ee leachers’ union blasts hiring of m= WV fundraiser ami Pilot project of Sentinel Secondary THE B.C. Teachers’ Federation (BCTF) has blasted a pilot project being run at West Vancouver’s Sentinel Sec- ondary School in which the school has hired a full-time fundraiser. But the West Vancouver District 45 School Board (WVSB), which approved the hiring of the fundraiser, has defended the move, saying it will benefit the school’s students. The pilot project’s cost is being borne by parents of the school’s students. Allan Holender was hired as Sentinel’s director of development and community relations on Aug. 1, 1991. His job is to find funding for the school. “My responsidility is to raise sigaificant funds for the school from various sources to meet the needs of the school in terms of equipment and technology,"’ said Holender. “Lots of schools are raising money quietly with parents and business. But, by and large, there are no other development programs like this in Canada. This is a pioneer initiative for Canada.”’ The one-year pilot project will be reviewed in August. Holender said that four people have thus far contributed a total _of $50,000, and the school hopes to raise $500,000 by August. He added that the program is “driven by the parents” and that there are 20 parents on the Sen- tinel district council. But BCTF president Ken Novakowski criticized the move to hire a full-time fundraiser, calling it ‘‘a serious threat to education.’’ “B.C.'s education system,’’ “he said, ‘‘is based on a commitment to equity — the belief that all children are entitled to the same level of education regardless of economic status. Sentinel is situ- By Surj Rattan News Reporter ated in Canada’s most affluent community. It plans to raise mil- fions of dollars, whereas other schools struggle to raise hun- dreds.”’ He called on Education Minister Anita Hagen to scrap the pro- gram. Holender had little response to Novakowski’s criticism of the Sentinel fundraising program. “! think Mr. Novakowski is an individual who is entitled to his own opinion. That’s all the com- ment I have on that,’’ said Holender. Chris Green, chairman of the Sentinel district council, said equipment at the 30-year-old West Vancouver school is out- dated, placing: its students at a disadvantage. “We feel our children should be ’ provided with the necessary tools to compete with schools that are six and seven years old. My view is the amount of time they get on computers is isadequate,”’ said Green. ‘‘Waiting 10 years for new equipment is inappropriate. Tech- nology is.changin too fast.’’ Doug Player, ‘VWVSB_ superin- tendent of school:, said there is a ‘major lack of funding for West Vancouver schools. “Do they (Sentinel) need money? Ya,”’ said Player. Wayne Rowley, West Van- couver Teachers’ Association president, said the union is divid- ed over the issue. woof = Rare spotted owl ™ Environment ministry identifies presence in four old-growth sites THE RARE and endangered spotted owl, which has raised heated controversy over the logging of oid-growth forest in the United States, has been identified in the Capilano, Seymour and Coquitlam watershed areas. According to environment ministry biologist Dave Dunbar, the ministry found two spotted owl sites in the watershed forests in 1985, the first year it tested for the rare birds. . , Dunbar said today four sites have shown the presence of spot- - ted owls. “We will probably be recom- mending that a more thorough survey be conducted, possibly with the GVRD (Greater Vancouver Regional District) helping in the funding,”’ said Dunbar. By Anna Marie D'Angelo News Reporter He said Washington state surveys of the rare bird involve spending six to seven nights in one area testing for spotted owl responses. Dunbar estimated that it would take three months to do a thorough job of surveying all the old-growth sites in the focal watersheds. An environment ministry report expected to be completed at the end of March will outline the PT Index , @ Frugal Gourmet @ Lifestyles MTV Listings 8 What’s Going On Weather Thursday and Friday, rain. Highs 9°C, Lows 2°C. Second Class Registration Number 3885 KVAERNER FJELLSTRAND, a surveyor with the Norwegian shipyard that built the Sealink ferry, inspects the damage to the ferry that resulted after it crashed head-on with a B.C. Ferry in Ac- tive Pass. The Sealink is currently docked at Allied Shipyards in North Vancouver. Sealink ferry docked in NV Too early to determine extent of damage THE PRESIDENT of the North Vancouver ship- yard where the Royal Vancouver Sealink pas- senger ferry is docked said this week that he does not know how long it will take to repair the ferry or what it will cost to patch up the damaged vessel. The Sealink, which began transporting passengers from downtown Vancouver to downtown Victoria last month, was involved in a head-on col- fi di areas where spotted owls have been recorded; it will also indicate what is required to maintain the species in the watersheds. In B.C., spotted owls tive in old-growth areas (trees more than 200 years old) of the thick, coastal rainforest. Dunbar said in B.C. the spotted owl is a red-listed species that is eligible to be on the threatened or endangered species list. Preserving the spotted owl’s habitat in local watersheds is a concern for environmentalist Ross Muirhead and is« group, Friends of the Watershed. Muirhead said our “back door’’ watersheds are the second most populated places for the rare bird in Canada after the Chilliwack Lake area. And Muirhead is critical of the GVRD for its logging practices which he says dominate the management of the watersheds. **They don’t see the forest; they just see the trees,’’ said Muirhead. “They claim logging is neces- sary to maintain water quality, but we feel that that is an un- sound rationale and the logging is done for employment purposes,” said Muirhead. He added that local watersheds still contain prime old-growth timber. But GVRD watershed manage- ment administrator Ed Hamaguchi said logging is a tool that is used to maintain water quality. **The forest is always in a mode of change, of growing and ,lision with the B.C, Ferry Corp.’s (BCFC) Qucen of Saanich on the morning of Feb. 6. The crash, which took place at the northern end of Active Pass, resulted in minimal dam- age to the BCFC ferry. The Sealink is now docked at Allied Shipyards in North Vancouver. Shipyard president Arthur McLaren said it is stil! too early to determine the ex- tent of damage and the cost of repairs. ‘‘They’ve got surveyors down here right now to deter- mine the extent of the damage. I have no idea how-long the job wilf take. They have to first determine the extent of the damage and then decide what they want done to it,’’ said McLaren. ‘*‘And then it has to © be priced.’’ A bus and truck on board the Queen of Saanich were damaged; the ferry’s bow doors were also damaged. No BCFC passengers were injured, but several Sealink passengers suffered minor injuries in the collision. The cause of the accident is under investigation. local watersheds IN B.C. spotted owls five in old-growth areas (trees more than 200 years old) of the thick, coastal rainforest. renewal, and logging is a tool we utilize to maintain water quality,’’ said Hamaguchi. He said 62% of Lower Mainland watersheds are in reserve and only approximately 38% of their total land base is considered ‘‘operable’’ without having a subsequent negative im- pact on water quality. Hamaguchi said the GVRD was very aware of the areas where spotted owls were recorded and incorporated that information in planning where to log. Those plans, he said, are teviewed yearly by the provincial environment ministry. “To say that they (spotted owls) are there and we shouldn’t cut down trees at all in the watershed is wrong,’ said Hamaguchi. Two logging companies current- ly cut trees in Lower Mainland watersheds: @ CNR Logging, whose contract expires in 1992; @ Hanslee Timber, whose con- tract expired in 1991, but was ex- tended to this year so the com- pany could complete a contracted cut. The GVRD’s water committee will decide in March whether to institute a logging moratorium in the three local watersheds. North Vancouver District Mayor Murray Dykeman, a GVRD water committee and GVRD board member, said the committee will hear an IWA- Canada submission before making a final decision. “*My position has been that we have a moratorium on logging and change the focus from forestry management to maintain and enhance water quality,’’ said Dykeman. In the U.S., the spotted owl was declared a threatened species in 1990 and more than two million hectares of old-growth forest in Washington, Oregon and northern California was designated critical habitat for the bird. A U.S. logging lobby is at- tempting to get the U.S. govern- ment to exempt some of that land from the authority of the tough Endangered Species Act.