G - Friday, April 10, 1987 - North Shore News i} Peter Speck Noel Wright Publisher: Editor-in-Chief Display Advertising 980-0511 Classified Advertising 986-6222 Newsroom 985-2131 : . Distribution 988-1337 Managing Editor Barrett Fisher Subscriptions 986-1337 Advertising Director Linda Stewart North Shore News, founded in [609 a5 an indepunoent suburban neaspaner ang quabted under Setar alee tH Patagragiy WM ot thay Lecise Tar Act. 15 putlated each Véednesday, Fietay ated Su puted 10 @vary dour an the horth Shot Second Class Mad Regrsteate per year Maing tates, aeailabie on ves uHst) Submissions ate ALointluding manuscrgts Mews Viewpoint. Patronize arts ° HEN SOMETHING is right in front of us, it is often overlooked and under used. The North Shore is home to a host of first-class arts and cultural facilities that do not see the public turn-out they rightly deserve from local residents. ' Amateur and professional theatre, dance and music companies abound, but while the national and interna- tional artistic community recognizes their worth, the local folks are blissfully unaware of the quality that can be seen on their own doorsteps. A vibrant, exciting arts scene benefits the area, br- inging recognition to the players and performers who work hard to put the community on the artistic map. Arts and culture benefit us al!, but cannot exist without the support of patrons. Lacking support, local groups will be unable to get out of the artistic dungeons from which they must at- tempt to produce, host and organize their shows. Lacking proper facilities, many groups are forced to show their artistic wares in any number of inadequate, cramped locales unbefitting such quality work. While municipal councils do contribute to many of the arts and entertainment organizations, the bottom line is, as always, a strong base of public support. _A popular saying in the theatre community urges players to ‘‘do it for the fat lady in the third row’’; maybe the play will change her life for the better. In the same vein, the public should be urged to do it for the unemployed actor in the third row; such sup- port will definitely change his life for the better and in turn enrich the community. SUNDAY + WEDNESDAY - FRIDAY 1139 Lonsdale Ave. North Vancouver, BC. v7 2H4 mite for unsoheded mat ed enveinger Entire contents © 1987 North Shore Free Press Lid. All rights reserved. 58,287 (average, Wednesday Friday & Sunday) SOA Division WHILE YOURE. IN THE MOOD... GET THE. SCENT OF THS.... Noel Wright ® friday folktales @ SAPAN’S NO DUNCE when. it. comes to making calculators, but a group of young Japanese left their Carson, Graham hosts wondering last week whether . electronic number-crunchers are needed at all, During their exchange visit from . Carson's ‘‘sister’? school in Chiba, the 24 students demonstrated their skills in art, athletics and academ- ics — a special highlight being: their impressive performance of mathematical calculations on the traditional Japanese abacus. At top speed and sometimes hardly . ‘even touching the beads. - . What happens, says Carson principal Edward Collins, is that constant practice on the ‘cen- turies-old device eventually enables: the user to visualize moves of the beads without moving. them physi- cally. Which brings us back full circle to the best calculator ever invented: the one between our ears! + * HONORED the other week by the Ist West Van St. Stephen’s Scout Troop was seamstress extraor- LETTER OF THE DAY Collins’ warnings are going unheeded dinaire Alice Steberts, formerly of Alberta and now a West Van resi- dent. Sixty years ago (when, in- cidentally, the West Van troop was formed) Alice used to hand-make- the entire Scout uniform — knitted < knee socks, navy blue shorts, green shirts, neckerchiefs, the lot — in CHUCK COOK, M P... dinner! an early Dear Editor: Re: your edition of March 25. You have two very fine columnists on your paper. The one writes gently but firmly and eloquently on subjects which touch him deep- ly; the other writes fiercely, almost belligerently and eloquently on subjects which touch him deeply. In this issue, the one writes about self-government for native Indians, linking their freedom to ours. I tend to agree, but, please, what is meant by “‘self-govern- ment’'? Does it mean that Indian bands can do as they please on ‘SFU — her hometown of Athabasca, Alta. Today, everything except the neckerchiefs are mass-produced. But she’s still been sewing the West Van troop’s neckerchiefs, or ‘‘col- ors’’, representing their proud Scouting history and tradition over six decades. eee POSTSCRIPTS: Off and running in lots of time for the next federal election are Tory friends of Chuck Cook’ who've organized a $25-a- plate fundraising dinner April 23 for the North Van-Burnaby MP at the North Shore Winter Club — with Ontario MP Shirley Martin, vice-chairman of the Tory national caucus and chairman of the Com- mons task force on child care, as guest speaker. Meal tickets for the faithfui:.from Dudley Kill, 929- 7331 ....Local gridiron fans should be out, in. force tomorrow (April 11) at Highlands United Church on Edgemont to cheer one of their very, own when 24-year-old Glen Suitor — free safety with Saskat- chewan Roughriders, who learned his football at Carson Graham and weds North Van’s Elizabeth Valde ... And a proud lady on the waterfront is Colleen Welsh, manager of Lonsdale Quay Market — one year old this week {the Market, not Colleen!) and already winner of a Canadian award from the International Council of Shopping Centres. WRIGHT OR WRONG (thanks to Peter Speck): Kids don’t do what’s expected — they do what’s in- spected. their reservations, or as they please all across Canada? Can they fish, hunt, live in teepees anywhere they want? Can they collect their own taxes? If so, where do they get the money for this? Will there then be two governments in Canada, or thirteen, or two thousand, each tribe, or nation, or band having its own? Do all the Indian bands or tribes or nations get along with one another; do the Inuit trust the Metis? Will all be sweetness and light or will self-government only open up opportunities for even more inter-regional dis-harmony than we have now? Has anyone, Indian, Inuit, Metis or parliamen- photo by Paul Gillis ALL IN THE HEAD.. Japanese guests demonstrate abacus math for Carson Graham principal Edward Collins (far right ). photo by Gary Skett 60 YEARS OF SEWING...Alice Steberts receives appreciation scroll from (l-r) Ist West Van Scouts Ryan MacDougall, Neil Abhyankar and John Millard. tarian, really thought this thing through? If so, please write some more about it. We need to know. We need facts, figures, places, times, sense. The other continues to write (not so much in this issue) dire warn- ings about the iack of a sensible, consistent immigration policy in Canada. His warnings, like all such warnings over the decades, go unheeded and will continue so un- til we get our first Asian prime minister in Ottawa. That may not be so bad. After all, the Quebec variety we have had in recent years haven’t exactly been all that great, have they? You may smile at this, but look in your local office of Revenue Canada, of federal and provincial departments of health, of immigration, the post offices and tell me what you see there. Those are the places where control of Canada will be won in the future, not Ottawa. Ottawa has almost degenerated completely into second-rate show biz. Do think about these things and those who have real knowledge, not hot air but real facts, real fig- ures and real sense, please write about them. We so desperately need some truth. John B. Milne West Vancouver