6 — Sunday, May 3, 1999 — North Shore News north shore news VIEWPOINT Taxing twins think of them separately. School District 44 looks after education in North Vancouver schools; North Vancouver District council looks after pretty much everything else at its local level — roads, zoning, garbage and parks etc. The mandate may be different but there is one important thread that con- nects the two bodies. It’s pretty loose right now, perhaps it should be tighter. Both bodies set policy for the administration of multi-million-dollar budgets, so colour that thread green. And because both budgets are paid for by the taxpayer, that thread ends in the same place: your wallet. Beginning to sec a connection? So has district council. But only this week, 2 years into its term, did it call for a joint meeting. Didn’t anyone think of this before? You Saicl it » “Think of them as large Christmas cakes sitting in the rain,” . Carpenters union representative Bill Duncan, describing clusters of condos failing from poor construction. (Front a May 2 News story.) moa ' Out of something bad, something good happens. Always.” Carson Graham principal Larry Brown, on how his stu- dents took up the challenge to find solutions to in-school vio- lence after a brawl broke out at the school last Seprember. (From a May 2 News story.) og Q “A fed bear is a dead bear.” ~ Conservation officer Fred Barnes, reminding people that if they feed bears, the animals usually have to be killed because they lose their fear of humans. (From a May 7 News story.) o00 “If your parents are racist they are going, io raise their kids racist.” Sutherland secondary school student Amanda Horne, during a class ‘on youth violence. (From a May 7 News ‘story.) 00 “Solving problems with violence usually brings on more violence.” : North Vancouver RCMP Const. Tom Seaman, on vio- lence. (From the same May 7 News story.) GO “(Experts) don’t define the heart of Wesi Vancouver residents, and many hearts feel that no building; should eccupy that site. We're not developers, we’re artists and arts enthusiasts. We, of all people, are sensitive to the con- dition of the heart.” West Vancouver Arts Centre Trust chairman Maggie fspy -¢. after her group dropped plans to build an arts centre at th. .utrance to Ambleside Park. (From a May 7 News morn) aoa “Denial. is ut a river in Egypt.” "AA member Doreen, delivering, an AA bromide on how alcoholics need to admit they have a problem before they can recover. (From a May 9 News story.) 2 _ North Shore Mews, founded in 1969 as an tr - as nese under Schedule 111, Paragraph 111 of the FREMPECMEBSESR IG castes. spacinican tee . Friday and Sunday by North Shore Free Press Ltd, and distributed to every door on the North Sales Product Agreement No. 0087238. Mailing rates available on request. The joint use of school facilities by the community at large has been dis- cussed for 15 years. This year much political hay has been made at the dis- trict’s expense for failing to siga an agreement in principle on joint use with the school board and North Vancouver City council. Overlooked was the huge disparity in costs facing the district which would take on many more playing fields and a much bigger debt than the city. Three years ago, the school district found itself unable to continue paying union wages to adult school crossing guards. The worried parents immedi- ately went to council for help. School board and council are elected to serve the taxpayer. It should have dawned on them before now that their cooperation might save taxpayer time and mioney. MORE EVIDENCE OF REMP FUNGING SHORTFAUS jon’t yawn until your side wins THE big danger now facing NATO is that its public may soon become bored with the whole Balkan mess — and you know what happens to causes that start to bore folks. In a media-driven world support for them evaporates like water droplets in the hot sun. Let’s see, who was that Ken Starr guy — and whar was it that Lewinsky woman was supposed to have dene? Similarly with the almost identical day-after-day reports of the previous night’s “over 600 attacks on Yugoslav military, industrial and commu- nications targets,” plus the heartrending, but equally familiar daily pictures of refugee camp misery. This is media fodder that can be toler- ated only for so long, before the yawns begin and the appetite craves new and exciting fare. Or, much worse, begins to ask what, after all, we are doing there with no end in sight, the ethnic cleansing of Kosovo almost completed in defiance of NATO and the multi-millions-per-day bill sky- rocketing. Is it time to cut losses, write it off to experience and find a more interesting show? . The problem, of course, is that NATO, led by the US. and its draft- dodging president, sct out to wage the world’s first “politically correct” war — that term being the mother of all oxy- morons. Thus, detailed NATO strategy was dis- cussed nightly on CNN. The phased nature of the air campaign was announced in advance. Initial targets were lim- ited. Low-altitude fly- ing, below about * 15,000 feet was barred. Above all, the use of ground forces was pub- licly ruled out as long as there was the slight- est chance of allied (and in particular American) soldiers returning home in body-bags. In short, the key principles of warfare — constant surprise, placing no limit on one’s options and confusing the cnemy about one’s intentions — were complete- ly ignored. After nearly seven weeks Milosevic is still making the most of that fact, as well as virtually achieving his ruthiess ouster of Albanian Kosovars, hundreds of thou- sands of whom must eventually be returned there in safety. None of this is to deny that the ongo- ing NATO air strikes have achieved many local successes and are undoubtedly wear- ing Milosevic down. But the most urgent need right now in order to maintain public support in NATO couniries for the campaign is some dramatic new initiative promising a swift and complete acceptance of Allied terms by the Yugoslav dictator. The sole remaining alternative is the threat and, if necessary, the use of ground and yon forces. They should be built up immediately on Yugoslavia’s borders, which may be enough to do the trick — especially with Russia’s now more cooperative attitude. If not, they must go in to finish the job, body-bags or no body-bags. As it is, the only unthinkable outcome of the present situation would be for NATO to fail to defeat the Serb thug. The ghastly human crisis he has . unleashed leaves the free world no option but to destroy his regime. Anything less would be to surrender humanity to the forces of evil. ; And remember, even in 1999 a real war is still not a video game where nobody gets hurt except the cartoon - characters on the screen. Ifyou think it is just a video game, don’t start a real war. But if you do, don’t yawn until your side wins! ga00 SPECIAL THOUGHT for this special day from Robert Orben: One of the most dramatic developments in manufacturing during the lase decade is robotics. Robots put in endless hours, function in difficult environments, never seem ta run | down, cost very little to maintain, c- ” do it all without praise, personal attention. or stroking. ; . Actually, robots are nothing new. They used to be called mothers. 000 WRIGHT OR WRONG: A smile is the least expensive way to instantly improve your looks, . AWE RNS LETTERS 70 THE EDITOR Letters must include your name, full adevess & telephone number. VIA e-mail; trenshaw @ direct.ca 885-2131 (116) Michael Becker - News Editor . 985-2131 (114) Andraw MeCsedia - Sports/Community Editor 985-2131 (147) eter Speck, from 1129 Lonsdale Avenue Werth Vaaceccver, 8.c., V7M 2H4 Yon Et ta Jonsthon Bell Distribution Manager Creative Services Manag : 986-1337 (124) 985-2131 (127) 61,5E2 (aversge circulation, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday} Peters Photography Manager 885-2131 {160} Stephoasea Classified Manager 896-0222 (262) Oe em A ae ee ee mm ee