Paul St. Pierre PAULITICS & PERSPECTIVES DURING PROHIBITION, when the United States was trying to rid itself of the glo- rious and ruinous Great Experiment, it was said that the voters of bone-dry, Baptist Kansas used to stag- ger to the polling booth to vote Dry. ’ Nothing changes much. Vancouver people were mumbling that they wouldn’t tolerate any Vegas-style gambling casino here at the same time they talked and thought of little else than the $19 . million 6/49 Icttery prize. Last week people were climb- ing up on on¢ another’s shoulders to make their bets. A single down- ’ town booth sold 11,000 tickets ina day to people who knew, or should _ have known, that the odds were 13 -Million-to-one against them. : Nor does it matter that the unlucky one-in 13 million who ‘eventually wins the $19 million ‘faces a major threat to health and © happiness. , Few people who make big sweepstake winnings escape sad consequences. Their marriages break up. They lose friends. Before long, they lose all the money too. It doesn’t matter. Gambling is here, here because we wanted it, ‘. For all this; we seem due fora spasm of fierce public debates about whether to permit Las Vegas-style operations al a pro- posed hotel and entertainment cen- tre on the waterfront. ’ The trouble with the debate is _ that much of it is hypocritical and a lot of the rest hopelessly outdat- ed. . It is outdated to think that Vancouver could take any leading position in gambling operations on this continent. Today, 49 of the 50 American states permit gambling _in some form. The American gambling indus- try spends more money on TV ads than any other single industry. And there, as here, gambling - attracts the people who can least _ afford it. A recent Study. indicated that _ people classified us poor spend six times as much on lotteries as do those who have enough to live on. Casinos are conting up like mushrooms after rain throughout the States, Canada and Mexico, sometimes on Indian reserves, like” the monstrously large one being prepared at Palm Springs, California, and sometimes by spe- cial permit as in Yukon Territory and elsewhere. Vancouver won't lead any parade, The risk is that it might be left out of the parade and be reduced to standing on the side- walk while the crowds of tourists follow the bands to Elsewhere, Well, iet's argue and get it over wilh, Will a Vancouver casino intro- duce the Mafia? How could it? The Mafia has been alive and well in Vancouver ever since we started the ill-fated crusade against heroin generations ago. Recently the old Mafia people got competition from Hong Kong Iriad gangs who engage in extor- lion, kidnapping and other tricks. Will full-scale casino hetting cul into the small-scale charity casinos we now permil? This might be the most cogent argument to be raised against the’ waterfront development, However, the casino woud serve only the Lower Mainland of B.C., leaving charitable gambling an open field in almost all the province. And against the loss of some charitable funds must be set the creation of thousands of construction jobs and hundreds of permanent jobs al the casino. Gambling is a labor-inten- sive industry. The argument is made that casi- nos will encourage a bad clement to visit here. Ho haw. Is any tourist with moncy to spend unde- sirable? _ Probably a few more citizens will be mugged by gamblers who are down on their luck, but whether there will be a significant increase is less than certain. Both Reno and Las Vegas have high crime rates, but they are far, far below the sin quotient of most big American cities. What B.C. should consider is that changing the gambling law to accommodate a Vegas-style casino is not a major move. We lost our innocence years ago when we elbowed out the ille- gal Irish Hospital Sweepstakes and replaced them with our govern- ment lottery, an organization that: ‘operates at the moral level of a | hammerhead shark. Unlike the Irish Sweeps, lottery tickets get sold to children (the iliegal Itish Sweeps would never have allowed it), and we use the demon television to urge the poor people to invest money they can- not afford on a game thai pays only a wretched 45%. The other 55%, less allowance for administration, was to have been spent on public health care, Just another government lie. Half the profits go straight to general revenue instead of to the sick. Debate the public profit of casi- nos by all means. Listen to the Las Vegas mayor who says that if casi- nos serve only local customers they aren't worth having. Consider that some say that when gambling’s available every- where, its popularity will fade. Just let’s not talk ethics and morality. We don’t have any in this province witere gambling is concerned. SEPARATE ADMISSION FEATURES ACE VENTURA ‘PET DETECTIVE IN THE fae OF THE AS Nightly 6:55pm Night! 8:30 , —— SINEMA | SEPARATE ADMISSION FEATURES MRS. DOUBTFIRE Nightly 7:05pm PHILADELPHIA Gest Actor Academy Award Nightly 9:15 'Gpm Friday, April 15, 1994 - North Shore News - 9 ENTERTAINMENT VALUE SEPARATE ADMISSION FEATURES THE PIANO * Nightly 7:00pm SIRENS Nightly 9:05pm + Restricted Learn to paint ... audition with ease ... decorate your walls ... play the guitar! Check our Spring Term schedule and come to Capilano College for workshops in art and design, music, creative writing, acting and photography. Antrodaction to Drawing 8 Thursdays, 6:30 to 9:30 pm May 5 to June 23 ~ ARTL20911 | $190 Watercolour: Level! 8 Mondays, 6:30 tw 9:30 pm April 18 to June 13 ARTL21011 ° $225 Oil Painting 8 Wednesdays, 7:00 to 10:00 pm April 27 to June 15 ARTL21511. ~ $225 Palating People: A Watercolour Workshop with Kiff Holland = Sat. & Sun,,9:00 am to 4:00 pm May 7 & 8 ; * ARTL22011- $190 (includes lunch) Graphic Design Portfolio Preparation 10 Tuesdays, 6:30 to 9:30 pm April 19 to June 2] » ARTL25011 $190 - Decorative Painted Finishes: Wall Glazing Sat. & Sun., 9:00 am to 4: 00 pm April 30 & May | ARTL26011 $160 "Introduction to Textiles: Surface Design 5 Thursdays, 6:30 to 9:30 pm May 5 to June 2 ARTL2941 1 ° $150 Hand Tinting Phatagraphs Saturday, 10: co am to 4: 00 pm May 14 ARTL28011 <= $60 Photography Workshop for ’ Beginners Tues. & Thurs., 6:30 to 9:30 pm » Sat., 9:30 am to 3:00 pm "June 16, 18 and 21 MDRL 21311... $150 * COML2)511 Take One, Action! Auditioning Skills for Actors 6 Saturdays, 10:00 a.m, to noon May 7 to June 38 THRL24011 $95 ° Summer Workshops in France! Painting & Drawing/French Language July 7 to 25/August | to 19° Call 984-4907 for a brochure | Capilano College Community Music Schoo! Courses start next week ~ call for details Vocal lnstruction =. If You Gan Speak, You Can Sing! Adult Group Plana dazz Piano Adult Group Guitar Classical & Spanish Gultar Magazine Writing Saturday, 9:00 am to 4: 00 pm April 30 $140 (includes: lunch) Selling Your Honfiction Book Saturday, 9:00 am to 4:00 pm May 7 COML2011 1! $140 (includes lunch) Advertising Copywriting 6 Tuesdays, 6:30 to 9:30 pm May 10 to June 14 COML24511 $155 Gne-Hour-A-Day Novel Saturday, 9:00 am to 4:00 pm May 14 COML20511 $140 (includes lunch) Life Writing: A Memolrs Workshop Saturday, 9:00 am to 4: ‘00 pm May 28 COML21211 $140 (includes funch) Languages, Computers, Business, Writing, Public Speaking, Home Landscaping & Decoration, Job Skills, Occupational First Aid, Collegé and University Preparation, Haute Couture Sewing — call now Jor a full program schedule. 2055 Purcell Way North Vancouver British Columbia Canada V7J 3H5 Capilano College Extension Programs - Registration - ° 984-4901 ° * Information — RG Beg Aa amp