OB ACTION this week by North Vancouver District 44 teachers pro- vides further evidence that teachers’ unions have lost touch with public reality. . Jt also underlines suspicions that they have put the welfare. and _ interests , of teachers above the welfare and interests of children and their education. “The unions’ traditional line is to hide the quest for higher wages and more job sect- rity behind the smokescreen of teachers’ unions as education saviors. They preach class size reductions; they are after more teacher jobs. . They preach” higher teacher benefit packages to. attract better persoznel; they a days. curriculum; are after more money. They preach more time for professional development; they are after fewer teaching They preach more teacher input into they are after control of ‘school administration. And they have been successful in realiz- ing much of what preaching for over the past decade, but the bottom line is that students coming out of our schools are less and less prepared to compete and work in the real world. . Ii’s long past time for teachers and their unions to get back to the three Rs: respon- sibility, reality, results. ‘. they have been | “LETTER OF THE DAY Give al Dear Editor: Not long ago, your. “newspaper ran. a front-page article about youth gangs and gang members i in | ‘North Vancouver. . We wondered at the time We would — appreciate seeing more front-page articles about those young people, the ones who are devoted to becoming. good musicians, good students, good athletes, good friends and whether gang members deserved ‘such publicity. We also wondered what public benefit would result from disclos- ing the activities of anti-social young people. , ’ Before and after the article ap- peared, many young people in this district. have gone about the business’ of being good citizens Stadium. neighbors. On April 24 and 25, the B.C. Coastal ‘‘A’’ cup soccer final for girls was held at Swangard Three North Shore teams reached those finals, the U-14, U-15, and» U-16 age groups. Not only that, but all three teams won their games and time to good youths contenders - for the. National championships. ‘Where was the North Shore News article ‘about. this ac- complishment? In a small paragraph which even the devoted fans of those girls had trouble. finding. We think that those girls, and all other young people who spend considerable’ amounts of their spare time pursuing excellence in their chosen fields, deserve at least as much attention. as gang members. Darlene and Rickard Saunders North Vancouver ; THANK YOU very much — and yes, we did have a great honeymoon afloat. But it’s nice, too, to be home again, continuing the honeymoon on a thousand or so fewer cal- ories per day, with lime to digest all the food for thought we brought Dack. The first item being the disap- pearance of the cruise liner’s orig- inal and exclusive customers — “the rich and famous."’ Forget them fast. At least 80% of our 1,588 paying shipmates were indistinguishable from the crowd at Silver Harbour or West Van Seniors’ Centre on any busy Saturday evening. The middle-aged 20% could just as casily have been your companions on the morning bus ride over the Lions Gate Bridge. From Canada, the U.S. and Europe we'd all flown (at no extra charge) to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to board the Crown Princess for her 6,500-mile maiden voyage to Vancouver. With many delights ahead. : Like a Sunday barbecue on a sun-drenched Bahamas beach. A | nine-hour stopover at St. Thomas, the shopper’s paradise in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Two fur- _ ther day-long shore visits to * Caracas, capital of Venezuela, and: the bustling Dutch island of Cu- racao. After that, the stately nine-hour transit of Panama Canal — an engineering feat often described as the Eighth Wonder of the World. Our 70,000-ton marine monster, incidentaily, broke two - secords that day. With only two feet to spare from either side of the locks, Super Love Boat also paid the highest dues of any vessel _ to date for the passage — a cool. US $141,345. Fortunately, genial Captain Antenio Di Palma had his Visa card handy. Emerging into the Pacific, two ‘days’ sailing brought us to Acapulco for eight hours askore. Then on to visit Cabo San Lucas, , followed by Los Angeles. And 60 _ hours later — mission ac- complished — we sailed trium- . phantly under the Lions Gate Bridge at 7 a.m. last Wednesday. The fat, glossy brochure issued ; by Princess and other cruise lines « tell you all about their shipboard - luxury, activities and entertain- ment — but largely ignore the two features that contribute most of all to the mass market the cruise industry enjoys today, One is the opportunity to visit, within a week or two, a tich assortment of interesting, far- away places for just about as long (seven to eight hours apiece) as HITHER, AND YON you really need in order to collect .. : memories, souvenirs and photos for future enjoyment. : All without unpacking, repack- ing or airport hassles. Off you go in the morning and return to/your - comfortable floating hotel in the evening. No more painless way to globetrot has ever been invented. The other plus is simple value- for-money. Admittedly, the | average basic fare ($250-$300 per -..” ’ person per day) can seem a little daunting at first. But compared °. with an air-flight-plus-rental-car holiday, staying in hotels or motels and eating out the whole ¢.: time; the cruise suddenly begins to look like a positive steal. After all, the price covers three - six-course gourmet meals daily, ‘afternoon tea and midnight -. snacks; every imaginable arnenity _and amusement, including nightly * Las Vegas-type shows; and in). most cases two free air flights the length or width of the’ continent: Captain Di Palma even invites you up on the bridge to’steer the monster. The one slight letdown.’ being that the monster. listening only to its computers —~ ignores .. completely whatever you'do with’. : ‘the wheel and stays stubbornty | on- course. Even on a Super Love Boat ., Money can’t buy QUITE . everything! WRIGHT OR WRONG: Passport : ‘photos were invented to warn us about the way others see us. and pursuing worthwhile goals. became coastal champions and Distribution 986-1337 Subscriptions 986-1337 Fax 985-3227 Administration 985-2131 p recycled fibre _ North Shore managed MEMBER vs, Ge ‘toi This newspaper A contains Display Advertising 980-0514 Real Estate Advertising 985-6982 Classitied Advertising 986-6222 Newsroom . 985-2131 Publisher . Managing Editor,. Associate Editor: Sales & Marketing Director .Linda Stewart Comptroller Doug Foot North Shore News, founded. in 1969 as an independent suburban newspaper and qualified under Schedule 111. Paragraph Il of the Excise Tax Act, is published each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by North Shore Free Press Lid. and distribuled to every doa: on the North Shore, ‘Canada Post Canadian Publications Mail Sales Product Agreement No. 0087238. Mailing rales ‘available an request, Submissions are weicome dut ‘we canpot accept responsibility for unsolicited material including manuscripts and pictures which should be accompanied by a stamped, addressed envelope. : .... Peter Speck _ . Timothy Renshaw Noel Wright SUNDAY + ‘1139 Lonsdale A Avenue, ‘North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2H4 ; Entire contents © 1993 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved. Photo subraltt “STEERING”. THE 70,006-ton ‘Crown Princess is “honeymooning bride Dorothy Wright, watched by her Hither And: Yor OOM : and somewhat more anxiously by the duty | seaman! es SOA DIVISION 61,582 (average circulation, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday)