NEWS VIEWPOINT | figh- speed horrors HE. WEST: Vancouver Police say - they’re damned if they do and damned if they. don’t when they're faced with flecing crime suspects. © ~" “The-basic underlying premise at work is this: those who are up to no good do not wisi to be caught. ° Come time for the chase, the ramifi cations . for the broader community are heightened: when vehicles are involved. a - "While a simple foot chase may. clicit . momentary frissow on the pari of otherwise disinterested bystanders (is it Holly wood ‘North or is it the real thing?) when speed and hurtling, screeching machinery become part of. the scenario, the sphere of potential dan- ‘ger broadens Significantly. iH ~,.During the Gulf War the Americans ' referred to the fallout as collateral damage. The speedy, pursuit of car-theft suspects through West Vancouver’s main thorough- . fare earlier this week has been criticized. by some who witnessed the crunching conclu- sion of the chase in the busy Dundarave area on Tuesday afterngon. According to a police spokesman, the dri- ver of the stolen car was initially hitting speeds of up to 120 kilometres per hour {75 mph) along Marine Drive. When such reckless driving occurs, the culprits endanger the lives of themselves, the police and the public. The police must make split-second considerations ‘as the event unfolds. . A: no- pursuit policy would give criminals carte blanche in the community. The root.of. the problem must be addressed: there is currently ne Criminal Code provision te charge someone for initiat- ing a pursuit that endangers people’s lives. LETTER OF THE DAY Vancouver port casino project a done deal Dear Editor: . twas disappointed. to read in the Sunday News that you are fully in : Pa favor of the “casino project”, _ We will be stuck with the rather predictable unsavory side effects of opening up gambling and inviting the Las Vegas mob to come in and thought you will reject this latest attempt at Americanizing Canada. Your last paragraph states that there must be thorough review of Vancouver. Your rationale for this support . “seems to be based on the beneficial. _ effects on tourism and the profits to the owners. This sounds very reasonable but how about the other citizens of this fair city, 90% of whom will never enter the hallowed halls of Seaport Centre? help themselves. “Do you really think it’s possible to open mega-gambling palaces without attracting the criminal ele- ments who feed off gambling, pros- titution. money laundering etc? And who is going to pay for the extra law enforcement? I think you are guilty of fuzzy thinking and upon sober Second: the impact of this project and public input is imperative. I cannot believe any of that is necessary since everyone who doesn’t believe in the tooth fairy knows that this is a done deal and all the reviews in the world are not going to change a thing. R.L. Sheppard North Vancouver Publisher........... Managing Editor Associate Edito Sales & Marketing Cormptrotter...... North Shore News, Tounded in 1969 as an independent suburban newspaper and qualified - under Schedule 111, Paragraph 111 of the Excise Tax Act, is published each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by North Shore Frea Press Ltd, and 5 (distribute to avery door on the North Shore. ‘Canada Post Canadian Publications Mail Sales : Product Agraement No. 0087238, Mailing rates available on request. Submissions are welcome but wa cannot accopt rasponsibility for unsaticited material including manuscripts and pictures which should be accompanied by a stamped, addressed envelope. woePater Speck Newsroom V7M 2H4 Display Advertising Real Estate Advertising Classified Advertising Dron BUND WT SeenmO ears Perey 1139 Lonsdale Avenue North Vancouver 8.C. North Shore Managed 980-0511 Distribution 985-6982 Subscriptions 986-6222 Fax 985-2131 Administration 986-1337 986-1337 985-3227 985-2131 MEMBER Gu SN% Seow Semen et ae, SDA DIVISION 61,582 {average circulation, Wadnesday, Friday & Sunday) Entire contents © 1994 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved. ub CITIZENS! To the barricades! SAVE HILL- SIDE SCHOOL! Huh? What's going on here, you say? Is Lautens caught in a time warp? The Hillside school issue was fought — and fought, and fought — two years ago. Hillside fost. Caulfeild — a pro- posed school on the Caulfeild Plateau — won: The dispute stopped just short of i Sosnian- syle shooting war. Surely Lautens remembers? Yes. | have perfect recall. at order to afford a 750-student, $12,385 million (1992-dollars) sec- ondary school at Caulfeild, on the western side of our fair community, Hillside, on the eastern side, would have to be torn down and the land sold for a subdivision. End of issue. The construction at Caulfeild has bezun. The wrecker's ball awaits Hillside. Right? "Hold on. Jeremy Dalton, Liberal MLA for West Vancouver- : Capilano, has a different idea: Turn Hillside into a Career Technical Contre. Its a fairly new idea — frankfy stolen from Abbotsford school district -— based on the perceived reality of the 2ist century: educate youngsters for Jobs, not heavy thiakin’ about clas- sic Greek fiterature or the meaning 66 Some day future taxpayer. would bless us for keeping the land, 99 of life, Dalton, a down-to-earth soul who was a community-college administrator in his former life, recently was intrigued by a couple of New Economy education pro- jects. (The New Economy presum- ably requiring harder work ina more tooth-and-claw atmosphere than the old one.) The first is in Vanderhoof, where a federal government-funded accelerated apprentice program, gives students real-life experience working in auto repair shops, in bakeries, with B.C. Hydro, etc. “They can literally walk right into a job after high school if they wish, or go on to post-secondary education,” said Dalton. The second is in Abbotsford, where a junior high school that’s no longer needed — like Hillside — is being converted into the said Career Technical Centre, opening in September, It will be operated jointly by the schvol board and University College of Fraser Valley. lt will offer a three-year pro- gram for students in Grades 11 and 12 and first-year college. The courses run from A to O: aviation, agriculture, carpentry, computer information systems, dental assisting, drafting, electron- ics, and office careers. PRT AT INCRE RTE ‘GARDEN OF BIASES. “This will provide more rele- vance to the system,” said Dalton. “Students in Grades 14 and.12 are wondering ‘Where is this taking mer" , Alas, for many, to costly univer-~ sity years but no jobs, Dalton, noted - that 25 to 30% of the students at B.C. Instiune of Technology : already have university degrees ~~ and no marketable skills, The hot guru in educational cir-. cles these days is Willard R- : Daggeit, who, Dalton said, argues “that “we've almost got to tear down the walls of our public schools, cer- tainly at the secondary level, and allow business i in and allow the stu : ‘dents out. The nation that Hillside could: : pluy into this concept was so fresh, to Dalton that it hadn't quite felled when I interviewed him six days...” ago: “Well, | think it’s an idea. Jeannic Ferguson, chair of the | (West Van) board, is one who ce tainly would be interested in dis- cussion along those lines. rm “T think (president) Doug 4 Jardine of Capilano Colle ege woul id have some interest in it.” Couldn't Victoria find, say, $1 million in its schools capital cost) budget — currently:in the $600: million range — for this? The genial John Calder, acting ; West Vancouver school superinten- ~~ dent, told me this week that 5. Hillside’s fate is ultimately up to? .. “ the provincial government, Feelers © have gone out for a seniors’.home, a school for forcign students, and’ other alternatives to pulling it.” down. Nothing firm, though, I like the idea. It could serve the whole North Shore, And, while] could never get up enough enthusi- asm to reach for my musket in the Hillside-Caulfeild wars, I've always thought it was nutso for the board to tear down Hillside and sell the property if it had a reasonable financial alternative. Some day ~*~ < future taxpayers would bless us for keeping the land. TE know what you’ re thinking: : your children, and of course mine, are not going to some mere trades school by any name. They are going to university and will occupy _ the higher echelons of society. Mine are, anyway. Well, many of us will be — are being — disap- pointed. { have to face the prospect that my youngest son, aged five, .. may be happy to attain the status of * a Liquid Transfer, Storage and Blockage Dissipator. “Hello, son? It’s Dad, Would you mind coming over and unplug- ging the toilet?” :