The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, January 17, 1996 - B1

TERRACE STANDARD:

INSIDE
COMMUNITY
EVENTS B2

OF pga 88 pyre

“= REG HORNE

Geographers
still in demand

LRIGHT, I admit it. I’m a ge-

ographer. I studied under my

first geography teacher when I

was twelve years old and have
had dozens more since then — British,
American, even a few Canadian. You see,
this is the time af year when students ask
me “‘what can I do with a geography de-
gree besides teach geography?’’ In fact,
there are lots of possibilities.

Geographers are probably best known
for their map making skills, but
cartography is only one aspect of this
skill. Many geographers are employed in
positions whic’ relate to designing maps
of future landscapes. Here are some cx-
amples.

A social geographer might examine the
best location for a new facility, A new li-
brary, for example, might be located so
that the most people will be close to it.
That would probably mean near the centre
of a large community. A fire or am-
bulance station, in contrast, would proba-
bly be located so that no one is beyond a
cerlain distance from it, measured in

~-response time: This might locate the facil-

ity on the edge of an urban centre or be-
tween Lwo or more centres,

A political geographer might be given
the task of defining the locations for
boundaries at municipal, provincial or
even national scale. The geographer,
given certain criteria, would go out and
map these.

An economic geographer might help a
chain store locate new outlet and advise
them on the appropriate size based on the
population and income in a given area.

In fact, anywhere policy decisions re-
quire quick analysis and interpretation of
masses of area statistical data, a profes-
sional geographer is the person to call on.

In private industry they are employed in
manufacturing, transportation, urban de-
velopment, marketing and research fields.
In local governments they work for plan-
ning offices, parks and recreation depart-
ments and watershed conversation
authorities. They are also employed by
federal and provincial government depart-
ments.

My first job as a geographer was to find
out where the residents of a large cily
were going for hospital care. While, as
one would expect, they went to the local
hospital for most health problems, they
tended to go to a neighboring community
for abortions. Later, I was employed by a
native group to find the graduates of their
literacy program. After many efforts to
contact these people, the bingo hail turned
out to be the best place.

In another situation, while working for
someone who wanted to spend money on
day care, I was given a list of people to
contact, who would tell me that they
desperately needed day care. Thus the
resulis of my research would meet their
desires,

As it turned out, about eighty percent of
these prime contacts did not actually want
day care but for various reasons had said
they did. A geographer’s life is not always
simple.

Some geographers of course do become
school and university instructors, My ob-
servation has been that these are the geog-
taphers who get a great deal of joy from
watching other people leara to understand
the world around them. Some students
even go on to apply their knowledge to
make the world a better place. That in it-
self is reward enough for a geographer.

Dr. Reg Horne is a member of the Uni-
versity of Northern British Columbia Fac-
ulty of Natural Resources and Environ-
mental Studies based in Terrace.

«(CO MMUNIT Y=:

New search dog for Terrace

THE TERRACE Search and Res-
cue team has a new member — a
four-footed onc,

Five-year-old Shodn, a

shepherd cross with keen eyes

and large ears, joined the search
and rescue team Jast month, along
with bis owner, Dave White, He’s
the first civilian dog to ever join
the team, and is one of only eight
‘mined search and rescue dogs in
the northern half of the province
— the remainder are all RCMP
dogs. .

Search and rescue dogs are used
to Irack missing people and can
also be used to locate people
buried in avalanches,
earthquakes, and for body
recovery underwater,

Shodn has only passed his basic
level one RCMP training so far,
which means he can track, search,
and do obedience, agility and
retrieval work,

White and Shodn moved to Ter-
race from Surrey, where the dog
had received his RCMP vali-
dation last year.

White decided to move to Ter-
race because there was very litile
chance that Shodn would be able
to use his training down south.

“‘There’s about 30 police dogs
in the lower mainland,”’ says
White, and since police dogs are
called out before civilian dogs,
there was only a very small
chance of Shodn being used in
scarches.

“But we are not a
miracle on four paws,”
cautions White. “He
has bad days as well.”

Here in Terrace there is only
one RCMP search dog.

White’s hoping to find work in
a field similar to Shodn’s. He’s
trying to get his occupation first
aid instructor’s level 2 & 3. This
specialized knowledge will also
increase his value to search and
rescue,

“Search and rescue is like a
carcer for me — an unpaid

career,”’ he says,

White spends as much time as
he can with Shodn, honing his
tracking skills.

Shodn is trained to do three dif-
ferent styles of tracking,

When While gives him a com-
manding to do air scenting,
Shodn sniffs the air, smelling for
a person. He also trails, sniffing
for the minuscule fakes of skin
which slough off our skin every
second, Finally the shepherd can
track, sorting out the different
smelis vegetation has when it has
been compressed by a human
footstep.

Depending on weather condi-
tions, White and Shodn have suc-
cessfuily followed trails which
were up to three hours old, and
are pushing for ten hours,

**Bul we are not a miracle on
four paws,’” cautions White. ‘‘He
has bad days as well,” he says,
looking down alt Shodn. The
shepherd thumps his tail in
response.

“We're just at extra resource
for the Search and Rescue team,
capable of doing certain things,”’

White is curently training
Shodn for his avalanche certifica-
tion, which he hopes to get this
winter. But the training isn’t all
on the dog’s end, White also has
to pass his avalanche awareness
training, and be competent in
using avalanche beacons and
probes.

When the duo aren’t out search-
ing for buried objects in the
snow, they’re practicing their
tracking skills,

If this sounds like a lot of work
for a five-year-old, don’t worry.

“He loves his job,’’ says
White. ‘It’s a big game for
him.”

And when Shodn doesn’t get
out for training, White says he
gets cabin fever.

Despite Shodn’s playfulness,
his job is a scrious one, and that
means when White gives him a
command, Shodn must listen to
him, not to someone else who
might distract him.

Because of this While has de-
veloped his own language wilh
Shodn.

Keeping your

IF YOUR LITTLE girl is ap-
proached by a strange man, who
asks her to help him look for a
lost puppy, would your youngster
know what to do? What if another
Stranger approached your cight-
year-old son, flashing him a $100
bill, promising to give it to him
for his help?

These are some of the situations
that children are taught to be
leery of, in a workshop called
Street Proofing our Kids,

Frank Olson, president of
SPOK, has been giving work-
Shops like this to children
throughout Canada and the U.S.

The organization is a non-prafit
group, and Olson and other in-
Siructors teach children and
young pcople dasic skills on how
to protect themselves.

Olson has a unique background
which he used to help develop the
SPOK program.

He’s spent 14 years working in
federal prisons thal incarcerate
child abusers and sex offenders.
Through many conversation with
these convicted predators, he has
learned how they think, how they
plan, and the tricks they use to
Slalk and lure children or young
people.

Olson also knows what its tike
to be a victim of sexual abuse.

“*T was sexually assaulted when
I was 11,” says Olson. “1 know
what it’s like to be a kid filled
with terror,”

Part of Olson’s program also in-
volves showing kids what to do
if, despite everything, they are
grabbed. He is well qualified to
leach self-defense techniques —
he has a 3rd Dan Black Belt in
Tae Kwon Do, and has taught
self-defense courses for Correc-
tions Canada.

Olson's goal. is to teach kids
that the best way to stay safe is 10
recognize and avoid those situa-
tions that threaten safely. He
avoids confrontation and

violence, and despite the serious
nature of the workshop, tries to
make ii fun for kids. Role playing
is a large part of his workshops.

This will be the first time a
Street Proofing Our Kids work-
shop has been held in Terrace.

It was organized by Constable
Kim Hull and Terrace Parks and
Recreation. The RCMP have ar-
ranged to fly the instructors up to
Terrace in their aircraft,

Frank Olson

The workshop will be held Jan.
27 and 28, for kids in kindergar-
ten to grade 7. Parents are en-
couraged to join their children.

“We're not coming into town
with the intention to frighten
Kids,”’ says Olson. ‘We're trying
to empower them instead,’’

For younger children, those
aged five to eight, Olson and his
instructors touch on the basics of
abduction.

‘We keep it very basic and
very simple’?

For example, Olson breaks
down the stereotypes which chil-
dren often about ‘bad people’

DAVE WHITE and his shepherd cross Shodn are the newest
members of Terrace's search and rescue taam. Shondn is one of
only eight certified search dags in the northern half of ihe pro-

vince.

*Tt’s a combination of Italian,
Spanish, German, English and
gibberish,’’ says While.

He uses a wide range of com-
mands, including the equivalent
of ‘go investigate’ and ‘free
time.’

“Testimate Shodn prabably has
a vocabulary of about 50 words.”

That vocabulary will only pet

Most sex offenders don’t fit
inlo the typical bed images, he
says,

Then Olson Icads the children
through role play situations,
where a stranger approaches
them.

"Kids are pre-condilioned to
respect adults. We end up having
to break down that condition-
ing.’’

He also teaches the children
whal to say, and introduces them
to the concept of a password,
That way if a strange man drives
up to a child’s school, and tells
him or her that he’s their uncle
and they should get in the car, the
child can ask for a special] pass-
word.

If the stranger is legilimate, he
or she would know the password.
If not, the child should run,

This technique likely saved the
life of a young boy in Richmond,
named Adam Bennett. A man
tried to lure him inte a car, and
Adam asked for his secret code or
password, The man didn’t know
it, and Adam realized he had to

bigger. This summer While plans
to look into training Shodn to do
underwater body recovery and
earthquake rescues.

It means the shepherd will be
exposed lo more hazardous situa-
lions, but that doesn’t mean
White will risk bis dog’s life.

“TfPm not williag to go in, he
wan't go in,”

children safe

run away.

Another self-defense technique
which Olson encourages is
screaming.

“T get them, to scream right in
the seminar,’’ he says. ‘Ninety
per cent of inmates have said
they'll find another kid or woman
who’s quieter.”’

Olson finishes up the work-
shops wilh a powerful image —
he breaks a board, usually with a
spinning, roundhouse kick,

“1s a very strong, visual im-
age,” says Olson. It works as a
memory key, he explains, When
the kids need to remember some-
thing they icarned in the seminar,
they'll remember him kicking the
board, which unlocks the related
tnemaries.

The Streetproofing Our Kids
workshops will be held Jan, 27-
28. Workshops last one and half
hours each, and are available for
children aged five to 13. Cost is
S10. Register early as space is
limited. Phone 638-4750, For
more information on SPOK, call
1-800-277-6111,