Page 8A Letters to the Editor The Castlegar Sun Wednesday, September 22, 198 Only hope for Canadians Campbell claimed that without NAFTA, we will lose access to Dear Editor: In a speech on f fe, Kim THE MEETING PLACE CASTLEGAR ALZHEIMERS Support Group meets the last Wednesday each month at 6:30-8:00 p.m. at Castlegar Library CASTLEGAR CHAPTER of RNABC, Tuesday, September 28, 1993, 7:00 p.m. at Castlegar and District Hospital conterence room. Topic: Workplace representative program; Guest: Mae Ditts, FLU CLINIC - St. Rita's Parish Hall, 513 - 7th Avenue, istlegar, Wednesday, October 6 (Senior's Wellness Day) 27,9 am 3 p.m. Available to : anyone 65 and older, children or adults with heart or tung conditions under doctor's sare. Wear short sleeves, Coffee and tea available. Call 365- 4300 for more information PROJECT LITERACY. Volunteers needed to tutor adults in basic reading and writing. Training on Thursday eveings starting October 7. 365-7765 (Library) for information 2w are 15¢ each. Boldtaced w w headings) count as two sertion is half-price. Minimum 30 Monday for Wednesday's paper. Please brin wily The Castlegar Sun eS Nei 465 Columbia Avenue Castlegar, BC VIN 1G8 the Mexican market. The point she missed, however, is that British Columbia stands to lose far more to the Mexican market than we stand to gain from it What we stand to lose is milling and processing jobs for our wood, and processing jobs for our fish. For decades now we have had various export controls to ensure that the lion's share of our wood is processed here in our mills. Wood supply is sup. posed to be regulated to sustain our mills and the communities they support These mills are already under pressure from the declining sup- ply of old growth forests Because we are running out, we 2 DINING LOUNGE Open 4 p.m. Daily 365-3294 Located 1 mile South of Weigh Scales, Ootischenia. Ceigar, Westar and Cominco vouchers accepted > oF ag Visitor in Your Backyard Winner! Me es] Aquatic Centre Pass Winner Kathy Gall Last Weeks Clues 1. The planks 2. have worn 3. over time 4. but this object S. is being considered 6. for restoration te Sahota The visitor attraction is The old Brilliant bridge It is located: On the Kootenay River The Casuggar Sun , 252 COIL Mattresses FROM ‘79 95 Gd Bais Mattresses FROM ‘29 95 BASIC QUALITY ] — — 99°°179 PRACTO-PEDIC TWIN 2 PC. SET DOUBLE “229° | aed | ‘149° '179"* 269 “' 329 "" 399" ° Ae ay HOTEL * MOTEL ff OWNERS WELCOME UP TO 30 YR. GUARANTEE LOCATIONS Prices as little as i regular stores 445 Minto Rd TO THE PUB Mon-Sat m 365-6433 Sunday 10a Closed 6 pm is to renegotiate NAFTA are going to have to get more jobs out of less wood. NAFTA, however, is going to prevent us from doing this. Instead of getting more jobs by processing our wood further, we are going to be forced to sell squared off logs to the highest bidder Raw log exports are exempted from NAFTA but how do you define a raw log? Is it still raw after being debarked or would the wood have to be squared off into “cants'’? No matter what, once the wood is squared off we will lose control of this resource. If a Mexican mill pays its workers far less, then they will be able to bid far more for our cants of wood than we can and will have aright to do it under NAFTA So what will end up happen ing is a nightmare for both labour and environmentalists The trees that get logged will not even stay here for processing creating even more unemploy- ment in the forest industry and therefore more pressure on the resource. What Kim Campbell and the Tories have done is sold out our right to the resources of British Columbia which we have grown to depend on, right at a time when they are most sought after. Unfortunately for us, the Tories, including Kim Campbell, may end up climinating more jobs from the forest industry than technological change and the environmentalists put together. With NAFTA, Campbell's projection that there will be no relief for the unemployed until the turn of the century, will be right. Our ability to do anything about it will be greatly curtailed. Our only hope is to force rene gotiation with the U.S, now Even if the U.S. refuses, by can celling NAFTA, we will still have our resources, technology and an intelligent labour force with full autonomy to decide for ourselves what is best for Cana. da. Views should be questioned Dear Editor: The bloody ethnic conflict in the former Yugoslavia has angered and frustrated all Canadians. The apparent racial and cul- tural harmony which had pre- vailed in the region for two generations has been replaced by hatred, killings and atrocities Given the unstable condi- tions throughout Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union the United Nations was hastily involved in the Yugoslavian civil war in an effort to prevent the conflict from spreading. Little, if any, thought was given as to just what the UN was supposed to do. Peace- keeping was not an issue as there was no peace to keep. The UN had not been called in by any of the warring factions so lacked any political legitimacy. While surrounded by three well- armed partisan groups, the UN forces had only a minimum of light weapons and a mandate to use them only in self-defense The United Nations is no more than a collection of the world’s governments. It has no independent existence The UN can do more than what these governments will allow. UN personnel have per- formed remarkably well in cir- cumstances where every charitable and humanitarian act is viewed by one or other of the warring factions as giving aid to the enemy. While frustration and anger is @ proper reaction to the events in the former Yugoslavia it should be directed to the gov- ernments who make up the United Nations In the forthcoming election campaign it would be worth- while to question the candidates as to their position on the UN in general and the Yugoslavian sit- uation in particular Sincerely, George Richards for the Kootenay Region ited Nations Association Dear Editor: at change? Most of us can remember when we were unhappy with situations in our life. We knew that changes were in order, but the idea of making changes was scary. Although we were unhappy with things as they were, we were in a “familiar” unhappy rot and what if we failed in our attempt We knew if we didn't try we couldn’t fail, however, if we didn't try we would never know if we could have succeeded and made a reab-differ~ ence. This dilemma is‘fhuch like our political sit- Political changes are needed uation today. We are NOT happy with politics as they are today. @ party with a country? A great number of us like the well laid out policies of the Reform Party. Here is the dilemma ~ Do we stay in that familiar rut or do we move to effort to accomplish positive changes in our I'm going to make the effort to do what I can to see that these positive changes occur. I'm going to- vote’ Re form. relatively new approach in an Audrey Hague Program could save your life Dear Editor: In the nine years that fire fighters and McDonald's Restaurants have teamed together for the Plan To Get Out Alive program, the impor- tance of fire safety education has been made evident many times over through stories from youngsters who have attributed their quick, correct actions in an emergency Situa- tion to PTGOA fire safety training. This year, the importance of fire safety education has POKER 6:00 pm City. Centre Square Sun., Tues., Thurs., Fri. 1490 Cedar Ave., Trail, B.C. Office Hours Mon. to Fri. 9-5 prompted fire fighters and McDonald's. to expand the Plan To Get Out Alive mes sage through a 30-minute CBC TV special. The special will be a significant element in helping to generate life-saving fire safety awareness through- out communities in Western Canada CBC-TV will air a 30 minute, nation-wide TV spe- cial on Saturday, October 9 as part of the Plan To Get Out Alive fire safety education Program. The special will air @ Rome Continued from 7A body would not pass current fed- eral ~ eat inspection regulations; adeq, ate clean water for everyone is now an illusion; and the state of the Eastern cod fishery is really about waging international war for food. These concerns are all symp- toms of the duel conditions of from 2:30 to 3 p.m. in British Columbia The CBC special, to coin cide with Fire Prevention Week October 3 to 9, will be shown for the first time in the PTGOA nine-year history The successful PTGOA pro gram teams fire fighters, McDonald's Restaurants and schools in an effort to teach kids what to do in the event of a fire at their home and encourages families to practice home fire drills McDonalds continental ovefconsumption and global overpopulation Greens are the only political Party with courage enough to seek solutions for what will ultimately impoverish us all. And our own Personal responsibility for the world around us cannot begin and end with an “X’ on October 25th. Yours truly, Donna Whitta Spy MINGETO: Progresives. gat *Prices include all frames in stock *Glass or Plastic lenses,cas *Backed by full Sat. 9-12 included one year w arranty TRAIL OPTICAL CO. "Serving the Kootenays since 1954" *Emergency Repairs * Adjustments *Ultra-sonic ( leaning SPORT Sports Dept. John Van Putten 365-5579 The Castlegar Sun WEDNESD September 22, 1993 9A Glance University V-Ball Stanley Humphries will be the venue this Saturday at 7 p.m., the University of Calgary and the University of British Columbia come together at Stanley Humphries in Castle- gar for a demonstration match. Proceeds of the event will go to the SHSS Athletic Council. Admission is $5 for Adults and $4 for students. Trail run Can you feel the winter bla’s coming on? Well the Selkirk College Blahadotnia Trail run will cure what ails you. The race, which has two different length choices (4.7 km and 13.1 km), is being held at the D Bar D Riding Stables start- ing at I! a.m., Saturday September 25. Registration forms are available at the Selkirk College. gymnasium. At a cost of $15 Participants Teceive a race t-shirt and with no shirt it’s $8 Skating registration Registration for fall skating programs through the Castle- gar Figure Skating Club will be held at the Community Complex on September 29 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.. The chub will be offering Can- skate, CanFigureSkate, and CanPower programs. Private lessons are also available. Birdie time The time is comming up: fast for area birdie bashers. Bad- minton night through the Community Complex is start- ing September 30 at 7 p.m. and the nets will be set up at Kinnaird Elementary School The program is open to play- ers age 16 and over at a cost of $15, you need to supply your own racquet and a birdie Mini volleyball Volleyball on a smaller scale is starting Oct 5 at Twin Rivers school for 6-12 year- olds in Castlegar and Oct 7 at Robson Elementary. For more information call the Commu- nity Complex Adult volleyball Did you get your fill of volley- ball this summer? This is your chance to make sure. Recre- ational volleyball is offered in Blueberry for adult players who are looking for a chance to bump around a ball in an indoor setting. Tuesday Octo- ber 5, at 6:30 p.m. and Robson at 7 p.m. the same date Phone 365-5579 with your sport brief Blasting batter has high hopes JOHN VAN PUTTEN Sun Sports ¢ of .423. It was that high average which earned him an Genelle's Jeff DeRosa is one big-bat hitter. It's exactly that his hitting power—the Texas Rangers Baseball organization is banking on from PP y to make the step up to Single “A” baseball According to DeRosa, to be a valuable asset to the team, a strong hitter has to be able to get second base Moving towards second base also gave DeRosa ample time to shine. Along with his split duties came an increase in playing time, which DeRosa says added to his improvement Consisten this 21 year-old Castlegar area player. DeRosa is working his way up through the Rangers network of farm clubs This past summer he played in Montana with the Butte Copper Kings in the Single A Pioneer League and proved his value to the team both defensively and offensively “I hit .271 this season in Butte.” In 1991 while playing college ball in North Carolina, DeRosa blasted a season long ‘Consistency is something | have worked on this year’ Local up-coming ball player the clutch hit when it's needed to advance the runner. “It's all in the batting average, not only home runs,” he said In addition to his important duties at the plate the Copper Kings gave him the opportunity to move from his usual position at short stop, to share duties at cy is some thing I have worked on this year, you have to play a lot to be consistent Another bene fit of the increase in playing time was a chance to have his consis JEFF DEROSA tency improve “L improved my defense this year; in 30 games I only com mitted one error.” While baseball is commonly referred to as America’s ‘Great National pastime’ it's a tough ride for Canadian players work, ing their way up towards profes sional teams. DeRosa says be ing a Canadian on the field makes him a minority The difficulty for ¢ anadians to break into the professional baseball scene is compounded by the low number of foreign working visas available from the United DeRosa says the Rangers orga nization had only 23 work visas to use throughout their entire organization States Government including the major league team and all the farm clubs sign up Mexican, Latin Ameri can and Canadian players If you're a Canadian, and The visas are used to have a working visa, you have to be better than the and Mexican players Although he did not land a position on the Rangers big team last year, he American is hopeful to be back in spring training next ye ar As with any career it's a slow — The results are in, we all stand to win Each year, for the last 13, the Terry Fox Run has brought out people who run, walk, jog, ride, and roller blade their way through the money- raising charity course While each person who takes part benefits knowing they have done what's possible to help the Terry Fox Foundation raise money for the National Cancer Institute, they also gain personally from the benefits of the exercise. Distances varied from km, 4 km, 5.8 km km distance This year's run attracted approximately 147 Participants, bringing in $1,638 for cancer research. The 1994 Stanley Humphries Grad class took part in the event, along with two classes from Robson Elementary School who held their own walk last Friday Congratulations to all who took part and to those who made the con and then up to the full 10 tributions to the participants ast year the Castlegar run raised $2,664.82. The Process moving up through tt ranks to finally end up worki for the team of your choice One thing looking good this point is the team has rear plied for a work visa for me for next season Ball season started early th year for DeRosa when he attend ed the Texas Rangers sprin training camp in Florida. Ove 200 players attended the cam fighting for 25 positions on th Texas Rangers major leagu club. The 200 hopefuls are mad. up of 2 the Rangers seven farm club plus the 25 players who were the Rangers squad last season From his position in Butte la season, DeRosa is hopeful afte training camp next year he wi make the next step up to play with the Rangers Florida Stat League club ‘I would like to make it t > players from each « play long season ball next year DeRosa said The season in the Florida Stat League starts after the may league clubs finish th training camps and through to Fall Getting his baseball career in the Castlegar sprin yntinu tart towards and Trail area has served as strong backbone to his risin career. He played in the. Tr Babe Ruth Little Castlegar. Acknowl Trail ball system for part of h success, was something DeRos did not hesitate on excellent city for ball,” he said If DeRosa can keep his bat ting average up around season he said that will help hit move up the baseball ladd faster League iging th Trail is 300 nex 1991 run tallied up $1,301 for the Terry Fox Foundation. Pledges are still bei p ed at the Recreation Department