Leai ative Library, Parli at Bldgs., Victoria, B. C. MSY tye 501 Bellevit! winner Gary Ingham won the top trophy at the recent Castlegar Wildlife Assoc- iation banquet... C1 os ~ Winter Games Castlegar weightlifter Cur- tis Ready has won two bronze medals during competition at the B.C. . Winter Games in Osoyoos Lotto 6-49 jackpot Prize of $2,164,333,80. The Interprovincial Lottery Cor- oration announced. The six regular numbers for Saturday's draw were 17, 19, 27, 30, 36, and 43. The bonus number was one. The draw did produce five winners, one from weeetetn Canada, two from Ontario, and two from Atlantic Canada, of the second prize of $817, 639.00, each winning$163,527.80. 'he $500,000 winning number in Friday's Provincial lot- tery on is 1412272. mment when the new legislative session opens WEATHERCAST Sunny today with cloudy inter- vals. Highs near 5° ond lows near -4°. Cloudy M with @ jew showers of rain or wet snow 50 Cents = VOL. 38, No. 18 CASTLEGAR, BRITISH COLUMBIA, SUNDAY, MARCH 3, 1985 4 Sections (A, B, C & D) SNOWED UNDER . . . Arne Brattebo and Susan Ross huddle in what they imagine is the middie of a snowstorm. The two were volunteers for The IT'S ALL IN YOUR MIND A ing Damant, ist who visited Castl this week. For a review of the show, see page AS. Costtews Photo by Doug Hor vey TO DEVELOP TRAILS Nordic Ski Club gets work grant The Nordic Ski Touring Club in Castlegar has been awarded .a federal grant of almost $14,000 to develop new trails at the Paulson Country ski area near Nancy Greene Lake. John Donald, administrative assis- tant to Kootenay West MP Bob Brisco, confirmed that $13,482 had been awarded to the ski club from funds left over from the 1984-85 Canada Works Program. Donald noted that the club had originally applied for grants under the Environment 2000 program and the winter Canada Works program. But the Canada Works application was set aside because it was thought the club would receive a grant under the Environment 2000 When that grant wasn't “approved, there was some feeling by the consti tuency advisory board and Canada Manpower officials that the club was. unfairly treated, Donald said. The application was looked at again “and the decision was that money available in the 1984-85 budget which was desig: nated ‘slippage’ could be used tc support the project,” Donald said. School board opposed to Bill 48 By CasNews Staff Castlegar school board has attacked the provincial government's new Bill 48, which allows school boards to go to public referendum to obtain additional taxes to pay for education costs. In a prepared release, the board said Bill 48 “is not a solution to the problem of inadequate funding from the B.C. government.” Instead, the board says the bill “cre- ates a much greater problem of in- equality from school district to school district. Wealthier school districts can afford a tax increase and will be able to keep their educational services in place; Castlegar will not.” By bringing in Bill 48, the provincial government “has decided to tax FULL-DAY KINDERGARTEN Panel debates issue By ADRIAN CHAMBERLAIN Staff Writer It could well have been called the great kindergarten debate. For more than two hours, about 150 parents listened to a panel discussion on the pros and cons of full-day versus half-day kindergartens Thursday night at the Woodland Park Elementary school gym. One panelist, a parent, said her children fared better socially and academically in half-day kindergartens. Another panelist, also a parent, said her child found full-day kindergarten more enjoyable and stimulating. A kindergarten teacher from Robson said she found full-day kindergarten better for finishing longer projects. Another kindergarten teacher, from Salmo, said children may have more time to complete projects, but most choose non-academic tasks in the afternoon because they're tired. And yet another panelist, whose children have attended both full and half-day kindergartens, said that it might not make a heck of a lot of difference, anyway. Frank Finney, supervisor of special services with the Trail school district, said of his five children, one had no kindergarten, two had half-day, and two had full-day And in retrospect, Finney told parents, “It hasn't made a bit of difference.” Finney, a former Castlegar school board trustee, said he felt a positive attitude in teachers and administrators is more important than whether kindergarten is half or full-day. If this attitude, exists, “the child is going to be successful, it's as simple as that,” he said. According to Finney, studies done on the full-versus half-day issue are “sparse.” However, of four studies on the subject carried out since 1964, two showed no difference, and two suggested the full-day kindergarten on alternating days is superior to half-day kindergarten. Finney said other research indicates that considerable learning takes place before children reach the age of six. By the time students graduate from high school, 24 per cent of their vocabulary, 33 per cent of their skills and achievement levels, and 75 per cent of their intellectual abilities were formed before they reached six years. But there’s probably no definitive answer as to whether full-day is superior or inferior to half-day kindergarten, Finney said. “I don't know the right answer to the questions you raised tonight. And we might have to accept the fact that it may be one of those questions that has no answer.” PREFERRED HALF-DAY Other panelists took a more partisan stance. Janice Lindsay, a social development consultant for the Kootenay Society for the Handicapped, said of her two children, the one who attended half-day kindergarten generally did better than the other, who attended full-day. Lindsay said full-day kindergarten may be more “convenient” in that it gives parents uninterrupted days with their children at kindergarten (full-day kindergarten is usually only held two or three days per week), cuts out the need for separate noon-time bus transportation, and enables kindergarten students to travel to and from school with older siblings. continued on poge A? twice simply to maintain basic educational services,” the board said. The release said the board is unan imously opposed to the bill DOUG CARTER . . . Six people hired The only stipulation is that the project has to be completed by March 31 Doug Carter, vice-president of the Nordic Ski Touring Club, said six people — all from the immediate Castlegar area — have been hired for the seven-week project. One of the projects under the grant is to develop five kilometres of trails for blind and ped skiers with the intention of applying for a “ski for light” race. The club's application says it is hoping to host an annual ski h such as the one that takes place at 100 Mile House. Carter said the workers will be upgrading existing trails at the Castle- gar golf course with the intended purpose of hosting races and competi- elopment of between 15 and 20 kilometres of trails at Paulson Country ski area. The grant money also provides for “We're trying to complete the net- work of trails,” Carter said. “We're making new trails that join up the nordic basin, Glenmerry Road and Seal Creek Road.” Construction and posting of signs and maps — 40 of each — will also be done. “At every intersection on the whole trail network will be ‘you are here’ signs plus directional areas with the idea being that people coming to ski here from outside will be able to find their way around,” Carter said. Survey work will also be done on the future development of trails adjacent to the Golf Club. the Neate club is sponsoring the grant to encourage more people in the area to try ski,” he said. Teachers end work to rule campaign By CasNer Castlegar teachers dover Thursday to suspend their work to rule protest- ing the school boards layoff of lunch- hour supervisors, and the only partial replacement of two teachers on long- term sick leave. “This suspension of job action (started Feb. 11) is an act of good faith on the part of the teachers,” said Mike Rodgers, president of the Castlegar District Teachers Association in a re- lease Friday. The release says discussions be- tween teachers and the school board will continue as both parties seek “clarification of educational concerns, and a resolution of the problem of the broken agreement.” The “broken agreement” referred to is legally binding, the teachers argue. But board chairman Doreen Smecher has said the agreement isn’t a legal document, although she says the board may have a moral obligation to uphold it. But the real culprit in the dispute is government underfunding of education in B.C., according to Lisa Pedrini, CDTA vice-president. “People are realizing that the broken agreement is just a symptom of a larger problem,” she says. “That prob- lem is underfunding of education in this province.” Pedrini says Castlegar teachers are inviting the board to join them in working with parents and community groups “to explain education funding problems and develop community sup- port for maintaining quality educa tion.” The teachers’ work to rule — which means teachers cut out all extra curricular activities with students — has succeeded in “developing aware ness of educational concerns,” claims Pedrini. OTTAWA (CP) — paid nothing in income tax, show. figures shows. Canadian companies. 140 SUPER RICH DIDN'T PAY TAXES There were 140 Canadians who earned a quarter of a million dollars or more in 1982 yet Revenue Canada figures But they may be a dying breed if Prime Minister Brian Mulroney carries through on his promise to impose a minimum tax on the rich in the spring bud; The number of very wealthy people who ducked the taxman in 1982 is already down from the 239 who managed to avoid paying taxes in 1981, a comparison of The New Democratic Party raised the issue of the need for a minimum tax on the rich in the election campaign and Mulroney later agreed with them The prime minister reiterated his promise in the House in November, telling NDP Leader Ed Broadbent: “I give him the assurance that it shall be in the budget.” The latest figures also show 5,375 people earning $50,000 or more a year paid no income tax Apparently the biggest loophole for rich tax dodgers was the federal dividend tax credit offered to investors in Of the 8,852 Canadians who earned $250,000 or more in 1982, 6,877 used that tax credit to reduce their income taxes by more than $325 million. Meanwhile, the figures also show the incomes of women grew by 11.3 per cent in 1982, compared with an 8.73 per cent increase for men. However, because men earn on average substanti ally more than women, in dollar terms they gained most with their incomes rising by $1,771 compared to a $1,129 increase for women. In terms of occupations, self-employed doctors and surgeons continued to top the list, earning on average $75,175, followed by dentists who earned $66,151 and notaries who earned $57,882. And Markham, Ont., which was fat-cat city for three years in a row was pushed into second place by the residents of West Vancouver, who earned on average $29,532. Markham residents earned $23,814 on average and Calgarians $22,297 The recession in 1982 was also reflected in a slowdown in the growth in wages and salaries which rose three per cent. per cent. by only 7.46 per cent, down from the nearly 14 per cent inerease in 1981 and the 13.2 per cent increase in 1980 If inflation of 10.8 per cent in 1982 is taken into account, wages and salaries actually fell by more than But there were some big gains, with the net income of professionals rising by 16 per cent and that of fishermen by 15 per cent. Investment income rose by 16 It cost the Revenue Department $1.15 for every $100 of the $27.6 billion it extracted in federal tax from 15.2 million people.