| aielip igfooking for people who

. morning newspaper to see what's going»

A focal. literacy

pb ne

aii 10:learn to read.

= pe be: matched” with: a people. now :: taking :

tutor ‘training through Project - Litétacy ‘Terrace’s. storefront

operation ae The. Reading”

Ed'¢ AG Fy ‘Tread. Now-he’s’ forward to Of Mice and

Steinpec ~

The". change. ‘came when, urer fiployed. ‘because of a back injury; ‘Ed heard about The Reading Place and overcame an aversion to admitting he needed

‘had nothing else,’’ he said.

I, wldn’t get back to work and: [had to-get’ into something. I’m trying to: get so I’m not sit- ting around-the house doing nothing. It’s. either I do this or yousisit’ back and.-say,. well, could do it! but I.don’t want 10. one’ {o Know.”

Where he used to spend hours in front of. the television,: he now spends free time reading.

"In that hot- weather I took |

my family out to the lake and I brought my book with me — | never did that before,'” he says.

“I’ve: found I’m not too

continues. ‘1 used to be what you call a. couch: potato. In the “PH look in the

on. Before, all i'd read was the want ads.”

After quitting school in Grade 8 for.a job in the logging indublry,cEd‘says -he-hadlitte:> use for’ reading; apart” from in- structions ‘for the machines: he used. . . wh tesa

His: wife - completed all: his paperwork and he avoided situations where he would be obliged to. read in front of

By MAUREEN GORDON:

“TERRACE ~ = There isa mass .

of incomprehensible. literature

circulating through the province ‘and the:Plain® Language In--

stitute is determined to find out why.

Established by the attorney- general's ministry in April 1990, it is the answer to the Justice Reform Committee's plea for ‘clear language i in the justice and ‘governmental system.

“One of the complaints (the committee) heard was the laxiguage ,. ‘of law and govern- ment is « “alienating, confusing and frustrating,’ says Phil ‘Knight of the institute, ‘‘There is this tendency to speak i in lard- ed:language.” .

“Long * “words OF. convoluted phrases : often - replace” simple,

. Clear: ‘words ‘In office memos,

legal briefs and public informa-

tion, bewildering. those they are;

“meant to inform... “There's a classic anectode,"

“and. there. ‘encountered _ ‘a male “caucasian,” and the response is “Xu, mean you went to.a house

- and it'll be followed ty another

group in January, says project co-ordinator Nat. Purcell: . **Based.on our short history,

‘there’s been. a fot: happéning’ in

the space of the three months

we’ve been open,” said ‘Purcell a * are. telling people, The first bat- tery of learners ‘are telling peo- : ple they know,’”-he continued.: :- Getting the word out can bea. . challenge, Purcell said, ‘Because :

last week.

_ We have 28, students either “ ae | in classes or on ‘One-to-one’ in- nS sruetns he continued.

Those. ‘taking classes sare:

C D Car ng 1ew worlds

others,

But Ed’s attitude towaid nS

reading changed when back and

leg injuries forced him to give” ai ‘up his logging job. ° ve os

“The way the: world i is. 5 going you've got to read,’"* he ‘says; *

“There’s no labour jobs. left, : the way I see it.’ &

Now the boy who thought he was “too big for the seat’’ in

school plans -to attend college: :

reveiving. neteuetion i in n English asa second language. :

‘Most encouraging :t9 ‘Purcell

4s"that- news of: The - ‘Reading’ Place © and::what’ it offers, is. spreading by word of ‘mouth,

‘Family members or:-friends .

culate about The Learning: Place.

The Learning Place is also a conducting a survey of |

- businesses and unions to deter-:

mine the need for literacy train- ing or English as a second language instruction . in the workplace.

From, ‘that Purcell hopes to

it takes time for word to cir- -

employees will be able to take classes.

“= A. study, done by the provin “hy i ciat government. in the last cou-. ple of years eslimated that close:

to 8, 000 adults in the northwest can’t read or write,

To draw attention to literacy, .

Sept. 8 has been declared World Literacy Day.

and get his General Education; “|.” ° Diploma, the equivalent tova’ |"

Grade 12 diploma.

Ed says many most people ob support what he’s doing, - ‘although some are hesitant : _

about the program.

“I've been talking to. a: ‘few. people and some are interested ‘and some are kind of skeptical.

They-don’t really say they can’t read. or they’re illiterate,” .he says.

Ed spends three hours a week

with Ann, a tutor with the . Reading Place.

muchinto TV anymore,” he — ‘the hardest part of learning. ..

He says reading out loud is

‘<1 still have problems with

-that because I hate to be a failure, It’s hard enough to get ‘yourself to come in here.”

But now that he’s taken that first step, he wouldn’t go back. abe | think, it’s great if people

are willing’ “to“go and’ learit: to ' - read,” “he ‘said; **(Now) I'can’’

understand ’ what ‘my kids’ are

~ going through in‘ school and I can. help them with their:

homework. Yau get ‘a plus no matter what way you look at it”.

declare

and saw a white male,’ ; “And the policeman replies,

‘You could say that.’ ”

The committee's report Ac. cess. to. Justice recommended that people ‘‘learn to speak in plain language." ‘

The Plain Language Institute,

a non-profit society in Van-_

couver, was set up to teach them how, .

Knight, the. first. employee, began. work in November. Nine. months later the four employees.

more planned.’ :

By next. year,. people: who . want. advice on filing for

workers’ compensation should be able to understand the forms and“ ‘information. available’

through an-'advisory “office, - thanks to. _ the Plain Language:

Institute.

A second project is an ex: * “New: --, Westminster’s’ clvie” administra ; tion,

-Klein. says;s“‘that has a‘ police © a officer.i in court giving testimony = “and'he says,.‘1 attended the inci--.. “dent: ata. residential ..premises.

‘amination ~ of:

“We're! taking a sriunicipality and putting’ their whole writing system -under : a. mictoscope,"'

‘Knight: -explained. “if! The.

resulting | paper will essentially

‘be a blueprint: (for ‘other in- ; _terested mamicipatities)

- verbs, — * desist’”.or to “give, devise and *'pequeathe”? are the result of ’ omedieval: bilingualism and are “uneccessary today, Knight says.

YODA SMILES on Nat Purcell of Project t Literacy Terrace’s The Reading Place. rm Ss World “Literacy Day

Sept. 8. The Reading Place offers classroom and one-on-one tutoring for adults who can’t read or for» those leaming English as a second language. .

The institute also conducts

’ Tesearch,

Although guides on attractive

, page layout abound, Knight . Says Virtually no research exists

on the ‘background to what goes

ona page. -

“What we want to find out is the process (writers of incom- prehensible prose) use and the

” attitudes they ‘bring to their “task,” he said, ,

The second part. of the in- vestigation will be to find out

- have two projects underway and ae

Making

TERRACE — Many words that have -been used in legal ocuments for hundreds of

“years “are unnecessary and

should: be eliminated, says Phil Knight of the Plain Language Institute in ‘Vancouver.

Double. and ‘triple-decker “such as ‘“‘cease and

” “After ‘the Norman conquest (of England) the court spoke

what makes the literature dif- ficult to read, Long sentences, type that is too dense, and un- familiar language or concepts are some possiblities.

Knight says response to the jnstitute’s work so far has been better than anticipated.

‘What we've found is generally speaking, people are more open to.this topic than 1 thought they would be,” he ad- mits,

However, as with all change,

it much

French and the (common) peo- ple spoke English,” he explains. “So to ensure they were understood, (medieval lawyers) would use both. me

The ‘tradition stuck and lawyers now grow up saying “I give, devise and .bequeathe,"’

when all three. verbs: mean the .

same thing. =”

But to change the kind of language: used in the legal system, the Plain Language In- stitute must change the way people think about it.

As the Institute was created ta

d on fancy words ©

the switch to simple language i is slow, “I find that people are in- terested in‘ plain language,” - Knight says; ‘‘They just don't want to change.”” , The challenge for the Plain Language Institute is to re- educate people while showing respect for their concerns at the same. time.

"People are not ‘going to °

. Change because we spread the * good news of plain language to them,"” Knight says. :

easier

make the legal system more understandable, Knight has had numerous discussions with lawyers.

“A Jotof finger pointing BOCs =

on around the table,’’ Knight says, with older lawyers claim-

ing -younger ‘lawyers haven't’ - learned how'to write properly, ; younger lawyers asserting that

older ones. don't. want to change, big firms blaming small firms and vice versa.

He’s met ‘with hundreds of excuses for not changing con- fusing wording.

Paper: mill

“A: ‘company wants. to- - make paper.

It wants. to build a mill near Lakelse Lake.

‘Some people do not .. want a mill. there.’ They. “worry that ‘the: ‘alr “water. mig : oe / | The.” company. will

and: “

A oakter busy last week, |.

getting ready fo it sch

Ed Roth paints. He paints for.. the school district. He was

It.; was “busy. schools... People

to open.

THE TER RAGE’ ‘STANDARD

Just the’ |

develop a program’ in which’ }

“in 1983 -and: 1984: from: the [-

{| Himit of 0.1 mg/L. Detectable ‘L: flouride concentration do

|] shiould not pose an acidifica-

"of the Jake was excellent for

facts, ‘OK?

> Pe ee

Dear Sirs

“In your Aug. OL edition you printed a story “Up, Up and. Away’’, Page AQ, One]. can only stop to wonder. to what extent some people will] go to discredit Orenda’s pra-| posed : groundwood ‘Paper mill!

Let's take a look at some facts, and leave the helium balloons with the children, .

-In-a recent (1986) water quality assessment report done by the Ministry of en- |, vironment, some of the following deductions were made.

“The mean. “monthly fluoride wet deposition tate} at Terrace Airport’ in “1981 was 0.055 ‘kg F/ha, The loadings are thought to have decreased over the past ten years because of improved pollution control and reduc- — ed ‘emissions from ‘the aluminum smelter” ‘at Kitimat...

“There have been. 8 fluoride measurements taken

re ee

ey ee

Lakelse . River .. downstream from the lake, -All .results were below the ‘detectable.

not pose a hazard to fisheries or. drinking water supplies, and: fluoride “émission’

ae ee

»

tion problem to the lake: or streams. - The general waiter quality

drinking supplies and contact recreation, Disinfection of drinking water is recom- mended because the lake is heavily used for recreation and septic tank/tile fields are the form of sewage disposal around the lake.’’.. In-reading this report one can make their own deduc- cl Red tp swhonerelyHioy

hs oul be: PR nel

whee ane ae =S ne

—_ ob oe

wea “for being ‘able to’ see'a stack or not-from: Lakelse I can only ask, which is more visually polluting? Cabins, homes, wharves, piers, rafts, fences, diverted . creeks, dredged out - reeds, felled timber, not to forget the tons |. of litter sitting at the bottom of Lakelse as well as along its shores and: the: banks of the Lakelse River or; a steam stack peering over the new growth forest 4.5 miles away. Note: the complete Orenda

report is available to anyone at the Terrace Library.

Graham Geeraert,

Chairman,. -

Northwest Building

Trades Group,

Terrace, B.C.

more on | Page AG Vai

"on all topics. All letters must'| -

‘| shorter letters Hkely, to be: Al published soonest...

About |: letters 3

The Terrace Standard “y welcomes letters to the editor.) 5

be signed and carry an ad-J'y dress: and: local. telephone $:; number. ‘Addresses. or phone |: numbers won't be printed.[ 7 with the letter, but. they are necessary for confirmatibn] 9 of the letter’s authenticity | .j The writer's name. will: bel y published. Requests? ‘for| 4 names to be withheld may be} granted in extraordinary cir- | 3 cumstances. Ta

Thank’ you. letters should “g be submitted to the “Card of | Thanks’ section ‘of the a classifieds. ay

Letters containing libelous a or objectionable matter: will J-i5 be edited or returned to the fi: writer, Adl letters-are run on fay a.space available ‘basis, with']

_uF

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