today in brief
CANADA’S remaining two pay-TV services are planning to apply to the CRTC for permission to merge. Page
A PETITE, raven-haired 21-year-old saboteur says she feels remorse after admitting responsibility for an explosion that injured 10 people. Page
REHABILITATION for B.C. Lions’ quarterback Roy Dewalt is more important than a fast start this season. Page
AN AMERICAN professor says reading aloud to children is important and beneficial. Page
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HERMAN
'I think this one is yours.”
Index
Ann Landers............17
Bridge..................14
Business.............22,23
City, B.C...............3.8
Classified............1M6
Comics .................18
Crossword..............13
Editorial.................4
Entertainment.......18,19
Family .................17
Horoscopes.............14
International.............2
Movies..................18
National.................5
Sports.................9.10
Television ..............13
Impresario page 19
Sadrack says
We could have clouds and showers tonight, mainly sunny skies Wednesday morning and more clouds and showers later in the day. Thursday might be sunnier, but weather conditions are still unsettled.
Temperatures could drop to 1 tonight and rise to 15 Wednesday. On Monday, we had a high of 13, a low of 3, five hours of sun and 9.2 millimetres of rain mixed with some ice pellets. One year ago, we had 9.7 hours of sun, a high of 19 and a low of 0.
The sun sets at 9:08 p.m. today and rises at 5:06 a.m. Wednesday.
The
Prince George
Citizen
35c
Tuesday, May 15, 1984
Computer
spending
criticized
by BOB MILLER Staff reporter
An open letter to city council from Alderman Ed Bodner, questioning the priority of expanding the city’s computer system, was received without debate at Monday’s meeting.
Bodner cited the computer expenditure as one of the reasons he voted against the city’s 1984 budget, which has adopted Monday by a 7-2 vote. The $33.1-million budget will see a tax increase of about 4.5 per cent this year.
Bodner and Alderman Brian Brownridge have consistently voted against the budget, preferring instead to hold the line on taxes.
In the letter, Bodner says close to $2 million has been spent on computerization over the past five years and a proposed expansion of the service will cost another million.
“I question this as a priority over public works and recreation facilities provided to our citizens, which we have drastically cut in the name of restraint — pool facilities, ice facilities, cleaning, sweeping streets and boulevards.
“In addition, we have denied many men and women the dignity of being able to work. Does this ‘restraint’ apply only to people and services?”
Mayor Elmer Mercier remarked the city’s finance committee is preparing a report to give council some direction on computerization and Bodner’s letter could be considered at that time.
In an interview this morning, Mercier repeated no commitment has been made to expand the computer system, and even if it were the cost would not affect taxes.
Mercier said computer expansion falls under the city’s five-year capital expenditure program and has nothing to do with property taxes. If it were approved it would not be triggered until 1985 at the earliest, he added.
“It’s fine to make statements and write letters that mislead the public. But if some of these aldermen would attend finance committee meetings they’d get a clearer idea of what’s going on.”
Bodner says he’s aware it’s easier to cut visible facilities and jobs during times of restraint, but he questions the morality of then directing money into “glamorous” projects such as computer development.
Since computer equipment is quickly outdated by technological change, Bodner suggests the city explore a joint venture either renting or sharing computer facilities in CNC’s centre for advanced technology-
He goes on to say that reserve funds earmarked during the “fat years” for computer development should be routed into providing local swimming pools or other recreation facilities for specific areas of the community.
Economic growth has declined in B.C., making it necessary for the city to attract industry to the area, but how can this be done when facilities are cut and Prince George is one of the highest-taxed cities in B.C., Bodner asks.
Metric-Imperial ads given okay
OTTAWA (CP) — Grocery stores will soon be allowed to advertise prices for meat, produce and bulk foods using both metric and imperial units, Consumer Affairs Minister Judy Erola said Monday.
Erola said Ottawa remains committed to metrication but wants to ease the transition in the retail food industry.
“It will give consumers more time to get used to metric units and will also prevent the risk of confusion in price advertising,” she said in a news release.
OUR FRIEND FLICKER
UNFAIR. SAYS NDP
Citizen photo by Dave Milne
With spring, a flicker’s thoughts turn to preparing a nest for the expected family. This female has peeked a hole in a city park tree the appropriate size, but because the hole is only about 120 centimetres (four feet) above the ground, its location is top secret.
Arms spending hits $1 trillion for world
by Associated Press WASHINGTON - The world will be spending $1 trillion for weapons and other military purposes by next year, the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency said Monday.
From less than $300 billion in 1972, spending rose to about $820 billion in 1982, and will reach about $970 billion this year, the agency said.
Inflation was partly responsible for the rise, but even in real dollars spending is increasing an average of
3.1 per cent a year. It moved up twice as fast in developing countries as in industrialized ones, with the Middle East and Africa leading the way.
The United States, the Soviet Union and their military blocs accounted for nearly 75 per cent of the arms sold and delivered from 1972 to 1982, the period covered in the report.
However, a number of other countries were becoming prominent arms exporters in the early 1980s: Brazil, Israel, North Korea, South Korea and Turkey.
Still, their sales were far below
those of the leading exporters for 1978-1982: The Soviet Union, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, West Germany, Italy, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Romania and China.
The Soviet Union, the top arms supplier since 1978, held 30.1 per cent of the arms market in 1980. The United States was second with 26.2 per cent. However, the NATO allies led the Warsaw Pact, 47.9 to 38.3 per cent.
The arms control agency gathered its material from a number of sources, including the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, the U.S. Agency for International Development and the CIA.
Actual military spending of some countries probably is higher than reported because they tend to understate what they spend on arms, manpower, research and supplies, an agency official said.
Weapons worth $36.5 billion were delivered in 1982, the last year surveyed. The amount accounted for about two per cent of all the trade in the world.
Labor law change clears first hurdle
BULLETIN — Unionized construction workers at the Expo ‘86 site in Vancouver were to stop work at noon today to discuss amendments to the Labor Code. Clive Lytle, communications director of the B.C. and Yukon Building and Construction Trades Council, told The Citizen there would be a joint meeting with members and trades council president Roy Gautier.
“They are obviously discussing implications of the Labor Code,” said Lytle, “and I have no idea if they’re going back to work after lunch or not."
by Canadian Press VICTORIA - The Social Credit government used its majority to get approval in principle early this morning for changes to the Labor Code which reduce the powers of unions in British Columbia while giving their members a greater voice.
Opposition Leader Dave Barrett said the government will rue the day that it decided to change the labor laws in the province, predicting the changes will lead to its downfall.
Speaking during debate of the Labor Code Amendment Act. Barrett said that the late W. A. C. Bennett, who was premier for 20 years and is the father of Premier Bill Bennett, would vote against the bill if he were alive today because “it is unfair.”
However, in wrapping up second reading, debate Labor Minister Bob McClelland disagreed, saying the bill not only was fair but it was evenhanded and restored "some of the rights to the people who work in the province.”
The vote was 25 to 17.
The changes allow the cabinet to declare special projects, such as Expo 86, to be economic development projects, and hence open to all contractors and worOzrs.
They also restrict secondary picketing, make it easier to certify or decertify a union local, and make political job action a strike. Provision is made to decertify an employer who has been dormant for two years, and permits certification for a single project if 55 per cent of the employees concur.
Barrett noted that the elder Bennett crossed the floor in the early 1950s to form the Social Credit party in opposition to the coalition government because it had taken a sharp turn to the right, bringing in legislation he considered unfair.
And. he noted, the coalition was defeated shortly after.
Barrett said the NDP, in opposing the bill, was warning the Socreds “to save you from yourselves.”
But, he added, “politically and fortunately for our future, they are too stupid to understand what we are saying to them, and they are bringing about their demise.”
He said the impact of the legislation would not be felt overnight, but over the next 36 months.
“You can be right wing, you can be left wing, you can use rhetoric, you can attempt to be logical, you can attempt to be reasonable, but if people feel they are not being treated fairly, that’s when they throw governments out.”
Earlier, Barbara Wallace (NDP— Cowichan Malahat) said the bill was taking away the rights of people to earn a fair wage.
However, John Parks (SC—Mail-lardville-Coquitlam) disagreed saying that instead of bashing unions it clearly enhances the rights of workers in the province.
ANOTHER REQUEST
Book-banning move sparks controversy
The controversy that erupted with the May 1 banning of the book Boys and Sex from Prince George school libraries continued this week with a move to ban a similar book for girls.
School board chairman Graham Farstad said today the board has received a letter requesting the banning of the book Girls and Sex. Because the request was not made at the school level, the protester will be required to submit special forms, which Farstad said have been sent out but have not yet been filed.
Meanwhile, feelings run high in both the community and among employees of the school division over the first banning by the board two weeks ago.
Farstad said an anti-censorship group is being formed to oppose the recent banning of Boys And Sex, and added its spokesman has indicated a call will be made for trustees to rescind the action.
District librarians have also sought permission from the B.C. Teachers’ Federation to present their stand in letters opposing the ban.
Letters to the editor published in The Citizen have both protested and supported the ban. and the Prince George and District Labor Council has protested the board’s actions.
The question of how the school district selects its books has also arisen.
Marilyn Nelson, education program support services co-ordina-tor, said the book, Boys And Sex was bought as resource material for the human development courses, offered only to those students who have parental permission.
It was also chosen because it contains factual information concerning a subject of interest to teenagers.
She said the book was on only two school library shelves, to her knowlege: three copies at Prince George Secondary School and one at College Heights Secondary School. One book was stolen.
She said the books were available at levels where students are either teenagers or young adults.
Girls and Sex is available at College Heights Secondary School.
“Boys and Sex is non-judgmen-tal,” she said.
But she adds, “Every reader brings to the materials they read
a set of values which they use to judge the content. These values are formed very early in life.
“The greatest gift we can give our children, outside of love, is faith in their integrity.
“Teenagers are able to accept or reject according to their own training.”
She said it appears minority groups are trying to make school libraries an instrument of their tastes and values.
Nelson maintains, “All parents have the right to instruct their children what not to read, but they don’t have the right to dictate what other children do or do not read.”
Nelson said books for area schools are selected in several phases from lists provided by about 150 authorized selection aid services subscribed to by this school district.
The lists are reviewed by readers and people qualified in the various subjects covered, who recommend books on their educational or informational quality. They act independently from book-publishing firms, and are trained to be independent of any special-interest or pressure groups.
School district librarians also work together to select books which meet curriculum or stu-dent-interest demands. Cards on approved books for both elementary and secondary education levels are submitted to the district’s resource centre, which then makes selections on a district-wide basis.
“We consider every librarian to be a professional who knows the community’s needs.” she said.
“Have I the right to censor?” is the question librarians are expected to ask themselves when their own biases might be pressing them to select or reject books, she said.
The school board policy on book selection is wide, including provision of materials representing religious. ethinic and cultural groups, to show their contributions to both national and international heritages.
The policy asks only that the resources be fair and objective — free from propaganda, discrimination and sex-role stereotyping, except where such is needed as an illustration to develop criticial thinking about such issues.
'Wife-beaters' yanked
Citizen news services
EDMONTON — Woodward Stores (Alberta) Ltd. has stopped selling foam-rubber baseball bats with the words wife-beater or child-beater printed on the side after receiving complaints from a women’s group.
The bats were put on sale in the novelty section of one of the company’s Edmonton stores two weeks
ag°-
In Prince George, John Farris, Woodward’s manager, says the store does not have the bats in stock. He has asked staff to check and make
sure they are not on an order.
If the products did arrive in Prince George, Farris says they would not be put on the shelves and would be returned.
Meyer Smith, a member of the Alberta Status of Women Action Committee, said Mondav that to some people wife-beating isn’t funny.
“I can’t imagine how a woman would feel who walked by who had been beaten severely last night, for instance,” said Smith.