LOR PTR rem on, “WIEN Bo ep ene “ts RAS oe an WEATHER: Sunday increasing cloud, mostly cloud & showers Monday. Students remember ae SHOPPING: 21 Vancouver Sight and Sound celebrates Sunday shopping “IT ONLY takes a few drinks to cause an acci- dent, and it only takes one accident to take a life. Think about it, is it really worth it?’’ | By BARRETT FISHER | These words were delivered to a silent audience of abowt 200 grade 12 stu- dents at Windsor Secondary School Wednesday by Counter Attack repre- sentative Reema Sharma. The assembly was called to promote alcohol awareness and to remember the two Windsor students who were killed last year by a believed drunk driver. A minute of silence was held in memory of Doug Campbell and Bob Watt, two grade 12 students who didn’t make it to their grad- uation. . ~ “We need to raise the awareness of grads,"’ said Irfan Khanbhai, Windsor’s student representative for Counter Attack. ‘‘We must keep tragedy from happen- ing again. We as students can change the. attitudes towards drinking and driv- ing, we can promote awarenoss.”’ The Counter Attack pro- gram that began at the North Vancouver highschool three years ago had two stu- dents as members, and today that number has grown to 17, showing a marked in- crease in interest and sup- port. “We are the potential vic- tims,’’ Khanbhai said. ‘‘We hold the key to our future. Stay alive in '85.” British Columbia statistics for 1983 show that of the 22,91! motor vehicle acci- dents causing injury or death, 18 per cent of those were alcohol related; says Bill Mercer from the at- torney gencral’s office. Alcohol! therefore con- tributed to more than 4,100 deaths in the province, in °83: Speaking on behalf of Counter Attack at Windsor, 27-year-old Bruce Gilmour. who was severely injured and blinded in a motor vehi- cle accident involving alcohol seven years ayo, gave some straight advice to students for them to not inake the same mistakes he did. “Pm here today because of the concerns I have about perception, experience and knowledge,”’ Gilmour said. ‘*When f was [8-years-old, | didn’t understand how alechol affected my body.”’ A week before his 20th birthday, Gilmour was drinking and driving. ‘‘1 fell asleep driving drunk and hit a telephone pole.” Gilmour sustained several injuries. including a skull fracture, broken jaw, broken nose, shattered eyes, rup- tured pituitary and ruptured spinal membrane. He was flown from his home in Merit to Kamloops and then to Vancouver, where he was put back together at Van- BROKEN: 30 Both a leg and Scott Woolley’s ski dreams were broken by a fall. couver General.’ “ve evolved to an in- dependent person,’’ Gilmour said with reflection. ‘But I’ve had to change my life according to.my limitations. My loss of sight has had a signifigant impact on my life and my family. ‘*Think of your graduating class as ., jigsaw puzzle. Every person in the room represents a piece. For every person that doesn't make it to graduation, the puzzle won't be complete. You are responsible for the decisions you make. You can drive home drunk, and say, ‘Hey, | pulled it off,’ but Say Ce Mu ty Gey oxo BINGO!: 47 There’s lots of fun fo be had playing local bingo. you'll feel a lot better if you don't drive at all. Pull together, graduate together and lead happy, healthy lives.”” Const. Dennis Gagnon of North Vancouver RCMP gave the students an alter- native to driving on their graduation night. The Business..........27 Classified......... 53 Entertainment ..... 28 Sports............26 TV Listings........38 What’s Going On... .29 3 - Sunday, March 10, 1985 - North Shore News oung victims RCMP are holding an an- nual fashion show, with funds going towards Sun- shine and Cadillac cabs to escort highschool students from ali over the North Shore. “It only takes one person to die that night to ruin your graduation,’’ Gagnon said. . i NEWS photo Terry Poters SPEAKING to a group of about 200 grade 12 students at Windsor Secondary School Wednesday, Counter Attack repre- sentative Reema Sharma told the youths about the hazasds of drinking and driving. A minute of silence was held to remember the two Windsor students who were killed last year by a believed drunk driver. Method of daycare review questioned MIXED REACTIONS from North Shore daycare workers met Human Resources Minister Grace McCarthy’s announcement that all child care workers in B.C. will reviews, ARR While the idea of a background check is accept- able to most, including hav- iny police look into any criminal record which would be relevant to child care work, concerns were aired as to the method of the review. And still others feel the ac- tion is only a public ap- peasement to cloak the in- be facing background adequacies of human resources checks in the past. “T think it is ineffectual,’ says Kerry Fleming, a daycart worker and assistant in training at Maplewood Chila Care Society in North Vancouver, ‘‘These same _ problems have been around for awhile, but the ministry starts to discharge their con- cerns only when it becomes a media event. I think the ministry has handled itself ao very irresponsibly. Fleming, who ran an out-of-school daycare of his own through Maplewood Community School, and is now training in early childhood, says, ‘‘It’s like taking cough syrup when you smoke three packs of cigarettes a day. A person could still easily be an inad- equate worker even if he didn’t have a record.”’ Daycare director Sylvia Irwin of West Vancouver Daycare Society, says she thinks background checks are good, but in the same breath she says it hurts. “With government cut- backs we haven't had health inspectors or licensing peo- ple come into the daycare to do spot checks,’’ Irwin says. “Tf they had continued to do that they may have weeded out the bad ones and may not have had the problems. they’re having now. | don’t mind for me, but it annoys me that they're going to spend money and check into people who are already working and have been do- ing a good job for years.” Director Sigrid Gutsche of Lite Rascals Daycare in North Vancouver says she is in favor of background checks, but feels the way it is handled is very important. “} have nothiag against guidelines and checking into people’s backgrounds,”’ Gutsche says, ‘‘but it has to be done properly — as long as the checks aren’t done in a threatening way. Peopic involved in the field are in- volved because they enjoy it —— the financial benefits are not there. If check-ups become threatening, it will prevent people from going into the field at all. | think the inquiry into the Peter Pan Daycare was done very poorly.” Gutsche adds that ‘tunfor- tunately, there are a few people out there who spoil it for everyone.”” McCarthy. says she has directed deputy minister Jokn Noble'to check into the backgrounds of individuals caring for children or youngsters under her ministry’s jurisdiction. That would include daycare workers, foster parents and those in charge of group homes. After five operations have been investigated in as many weeks, McCarthy says the checks are aimed at easing public concern.