A4 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, July 16, 2003 STANDARD ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, 1988 PUBLISHER: ROD LINK ADDRESS: 3210 Clinton Street Terrace, B.C. * V8G 5R2 TELEPHONE: (250) 638-7283 * FAX: (250) 638-8432 WEB: www.terracestandard.com EMAIL: newsrcom@terracestandard.com History lesson IT’S A strange sensation seeing a school torn apart. On the one hand, it’s oddly thrilling to see machines busily pulling down a huge building like Skeena Junior Secondary, a job that’s being done in bits and pieces over several weeks be- cause parts of it are being salvaged and re- cycled. Then a lump catches in the throat. It’s almost as if memories of the people who filled the school with life over its 50 years are’ being pulled down alongside the sturdy blocks’ of concrete, wooden frames and yellowy bits of insulation. . In May, more than 300 people turned out to an emotional party commemorating the school’s 50th anniversary — and to say goodbye. It’s a remarkable irony that one of Terrace’ s most recognizable landmarks is under the wrecking ball just as it marks a major milestone — five decades. But ask any of the students who actually went to Skeena this year and you'll quickly discover they’re not all that sad to see the old school go. When its replacement opens up in September, the new Skeena Jr, will be the envy of other schools — and other districts. With skylights that allow natural light to shine down on the main floor, heavy timber beams, new classrooms, and labs, it’s litthe wonder the kids can’t wait to settle in, In a sense, Skeena High grew along with Ter- race. It’s estimated 25,000 students have passed through the infamous dark halls of Skeena, which opened as a Grade 7-12 high school in 1953, when Terrace was still a small town. In 1973, the year Thornhill Junior Secondary was built and just a few years after Caledonia Senior Secondary opened its doors, Skeena Jr, housed nearly 950 students. The new $11 million junior high taking shape behind an emerging mountain of rubble will have room for 650 students. When another state-of-the-art school — Moun- tainview Elementary, a brand-new elementary school —-didn’t open last September, it became impossible to ignore a new fact of life in Ter- race: Our population is shrinking. ” Families have left and more are leaving, En- rolment in School District 82 sits at less than | 6,376, and just 3,430 in Terrace. It’s a down- : ward spiral and no one knows when it will bot-— tom out. So, by all means shed a tear for the old school, and say a proper farewell. But let’s welcome its replacement as a symbol of faith in Terrace’s future — and as a sign of hope for the region. PUBLISHER/EDITOR: Rod Link ADVERTISING MANAGER: Brian Lindenbach PRODUCTION MANAGER: Edouard Credgeur NEWS: Jeff Nagel NEWS/SPORTS Sarah A. Zimmerman 2002 WINNER NEWS/COMMUNITY: Jennifer Lang CCNA BETTER FRONT OFFICE: Darlene Keeping & Carol McKay NEWSPAPERS CIRCULATION SUPERVISOR: Terri Gordon COMPETITION ADVERTISING CONSULTANTS: Bert Husband & Denise Young TELEMARKETER: C.J. Bailey COMPOSING: Susan Credgeur AD ASSISTANT: Sandra Stefanik SUBSCRIPTION RATES BY MAIL: $57.94 (494.06 GST)=62.00 per year; Seniors $50.98 (4$3.57 GST)=54.55; Out of Province $65.17 (+$4.56 GST)=69.73 Outside of Canada (6 months) $156.91(+10.98 GST)=167,.89 MENAER OF ae Gena _ a rr 8.C, AND YUKON COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION, CANADIAN COMMUNITY HEN SPAPERS ASSOCIATION i] Pe Setea B.C, PRESS GOUNCIL (wew.bcpresscouncil.org) Sarving the Terrace and Thornhill area. Published on Wednesday of aach waek at 3240 Clinton Sheet, Terrace, British Columbia, V8G ER2. Stories, photographs, illustrations, dasigns and typestyles in the Terrace Standard are the property of the copyright holders, Including Cariboo Press (1969) Ltd,, its illustration repro services and advertising agencies. Reproduction In whole or in past, without writtan permission, 's spactfically prohibited, : Authorized as eecond-class mall panding the Post Cifica Department, for payment of postaga in cash. Special thanks fo all our contributors and correspondents for thelr time and tatents tink i H SO AFTER ALL THAT, IT TURNED OuT THERE WAS NO PROOF OF WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION IN @IRI2E03 iT NOPE, JusT A WEAPON OF MASS DECEPTION IN THE WHITE HOUSE. ranean meagre? eH ee ii! A“ —_ +. _ pint { + = 4 i re wa bgp Ld 1 “ 4 : it i+ ror eee Hey eet 7 4 ++ i oy i ae: pan ry | ; ‘ it OVERHEARD AT THE UNITED NATIONS self-defence rights under siege VICTORIA — Shortly after I arrived in Victoria to work for the Daily Colonist, I covered a sensational murder trial. The accused, a young woman with the last name of Carifelle (1 can’t remember her first name) had killed her estranged husband. The husband, who was under a restraining order not to go anywhere near his wife, had done so anyway and vi- ciously attacked the woman's father, who just happened ta visit. Mrs. Carifelle ran outside, yelling for help. No-one came to her assistance. She-ran into a restaurant, again screaming for help and, while racing through the kit- chen, grabbed a humongous knife. She ran back to her house, just in time to see her dad being beaten to within an inch of his death. She plunged the knife into her estranged husband and kitled him. es She pleaded not guilty, as- serting her right to self-de- fence, which can also apply to the protection of others. Before a packed room of cheering relatives and specta- tors, the jury found her not guilty and she left the couri- room a free woman. That was more than 30 years ago, Today, things have changed, and not for the bet- A LOCAL school trustee knits during board meetings, letters to the editor reveal. A quiet pastime, knitting should disturb no one except in this circumstance it could convey an attitude of disengagement, aloofness, and unconcern. In which case knitting is as out of place as cleaning finger- nails with a pocket knife. To gauge the appropriate- ness of a behaviour, exagger- ate it to absurdity. So for ar- gument’s sake, suppose dur- ing board meetings each trustee engages in a favouite craft. One whittles wooden mallard decoys. Another laces leather wallets. A third paints watercolour land- scapes. A fourth cuts and folds origami birds. A fifth hand stitches a quilt block. A sixth sketches caricatures of fellow trustees, Might not a father upset by news that next September his 10-year-old will have to walk three kilometres to school along a busy, narrow road conclude such a board is less TFOUND A \yr-eg (952 POPULAR MECHANICS MAGAZINE ma (NANOLD mm CABIN «A: Body language FROM THE CAPITAL HUBERT BEYER ter. Even defending your own life is no guarantee that you and not the criminal who at- tacked you lands in jail, Take the recent case of Harjeet Singh Saini and his partner Raj Singh Valcha. The two had bought a convenience store in the Montreal suburb of St. Hubert. During their first three “weeks in-business, They were robbed three times after clos- ing hours. The thieves stole cigar- ettes, cash, lottery tickets and other goods worth more than $40,000. With police making no progress in capturing the thieves, the two store owners decided to take turns sleeping in the store’s back room. It didn’t take long for two cul- prits to try to rob the store THROUGH BIFOCALS CLAUDETTE SANDECKI than dedicated to its elected duty of providing students with a quality education? Let me be clear. i have not seen the present Coast Moun- tain school board in session, nor have I met the knitter. My remarks pertain to knit- ters and school boards in general. By knitting during month- ly meetings is this trustee alienating her constituency, apathetic toward her respon- sibilities, indifferent to the board’s deliberations? Tr SAID BY 2002. WE'D ALL BE FLYING AROUND IN PERSONAL HELICOPTERS AND EATING HYDROPONIC FOOD!! V again. On June 29, they ripped off the front door lock and started bringing in garbage cans to fill up with merchandise. Saini and his partner sur- prised the duo, chasing off the knife-wielding accomplice and knocking unconscious the al- leged ringleader with a base- ball bat. Police now have charged Saini with aggravated assault. Never mind that the burglar first attacked him with the tire iron he had used to tear off the lock on the front door. Something is clearly wrong here. Why is a man charged with assault for warding off crimi- nals who attacked and attemp- ted to rob him? Are we no longer allowed to defend ourselves and our prop- erty? Apparently not. It’s a matter of excessive force. The baseball bat, 1 suppose, is seen in the eyes of police, - asa force greater’ than ‘neces: '' sary to repel an intruder armed with a tire iron, Saini should have asked the robber to wait a minute until he gets a smal- ler bat. Thirty years ago, society, including poiice and prosecu- tors would not have challenged the notion that using a base- ball bat to defend against armed intruders met the Crimi- nai Code’s test that self-defen- sive force must be proportio- In the words of one con- sultant, “It would depend upon how much the knitter is taking from the meeting.” I'd be concemed this knit- ter is missing body language of trustees and public unless, like my aunt who could knit without looking, she has no need to watch for dropped stitches but can instead focus on those in the room. With her eyes on her nee- dies, how can she clue in to body language reactions by board members and the muz- zled public? By their facial expressions, eye rolling, and elbow pokes in the ribs of neighbours parents convey approval, annoyance, skepti- cism, exasperation or corked anger in response to trustees’ faulty reasoning, spacious ar- guments, or pitiful cures for ministry chaos, Every board, I'd wager, has factions, two or three trustees who cook up back room deals to nudge the board into a decision that suits their private purpose. In | BUT WE'RE STILL PADDLING A CANOE AND HUNT WILD GAME !! Or phone him at (250) 381-6900. soeaks volumes | THE 2002 POPULAR OUR GUNS AND PADDLE nate to the threat of bodily harm or property loss. Juries understood that, too. That's why Mrs. Carifelle was found not guilt by a jury of her peers, even though she had clearly killed her estranged husband, These days, you had better think twice before you defend yourself, your home or. busi- ness. It might land you in pri- son. The need to prevent vigi- lantism is often cited by those who condemn any action by private citizens in defence of their lives or property. With all respect, what Saini did was not vigilantism. He didn’t seek out those he deemed responsible for past robberies and try to teach them a lesson. He simply defended his li- velihood against intruders. ; My reaction would be simi- ar. I don’t have a baseball bat lying around the house, but ‘1 ‘might find something else to beat the hell out of anyone try- ing to enter my home with il] intentions. I hope Saini will choose a jury to sit in judgment of him. And I hope the jury is more sensible than the prosecutors and police who brought forth the charges against him. Beyer can be reached at: E-mail: hubert@coolcom.com. those cases, interpreting trustees’ body language be- comes a full time job, as nods, blinks or body shifting trig- gers a plot, Delegations especiaily de- serve the full attention and eye contact of all assembled trustees. Imagine the insult of addressing a board where one of more trustees appear to have more interesting things to do than listen, Who can blame observers for conclud- ing such a trustee is warming a chair for the stipend rather saving what's left of B.C.'s education system, There are decisions to de- bate, discussion points to be jot down, results to note. How does she perform while pur- ling? Merely holding up a hand to vote leaves the other trustees doing the work. That's unfair, to trustees and the electorate. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe those who elected this knitter are happy with her perfor- mance. I'd worry about more than the negative optics. MECHANICS SANS WE'LL HAVE MINIATURE TETS AND EAT GENETICALLY MODIFIED BACTERIA IN 50 YEARS! ERS HOLD ON To FOLKS {! — — names