6 — Wednesday, January 30, 1991 - North Shore News yrarear cll anilidiyy THREE MORE ALLIED AMEN WERE SHOT DOWN OVER LAST hie SARE Say | ‘VIEWPOINT Healthy program characteristics of the three North Shore S THE emphasis in health care shifts from costly medical interven- ion to the more cost-efficient prevention, local health departments must assume more responsibility for promoting good community health habits. But are lecal health departments prepared to take on that task? For the North Shore, that question has been an- swered: North Shore Health has already risen to the challenge. Operating under the Bhilosophy that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, North Shore Health has quietly been building ties with community heaith and social agencies. The health promotions department has com- missioned 2a comprehensive survey that reveals the health practices of North Shore residents. North Shore Health has also produced a community profile that sket- ches the demographic, social and economic municipalities. Armed with these statistics, North Shore Health is now in a strong position to start rational and strategic planning for the efficient and effective delivery of its health care services. The need for that planning has become all the more critical as Bill C-65 looms on the horizon. The bill could reduce, or even cut, federal transfer payments to the pro- vinces, which will place an extra burden on jocal health agencies. Over the next few months, North Shore Health will present its survey findings to the North Shore at a series of town hall- style meetings. But while the meetings wili provide valuable information to area resi- dents, they will also provide aa invaluable opportunity for North Shore ealth to gather one vital missing ingredient in its long-term planning process: community feedback. LETTER OF THE DAY Collins is wrong ... we're sane Dear Editor: Doug Collins goes too far on occasion. With such overwhelming evidence to support the Supreme Court’s opinion that most of us are sane, he writes in a way clear- ly designed to cast doubt on the veracity of that august body of people who are sworn to observe the highest principles of honor. fairness, and justice. Not only is Doug Collins clearly biased, but he also fails to see the obvious — a writer he may be, but the simplest arithmetical cal- culations seem to confound him, It is common knowledge that health authorities have identified Publisher Associate Editor .. .Pater Speck Managing Editor Timothy Renshaw Noel Wright . . Advertising Director Linda Stewart Seal tel varying degrees of mental illness in 10 per cent of the population — let’s remember that not all mentally ill people are out and out lunatics, then do some simple cal- culations. As a source of reference, we find excellent material in the form of the newsletter recently sent out by the Hon. Chuck Cook, MP. Mr. Cook states that it is hard on his ego when only eight or nine people out of a hundred sinile back at him when he strolls down Lonsdale Avenue. Within a percentage point or two, we have immediate confir- mation of the 10 per cent mental illness rate quoted by health UME VINCE OF NOTH AND FIST WANCOUVER : a : SUNDAY + WEDNESGAY + FRIDAY North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an independent subufban newspaper and qualiied under Schedule 111, Paragraph ili of the Excise Tax Act. is published each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by North Shore Free Press Lid and distributed to every door on the North Shore Second Class Mai Registration Nurnber 3885 Subscrptions North and West Vancouver, $25 per year Mailing rates available on request. Submissions are welcome but we cannot accepl esponsibility tor 1139 Lonsdale Avenue. North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2H4 59,170 (average, Wednesday Friday & Sunday) unsoliciled matenat including manuscripts and pictures a which should be accompanied by a stamped, addressed envelope SDA DIVISION Display Advertising Classified Advertising Newsroom Distribution Subscriptions authorities. But fet’s go further — let’s assume that only 50 per cent of those friendly people are serious cases who either smile all the time or scowl in a way that makes them look as though they’re smil- ing. This would leave us with a definite figure of five per cent of the population being nutcases, always with the proviso that the figure could go as high as nine per cent or 10 per cent at times when the moon is full, etc. Fie on Doug — the Supreme Court is right. Peter du Plessis North Vancouver 980-0511 986-6222 985-2131 986-1337 986-1337 985-3227 MEMBER North Shore owned and managed Entire contents © 1991 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved. Did they watch Napoleon’s war a better way? FOURTEEN DAYS into Saddam Hussein’s war it’s timely to look at the factor that makes those 336 hours already seem an eternity — their relentless ‘‘coverage’’ by our state-of-the-art media. So far the net result for many war-watchers is confusion com- pounded by mental exhaustion. In short, exactly the opposite of what the ‘‘information age’’ is suppos- ed to be all about. Yet when it comes to a crunch like the Gulf war, modern com- munications — with all their hi- tech wizardry —- remain complete- ly subservient to the aims of those who ultimately feed the hardware. Just as George Orwell prophesiz- ed. In one respect, of course, the media are not to blame. They can only tell us what they know — which in total is remarkably little, since that’s all that both sides WANT us to know. Nor is military censorship wrong. In fact, it is essential for the safety of fighting personnel and the success of their opera- tions, as Second World War com- batant nations all realized. The U.S. experiment with much looser censorship in Vietnam had a high price in terms of public morale. George Bush isn’t about to repeat THAT error. Meanwhile, Saddam Hussein is proving even more expert at pro- paganda warfare than the Nazis’ Joseph Goebbels, and the facts- starved media naturally devour all the morsels they can grab. But what does our REAL knowledge add up to after 336 hours of non-stop media overkill? Two weeks of massive allied air bombardment, with as yet no confirmation of its actual effect on Saddam’s war machine. A huge elite Iraqi ground force in Kuwait, which the allies apparent- ly are shy of taking on for the moment. Fears that Israel will lose pa- tience and cause the Arab element of the allied coalition to collapse. Some terrorist reports from various parts of the world. The catastrophic Gulf oil spill, for which each side blames the other. And while polls claim 75-30 per cent support for the UN effo-t, huge and sometimes viclent a.3ti- war demonstrations clean across the North American continent. Let’s face it: as far as hard FACTS go, the whole could have been covered each day in a single regular newscast. Instead, the endless repetition of events already reported and three-second clips seen a dozen times before — eked out with bat- talions of military analysts who often seem to know little more than we do — have become a form of addictive and macabre daily ‘“‘entertainment.’’ Noel Wright HITHER AND YON The result: an awesome struggle just into its third week, watched by millions already too mentally jaded to form any firm ideas about its goals or outcome. News of the battle of Waterloo took two or three days to reach London, 200 miles away. But at least it made sense. One wishes the same were true of the valiant efforts by CNN, Dan Rather and Peter Mansbridge to serve us a meal, hour after hour, from their few instant crumbs. !f that’s the best our vaunted ‘information age’? can do, war-watchers may have been better off in 1815! TAILPIECES: How to beat the GST? Be a Squamish Band Indian and do all your shopping in Park Royal South stores. Because the mall is on reserve iand, purchases by reserve residents with IDs are tax-free. But once they cross to Park Royal North — NOT on reserve land —- Michael Wilson hits thera in the wallet along with all the rest of us! ... Need one- stop food buying for both mind and body? Try the Book-and-Bake Sale, 10 a.m. to noon this Satur- day, Feb. 2, at St. Catherine’s Chureh, 1058 Ridgewood Dr., North Van ... And if your fantasy is to bequeath a brainchild of your own to posterity, pick up ideas at the free North Shore Museum and Archives exhibit of “Gadgets and Misinventions’’ — open 1-4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday at 209 West 4th St., North Van. eee WRIGHT OR WRONG: Being on a tightrope is living. Everything else is waiting (thanks, Karl Wallenda!). ANCHORS Peter Mansbridge, CBC (left) and Dan Rather, CBS ... working hard with crumbs.