PAGE 4, THE HERALD, Thursday. September 15, 1977

(the herald) ,

Published by Sterling Publishers

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The Herald retaine full, camplete and soie copyright In any advertisement produced and-or any: editorial or photographic content published In the Herald, Reproduction i pat parenitted without the written permission of the

sher,

| \. ,

Paper tide

Our forbearance has been tried mightily and at last we've

‘ cracked under the strain. We have given up. Enough, ‘ already, enough! A voice must be raised.

This. editorial is directed to the anti-inflation board,

- Statistics Canada, the Canadian radio-television and ; telecommunications commission and various multinational ‘ corporations too numerous to mention.

To all of you: go away, dammit, go away! For weeks we have been diligently and resolutely reading your press releases and for weeks we have just as diligently and resolutely shoved them in the garbage. The maw of the

_ gargantuan refuse container behind this newspaper’s main

office has become permanently dinted and propped open by your endless tide of paper. Contained therein are great wads of grainy photographs showing everything from South African diamonds to the latestin Paris Fashions, Everyday we throw away at least a brief-case load of statistical charts and tables showing insignificant fluctuations in world rapeseed production and the meaningless tremors in the value of corrugated aluminum siding on the world market.

We are connected, through great slews of annual reports, company statements and consumer surveys, to the inner heartbeat of the men's costume jewelry market, We have been tapped to the very pulse of the imported jar-lid con- troversy. We have even received line-copy, ready to paste articles on how to cut toenails (straight or rounded.). We know more than we would ever wish to know about nothing.

Now normally we would at least glance at this stuff, but we reached our breaking point yesterday afternoon when we received in the mail-no less than six identical press releases from the anti-inflation board. They came separately, each one-page release in large, manila en- velopes. They all said the same thing, and had all been mailed only a few days ago though the information had moved over the wire (and beendiscarded) two weeks earilier, . .

Such inefficiency and waste cause us to greive deeply for the poor, oppressed postman, groaning under the crush of these, over-rated communiques as he makes his daily rounds.

This mass traffic in useless information erodes the roads, fuels the energy crisis and destroys forests. Homes could be built from the wood used by press releases. glans office will henceforth chuck them without a single

ance. : 7

Interpreting the News China reaching out

LONDON CP-China, traditionally wary of outside in- fluences, appears. ready to reach out for help from other countries as it strides toward economic superpower status.

Self'reliance will remain the key policy for China, her spokesman say. But if that giant land is to realize its stated goal of surpassing the United States economically by the end of this century, the time has come to learn from other countries.

Such learning must ve combined “with our own creativeness,’’ the state planning commission says.

The question, observers her say, is what the cost will bein .

terms of Western influence-and few dispute that it is to the West that China is turning for technoligical guidance.

The commission, in calling for “less political interference in production, better management, high profits, increased productivity and skilled workers,” also said the political theories of the late Mao Tse-tung would not be abandoned.

Instead, they would be applied with more “flexibility.”

The first Chinese ambassador to Britain a century ago reported back that it would be impossible to absorb the technology of another country without taking into con- sideration the philosophy that activated the culture of that country. .

Since, then, the debate on how best to bring about the modernization of China has ranged between two extremes- swiftly through total westernization and slowly through traditional Chinese methods.

Experts here say that the Chinese decision to involve themselves more with the world for the sake of the economy is, in the long run, bound to affect foreign policy.

The immediate affect likely will be for more Chinese students to travel abroad and a warmer welcome in China for foreigners to work there.

Experts see, in this new emphasis on economic resurgence, indications that China’s new leadership is united in burying political irrationality associated with the days of the cultural revolution. |

FiCRMAN

t

C192) Unregna: Pron Syadeoe afi"

“Grandpa, how do you change channels on this set?”

HOLIEST SPOT NOW CONDEMNED

LHASA, Tibet Reuter - Lhasa means “Place of the Gods” and for centuries Tibetans considered it the most holy spot. in the universe.

The gods have gone now and their religion is in decline. An unmade hedina beautiful summer house poses the question: Will the Dalai Lama ever return to Tibet.

The 14th Dalai Lama rose from this bed in the Norbulkingka Palace outside Lhasa in March, 1959, and fled to India. A few days later Chinese troops put down a rebellion by his followers.

Tibet's second-ranking religious ruler, the Panchen Lama, has also gone. He has been in political disgrace for more than a decade and is ‘‘studying” in Peking, say officials here.

Inthe years since 1959, the Dalai Lama, the monasteries and the old aristrocracy have been under bitter attack in a one- sided propaganda war aimed at con- verting his former subjects to good Communists.

The Chinese campaign is undoubtedly scoring some successes but nobody can accurately ay to what extent Peking has won the hearts and mindsof the 1.7 rpillion people who inhabit ibet, a week in Lhasa ] spoke to former lamas, monks, nuns, army officers and judges who once worshipped the Dalai Lama. Along with the new breed of Tibetan eadres officials, they now avidly denounce him and declare the late Tao Tse-tung to be their guide,

Outside Lhasa, in the huge, deserted Drepung Monastery, a few old men go through the motions of reading the sutras ‘Buddhist texts and placing water bowls and burning incense before the sacred images.

These are the last active lamas in this locality and perhaps in the whole of Tibet. But they can hardly be considered wholehearted lamas,

They say the Dalai Lama no longer represents them and some have broken their vows by taking wives.

A 61 year old lama said he spent more time studying the fifth volume of Mao's works than reading the sutras, which are piled in dusty racks around the dark temples.

The most startling and detailed con- demnation of old Tibet is in the ‘class education exhibition” whose showcases contain skeletons of beheaded serfs,

A pretty Tibetan girl reeled off a list of atrocities, even alleging that Tibetan rulers ‘five percent of society” used their serfs for target practice.

The backwardness, superstitions and sometimes barbaric injustices of feudal Tibet have been documented by the few travellers who penetrated the country. But their accounts do not match the concentration-camp image presented by the exhibition.

The guide declared the Dalai Lama had “a human face and beast’s head,” used religion as a ‘cover’? and worked hand in

‘hand with imperialists. “The serfs were

longing for Chairman Mao,” she said.

Lama monasteries now empty shells

The exhibition’s centrepiece is a ‘play on tormented lifesize statues that depict the so-called “Horrors of the Dalai’s Rule." They show serfs being whipped and caged and a ghoul-like lama nailing a child inte a box,

Throughout my stay nobody mentioned that his despised Dalai Lama was con- sidered worthy enough to be lavishly feted in Peking in 1954.

At a briefing with five “patriotic per- sonages of the former upper class,” an ex- - army commander confessed his crimes in the old society. ‘‘I was born into a feudal,

serf-owning family riding high over the heads of the broad laboring people,” said Gesang Wang Tul. .

Each of the Communist converts made similar self-critical statements, the most damning coming from a former living Buddha.

Tronically, as lamaism dies in Tibet, the monasteries and palaces - the “Places of the Gods”’ - shine more brightly than ever.

Now under state protection, they have been painstakingly restored.

Driving along Lakelse Avenue with the shutter held open creates unique patterns of dancing traffic lights

_ editorial page

that make great photos for filling up space on the

te,

A parole board backgrounder

Fewer paroles-— inmates different

Last year the National Parole Board granted full parole to 2,136 inmates in federal penitentiaries across Canada. In 1973, the figure

was 2,693 and in 1970 it was 4,368. -

At the same time, the total number of inmates and the number of parole applications received by the Board per year have remained more or less constant during the period.

Thie reduction in the number of paroles granted has been in- in some quarters as indicating a tightening on the part of parole Board members of the criteria for parole. _However,the basic criteria and their use are laid down in the Parole Act and its regulations and thesehave not been changed during the period. What has changed, however, is the type of inmate tha appears before the Board.

In the last decade, there has been

shift away from imprisonment towards fines and probation in the case of less serious and non-violent crimes. This technique,known as diversion, has resulted in only the moebmgerous and long-term inmates being sent to penitentiary. In addition, these who initially. benfir from diversion and then commit further crimes are given more severe sentences than would a first offender or a ruglar second offender. Moreover, the incidence of violence and drug-related crimes has increased in the past few years while the number of offenders

convicted op property crimes has diminshed.

At the end of 1970, inmates con- victed of murder, attempted murder or manslaughter formed about 11 per cent of. the penitentiary population while dangerous sexual offenders and rapistsformed three and a half per cent. At the end of 1973, these figures has risen to 12% per cent and four per cent and by the end of 1976 they were 15 per cent and 512 per cent of the population.

The percentage of the population convicted of drug-related offences was three per cent in 1970. It rose to seven and one half per cent in 1973 and to nine and a half in. 1976,

By contrast, the percentage of the federal inmate population convicted of breaking and entering was 23'4 per cent at the end of 1970, 19 per cent at the end of 1973 and -had dropped to 15 per cent by the end of last year. Similarly, the number incarcerated for theft or possession of stolen goods was 10% per cent in 1970, eight and a half per cent in 1973, and only six per cent at the end of 1976. The percentage of inmates imprisoned .for fraud went from in 1970, to five and a half per cent in 1973 and four per cent in 1976.

It.is obvious, therefore that the National Parole Board is seeing more and more often, a type of in- mate for whom it is more risky to grant parole. By applying the same criteria as in the past, Board

find themselves in the position of

having to turn down more of the applicants who appear before them.

in looking at a average parole applicant today, for example, there would be more likelihood than before that he would have been convicted of a crime of violence or drug-related offence. He is probably between 20 nad 30 years of age, and unless he is serving a life term, his

‘sentence is likely about four years.

Because he was not screened out in the diversion program, (fine probatin,ete.{, he probably will not be as good a prospect for parole as some of the inmates convicted of the same offence in the

past.

In granting parole, the Board has always given prime consideration to how much of a risk the release would be to the community. Thig has not changed, The offender who has a history of violence or who has been convicted of dealing in drugs, causes the Board to take extra care in consdiering his application. In the majority of these cases, the inmates are placed on a program of gradual release, being allowed out on periodic temprary absences, then on day prole before going out on full parole.

The fact. that here have been more of the difficult cases has resulted in

- full paroles. But, the rules have not

changed, the criteria for granting parole are the same. It is the ap- plicants who are different.

a

Business spotlight

- Questions and answers

On arthritis

This is the first in a series of four columns on arthrit} written by Dr. Harold S. Robinson, who is a specialist j rheumatif disease and Medical Direcotr of The Canadia Arthritis and Rheumatism Society in B.C.

What is arthrids? ;

The word means inflammation of a joint. There are som 80 diseased affesting joints. The commonest joint proble: include degenerative arthritis (osteoarthritis), in whic condition the joint and its lining cartilage become cracke and worn, or inflammatory arthitis in which lining of tt joint becomes inflammed and the joint responds b becoming warm, swollen and tender, in varying degree

Inflammatory types of arthritis include those caused b infection ot induced by crystals which are deposited in tk joint (gout). However, in most instances, such a rheumatoid arthritis or lupus arthritis the inciting cause 4 the arthritis is not known. .

My husband wants to move toa drier and warme climate. Will this help his arthritis! ,

No, the artritis is unlikely to benefit. However, in som patients a dry, warm even climate will reduce symptoms ¢ pain and stiffness. Equal numbers of new patients wit artritis may be found in warm climate as in eold, dam climates, ;

If you have one of theless sommon forms of arthritis suc as scleroderma or lupus erythematoses where fingers ma turn abruptly white on cold exposure -+Raynaud’ phenomena- a warmer climate can reduce this unpleasan symtom.

A panic move by the patient to a warm climate-to live may cause other stresses and strains which themselve may trigger arthritis symptoms.-~:--- ~ 0 0": a

is arthritis hereditary? - Ra ye

This question suggests that arthritis is a single disease; i! isnot, Heredity plays a part in some forms of arthritis suck as ankylosing spondyliis. This affects the back and some ol

,the larger joints primarily in young men. A genetic factor - has been found which is called the HLA B27 factor. If e person inherits this gene he had about onein five chances a developing this. disease.

Gouty arthritis can be hereditary also as can Henerden's nodes which affect the end joints of the fingers and give a rather bumpy, gnarled appearance. ‘Not only is there an hereditary factor involved but it is somewhat sex-linked as

.

fos oe apa te ”

- women are affected primarily.

How does a rheumatologist differ from an orthopaedic specialist? 7

The rheumatologist is a physician, usually in internal medicine, who is specially trained in the care of the rheumatic dieases both form the point of view of diagnosis and medical management. An orthopaedic specialist is a doctor trainedin surgical techniques particulary involving problems of bones and joints. One aspect of the or- thopaedis’s job is to deal with trauma and fractures. Another aspect of his work is joint reconstuction, where he works closely with the rheumatologist in correcting joint problems, - - ; oa

HOw can ask my family docot to refer me toa specialist

Rheumatic diseases are very common and about 15 percent of problems seen by family physicians are of this nature. The family physician refers to specialists those patients who present particular problems in diagnois or where the condition is difficult to mamge or hwere there is rapid progression. If you have concerns in this area it is quite appropriate to raise the quesion with your doctor, who should be happy to discuss the matter and, where necessary, arrange a furthe opinion.

Are ther any new treatments for artritissince my grand- mother was bedridden by it 7

Very definitely. New knowledge in the past twenty five years has brought dramatic changes in the approach to rheumatic diseases. :

It is relatively uncommon nov to find patients confined to bed.or wheelchair if these preventive programs are available and are followed effectively,

4

Sagging . atons fights for market share

TORONTO CP-Fedrik Stefan Eaton, 38, gets exeserated when asked about the

financial viability of his famous depart- store chain. ;

“Its a tough time and we're not looking for any major changes,” he said in an recent interview. ‘We'll just be fine- tuning the business,’’

The young Eaton said he is tired of havine the old question of the company's financial difficulties thrown at hime.

With the opening of the new flagship

’ Baton Centre, he said the company’s

outlook is improving.

He took over the top executive posts last June when the campany’s market share began to drop and it slipped behind Simpson-Sear Ltd, Its chief rival, in sales,

His arrival put an Eaton back at the helm of the big chain and coincided with the sudden departure of Earl Orser and Robert Butler.

Chairman .Butler left to become an Ontario civil servant and Orser, a chartered accountant, resigned as president and chief executive officer, claiming a disagreement with Eaton's on “a baste policy issue.”

Butler and Orser were the top execullves involved in the decision to get rid of the catalogue business, and Eaton's tradition in Canada, and a move that set industry watehers murmuring about the chain’s financial solvency,

his 20th floor-office of Haton Centre, the ©

hew president refused to discuss the departure of the two men in detail,

Of Orser, he would say only: ‘We didn’t agree, That's all.”

But he was firm in commenting about speculation on other aspects of the Eaton empire.

For examile, he reiterated that Eaton's is not planning and never has seriously considered, selling shares to the public.

As well, Eaton’s was not contemplating selling or merging parts of its operations with any . other company, about Eaton's selling shares to the public

stock markets struggle through hard

mes. would think we wouldn’t do it now,” he said. ‘‘Anyway, such a move was always my brother and me.” —

Eaton also shrugs when asked about another persistant rumor-that J.C.Penny Co., a huge United States chain, may be, interested in getting a toehold in Canada through. Eaton's. ;

He sald Eaton's occasionally gets offers from U.S. firms interested in buying come or all of the company’s reti] operaions. But Eaton's "is not for sale.”

This is a time for belt-tight-ending for Eaton’s and for department stores in general, he said,

Thewhole

Canadian market is soft but Quebec's

business climate is not good and hasn't -been since the Noy.16 election," he said, “ referring to the sweep to power last fall of the deparatisit Parti. Quebecois,

One problem his firm has is trying to resolve the dilemma of its 16 Horizon stores, which are discount department . orn : biggest

“The biggest problem was that we didn't know we were doing," he conceded.

“They're discount chainutmYUCQITH WHICH WE HAD NO EXPERIENCE. Some of the stores are good, some bad. | We're going to have to come to a decision,” . ;

. Meanwhile, the company is banking on its new flagahip store to enhance the image of Eaton's suburban stores.

Optimists at Eaton's PBPZHZLoronto store will be paying ita own way cme flrat

year. ; “It wan't,” admits Baton, “But it'll be pretty close,”