6 — Wednesday, January 14, 1998 — North Shore News Bladder brouhaha over busmen’s blad- ders? These are trying times, eaders. At its Jan. 5 meeting, North Vancouver District councillors pon- dered the pressing issue of bus driver relief after staff reported that BC Transit had approached the district requesting a licence to occupy an unopened road allowance on Lynn Valley Road near the Dempsey Road intersection. Reason for the request: the need to buiid a small washroom facilicy for drivers navigating buses in that distant corner of the transit uni- verse. ‘The unusual proposal generat- ed many knitted brows and much commentary from councillors. Coun. Lisa Muri, for example, reported that she had once driven to Calgary and had to stop only twice en route. north shore news VIEWPOINT Muri’s message: surely the traffic hardened troops of BC Transit could show a little more self-control; build up some more bladder reserve for the good of local transit efficiency. Urinary minimalism aside, howev- er, the issue needs attention. A driver ia distant reaches of North Vancouver with a pressing need to relieve himself raises a safety issue for driver and passenger alike. As Coun. Trevor Carolan opined, “I'd rather be riding in a bus with a driver who feels comfortable and is not racing down the damned hill to take a leak.” If the construction of a simple washroom helps head off any sort of bus accident, be it inside or out, it will have been worth the investment. When you have to go, you can’t always Go Green. THE NDP PuT THEIR STAMP? ON GOVERNMENT... mailbox Our community hospital is ailing Dear Editor: I feel I must reply to Ian Nobie’s article “LGH nurse defections.” I nursed for many years as an RN (registered nurse) at LGH and have been retired a year. ‘Whilst I cannot comment on the situation on the emer- gency ward, I can speak on the nursing shortages and burn- out while I was working there. - Gradually over the last five years, there have been cuts in the nursing, staff. Dr. Richards is right when he says nurses are sent to ocher areas to work to cover staff shortages. This is very stressful for the nurse as they arc unfamiliar with the ward, the patients and, in many cases, the medica- tions. ; The patients are now more acutely ill, the hours of work are longer and there are fewer nurses. This leads to sickness and burnout. Yes, the nurses do phone in sick more often rather than work under those conditions. » The morale was very low when 1 was stil! working there ~and I can imagine that it is worse now. : It appears that unless there is a change of heart by the government and more awareness by the public, we will lose our community hospital. Ann Bodwell North Vancouver ‘MAILBOX POLICY LETTERS to the editor must be Icgible (preferably type- ' written) and include your name, full address and telephone number. : Submissions can be faxed to 985-2104 but still must be signed and fully addressed. north shore SHORT of things to worry about? Let me help. Since the early 1990s your pocketbook’s old enemy — inflation — has been largely beaten. So now brace for its even worse oppo- Site. Deflation. Hitherto this has been a musty textbook word mainly familiar to students studying for an economics degree. It means 2 prolonged peri- od of FALLING prices that can wreck the econ- omy. And its last appearance in North America (fasten seatbelts!) was whar caused the 1930s’ Great Depression. Now suddenly heavy thinkers every- where in the world of finance and eco- nomics are talking it up — including Alan Greenspan, chairman of the US Federal Reserve (the equivalent of our Bank of Canada but with 10 times more clout), who used the scary word 16 times in a recent speech. What's gone wrong? For post-war generations the top financial concern has always been infla- tion — prices constantly RISING. It peaked in 1981] ar a nasty 12.4% annually. Today we've wrestled it down to a comfy 1-2% range. So why all this gloom-and- doom about a replay of the Dirty Thirties? Blame those former “little Asian tigers” — Korea, Thailand, Indonesia et al. — now reduced to sad little pussycats meowing for multi-billion-dollar bailouts by the International Monetary Fund. With the collapse of their currencies by as much as 50% or more, their exports sud- denly have a whopping price advantage over the products of non- Asian countries, with all kinds of unpleasant side effects. First, investors in the former “little tigers” have been moving their funds to a safer haven in the US, thus strengthening its dollar still further and causing Canada’s loonie to drop below the 70-cent mark. Second, Asian imports have become so cheap that North American manufactur- ers can’t compete either at home or in the Asia Pacific export market, where. for- mer customers now lack the currency to buy North American products. So the only answer for the U.S, is to cut domes- tic prices — leading to “restructuring” and layoffs — or a currently unthinkable devaluation of the U.S. buck. ‘The deflationary price-cutting signs are already appearing. Gold — the classic hedge against inflation — is down in the USS270 an ounce range, a mere two- thirds of its one-time high. Oil prices have recently tumbled. Copper (at a four-year low), nickel and aluminum have sunk to bargain-basement levels. Tourism from Asia has slumped. Chrysler promises no price hikes this year or next. On car lots, some new model] _— Inflation better for your health prices are reportedly being slashed by up to $3,000 below last year’s. ann But lest you should clap your hands ai this last item, remember nothing in ec: homies ever comes for free. pend Prices were never lower than during.’ the miserable 1929-1939 decade because the real price of it all was a staggering” level of unemployment, with millions struggling to buy even mirimal food and shelrer — not “80%-off" car bargains. . :: Greenspan’s warning the other week that deflation can be just as economically’: damaging as inflation verges on an under: statement. errr Why can’t prices of everything, just’ remain unchanged, so that we'can’all live happily (and comfortably) ever afte answer, 1 guess, lies in the overall h psyche — still, after all these centuries, witch’s brew of fear, greed, hope'and folly. Cet Too many different ambitions simul neously tugging in too many differen directions. Throw in the huge gaps between the developed and the develop ing world, and on the whole it’s a won- der that the economy is as stable as it is Meanwhile, the message.from ~~~": Greenspan, the gloomy guru, and othe acclaimed economic soothsayers is simp Too much money chasing too few good beats too many goods chasing too little money every time. . In short, stick with a little inflation it’s far better for your health! O00 : WRIGHT OR WRONG: The ideal «| vacation is just long enough to be missed but nor long enough for them to discover. how well they get along without you. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters must include your name, fuit address & telephone number. VIA e-mail: trenshaw @ direct.ca North Shore News. tounded mn 1969 as an independent suburhan newspaper and qualtied * under Schedule 111, Paragraph 111 of the Excise Tax Act, is pubkshed nach Wednesday. 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