Page A4 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, October 28, 1992

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"TERRACE STANDA

” ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, 1988

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Serving tha Terrace area. Published on Wednesday of each week by Cariboo Press (1969) Lid. at 4647 Lazalle ‘Ave., Terrace, Brilish Columbia Stories, photographs, illustrations, designs and typestyles wn the Tetrace Standard ara ihe property of the copyright holders, inciuding Cariboo Press (1959) Ltd., its il-

Reproduction in whole of in part, without wiitien permission, is Specifically pronibiled, Authorized as second class mail pending the Post Cifice Department, for payment of postaga in cash.

Rod Link |

RD

wCNA

PublisherfEditor:

Advertising Manager: Mike L. Hamm

Production Manager: Edouard Credgeur

Jeff Nagal — Ne

Janet Viveiras —

WsPareas G

wsiCommunity, Malcolm Baxter — News/Sporls

Rose Fisher — Front Office Manager, Carolyn Anderson ~ Typesetter Arlena Watts — Typesetter, Susan Credgeur — Composing/Darkraom, Advertising Consullant, Sam Colller — Advertising Consultant, - Charlene Matthews — Circulation Supervisor

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‘VERIFIED. CIRCULATION

Special thanks to all our contributors and correspondents for their time and talents.

CONTROLLED

_ EDITORIAL, _

A civil invasion

Roll out the red carpet. Hang out the wel- come sign. We’re the target of a friendly

invasion.

Very soon a group of civil servants will

be moving up from Victoria.

to the economic development ministry. It’s decided to send people out into the regions instead of having them hunker down in the

capital.

The idea is that people who make deci- sions about economic development in the regions should also live in those regions. They’ll then have the kind of first hand knowledge and experience needed to make their decisions the right ones for “the

regions.

This decentralization concept is not new. Governments continually talk about it and. some have made tentative moves. Yet the concept always seemed to fall apart when it came down to who makes the final deci- sions — the people in the regions or their masters who remain in Victoria.

They belong

toria,

There’s.

a

the regions.

The previous Social Credit government } tried decentralization five years ago. It set ' up an economic development officer in. each region and established regional ad- visory councils made up of people from lo- © cal governments. A cabinet minister or MLA was involved in the advisory coun- cils, providing a direct political line to Vic-

This time, the NDP want to:station a... senior economic development official in each region backed up by a staff of ex- perts. It’s a more bureaucratic structure than the one tried by the Socreds and removes that political connection.

tendency for anything

bureaucratic to become bogged down in paperwork and inaction. The success of this venture depends upon the amount of authority and power given these civil ser- vants who live in the region. They'll also have to learn to listen to those who live in

It’s not an excuse

{t was only one of many stories involving an act of violence to make the news around ihe province last week. A man was arrested and locked up. Later, a police officer noticed the man was on his stomach and was not moving. Upon entering the cell, the man attacked the police officer with a scissors. The officer was...

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stabbed in t

pair, of small

Fouad a tes 4 Ue raed slashed across the face and

chest. Doctors told the officer the chest wound came within centimetres of his

heart. oe

The man was charged with attempted murder. That charge was reduced to ag- gravated assault and the man pleaded guilty. Why? Prosecutors doubted the

original charge would stick

pened.

pili tas Be

pe

UWS bait ett ‘ Ay, ! cg Agee eo“every ‘persom Must: Be, alldwed ‘to,

that the man’s judgement may have been impaired. He may not have been able to form the intent behind his actions and so could not be responsible for what hap-

This is not an unusual occurrence. It makes little sense to prosecute people who do not know what, they,have-dorieAnd »

ward the most vigorous of defences. But it does not make any sense at. all to let al-

cohol or drug abuse become a reason for

because the

avoidiiig responsibility.

A person who drinks or takes drugs must take responsibility for any and all sub- sequent. actions. The intent to drink or to take drugs cannot be used as an excuse. Anything else provides a large hole that

man had been drinking. The reasoning is does society adisservice.

Picture perfect

Customer trust is slow to build but quick to destroy. Recently. a roving photog- rapher representing an Ontario company rented three days’ space in a local department store to take childrens’ portraits, ‘The store’s promo- tional ad promised ‘Super package offer now only $14.99. Package offer features our selection (one: pose) on traditional blue background.”’

Sitting fee for each child of $2 plus PST and GST was rung up on the store’s till. - Parents: received a- printed receipt showing sitting number and an appointment for pick- ing up the finished photos three weeks later.

“The: receipt read in” part, ‘*Parents or grandparents must come to select your portraits. Additional portraits are avail- able for your selection at rea- sonable prices.” a

Kids,; perched. on .a-small table, were . photographed facing a black tripod camera — amid a..snarl of electrical cables, racks of jackets: and curious customers.

For the first’ pose. taken against’ the traditional blue. background - the store’s selec- tion - many children were as apprehensive as a felon facing a firing squad. -

In second and third poses, against backgrounds of pup-. pics, teddybears, and sunny meadows, children relaxed. and were preoccupied catching bubbles. blown, by the female. photographer: or: reaching: for

Through Bifocals

by Claudette Sandecki

an Oscar the Grouch puppet. Three weeks later mothers were met by a male salesper- son. He offered no leeway in pickup date, no chance to take pictures home to consult fam- ily, (“‘She’s had three weeks to get her family here to help select pictures’’), mothers » were expected to make a snap . choice while juggling new- borns and catching toddlers. His attitude was pure Fonz. “October 19, 2:15. Be there,” The. store’s selection was $14.99, Second and | third poses - more natural and far cuter -°cost between $29.99 for a 10x13 picture and $239.00 depending upon pic- ture sizes and combinations. Noting a pack of Players in the handbag of a mother whe . regretted being short of money for the cuter, more expensive

photo, the Fonz said, ‘All you have to do is quit smoking and

you could buy the pictures,’’ Mothers of young children are inexperienced consumers,

-to0 busy taking care of kids to

fight for fair treatment from intimidating salespersons. Not us grandmothers. .-. I’ve since learned: licensees ‘who rent space in this store must adhere’ to ‘all of. the

store’s policies -- including customer satisfaction guaran- teed or money refunded. A store till receipt is a contract with the store.

Problems with the portrait people or any other licensee can be taken up with the store’s manager.

Customers have up to 99 days in which to order from the Ontario head office where

negatives are kept, Phone

number and address appear on the sitting receipt. But priccs are even more expensive. — The store backs customers’ right to have money refunded

at any time if dissatisfied with’ a purchase, including portraits.

The Fonz never hinted any of these’ routine safeguards ap- plied to his customers.

ok, pa, VE DECIDED ~TOGOFORA SEXCHANGE -c LWANT T0 BECOME

FIREMAN. .. |

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Economic growth | iInB.Cc. depends on diversification —

VICTORIA — Forestry and mining may not be sunset in- dustrics yet, but nobody can deny that their economic viability in British Columbia’s economy is becoming more and more marginal. The,reasons-are manifold:.--.;

Pe

=sol-plobil narkels, displace:

ment of wood products by" '

man-made plastics, and last but not jeast, a strong environ- mental lobby waging world-

" wide war on the province’s resource-extraction industries.

Just recently, a British com- pany cancelled a multi-million newsprint contract with Fictcher Challenge, after the president of the firm saw a film about forestry practices in British Columbia’s old-growth forests.

The Western Canada Wilder- ness Committee announced Jast weck that it will send speakers to Europe to “counter the.misinformation campaign’’ recently launched by the B.C. forest ministry.

“We intend to take the big- gest Wilderness Rescue Tour the world has ever seen to Europe in September of 1993,” WCWC campaign co- ordinator Joe Foy said.

Regardless of the rights or wrongs of such tactics, make no mistake about them, they are effective and they will help accelerate the decline of the _province’s resource industries. And whether we like it or not, we had better prepare for the day when the last mine closes _and clearcuts are a thing of the past.

. The transition period will hurt like hell, Many com- munities will come perilously close to becoming ghost towns, Some will die. Even — thinking about it is scary, but that doesn’t change the in- evitability of it.

In the long run, the only ans- wer is diversification. We

From the Capital

vv BY, Hubert Beyer...

Columbians, And don’t tell me

it’s not possible, We area far |

cry today from the hewers of © wood and drawers of water we once were,

Last week, a number of Brit- ish Columbia companies received B.C. Trade Export Awards for excellence in marketing. They serve as great examples of that this pro- vince’s entrepreneurs can do if

they put their minds to it. Meet

some of them.

Take H.A. Simons Ltd. Nevet heard of it? Most Brit- ish Columbians haven’t, but the Vancouver-based company employs about 1,500 people in. ‘Canada and 3,000 world wide.

Since starting out in 1944, B.A. Simons has been provid- ing project and enginecring management for clients in the pulp industry, completing more than 10,000 projects to date, The company has ex- ported its expertise to dozens of countries, including Chile, Pakistan, Thailand, Norway and Russia.

And Tom Simons, president of H.A. Simons, believes that government can and should play a major role in helping B.C. industries invade off- shore markets.

‘When companies go off- shore, especially the first time

out, government can help by identifying opportunities and support,’” he says.

And wha would have thought that a growing con- cern about eating the right food could become a major

Stephen’s B.C.-based Na- ture’s Path Foods has become the manufacturer of one of the most popular lines of all-

’ natural breakfast cereals in the world. 7

Stephens started his business in a tiny place in Richmond in 1985, making Manna Breads of allthings. By 1988, the . company marketed cereal pro- ducts in the U.S. In 1989, it” moved to a new 33,000 square foot plant, expanding to a 55,000 square foot plant the following year. And even that’s fast becoming too small.

Today, four of the compa- ny’s cereals are in the top ten of the 150 cereals sold in the $4 billion a year natural food market.

Spectrum Signal Processing Inc. of Burnaby, founded in 1987, is fast becoming a world leader in technology. The company manufacture circuit boards and markets them across North America. .

Spectrum’s products have. found their way into numerous applications for digital signal processing technology, from cellular phones, digital audio, and defense communications to compact discs, high- definition television and a, wide variety of industrial uses.

These are just a few exam- ples of the modern pioneer spirit that offers, the best hope yet for British Columbia’s fu- lure. The bad news is: we won't be ableto rely in- © - definitely on our resource in- dustries for economic stability. The good news is: we don’t have to.

must find new and innovative export opportunity. Arran ways of employing British Stephens did. Vz Fouip ONE BUT SOME OTHER

HUMANS “ToOK fHM INTO A HOUSE , MADE SOME SPEECHES

R|\ AND THEN HAD A PARTY !! 7“

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