6 ~ Friday, December 6, 1991 - North Shore News ITEM: -THE LONDON OBSERVER CALLS BRITISH COLUMBIA LOGGING “THE CANADIAN CHAINSAW MASSACRE’ TSK TSK TSK... GET A PHOTO OF THAT, KlouLp You HoBSoNn 2 NEWS VIEWPOINT Sewage fallout home to rocst. North Vancouver District residents will be facing a 30.5% increase in sewer uses-fee rates in 1992. Over 60% of that rate increase has been attributed to the costs c; swage treatment charged the district by ¢ke Greater Vancouver Regional District, whose ambitious five-year capital pian calis for a massive $2.3 billion in cap- ital expenditures in the Lower Mainland on. Approximately 62.5% of that total is earmarked for sewer, water and solid waste capital expenditures. The GVRD. is obviously committed to improving our inadequate sewage treat- ment facilities. A report released in 1989 outlined a T HE SEWAGE pigeons have come needed $1.5 billion investment in upgrading the area’s sewage system. Huge investments are also needed to clean up our drinking water and to deal with solid waste disposal in the Lower Mainland. The initial 36.5% hike in sewer fees for district residents is just the start: the cost to a single-family district residence for such services as sewer maintenance will jump by an estimated 466% from 1991 to 1997; water rates will jump by 148% over the same period; solid waste removal costs will jump 35%. The costs reflect the investment needed to clean up the mess we are currently mak- jag. The question remains whether we are willing to pay those costs. LETTER OF THE DAY Environmentalists should take action Dear Editor: ~ For the past year I have been commuting by public transit that is on average, a third occupied. The bus crosses Narrows bridge to the Vancouver side at a lethargic pace due to construction of the Cassiar Con- nector as well as overwhelming Publisher Managing Editor . Asscciate Editor Advertising Director . Comptroiter the Second. Peter Speck . . Timothy Renshaw Noel Wright . Linda Stewart Doug Foot traffic. Every day, cars with only one occupant jam the bridge. I would estimate that between 70- 80% of the cars have only the driver. I find it difficult to believe that car-pooling and other more effi- cient forms of travel are so hard to accomplish. Everyone talks Display AcVvertising 980-0511 Real Estate Advertising 985-6982 Classified Advertising 986-6222 Newsroom $85-2131 North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an . independent suburban ni # and qualified ewspape: under Schedule 111, Paragraph th of the Excise Tax Act, is published each Wed! inesday, Friday and Sunday, by North Shore Free Press Ltd. and Distribution Subscriptions Fax Administration about the environment but seem to do so little about it. To ail those people driving by themselves during rush hour: Scrape those Go Green and Save the Stein stickers off your bump- ers and take the bus. P. Hofmann North Vancouver 936-1337 986-1337 ” 985-3227 985-2131 eR SN North Shore managed TV sports desk now brings us the ‘Courtbow? fl IN AMERICA every facet of life today is one big Super- bowl. Play to win with no holds barred, because losers are expendable. Crush the other guy before he crushes you. And do it all live on satellite TV. . Hence the gavel-to-gavel TV coverage of the William Kennedy Smith date-rape case — now being piped, courtesy of CNN and the U.S. Court Network, into every global hamlet that can afford a satellite dish. Interestingly, the Court Network freely admits that many of its staff are former sports reporters. Meanwhile, the 500 media types and their hardware now crowding the Florida courthouse make the trial of Senator Edward Kennedy’s nephew the biggest media event since Desert Storm. The weeks-long jury selection playoffs were great entertainment in themselves. Now at last we're into the final, with prosecution and defence fighting tooth and nail to prove the unprovable — that the other's client is a liar — since the only possible witnesses of the alleged crime are the accus- ed and his alleged victim. Forty-four American states now allow TV cameras in the court- room. So how long before Canada follows suit? It we’ve any brains ~- NEVER. The big pro-TV argument, of course, is that the courts are public and the cameras record on- ly what any citizen can see and hear for himself. This ignores the- fact thai 99% of the public nei- ther attend in persen nor even watch the EXTENDED coverage on the tube. Their total picture of the court proceedings comes from a couple of 20-second clips — chosen for their dramatic ‘‘entertainment”’ value — in the evening newscast. So if a witness in hysterics is removed screaming, that’s what the day’s eight hours of complex evidence and cross-examination were al! about. And if the defen- dant lacks visual appeal, viewers may decide he or she is likely a no-goud anyhow, as often hap- pens on TY with worthy but un- photogenic politicians. True, newspapers also do a far-from-perfect reporting job, due to space limitations. But at least they avoid the powerful emotional distortions inseparable from ruthlessly edited 20-second live clips. As well, the mere presence of TV cameras can screw up evidence by intimidating witnesses, Grand- standing lawyers benefit from thousands of dollars worth of free commercials. And networks carry- ing extended coverage get prime time, real-life soap operas for a Noel Wright HITHER AND YON fraction the cost of the commer- cial product using actors and a screenplay. TV offers nothing to help the justice process and risks much that can hinder it. Rejecting courtroom cameras isn’t the first time we've proved wiser than our sensation-hungry Yankee cousins. Let’s keep Canadian courts free from ‘“‘Courtbowl"’ TV coverage. POSTSCRIPTS: Memories of a happy chapter in Indian history mingled with sadness last week when Mary Eviyn Gullison passed peacefully away, aged £5. Before retiring to West Van she and her husband, the late De. Ben Guilison, devoted their lives as. medical missionaries to the people of South India and-inspired the founding of Operation Eyesight Universal, which continues to restore sight to thousands of im- poverished Indian cataract suf- . ferers ... Auditions for Theatre West Van’s production of Alan Ayckbourn’s ‘‘Confusions” take place Saturday (4 p.m.) and Sun- day (2:30 p.m.) at 1564 Argyle. Needed is a cast of five, ages 20- - 40 — call 926-2228 for more info _ .. And many happy returns of tomorrow, Dec. 7, to West Van’s . Renate Griffiths. . WRIGHT OR WRONG: When a -- . two-year-old gets a drum for Christmas, the first thing it iearns is that it will never get another drum. . distributed to every door on the North Shore. Second Class Mail Registration Number 3885. Subscriptions North and West Vancouver, $25 per year. Mailing rates avaitable on request. sions are welcome but we cannot accep! fesponsibility for unsolicited material including manuscripts and pictures which should be accompanied by a stamped, addressed envelope. V7M 2H4 1139 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver, B.C. SDA DIMSION 61,582 (average circutation, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday) Entire contents © 1991 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved. ; MARY EVLYN GULLISON... devoted life, 1906-1991. a AS WILLIAM KENNEDY SMITH... ‘guilty’ as viewea?