vested in and belongs to Castle News Ltd: ony advertinament prepared trom repre proots, engravings, etc. provided by the toon * provided, however, thet copyright i thet por! and thet port only of edvertiner shall remain in ond Thanks, everyone! Elated. That's about the only word to adequately describe the reaction of Castlegar and Robson area residents to Friday's announ- cement that the Castlegar. Robson terry will not be closed on April 1 as planned. The decision not to close the terry was like a huge weight being litted off the shoulders of the community. With the local economy struggling to throw off the bonds of recession, with one of the highest unemployment rates in the provin- ce, and with government restraint cutting: deep into some much- needed social services, the situation,in the West Kootenay was looking pretty bleak. Things went from bleak to bleaker with the word earlier this year that the ferry, a vital link across the Columbia River for more than 60 years, would be closed. H , it's to Highway Minister Alex Fraser's credit that he recognized the hardship that would be caused by closing the ferry. Like other ministers in similar situations, Fraser could have easily shrugged off the uproar about the ferry cutback and simply gone ahead with the closure as planned. But he didn't, because the complaints didn't come from just one special interest group, or one sector of the c y- came from everyone — merchants, id. , fire is-within the village limits. . Planned organization and member- responsible 4 the Castlegar subdivision of the Catho- lic Women's League. Departing from the four-year-old an- nyal custom of a spaghetti supper, due jans, and r. regar- dless of their political viewpoint. It was ay classic case of everyone in this community pulling together to fight for a common cause. It's the kind of thing that binds a community, especially when it is a success. The decision to keep the ferry is not only a victory for the residen- ts of Robson and Raspberry, and downtown businesses. It's a victory tor the Castlegar-Robson area and a much-needed boost at a time when this area needs a shot in the arm. Thanks, everyone for taking the time to be concerned and get involved. Time to end lockout It's about time the provincial government took steps to inter- vene in the pulp industry lockout. For nearly two months now British Columbians have waited patiently for industry and union negotiators to reach some sort of agreement that would send 12,500 pulp union members and thousands more woodworkers back to work. But it appears we've been waiting in vain. Talks between-the two: unions and. the pulp bureau broke off for the third time Wed- nesday, and there is little hope that either side will budge from their positions. It is clear that the collective bargaining method will not end the impasse, and if it does, it won't be without a lengthy shutdown of the industry. Communities across British Columbia, and particularly here in Castlegar wh both the pulp mill and sawmill are shut down, cannot withstand another two months of union and mana ent haggling. In the interest of the com- munities — and the province as a whole — the government has a duty to begin the process to bring the lockout to an end. Jim Matkin, president of the Employers’ Council of B.C., had a logical suggestion this week when he said a six-month cooling off Letters to the Editor to d costs of food and lack of adequate cooking facilities, the novel idea of a theatre party whith included the showing of a film at the Castle Theatre, a buffet lunch and dance at Pulp article ‘absurd’ Editor, Castlegar News: I was quite puzzled by the front page article “Pulp lockout explained”. Not only was nothing explained, but the article contained a number of patent absurdities, beginning with the lead sentence “The B.C. pulp industry locked out its employees because it wanted to try and have a stable ongoing industry.” Promoting labor stability by locking the gates is sort of like promoting chastity through prom- iscuity. One can safely dismiss as a cretin anyone advocating this kind of action. Mr. Wilf Sweeney is definitely not a cretin. It would seem that he is acting on instructions from, and parrotting the words of the Pulp and Paper Industrial Relations Bureau. The stra- tegy behind this performance seems to be an attempt to cut community support for the workers who were so unconscionably locked out of the Bureau, appear to be conducting a campaign to shift the blame for this lockout for themselves) the insti- ators) to the workers who are its victims. The style of this campaign is not new; it is based on a public relations technique developed in Nazi Germany, that ta Trane repeats a lie often enough and loudly enough people will even- tually come to believe it as a truth. In this case the lie is that the companies locked out the workers to bring stability to the industry to force the unions to negotiate, and to bring contract talks to a speedy conclusion. It is now day 46 of the lockout and we have seen the Bureau remain inflexible in its positions, refusing to negotiate. Thus it would seem that these reasons given for the lockout are merely bluster to try to justify actions for which there is another motive. , At the same time we have seen workplace; Workers who) taVel yay Tur, although the Bureswgmtntains it made every effort to intrease and productivity in‘the past year —~ eight months of which they worked without a contract. In 1983 the Celgar Pulp Division is new pr i records period should be d on the industry and unions. Fred Merriman Since I continue to remain a rank amateur concerning computers it might be well to share a few thoughts on the subject before I fall victim to the world after high tech has become popular. It is an emotional experience to sit before a monitor for the first time. A monitor for the stranger to “computerville” is a small TV with a single channel. The first fact of life, after you have learned to turn the machine on, is this: You either know or you don’t know. I have not in my experience known a computer which accepted “maybe” or “please forgive my stupidity.” You may hit the monitor with the heal of your hand, but to no avail. You can say, “Please,” yet the device — like all machines — re- mains silent. If you say the correct word — a password —' and can identify the correct address — the file name — then you receive an answer at the speed of light. Another most important aspect of this new tool of mankind cannot be told to you. You must experience for yourself, the sinking feeling inl the lower ab- domen when you realize that several hours of work entering data into a new file is gone at the speed of light simply because the parity was delicate or you did not save the data in manageable pieces and the power failed. The unkindest cut of all comes when you are suddenly aware that you have hit the incorrect fune- tion key. T'll guarantee you that the second time you enter the data will be the jast, unless of course you are difficult to teach. For those who fear the electronic filing cabinets, may I say that your fears are unfounded. One can well imagine the length of time it will take to draw data from the tradi- tional filing cabinets for entry into the electronic memory. After that mountain of work is completed it will be necessary to proof read and test the same for accuracy. We have often heard the expres- sion “garbage in and garbage out.” Believe it. Since I am just slightly reaction- ary in part of my nature, I put less stock in a computer printout. than in one prepared by human hand over a creditable person's signature. Those are the negatives. Now on to the positive. Upon completion of the large task involved in entering the data you can expect that a veri- table volume of questions will emerge from persons of every per- suasion. We shall be like small children once again, forever asking the key questions which rattle in our minds: Why? How? And others like When? What? Where? And, collo- quially, How come? One writer opined that we are now well into the age of the Infor- mation Society. So be it. Since society will now have many of the previously paper-buried answers available at a second’s notice for its consideration, we can expect the questioning mind to i averaging 563 Air Dried Metric Tonnes per day, far exceeding the old record of 535 ADMT per day. On Jan. 6, 1984 Mr. Sweeney acknowledged this feat in a letter to all employees stating, “All of you must be proud of this achievement. It didn't just happen. Your efforts, together with the help of a little better wood supply and some better equipment .. . made it happen.” Then on Feb. 2, 1984 the doors to the mill were locked. Nothing quite demonstrates the arrant hypocrisy of the company as these two separate actions. Now the companies, through the Pulp and Paper Industrial Relations tatsn't rey to pub Ontity table vfor the workers, there are plenty of funds for advertising their version of events throughout the province's new- spapers. This is from a group whose chief spokesman has ‘said, “I will not negotiate through the media.” Phase two of this propoganda blitz is more local and specific: local resident managerial staff taking advantage of local forums to once again repeat the Bureau line and hammer at community support for the workers. The intent of this would seem to be to further isolate and weaken the workers’ ability to fight these industry actions. It may be months, perhaps years, before we ever learn the real reasons for this irresponsible lockout by the pulp companies. It may be a purely speculative attempt to control the the C Hall, was adopted as the CWL major annual project in support of St. Rita's Church. . «© * A.C.1 George Landis is on leave from Trenton, Ont. where he is stationed with the Air Force. On his return, Mr. Landis will be stationed in Clinton, Ont. S 25 YEARS AGO From the March 26, 1959 News Castlegar Celgar Ltd. announces the award of the contract for the building of the con- struction camp, at its pulp mill site near Castlegar, to Commonwealth Construction Co. Ltd., engineers and builders, Vancouver. A total of 21 ten- ders were submitted for this project. . . . market by wi ig pi capability; or it may be a concerted effort to break the unions by a neo-reactionary faction of manage- ment; or more likely some combination of these and other factors. One thing’ remains distinctly cer- tain: we are not being told the complete truth about the industry's motivation for this lockout. It also appears a certainfy that a concerted effort is being ‘finde to turti’ this community. against the workers who, through no fault of their own, have been denied the chance to earn their living. Patrick Donohue Robson Russian immersion program Editor, Castlegar News: In September 1983, I enrolled my ‘daughter in a unique program at Castlegar Primary School called Rus- sion immersion kindergarten. I am proud of the progress she has made and I wish to thank the Castlegar school board for the initiative and foresight in establishing the program. FRED MERRIMAN is unique What originally prompted my interest in Russian immersion kinder- garten was the fact that prior knowledge of the Russian language was not a prerequisite. It is my sincere wish the program continue and the public is able to take full advantage of it. Vera Fodor Column is ‘fantasy’ ture from his usual turgid meag@erings we are subjected toa paranoid fantasy which manages to have a 10-year-old'(named Russ, what else?) getting “badly injured,” police firing warning shots in the air and little short of civil insurrection in the “quiet piece of suberbia (sic) named Robson.” My first reaction after reading this effort was to wonder that any com- petent elementary school teacher (let alone a lofty editor) would let such poor grammer and sloppy writing pass into print. Mr. Merriman begins his column, for example, by observing that “It is no wonder that hot-blooded Latin Ameri- cans change dictators like the seasons.” Following the conjunction “because,” in the same sentence, Mr. Merriman al- lows that “here in Canada we have ordinary husbands and wives — good hard-working family folk — talking about occupying the Robson ferry.” A fairly y of — deep and penetrating questions —— akin to those formed by child-like minds full of wonder. Our questions will push us to the age beyond tech- nology to the universal’ question, “Who are we?” Beyond answers are questions and beyond that understanding. In my opinion, many are finding themselves in the Age of Question. and logic has it that the insertion of the conjunction “because” in a complex sentence implies a degree of relatipn- ship between the clauses. Quite aside from the fact that the as- sertion that “hot-blooded Latin Ameri- cans change dictators like the seasons” is a grossly over-simplified and vaguely racist interpretation of what is going on in Latin America, the statement quite clearly has nothing whatsoever to do with the Robson ferry issue and the insertion of the word “because” is not enough to make the sentence into a logical thought. In addition, Mr. Merriman has either fabricated history to support his fan- tasy or used the fantasy to confound history; it is difficult to tell which. I assure that the “Estivan Mass- acre” which is compared to the “Robson Riot” of his fantasy refers to the incident at Estevan, Sask. on Sept. 8, 1931. On that occasion, coal miners on strike were fired upon by RCMP and local police as they marched peace- fully past the town ‘hall. While the “Estevan Massacre” of Mr. Merriman’s fantasy has “one woman” being killed by a member of “the mob,” the real Estevan massacre saw three miners killed and 12 to 18 wounded by police who were armed to the teeth. Upan reflection, however, what is really distasteful about Mr. Merriman's most telling of all, without soliciting or seeming to care about the various al- ternatives with which the residents themselves have raised to address the cost of the ferry. Under these circumstances, it is difficult to see how the people of Robson and Castlegar were left with any other alternative except to act to defend their basic right. to fir repre- sentation. It is to be hoped that the provincial cabinet will rethink its de- cision but one thing is plain: to adopt a supine posture in the face of unfair de- cisions by the Social Credit govern- ment is to ensure the implementation of those decisions. The people of Robson are law abiding and hard-working. Some of them are also unemployed or handicapped, and most are thankfully not possessed by Mr. Merriman's vacuous complacency. They have chosen in response to an ar- bitrary and vindictive political decision to and resist that de- column are not the non and innaccuracies with which his writing is replete but the trivialization on the one hand and sensationalism on the other of an issue which has as much to do with a question of democratic prin- ciple as it has to do with ferry service across the Columbia. The decision to discontinue the Rob. son ferry, like most of the provincial government's so-called “restraint” moves, was made without consultation, cision. It is to be hoped that nothing so terrible as Mr. Merriman envisages in his column actually happens. But whe- ther someone is injured in a dramatic act of civil disobedience or simply sinks beneath the qi nce of_ “re- straint,” it is the ial Credit soub mates of Mr. Merriman, not the people of Robson, who afd fo blame. Derek Todd without any thought to the ces for the residents of Robson and, More letters page AS is moving into place for the construction of the road to the Cel- gar Plant Site which means cutting away some 35,000 tons of rock from the bluff at the West Robson station. New road being built will be about 3,000 feet from the station to the railway crossing at the plant site. Additional right-of-way will be re- quired from the Lakeview Store to the West Robson, Station, to widen thejy existing road. * 28 « The Project Society has been suc- cessful in its efforts to obtain the 56-ton refrigeration plant that the T. Eaton Company is removing from service in its Vancouver store. The Project Society had the plant in- spected and obtained the advice of the Canada Ice Machine Company Ltd. as to the feasibility of using this equip- ment in our arena. Their written report concluded by recommending that every effort be made to obtain this equipment as it would be completely suitable to form the basis of an ice plant to service a skating rink and three to five sheets of curling ice. Castlegar The Castlegar and District Hospital spent nearly half a million dollars in 1968 and ended up the year with a surplus of nearly $20,000. H This was reported to the hospital ‘ society's annual meeting last night by finance chairman committee chairman J.S. Scott. . * * Representatives of the Kootenay In- dustrial Development Association have scheduled a meeting with provincial | government officials in Victoria to dis- | cuss the need for a secondary industry in the Trail district. A spok said Friday chairman Sam Konkin will be accom- panied in his visit to two provincial cabinet ministers, by selected mem- bers of the committee and other per- ! sons who might be valuable. . * Lt.-Col. H.C. (Herb) Pitts, command- ing officer of the First Battalion, , Queen's Own Rifles of Canada at Es- ‘ quimalt has been appointed senior : liaison officer at the U.S. Army Com- mand and Staff College, Fort Leaven- worth, Kansas. Col. Pitts, formerly of Castlegar, has commanded the battalion since Jan- uary 1967. 5 YEARS AGO From the March 29, 1979 News The biggest cheque ever received by the city, a $1.5 million grant from the provincial government to help finance Castlegar’s planned $6 million Lower Arrow Lake water supply, arrived by special courier at city hall Monday. Ald. Gerald Rusti told city ‘€ouneil ysgped that reerennetatives of the - economic devi ent mi sabqut Felease_Ofithé remaining $3 million in federal-provincial aid the city will receive for the water supply. emir en nreerneenenit to take the, national Liberal ¢ - . “John Turner was something out of a Scott ald novel,” says Norman Klenman who appears aglow with the recollection, “He had a lightness of touch and'a style, He earried.a gold glow around his head.” " Klenman, a film-maker and vice-chairman of Van- couver television station CKVU, continues: “The air of wonderment was in us, not in him. Like a Fitzgerald character, Chick always had that quality of floating in and being at ease. He always seemed to know what to do.” ) ¥ ONE CRITICAL While most other former classmates have equally warm memories of Turner, retired judge Les Bewley’s recollections are lly less rom: Bewley says Turner was “awkward of speech — almost incapable of speech . . . He doesn't really give a speech now; he uses short, punchy phrases with a fixed Man-from-Glad grin.” Turner moved to British Columbia with his mother after completing high school in Ottawa. From 1946 to 1949, he worked on the student newspaper, The Ubyssey, was a track and field star in the 100- and 220-yard sprints and served as social co-ordinator. He graduated in 1949 with a BA in political science with first-class honors. about more. . News: Well, well! The Minister of Educ- ation wants more math and science taught in our schools and “Mire and tore private schodis are starting up all over Canada. Are these students “quality” in education morass? Mr. (Mike) Rodgers calls for more teachers to teach these courses. . What in heaven's name are they teaching now? Mumbly-peg? No wonder five million Canadian graduates of our school system are considered to be functionally illiterate. Castlegar already has over five teachers for every four classes and to need more to teach more or (could it be any) math and science is preposterous to say the least. It appears that the students are being taught less and less about more and more. How incom- petent can a professional get? We have heard a lot lately about education quality and deteriorating standards. I guess math and science cut into time skiing, other sports and other “studies”, such as basket weav- ing and fruit bowl carving or some- thing. How about defining education quality for us Mr. Rodgers? Perhaps Joy Leach could also define quality in education. to publish a list of taught and needed for grad Mr, Rodgers, listing the num. Of pupils in each course and hours of work done per week by each teacher. Then we the consumer could assess your performance. However, you don't dare let the public know any fact about our school system do you? I for one would like as many facts as possible made available instead of bh iated pap disgorged by so-called educators acting as spokesmen for our school system. It’s about time teachers quit using our children as pawns to further their own interests. F.W. Peitzsche Fruitvale His scholastic and athletic won him a Rhodes Scholarship and he graduated from Oxford as both a bachelor of civil law and a master of arts. He completed a post-graduate law degree at the Sorbonne in Paris. F At UBC, Turner and Klenmah were pubsters, a group who'earned the name from working on the students’ publications board. While Donald (Fergy) Ferguson, now the regional CBC director in Manitoba, was editor, the pubsters’ chant was written. “There's a thriving kindergarten in the depths of old Brock Hall; “They feed the kids on bottles from the time that they are small. “They sleep on gin-soaked Ubysseys and Fergy is the lord. “Of the illegitimate children of the Publications NO TRUE PUBSTER But Chick, .as Klenman recalls, wasn’t a true pubster. “To do that, you had to go to the basement of the Georgia Hotel, drink too much, barf all over town and nearly get arrested driving home in your jalopy. “If John went, somehow it was all right. Nobady, got. drunk and nobody missed their exam the next day.” Ferguson, who was Turner’s fraternity brother in Beta Theta Pi, said he was a good sports writer for the time. “In those days, sports journalism was conducted in the idiom of Damon Runyon with a floridity of expres- sion,” Ferguson said. “People didn't just bounce a basketball across the floor.” USED ‘GONFALON’ Turner stumped his copy editors by introducing the word “gonfalon” to the Ubyssey's sports pages as a synonym for cup, trophy or championship although he wasn’t sure at the time what it meant. (It's a medieval word for a pennant flown from a horizontal staff, says Ferguson.) Jack Ferry, the editor before Ferguson and now a public i Itant in V , says when Turner first started writing sports copy it was under the name Nap Turner — taken from his middie name — al- though his nickname and byline changed to Chick after he was pledged to the fraternity. Neither Klenman nor Ferguson remember him being called anything else. . Bewley, who wrote a column called the Children’s Hour during the 1946-49 period, says Turner chose the nickname himself because “it sounded friendly.” Bewley, now an acerbic Vancouver Sun columnist of right-wing persuasion, terms it a “trendy kind of nick- name” for the time. WAS AMBITIOUS “He was so sure of himself, ambitious and terribly determined to get in some newspaper time to put it on his curriculum vitae for the Rhodes Scholarship application,” says Bewley. CONGRATULATIONS Wayne is one of the newest members of the Block Bros. Western Best Sellers team. Since starting his new career only months ago, Wayne has consistently been one of the to producers for Bl Bros. This success can be attributed to a combination of old- fashioned hard work ayeet in real estate marketi methods. Wayne has recently comple: a course in “Applied Real Estate.” There is no doubt; if you have real estate needs,, Weyne McCarthy should be, working for you. GIVE HIMA-CALL BUS. —''365.3347 RES. — 365-3952 Block Bros. Western Best Sellers inc. : Rates Guaranteed for the Term! 1 YEAR — 9% 2-4 YEARS — 912% 5 YEARS — 10% $100 Minimum rhs ith Castlegar Savings Credit Union (rates notice) Slocan Park Castlegar 226-7212 365-7232 Our Action Ad Phone Number is 365-2212