered
dental damage and a contusion of the right thumb.
The victim was awarded $854.

Following a verbal exchange over a pool game a 61-
year-old Prince George man was attacked, beaten and
kicked by another man. He suffered a fractured left
knee which has left him with a minor limitation of
movement in that knee. For injuries suffered and
permanent damage sustained the victim was awarded
$7,271. .

For no apparent reason a 46-year-old Prince Rupert
man was atlacked and -beaten by a man in a parking
lot. He suffered a mild concussion, fractured jaw and
contusions of the jaw. For loss of wages and injuries
suffered the victim was awarded $2,381.

While on the premises of a private club a 40- ear-old

Penticton man was attacked, punched in the face,
knocked to the floor and kicked by a male assailant.
He suffered multiple body contusions and was
awarded $744. ‘ ;
_ Under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Act,
anyone who is a victim of crime in B.C. may apply for
compensation. Application forms are available at any
office of the Workers’ Compensation Board, which
administers the Act. Upon payment of compensation
lhe Board is entitled to sue the party or parties
responsible for the victim's injuries. ‘It such
proceedings result in recovering more ihan the
compensation awarded plus cosis; the excess or
surplus is paid to the claimanti(s).

—Stranger Than Fiction——

Change of Heart

and, in a simplified form so the average man-in-
the-street will know what services are available,
and have them all in.one place? Then there could
be “input” from the public as well as from the
“top” - the medical schools, laboratories and
universities. .

A quick true example: Some years ago a
parachutist jumped and his chute failed to open.
In panic he reached over and opened his
emergency chute - which brought him down
safely. In hospital, it was found the man’s head
was “twisted” sideways - but he was otherwise
O.K. The hospital referred the patient to a
psychiatrist who came up with the explanation
the man was suffering from shock. That his
twisted neck was from fear, when he looked over
his back and found the chute hadn't opened. The
psychiatrist then started the man on a series of
psychiatric counselling sessions, There's a lot
more to this story of course, but I must be brief.
Eventually- since his condition did not improve, -
the man went to the hospital and persuaded them
to X-ray his neck. Sure enough, it was then
discovered (as he had insisted all along) a neck
yertebra was broken. It was as simple as
that. The man, who had been suffering ex-
cruciating pain all along, said, “...but I had been
telling them that all along. They wouldn’t believe
me, I thought an X-ray would have been the first

thing they would have done.” a

rm,

So - we haveour."health world” more like a
solar system, with various planets revolving .
around the sun (health). Having just finished
putting in millions and millions of dollars into a
beautiful hospital in Terrace, a couple or three
million dollars is about to be spent on putting up
a public health (and Human Resourecs) “cen
tre’ a mile or so away. (Another ‘empire 7)

Meanwhile, the “Psycho-geriatric complex’’-
Skeenaview Lodge, is getting a fresh coat of
yellow paint, upon the Bench, while the staff live
from one rumour to the next as to its fate - and
the future of their employment.

Yes, we are very lucky, in the Northwest, to
have such excellent institutions and expensive
equipment and competent staff.

But that does not mean things could not be
done better, or that we have reached perfection.

‘Even, for example, the Mills Memorial Annual
Report (like most hospital annual reports) never
suggests anywhere in its pages that anyone ever
DIED.in hospital, last year, nor that anyone was
sick, or what illnesses were treated and how
many cases of each. It does list the total number
of patients, and number (but not kinds). of
operations, emergency visits and length of stay.
But then, perhaps nobody hias ever been able to
tell them the public might be interested.

See Also, article on this page under ‘32 Million
Blind Could Be Cured”.

foe xf

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OXFORD, England Reuler -
An international conference’
Saturday. called for urgent
action fo stamp out eye
diseases which have left
about 40 million people blind.

Eye experts from 44
countries pledged at the end
of a three-day conference to
do everything in their power
to stimulate governmental

and
action.
They were meeting in the
first general assembly of the
Internalional Agency for the
Prevention of Blindness
TAPB. ‘
Delegates told the
gathering that most of the
blindness in the world was
preventable and much of It

inter-governmental

Lakelse vs.Meager Mt.

(continued) by Iona Campagnolo

LAKELSE HOT SPRINGS ,

One of the energy projects included in Mr.
Gillespie's announcement is an assessment of
the energy potential of hotsprings near Meager
Mountain, in the Lillooet area.

T had requested that a study of this type be
conducted at the Lakelse Hotsprings, between
Terrace and Kitimat, but was advised that -

’ based on preliminary tests by the Geothermal

including 60 wha died
fighting for control of the
island's airfield.

Japanese parliament and
cabinet. Kameoka also
brovghl a list of names,

HONTASHA, Solomon

Islands AP - United States
Marine veterans and some of
their Japanese opponents in
the blocdy fight for
Guadalcanal returned to the
1842 battleground Sunday,
this time as friends.

On a ridge overlooking
Henderson Field, former
Gunnery Sgt. Ed Twobhill
exchanged salules and shook
hands with Takeo Kameoka,
a. Japanese company
commander, Under the hot
tropical sun, they compared
accounts of the Second World
War batties they survived.

“The war was a mistake,"
Kameoka said. “All we want
now is peace and we must
join together to watch the
threat from the Soviets.“

Twohill said: "IJ never
thought ['d be doing this
when I was here 35 years

ago. But the war is over a

long time.”
Both men had come for a
week of independence

celebrations in these Pacific
islands 1,000 miles northeast
of Australia. The Solomons
had been ruled by the British
for 85 years.

Guadalcanal was the site
of America’s first thrust into
the Pacific, and 5,000
Americans and 24,000
Japanese eventually died on
this 2,500-square-miili
island. Honiara is the main
town. .

Twohill, 55 a retired New
York City policeman,
brought with him a list of 21
Marines in his company
killed in the bitter fighting.

Kameoku, 57, was
wounded three times, went
home a war hero and laler
became ao member of the

He’s For

MOSCOW AP - A retired
music professor in the Soviet
Ukraine has taught an en-
semble of eight canaries to
warble harmonically a large
repertoire of tunes, including
wallzes by Johann Strauss,
Tass said.

The official Soviet news
agency said Fyodor
Fomenko began by teaching
goldfinches and martlets and
even had a quartet of
starlings, but he found thal
canaries were his most
talented students.

“To teach harmonic
singing, even with these
birds, is a (horough and long
business,” he was quoted as
saying, ‘“‘E have spent

the Birds

several years in order to
select my participants of the
ensemble and to achieve
their mutual un-
derstanding.”

Fomenko says he has
taught each bird to sing its
own mudical phrase and
when it Becomes silent the
melody ‘continues with
another bird, and so on. He
said he begins with three-
month-old baby canaries
who ‘sing to the  ue-
companieament of a piano or
accordion.

Tass —sreported that
Fomenko's work has been
honored in the Soviel Union
with diplomas and medals

Studies section of the Department of Energy,
Mines and Resources -- the Lakelse area does not
have the potential’ associated with other geo-
thermal sites in B.C. The best area in the
province is the Meager Mountain site, although
there may also be potential in the more northern
part of the Stikine volcanic helt (of which the
Terrace-Kitimat area is the southernmost end).
LESS RELIANCE ON OIL

In addition to possible local applications of.
alternate energy sources, this research initiative
by the federal government has another major
importance for. our area,

Through development of resources such as the
oi] sands, through research into alternate energy
sources, and through a greater awareness and
practice of energy conservation, our country is
lessening its potential dependence on imported
energy -- particularly oil. This means that the
possibility of oil imports through Kitimat or
another west coast port -- imports which the
federal government has said cannot be justified
for the foreseeable future -- will become even
more remote than they are now.

curable.

They were told that unless
decisive action was taken,
blindness in developing
countries could treble in less
than fifty years.

Conference sources said
the experts felt adequate
technology exists to reduce
the four causes of eye
disease which together

GOTEBORG, Sweden AP -
The referee blew the whistle,
and the players started to
run. But instead of heading
for the goal, seven members
of the Harlanda Prison
soccer team headed for the
fence.

The seven, part of a squad
that was to have played a
local team made up of

account for eighty per cent of
the blindness in developing
countries, the four diseases
are trachoma,

xerophthalmia, on-
chocerclasis and cataract.

Delegates were told that
about 250,000 children go
blind each year due to
vitamin deficiency.

Soccer Team Home Run

clergymen, swiftly climbed
over the barrier and
disappeared into a busy
section of the city.

Four of the fugitives,
dressed in soccer uniforms,
Stole a car and escaped, The
olher three were caught by
police a few hours after
bolting the field Saturday in
this southwestern port city.

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