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Annie’s Mailbox .. ......36
Bridge.......... ......25
Business ........ .. .18-20
City, B.C......... .. .3,5,15
Classified ....... .. .21-27
Comics ......... ......34
Coming Events ... .....2,36
Crossword ...... ......34
Entertainment ... .. .29-34
Horoscope ...... ......25
Lifestyles........
Movies.......... ......31
Nation .......... ......6,7
Sports .......... ...10-14
Television....... ......30
World...........
Small classes help reading, teachers say
by PAUL STRICKLAND Citizen staff
Provincial test results in reading comprehension released this week indicate that smaller class sizes have a big effect on improving learning, says Carolyn Rowland, president of the Prince George District Teachers’ Association.
Results from last May’s Foundation Skills Assessment test show that 94 per cent of Grade 4 students in the Prince George district and across the province met or exceeded expectations in the reading comprehension portion of the exam.
The test was given to Grade 4, 7 and 10 students in reading, writing and math, and studerts’ results were listed in categories of not yet within expectations, meets expectations, and exceeds expectations.
“The fact that 94 per cent of elementary students meet or exceed expectations after three years of smaller classes is evi-
dence that smaller class sizes do benefit students,” Rowland said.
In a contract ratified by teachers in early 2001, kindergarten classes were not to exceed 20 students and classes from Grades 1 to 3 were not to exceed 22 students.
However, in Grades 4 through 7 the class-size limit was 29. Legislation passed in January allowed further increases in class sizes after Grade 3.
Results from May’s FSA test in reading comprehension show that, by Grade 7,25 per cent of district students did not meet expectations, while across B.C. 24 per cent did not.
In Grade 10,28 per cent of district students, and 29 per cent of students in B.C., failed to meet expectations in reading comprehension.
“If you could keep smaller class sizes all the way through, the results would be positive,” Rowland said.
WALKING ABOVE THE CLOUDS —
University staff and students were able to look down from Cranbrook Hill snto a blanket of clouds draping the city on Thursday morning. In the distance, the steam emissions from the three pulp mills rose above the clouds.
Citizen photo by Dave Milne
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Keep
away
from bears:
RCMP
by GORDON HOEKSTRA Citizen staff
Following a bear shooting Monday night, the RCMP are calling on people to keep their distance from bears which wander into residential areas in order to give them a chance to move back into the woods.
The RCMP responded to a call from a Langer Crescent resident who phoned in a “stupid people complaint” reporting that a number of people had chased a mother black bear and her three cubs up a tree on a front lawn, police spokesman Const. Mike Herchuk said Thursday.
The mother bear was reported at the base of the tree surrounded by a number of people.
“I don’t know whether it’s the thrill of the chase or natural interest, but rather than giving the bear space or allowing it to move back into a natural area like a treeline, some people will pressure the bear or force the bear into a treeing situation, or literally pursue the bear into a residential area, a shopping area or school area,” said Herchuk. “Either ourselves or the conservation officers then have to dispatch the bears.”
Around 11 p.m. on Langer Crescent, the two RCMP officers decided it was necessary to shoot the mother bear, said Herchuk.
Both officers shot simultaneously with shotguns, hitting the bear with powerful rifled slugs. The wounded bear, however, fled into the nearby treeline. The three cubs were shot and killed by the officers and removed the next day by conservation officers.
“It did go from sour to worse unfortunately, and now we have a situation where the sow has been injured,” said Herchuk.
Conservation officers tracked the bear the next morning but could not locate it, then issued a warning Wednesday for the public to use extra caution in the area. The wounded bear still had not been located by Thursday.
Herchuk implored city residents to ensure that garbage is stored properly, bird seed is cleaned up and that ripe fruit is picked right away.
“And if they do come through your neighbourhood, don’t harass them. They will move on,” he said.
After more than a decade of education, it is getting frustrating for conservation officers that the public is still not doing the things they can to prevent bears from coming into their neighbourhoods, and leaving bears alone, added Bob Coyle, who. heads up the conservation service in Prince George.
So far, 36 bears have been shot and killed in the city this year.
That’s fairly typical, as in any given year an average of 40 to 50 bears are killed.
Programs like the Northern Bear Awareness Program have helped a little, but some people ignore preventative actions like locking up their garbage during the week and only putting it out on the morning of the pickup, or picking their ripe fruit, said Coyle.
“It’s going to take a major shift in mindset in this town for us to minimize our bear complaints,” he said.
Waiting for a new heart
Ten-year-old needs transplant
by KAREN KWAN Citizen staff
To all appearances,10-year-old Pamela Loveng is just like any other kid. The Grade 5 Wildwood elementary school student likes swimming, reading, hanging out with her friends, and has a hankering for horseback riding.
Unlike most children, however, her complexion is pallid, she’s exhausted most of the time and suffers from headaches and nausea. “She’s in heart failure. She’s still functioning, but she’s very tired,” said her mother Christine Loveng.
In her young life, Pamela has already undergone three heart surgeries — the first a bypass operation when she was one-day-old — and has a device implanted in her heart to correct a condition called complex congenital heart defect. Despite her early medical problems, her health has been stable for the past seven years, Loveng said. Then,, in August, the doctor told the family Pamela needed a heart transplant and she would be sent to Toronto to await a donor organ and surgery at the Hospital for Sick Children. “1 was kind of shocked because she had been thriving for the past seven years. It was very upsetting,” Loveng said. “It’s terrifying not knowing what’s going to happen. I know she’s strong and capable of pulling through, but I have my denial days. I can hold it together most of the time but if I think about it too much I get scared.” Pamela said she’s “a little bit scared”, but is looking forward to her family’s week-long trip to Disney World in Florida on Tuesday. The holiday is being sponsored by the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which grants special wishes for children with life-threatening illnesses.
Pamela is now on an aggressive regimen of four to five different medications to prepare her body for the transplant. Her cardiologist wants her in Toronto by November so she can be placed on a waiting list for a new heart. Loveng said it could be three months to a year before a compatible donor heart is found, and Pamela will have to stay in Toronto for three months following the operation so doctors can monitor her condition. Her parents and four-year-old brother plan to stay with her in Toronto.
The David Foster Foundation is covering all non-medical expenses for the family while they’re in Toronto. The Victoria-based organization helps all B.C. children who require major organ transplants, and their families, with travel, accommodation and meals.
Family friend Tamara deBalinhard has also set up a trust fund at the CIBC at the Spruceland Shopping Centre to help the family with expenses in Prince George while they’re away, such as their mortgage and costs associated with their hauling business. People can donate to Tamara deBalinhard in Trust for Pamela Loveng, citing branch 3950, account #1837338 at any CIBC branch. “Pamela’s such a sweetheart. She’s outgoing, kind and generous to everybody. I hope this operation works,” deBalinhard said. She encourages people who donate to contact her at 962-0696 so she can acknowledge their contributions.
The Make-A-Wish Foundation is sending Pamela Loveng and her fam-ily to Disney World for a week before she heads to Toronto to await a heart transplant.
Citizen photo by Brent Braaten
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