jlovember 30, 1950 - North Shore News Pt \ Tenino | Are checkout DESIGN OF OiL a fgeeme te ee tle NEWS VIEWPOINT Take a bow, councillor EMBERS of local councils in- Mirtees in some vigorous backslapping Monday night to recognize the work of fellow aldermen and mayors during their last tours of political duty. And while members of the public might recoil at the thought, they should add their own applause to the tribute. Why?: Because municipal politics ain't all that glamorous, folks. Sure, some use it as a stepping stone tc higher political offices, but just as many get involved in municipal poliiics because they want to make their communities bet- ter places in which to live. Serving on local councils means working nights, attending social functions, giving speeches to local organizations, smiling for the cameras, shaking hands and ploughing through enough reports and studies to drive even the most dedicated into states of hypnotic distraction. The rewards are few: annual salaries for aldermen on the North Shore range from around $12,500 up to $18,000; annual salaries for North Shore mayors range from around $42,000 up to $54,000. And they might, if they are lucky and dedicated, gain the satisfaction of having improved their communities while they were in office. But municipal politicians must also face continual public abuse and private ridicule. They risk the wrath of special-interest groups and the cold shoulder of neighborly disapproval. The least they deserve is some applause for having helped make democracy work. LETTER OF THE DAY Grandfather’s death ‘senseless’ Dear Editor: Monday, Nov. 5 was a gorgeous autumn day in West Vancouver. The sun shone and the ocean sparkled as my 92-year-old grand- father, Hugh McPhalen, walked home for tea. The time was 3:20 p.m. Being a very cautious man he entered the crosswalk on Bellevue Avenue only after having checked left and right several times. Seconds later he was struck by a car. He passed away several hours Publisher Associate Editor ... Peter Speck Managing Editor Timethy Renshaw .Noel Wright Advertising Director . Linda Stewart North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an independent suburban newspaper and qualified under Schedule 111, Paragraph ilt of the Excise Tax Act, ts published each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by North Shore Free later. Many of you may have heard of this tragedy -- ‘‘Elderly pedestri- an struck by a car on Bellevue dies.’ Probably not using the crosswalk, wanders into the street, 92 years old, probably should not have been out on his own ... these are all wrong assumptions. Hugh McPhalen was a truly remarkable man. He was in ex- cellent health, lived on his own, was well-travelled and well-read. He was a dignified, loving gen- tleman. THE VOICE OF ORTH AND WELT VANCOUVER SUNDAY - WEONESDAY + FHIDAY 1139 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver, B.C. The shock and horror this acci- dent caused to his four children, 13 grandchildren and 16 great- grandchildren is indescribable. To have our beloved father and grandfather's life ended in such a violent, senseless way is something we will never get over. Tam writing this letter to ask all of you to please take more care in your driving. Life is so fragie. Margaret Hunter Green West Vancouver Display Advertising Classified Advertising Newsroom Distribution Subscriptions Fax MEMBER stand drugs a better way? WOULD OVER-THE-COUNTER ‘‘fixes”’ solve the drug problem? Recently we invited your comments on the in- creasing calls by reputable citizens for legalized dope. Readers’ responses made one thing clear. Like abortion, the le- galized drug debate is straight black-and-white with no grey middle ground. All the ‘‘pros’’ stressed, of course, the key arguments for legalization. Present enforcement is NOT reducing the problem. It costs taxpayers the carth and diverts police from more urgent crime prevention. It’s going nowhere. At the same time it ensures for- tunes for the many drug king-pins who go uncaught, while exorbitant drug prices for users lead, in turn, to further ‘“hard’* crime — from theft to murder. The ‘‘cons’’ maintain that ex- pediency is no answer to evil, that a bunch of wrongs don’t make a right. One North Van nurse, who basically speaks for them all, asks: “Why encourage young people to damage themselves ... Have we Jost our sense of proportion total- ly?” That may be more than just a moral judgment. In a somewhat parallel field a recent survey | read had found sexual activity among high school teens exposed to comprehensive sex education was double that of those who weren't. Another opponent suggested parents should help their children to have natural ‘spirituality’ ex- periences by teaching them early to enjoy both the objective and subjective sides of their being — thereby removing any later need for drug-induced ‘‘spirituality.’’ Thoughts from the ‘‘pro”’ side included beefed-up education (CounterAttack and the an- ti-tobacco crusade show it WORKS). Licences -- like a driver’s licence —- for legalized drug buyers, obtained by attend- ing a nauseating course on drug hazards. And an interesting claim that junkies usually start as sugar addicts (cut back on the kids’ candy, Mom!). Contrary to my normal credo, 1 feel this may be the one case where the end justifies the means, because our present ‘‘war on drugs’’ is worse than a mere failure. lt boosts violent crime, while protecting drug lords’ prof- its. Having abolished the gallows, we can’t use Indonesia’s highly effective solution to trafficking. But we COULD bankrupt the drug mafia by selling 50-cent Noei Wright HITHER AND YON fixes, quality-controlled, to licens- ed buyers. And vigorous educa- “tion — already succeeding with drinking drivers and smokers — DOES offer hope of long term progress. Would the risks be any greater than we face by following today’s costly, tragedy-strewn road to nowhere? eee WHITE-KNUCKLE WEEK has begun for disciples of 75-year-old Iben Browning, the respected climatologist who foretold within days the last San Francisco earth- quake — and now says there’s a 50-50 chance of a devastating shaker on Dec. 3, give or take a few days. It would apparently be somewhere along the latitude link- ing Tokyo and Memphis, Tenn. ~- which suffered just such a mega-quake back in 1810. It reportedly made the Mississippi River flow north and set church bells pealing 1,000 miles away in Boston. Next Monday’s latitude passes some 850 miles south of Vancouver -— keep fingers crossed until Dec. 8! eee WRAP-UP: Leave your car at Horseshoe Bay Sunday or Mon- day and hop the ferry to Bowen for the show in the Old General Store by three Canada-acclaimed Bowen artists — Ione Mcintyre, Patricia Reid-Grohne and Ghenia Frith ... Feeling kind? If you’d like to drive a senior once a moath or oftener, contact Senior Hub’s Jean Taylor (988-1129, Tuesday-Friday) ... And New Year's Eve ‘*First Night’? Arts Festival needs North Shore volun- teers — call 681-8182. Press Ltd. and distributed to every door on the Noth V7M 2H4 Shore Second Class Maz Regsstratian Number 3885 Subscriptions North and West vancouver, $25 per year 59,170 (average. Wednesday Friday & Sunday) Mailing tales avattable on request Submusstons are welcome bul we cannat accept responsibility tot unsolicited materat inciuding inanuscnpts and pictures which should be accompanied hy a stamped. addressed = envelope SDA DIVISION Photo sub ed A PICTURE of the Waterfront Park Sailors’ Memorial was pres- ented by North Vancouver City Mayor Jack Loucks (centre) te Vancouver Naval Vets Assn. officers (left to right) Ray Roberge, Russ Howcroft, Wally Peters, Art Roberts, Al Wedmark in recog- nition of the association's contribution to the project. North Shore owned and managed