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SURGENOR C G.A BUS:604-365-7208 FAX:604-365-3098 CASTLEGAR PLUMBING & HEATING LTD. Plumbing ¢ Heating © Gas Fitting (& FT * Sheet Metal e Air Conditioning © Appliances SALES SERVICE ¢ INSTALLATIONS Servicing Castlegar & area for over 30 years. Ph: 365-3388 1008 columbia Ave., Castlegar SISLATIVE La BRR y CURIA SPORI> 1994 EDNESDAY ugust 30, 1995 BUSINESS The Castlegar Weather Vol. 5, No, 41 64 Conte + GST, Enrolment in decline DEREK ZEISMAN | Sun Editor Given the choice between pay- » ing off debts or ing new However, in terms of the types of people moving to Castlegar to find work, Lintz said he doubted middle-aged couples with ones, many young people who rf — prime tar- gets for Selkirk’s recruitment might ly find enrolling at Selkirk College are going for the money instead. Joseph Lintz, information services officer at Selkirk’s Castlegar campus, says the col- lege is anticipating a substantial drop in student numbers from last year’s total. “Right now things are looking + a little soft. I won't use the word desperate, but there's just a sense of declining numbers among our admissions staff for the coming "year, id Lintz. “Bur it's hard to put any exact numbers to it yet, since we still have to finish with our open enrolment period [taking place this week].” He said a precise idea of how much this year’s enrolment has declined will not be available until the third week in September. Lintz attributed much of the slide in numbers over the last two years, from a high of more than 2,200 students during the 1993/94 academic year, to a much-improved economy in the West Kootenay region “T think imerest has dropped off a dit.on the education side of things. The local economy has really picked up, and I guess now's the time to pay off debts and old student loans,” he said. “At least, that's the speculation.” Lintz said economic opportu- nities arising from a combination of new businesses locating in the area, downtown revitalization, and the provincial government's ment of dow benefits for the area (arising from the sale of Columbia River power) are all combining to make + Castlegar a much more attractive ) place to find a job — one of the » main reasons for going to college ) to begin with. “We're in a recovery stage around here. So I'd say the mood is pretty optimistic,” he said, “It’s Certainly reflected in h 4 efforts — a large por- tion of this migrant total. “So the economic activity nay actually be working to the deti- ment of Selkirk College,” Liatz speculated. Selkirk’s record enrolment year was in 1993/94, when slight- ly more than 2,200 students enrolled in studies at Selkirk’s three main campuses, as well as smaller satellite ‘learning centres’ in Crescent Valley, Nakusp, Kaslo, Grand Forks and Midway. “We were in more of an eco- nomic slump at that time.” Last year, likely due to a stronger local economy, Selkirk enrolment dropped approximately 16 per cent, to around 1,850 students. “Right now we're hoping to sell some people on the fact that we have spaces available im a lot of courses, instead of long wait- ing lists like in some years.” “What we're shooting for at this point is to pick up some undecideds — people who might want to move their college plans up a year.” Despite enrolment being some- what softer than what Selkirk officials would like to see. he said the drop will not affect the num- ber of courses offered to students in the coming year. “We're healthy enough to sus- tain the level of courses we've had in past years. We're even offering a few new ones.” And certain courses at the col- lege remain very popular, added Lintz — maybe even more popu- lar than ever. Enrolment is look- ing good in the most popular first-year courses, English and psychology. And courses in Selkirk’s renewable resources department are in huge demand — there were 190 applications for 45 student slots in wildland recreation, and 240 for the same number of spots in forestry. “We're still riding the crest on prices and rental costs.” And the band played on... astlegar residents and visitors alike were treated to the sweet sounds of the Old ime Fiddlers, during last Wednesday's Babe Ruth entertainment day at the Chamber Commerce. Food and fun were had by all in the midst of warm August weather See COLLEGE a2 “The weelily nblwepaper with a daily commitment’ Belly flop — Roman Montalvo of the San Luis Obis end a rally in the sixth inning of last Th unable te come back from a two-run deficit and lost the game 7-6. ursday’s game in the Bal po Rangers tags out Trail Blue Jay pinch-runner Kyle Cull to effectively be Ruth World Series. Unfortunately, Trail was SUN STAFF PHOTO / Jeff Gabert Spectacular light show “heavenly” KAREN KERKHOFF Sun Staff Castlegar and area residents were treated to a spectacular light show last Thursday night after a comet of unusual brightness streaked through the skies. The comet, part of the annual Perseid meteor shower, ascended from out of the east at around 10:15 p.m. and appeared to fol- low a 45 degree trajectory. A local eyewitness, who asked to remain anonymous, said the comet was of extraordi- nary brilliance with pulsating blue and green lights and travel- ling at a high rate of speed. The 24-year-old man said it The ‘man contacted the local RCMP who referred him to Search and Rescue in Victoria who informed the man that no flights were reported missing Local Unidentified Flying Object researcher, Barbara Tan- dory, said although it appeared as if the comet landed near Castle- ar, the viewer experienced a per- ceptual illusion common to mete- or sightings. “It’s a perceptual illusion that it was going down. That's common.” The Perseid meteor shower originates in the vicinity of the constellation Perseus during the second week of August, although on occasion the show- ers can be seen well into the lat- tér weeks of August. This sighting, said Tandory, is considered a “delayed outburst”. “The peak was predicted a couple of weeks ago.” Sightings of the comet were also reported the same evening in Wenatchee, Washington, and as far away as Toronto, Ontario and New York State. Chamber defends cut in hours DEREK ZEISMAN Sun Editor Concerns over reduced hours of operation at Castlegar's as if the object fell to earth behind Mount Sentinel near the Brilliant Dam. SUN STAFF PHOTO | Derek Zersman Tourist Inf< ion Centre were voiced yet again at City Council's August meeting. But officials with the Castle- gar Chamber of Commerce who attended the meeting defended their decision to cut back on the Info Centre's hours, for funding reasons. “T'm still concerned about the cut in hours [for the 1995 tourist season],” said Coun. Ron Arm- bruster. Armbruster expressed concern that no count was kept last season on the number of tourists who visited the centre on a per-hour basis. But Marlene Krueckl, manag- er of the Chamber of Com- merce, said records are now being kept. She defended the Chamber's decision to reduce the hours of the Info Centre as “a matter of necessity.” “The province didn’t have to keep us on their funding roster, with our numbers as low as they were last year.” Coun. Doug Green quizzed Krueckl on how the Info Centre's Pp B s grants for student employment at the centre are based on the num- ber of tourists we get each hour,” said Krueckl. “But the centre's long hours in the past meant that, percentage- wise, the figures were very low.” Krueckl — who was accompa- nied at the council meeting by Bruce Wilson, next year’s Cham- ber president and one of the orga- nization’s current vice-presidents — said the Castlegar Info Centre is “very lucky” to even still be affiliated with B.C.’s network of tourist information outlets. visitor bers are looking for this year. She expressed optimism that the cutback in hours, com- bined with a strong tourist sea- son, will result in a good increase in the final figures for 1995. “We're looking really good. The weather has been really crummy lately, so it’s died down a bit lately,” said Krueckl. “But May and June were just tremendous.” To the end of June, she said the Information Centre has seen 1,697 groups of tourists, 2,415 See CHAMBER A2 Tourney over, but memories live on Series draws over 113,000, smashing records JEFF GABERT Sun staff The 1995 Babe Ruth World Series is now over but the con gratulations are still coming for the people of Trail and the sur rounding communities According to organizers the event was an outstanding success and the first thing they pointed to was attendance. This year’s series drew 113,364 people to a refur- bished Butler Park which smashed the old record ot 7%,000 established 15 years ago in Newark, Ohio. It also smashed any unofficial record of enthusiasm and hospitality. lt far exceeded being a suc- cess,” said Bube Kuth chairman of the board Bill Smith, a native Oklahoman. “We can't say enough about the city of Trail and the ballplayers “T thought the people in Okla- homa were friendly but I think we met our match or surpassed it here. There are not enough words to express what they've done here.” Smith has been involved with Babe Ruth since 1954 and has Please drive safely — especially in school zones attended every World Seriés since 1969 and he has never seen the equal of Trail “It was major league all the way,” said Smith. “There are a lot of nice baseball people here. It's just unbelievable. It's going to be tough to top this.” This was the first World Series ever held outside the United States and the success of Trail’s bid bodes well for the future Smith even intimated that he could see Trail hosting the Series again, possibly as soon as three or four years from now.