“ABOUT 450 people attended West Vancouver secondary school’s Together Against Violence
‘forum on Tuesday. evening. The two-hour session included a drama presentation and a ques-

NEWS photo Brad 1d Ledwidge

<flon-and-answer session by the 841-KOZ youth drama group and a panel of eight speakers.

. YOUTH ‘VIOLENCE
‘makesup only a. small
“percentage of the crime on
North. Shore’. streets, . ex-
perts said -Wednesday at.a
public’ forum’ .on crime’
“prevention.

By Kate Zimmerman:

Contributing Writer

. We are “not the.” United
: Statés;” said Cpl.
. brender, coordinator of the
“. Vancouver. Police Gang and
Youth Services Unit.

Nor is teen’ violence a. new. :

: phenomenon, Hovbrender

maintained.

Co “*What's - happening i is ‘the vio-

lence is more sensational. Now
e’re seeing . more weapons —
that has to concern us.”

The turnout. to the forum,
‘which © was~ held-:in the West
“Vancouver... secoridary | school
“theatre; washeavy. ;

“About 150 people — “adults,

teenagers and children -- at--

_ tended’. the two-hour, session,
‘which included a drama_pres-
“entation. and a ‘question-and-
“answer ‘session by the 841-KOZ
. youth drama group. and a-parel
~ of eight.speakers.

The: panel: included : West
' Vancouver. secondary students
Alaina Burnett and Rob
Croston; Squamish Nation
peacekeeper Sam George; Wendy
Taylor of the Attorney General's
Criminal Gang Programs and
Youth Violence Prevention
‘department; Chris Fuoco of the

- local Youth Outreach Program;

Sentinel schoo! counsellor (and
department coordinator) Kathy
Grant;’ West Vancouver Police
‘High School Liaison Officer
Janis. MacLean; and Cpl. Hov-
“brender.:

‘The emphasis tonight is on
community responsibility,’’ said
Const. MacLean, who | invited
public suggestions for solutions

.CALL UB:

983- 2208

- Axel Hov-..”

happening. is the

violence is more

sensational. RF .

Cpl. Axe! Hovbrander

to the problem of youth vio-
lence.

Fuoco. and Grant
problem lies in the powerlessness
young people feel.

Grant, who sees both the vic-
tims and the perpetrators of vi-
olence in her office at Sentinel,
said ‘problem teens: tend. to be
**disconnected, disaffiliated and
detached.” “i

She said all

parents of

‘teenagers should examine. their,

own. family. ‘relationships . and
seek outside help if required.

Grant also advised students
that. ‘‘it’s all right to stand up
and be counted’’. when it comes
to violence and that they.do not
have to be victims.

Burnett and Croston blamed
the trouble on teen boredom and
the fact that they don’t have a
safe, alcohol-free place in. which
to socialize and meet new peo-
ple.

Various panelists and audience
members noted that options have
been closed off for young peo-
ple, who can no longer roller-
blade or skateboard or con-
gregate in certain areas.

They are also often unfairly
suspected of gang activity simply
because they are gathered
together in a public place and
are dressed in a similar fashion.

if the clatter two behaviors
proved gang affiliation, Hov-
brender said, ‘‘the Vancouver
police department is probably

said the.

the biggest gang on the streets of
Vancouver.’’
: Burnett,

months by groups of girls, two
of whom. tried .to. light her
clothes on fire, said, ‘‘Kids don’t
have anywhere to go right now,
“We live in one of the most

- wealthy districts in Canada and

we can’t shell out a bit of money
for a place where. kids can. hang

 out?’’ she asked.

Boredom was the main prob-
lem behind youth violence.in the
Squamish Nation, said George.

Several years ago there were
85 to 100 gang members on the
reserve, 20 to 25 of them
“*hard-core.’?

‘‘A meeting of youths revealed
there’ wasn’t enough activity to
keep them occupied,’ he said,

An effort was made to involve
the teens in their - community,

. George continued.
“Now it makes me happy. to.

see some of our.. youths, our
hard-cores, taking part in some
of our native activities,”’

The media were criticized by’

the panelists and the audience.
“Tf $% of youth is involved in

_ Violent activities, why does 80%
“of media coverage focus on these

activities?’' one man asked.

Taylor said people need to
contact the press with positive
stories about young people.

MacLean added that she
would like to see someone
sponsor a weekly Youth
Achievement feature in the
North Shore News.

“Why not turn (the coverage)
around?” she asked.

Fuoco and Hovbrender agreed
that young people’s needs are
varied and teenagers should not
all be lumped together simply
because they are the same age.

One mother in the audience
summed up the general feeling of
the forum,

‘Before we do anything as
adults, 1 think we should ask the
kids: What do they want?”’

who has been at-|
tacked twice in the past. six’

Sunday, November 28, 1993 - North Shore News - 3

Sentinel audit to
be presented at

VSB

meeting

Complete report unveiled Monday

AUDITORS CAME on site to examine the statements of
Sentinel! secondary school and the controversial Sentinel
Development Fund on Nov. 15, two months after the.West
Vancouver Schoo! District 45 (WVSD) board called for. an

audit.

The completed audit report will
be presented at a WVSD board
mneeting tomorrow night.

The school board called for the
audit at a special meeting on Sept.
15,

Said District 45 secre-
tary-treasurer Len Archer, ‘‘We
have provided information on and
off since the board asked for the
audit, but they came on site on
Nov. 15.

“That is quite common. You
prepare your information for the
auditors, supply them interim in-
formation along the way and then
you decide on the date they ¢ come
on the site,’’ he said.

The independent audit was con-
ducted by Deloitte and Touche. A

team). managed by chartered ac--
‘countant Ian Petrie conducted the

audit, said Archer. -

Petrie is a parent of a Sentinel
: student. ;

Six sets of financial statements
for three separate funds over. a
period of two years are . being

* audited.

The funds include:
® the: Sentinel -
Fund; :
e the Sentinel Schotarship Fund; -
‘@ the Sentinel

.. Fund.

NV City staff eens a

Development :
: fundraising. projects

Administration |

By Anna Marie D'Angelo
News Reporter :

Money was transferred among.

the three funds, said Archer.

He estimates the audit will cost |

more than $20,000..-
Archer said the audit of the
administration fund ‘‘basically .:

looks at everything” that’ hap-_

pened at the school.

The Sentinel Development Fund
was launched in 1991 as an in-
novative fundraising project to
obtain money for. school uses
from private sources.

The fund used $88,000 worth of
foreign student tuition fees,

Pre-audit accounts indicate.the ©:
‘fund would ‘have a shortfall of»

$47,000 without those tuition fees: -

The ‘‘Seniinel fi jasco,’” as some
parents and concerned’ taxpayers: ,
have calied it, came:to light with a

H

Saturday ‘Night magazine’ article.”

published i in September. Sey

Since then, the ‘use of. ‘foreign
student. tuition . fees. for perks and
instead of
enhancing school programs: has’
been questioned. by concerned
parents and taxpayers. —

oroblems with conversion _
ban on existing. duplexes —

NORTH VANCOUVER
City staff are looking at
ending a ban on converting
existing duplexes: in the city -
to strata title so the. two.
halves can be sold separat-
ely

NORTH VANCOUVER
CITY. COUNCIL :

: by Stephen Wisenthal

City councillors said at their
Monday night meeting that. cur-
rent rules were unfair because de-
velopers of new duplexes can build
them with. strata title, while
owners of existing duplexes cannot
make the conversion.

But they also feared that the
500 to 1,000 rental units in city
duplexes would be sold off, and
the tenants evicted, if there were
no restrictions on switching to
strata title.

“Somehow there must be some
option for us, without creating

open season of sefling 500 or.”
1,000 rental units, to deal with the -

situation,”? said Coun. Barbara
Sharp. .

City planner Richard White
played down fears of a wholesale
rush to sell off the: rental units if
the four-year-old ban on allowing
Strata titles for existing duplexes
was lifted.

“There hasn’t been a large
number of people knocking at our

"THIS WEEK’S QUESTION: -
Do you feel safe in your community? —

NVC COUN. Barbara Sharp...

must be options to deal: with
situation.

door trying to convert duplexes.”
Council asked staff for a report
on the implications of a motion by

-Coun. Barbara Perrault to allow
conversion of duplexes to strata
‘title without restriction,

They also passed a motion
allowing a duplex at 228-230 West
18th Street to be converted to
strata title so. _—_ Elsie
Hildebrand, the owner of the
building, could sel! half of it.

Several councillors | suggested
other conversions of duplexes to
Strata title should be. limited to
cases in which the owner occupied
one of the units. :