Time to spring ahead
TODAY
PAGE 15
Once close to extinction, the majestic gazebo makes a comeback.
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INDEX
canada.com
Ann Landers ... ..........21
Bridge....... ...........6
Business ..... .......18-20
City, B.C....... 3,5,6,15
Classified ____ .......24-27
Comics....... ... .34,37,38
Coming Events ........2,17
Crossword ..........34
Entertainment .......32-34
Horoscope ____ ..........26
Lifestyles ..... .21,28,37,38
Movies....... ..........32
Nation ....... .........6-8
Sports ....... .......10-14
Television
World........ ........8,16 •
CNC ponders 35% tuition hike
by PAUL STRICKLAND Citizen staff
The College of New Caledonia board will lodk at a proposal later this month for tuition-fee increases averaging 35% for 2002-03.
“That would still have us pretty low compared to other two-year colleges across the province,” said Judy Jackson, CNC manager of public relations. “It’s in a discussion paper we’ve put out to get input from students and staff.”
The current fee per semester for the university-transfer program is $556. The proposed fee is $750. The B.C. average at two-year colleges is estimated at $770.22. The Canadian average is currently $945, according to a release from the college.
The changes will be on the agenda at the April 19 meeting of the CNC board of directors, Jackson said.
“The proposal recommended to the board will be within the range of two-year community colleges,”
RCMP plan review after judge’s ruling
by KAREN KWAN Citizen Staff
RCMP say they plan to review their investigation into the sexual assault of two young girls after a judge harshly criticized police procedures in the case.
Despite errors in the collection of evidence, Justice Glen Parrett found there were enough grounds to convict Benjamin Corey Hart for two counts of kidnapping and two counts of sexual assault in the Jan. 4,2001 attacks.
But he warned that mishandling of evidence could lead to tragic miscarriages of justice. “The (wrongful) conviction of Guy Paul Morin is but one example of what can result from careless and sloppy procedures,” he wrote in a 102-page judgment released Thursday.
“The evidence in this case, in my view, fully justifies a warning in the strongest possible terms. This is no game in which we are engaged, but a very serious inquiry in which the liberty of a Canadian citizen is at stake on the one hand, and in which the public could be at risk, on the other.”
Prince George RCMP are taking the criticisms seriously, Const. Mike Her-chuk said. “We’re certainly going to take a good, hard look at any suggestions or recommendations the judge may make,” he said. “If our procedures or protocol need to be addressed, changed, or if there needs to be retraining we will do that, with the goal of not facing the same problems in the future.” However, he said RCMP brass haven’t had a chance to consider the judgment thoroughly.
He said RCMP normally review how they handle all major cases.
One of the key components of the Crown’s evidence against Hart involved textile fibres found on his clothing and on the girls’ clothing, as well as on Hart’s car-seat covers. A fibre analyst from the RCMP crime lab in Vancouver testified the tiny particles linked Hart to the girls, but the defence argued the evidence was contaminated by police procedures.
In his judgment, Justice Parrett said an officer’s “handling of the exhibits in this case raises significant possibilities of fibre transfers occurring” in some articles. But there was virtually no chance that fibres from Hart’s fleece shirt or from his car’s seat covers were transferred to the girls’ underwear accidentally, because of the sequence of events, he said. Fibres from one of the girls’ mittens also could not have been transferred to the seat covers inadvertently, Parrett concluded.
The girls were abducted from the Blackburn area and driven to a gravel pit, where they were sexually assaulted.
Hart will appear in court Thursday to fix a date for sentencing.
— See related story on page 15
CNC president Dr. Terry Weninger said Friday. “We need at least a 35% increase to be within the ballpark.
“The College of the Rockies is about to increase theirs 50%,” Weninger said. “North Island College raised theirs 40%. We’re assuming the others could put theirs up 25%.”
Hation at the College of the Rockies in Cranbrook will be $855 next fall, compared to CNC’s proposed $750 per semester for university-transfer students, he said.
When all the other colleges in the province have made their decisions about how much they are increasing tuition fees, CNC is likely to make a further adjustment next year to stay within the average, Weninger said. “I would predict at least two years of increases.”
“I think it’s really unfortunate that the colleges are being forced to do this,” said Veronica Murphy, external communications co-ordinator for the CNC Stu-
dent Association. “The tuition increase is not going to improve the quality of education at the community colleges. We will just be paying more to maintain fewer services.”
Murphy said fees for some programs at the college will go up as much as 49%, as is the case with computer information systems (CIS) and vocational power engineering. “Students are going to be excluded from many programs because of such drastic jumps,” she said.
“We’re supposed to be delivering more students to the college,” said George Davison, president of the CNC Faculty Association. “Putting tuition up seems to be driving them away instead of bringing them through the doors.”
College and Career Preparation courses (Levels 1 through 5) will continue to have no tuition fee, Jackson said. Senior citizens will continue to have the same fee exemptions, she said.
SCHOOL DISTRICT
Cost-cutting concepts considered
by PAUL STRICKLAND Citizen staff
School District 57 administration received a wide range of suggestions for budget savings at a meeting this week with parents and district staff, said superintendent Dick Chambers.
The district is trying to meet a shortfall of about $9 million before its April 23 board meeting.
One suggestion at this week’s meeting was to eliminate Saturday school,
for a possible savings of $75,000. Another was to consider more corporate sponsorship. A third suggestion was to review special education, especially in respect of examining the policy of inclusion in classrooms as opposed to a resource room for special-ed students.
More ideas are expected next week as time has been set aside during Tlies-day’s regular school board meeting for the public to comment on ways the board can cut costs. There is also a
meeting Wednesday at 7 p.m. dedicated to the public at Duchess Park secondary school, 2371 Ross Cres.
There will also be three simultaneous public meetings on the SD 57 budget on Thursday at 7 p.m. in Mackenzie, McBride and Valemount secondary schools.
Tuesday’s school board meeting starts at 7 p.m. in.the downstairs boardroom of the central district administrative offices, 1894 Ninth Ave.
Health board faces huge deficit
by PAUL STRICKLAND Citizen staff
How to restructure health-care systems to address a potentially huge deficit was one of the issues discussed when the Northern Health Authority board of directors met for the first time.
Among other topics at the inaugural meeting Thursday in Prince George, the board talked about preliminary reports from the Northern Health Authority’s redesign teams, said chairman Harry Gairns. The redesign work was initiated in early February when the health authority’s three-year deficit was projected at $40 million, if current spending continued, he said.
“Together with the Ministry of Health, the Northern Health Authority will firm up an operating plan over the next three weeks that will meet the fiscal requirements
while continuing to provide quality care to northern B.C. residents,” Gairns said.
Altogether there are 18 redesign teams looking at all facets of operations within the Northern Health Authority — facilities, services and programs, said Patty Stewart, communications director. “They’ll see how we can do these things better,” she said.
Some of the redesign teams are looking at areas like food services, laundry and diagnostic services.
“Also, is there a way we can pool resources through the health authority, and make the most of our buying power?” Stewart said. “We are a much bigger authority than the old Northern Interior Regional Health Board. We can achieve cost savings by identifying ways of achieving better purchasing power through the authority.”
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At 2 a.m. Sunday, April 7 daylight time begins. Most Canadians will set clocks ahead one hour before turning in. The annual time shift is intended to allow people to enjoy more of the evening daylight.
TIE ONE ON — Otto Froembling, a member of The Polar Coachman Fly Fishers, ties a woolly bugger at their booth at the Spring Rec Mart at Pine Centre Mall. The Spring Rec Mart continues today.
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