6- Friday, September 6, 1985 - North Shore News

Editorial Page

Art indecision

he recent financial hoorah over North.
_ Vancouver city’s waterfront sculpture '

“underlines the incompatibility of city
councils and arts councils.

The two North. Van’ examples initially’.

waltzed arm-in-arm into the search for a
unique artistic focal point for the city’s

waterfront, exchanging. backslaps and /prom-

ises like the best of friends. : /
The: friendship _ ended when financial

commitments ran headlong into artistic
assessments. Backslaps turned to backpedals; |

‘Promises tu.reconsiderations. _
_» Caught between the-resulfing ttig of war,
hopping on hot feet: ‘trying to get.a word in

‘|. edgewise in the bluster and braggadocio, was

- winning artist Douglas Senft.

His sculpture beat. out 66 other entrants in.

_g the - arts “council-sponsored competition to

|-? find a-suitable artistic showpiece for North
** Vancouver. Its . ‘value and_ his credentials, .

.< both aesthetic and artistic, have since been
: dragged through the mud of disapproval and
: public outcry.

“ The arts council’s three years of. effort in :
:mounting the contest.and- selecting ‘the win-
‘ner has been lost in‘ the nattering. over who-

ets promised .. monies, in: what , form, and

.when.

City council, relenting. at ihe last moment .
‘to come across: with promised funds for the .
sculpture,..has : borne .the. embarrassment. of

: political egg on its face from what appears to
- be. indecision. in commitment.” -

sredging approval.

‘ies bake

non-Christians wanting time

éligious celebrations, West |.
. Hollywoor city council recently gave the |.
axe to city, holid ys with eke oP overtones. . ;

splay Advertising 980-0517 °
ssified Advertising 986-6222 |

Roger McAes
¢ Berni Hilliard
dvertlsing Director - Sales
Linda Stewart :
' Advertising Director - Admin.
| McGov . Mike Goodsell
‘oduct Editor-in-Chief >”:
Chris’ wohnson ' : Noel Weight
Photography. Manage: - Classitied Manager
Terry. Peters on : Val Stephenson

North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an independent suburban
newspaper and qualitied under Schedule it, Part It, Paragraph Ill of the
Excise Tax Act. is published each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by
«. North Shore Free Press Ltd, and distributed to every door on the North
4, Shore. Sevond Class’ Mall Registration Number 3885. Entire contents ©
© 1985 Nerth Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved.
‘ Subscriptions, North and West Vancouver, $25. per year. Mailing rates
available on request. .

“No responsibility accepted for unsolicited material including
manuscripts and pictures which should be accompanied by a slamped,
addressed envelope.

_ Member of the B.C. Press Council
ps 56,245 (average, Wednesday

Friday & Sunday)

THIS PAPER IS RECYCLABLE

Conceived in ‘the glow of artistic “eelebra:_,
‘tion, the sculpture: will be built in the Brey of :

Dear Editor: :
I was confused - by two
Pieces in the “Aug. *23 issue of

Our paper: in: an- article ‘by.
_ Ross Meek, ‘Mayor: ‘Hum-

phreys makes ‘a ‘plea’ to dog
owners to’ care more. for

nei  Overero wded classroom
is bane of education —

Meek writes:, ‘about the
poisoning. of. Shaughn
Strench’s dog. Surely the
two stories should | have been
part of the same piece.

I have .written’.to . your
Paper before -complaining
about this. — now, |:am mak-

ing an appeal ‘on behalf of -

the dogs.’ My..wife called me

“at the office: last- week in a

panic. It: seems’. that: a large’
dog was running at our front ,
door ramming it: . with’ its’
head. The animal was‘crying ‘
out in pain so loud’ that. I.
could. hear it in the:

background over the phone!
1. advised. her. to keep the

door shut and call the police: ’

When they arrived the dog
was ferociously clawing at

our neighbor's front door. It”
took the police officer,

almost. half an hour to con-
tain the suffering animal. -

Perhaps the dog had.been ~

hit by a car, poisoned or at-
tacked; in any case, it is ir-

relevant. The problem is that | -

the dog was at-large on its
own..:]; sincerely; hope the,

dog survived. If.so, I hope
the ae had the presence.

Dear. Editor:
Ina letter published i in the

_ August 2, 1985:issue of your

newspaper, R. Kelley claim-

ed that reduction in the pupil

teacher. ratio. has NOT

‘helped improve education in
‘the: past, but failed to in-

dicate that this conclusion
was other than convenient
speculation: Regardless, a
recent study of secondary
education in U.S. schools by
Ernest L. Boyer and the
Carnegie Foundation for the
Advancement’. of | Teaching
showed. that. the greatest
single discouragement to
better instruction is’ the
overcrowded classroom:
Faced with an ‘overcrowd-

whether or not: ‘the’ animal
was on the loose by accident

or let out intentionally be-

ed classroom, the ‘teacher
has little choice but to adopt
instructional ‘methods which
rely heavily on workbook
exercises, short-answer
drills, rote memorization
and ‘a;'subsequent emphasis
upon’ objective testing,
rather than teaching tech-

niqués which involve’ per- .

sonal coaching, individualiz-
ed learning, the development
of critical, questioning - at-

titudes and creative problem -

solving skills.

_ Of course, if one believes
that education consists of a
simple process through

which teachers disseminate -

information to students who
dutifully assimilate ‘it and

- fore allowing the owners 10

: ‘then reguirgitate

have it back.

Rex Bromfield
West Vancouver

ton. ‘de.
mand during “an examina-

‘tion, . then ‘class. size . may.

have little or no significance,
for. it is as edsy to lecture 400
as it is to lecture 40.-But, as

Harold’ Taylor,” who’ was
president of Sarah Lawrence
College for fourteen years
points out, “Teaching peo-

ple to think is not merely ay

matter of training their |in-,
tellects through the study of.
organized . bodies . af | facts.’
This may well teach them:
not to think but to memorize.
and accept what . they are’

. given.’

Ted Kingan
North Vancouver

an

Some people refuse
to protect themselves

Dear Editor:

Re.: ALRT Accident,
August 6, 1985

As the original Director of
Community Relations for
the Rapid Transit Project, I
wish to express my deep

concern and sympathy both ~

for the family of the young
man killed last month on the
elevated ALRT guideway in
New Westminster, and for
the management and staff of

the ALRT project.

During my early tenure on
the project (1981-82), one of
my worst and continuing

fears was that precisely this

kind of accident would hap-
pen. This is not to imply that
the ALRT operating system
or construction program are
in any way dangerous, but
rather that even the most
elaborate design and security
techniques would one day be

overcome by inquiring
(reckless?) young people
somewhere along the line.
Having known and work-
ed closely with the engineers
and planners of the ALRT
system, both at that time
and since, | can attest to the
fact that they are skilful and
dedicated people who attack
problems with every resource
at their command, and none
more diligently than that of

safety and security for’ the
system. .
Unfortunately, it would
seem that virtually any sen-
sible approach to a problem
can easily be frustrated by

those who refuse to be pro- .

tected from themselves.
David Gibson

President

Granville Transportation
Consultants Ltd.
Vancouver