A6 - Sunday, December 4, 1983 - North Shore News The raw nerve It’s doubtful whether mature union leaders in Operation Solidarity are privately as en- thusiastic about their sabre-rattling brother Larry Kuehn, president of the B.C. Teachers’ Federation, as they loudly profess. Mr. Kuehn has threatened another teachers’ walkout, backed by further widespread Solidarity job action. This, in response to Education Minister Jack Heinrich’s demand that schools closed in the original (and illegal) strike last month must make good the three lost instructional days to claim their share of the salary savings. However that is done, teachers will natural- ly be paid for the make-good hours in the classroom. If they choose to forfeit three ‘‘professional days’’ for the purpsoe — in- stead of adding three extra days to the school year — the school board can presumably use its share of the salary savings to modify plann- ed future layoffs. Obviously, the teachers can’t be paid for the three days they refused to work. But how Mr. Kuehn can describe the minister’s require- ment as ‘‘a reprisal’’ defies all logic. Meanwhile, nothing in the recent government-Solidarity showdown touched the public’s raw nerve as sharply as the school closures. The cooler heads in Solidarity are well aware that there are limits to the tolerance of a majority of the public, once the fight with Victoria starts to hurt the kids and working mothers. Despite bellicose rhetoric on the convention floor, the renewed prospect of calling a general strike to support a repeat performance by Mr. Kuehn — especially on such flimsy grounds — may well be something the best union brains would rather not think about. Not necessarily? Ottawa’s decision to suspend enforced metrication pending a court challenge which could take up to two years may have more to do with vote-catching for the 1984 election than with regard for the Charter of Rights. it’s also in the great Canadian — and Grit — tradition. Wasn’t it Canada’s most successful Liberal PM who coined the immortal phrase ‘‘Conscription if necessary, but not neces- sarily conscription’’? Teen VESOR CHF srBETYR AveD WEST VaercevER sunday | news north shore news 1139 Lonsdale Ave... North Vancouver, BC V7M 294 Display Advertising Classified Advertising Newsroom 980-0511 986-6222 985-2131 986. 1337 980-7081 Circulation Subscriptions Publisher Peter Spec Editor -in-Chiet Noot Wright Associate Publisher Hotel Gratan: Advertising Director Ti francs Personne! Director Berni bilan Classified Director Wscatvertle Jerrnvengs Citrcutetion Director taut Me Caco Production Director (Atte Johnson Oftice Manage: Photography Manage: Qdcnrverd Cae auty Terty Peters North Ghore News ‘once u Cveroveag pang rere med cyrus fier) cere der oon tactom Tas Act TO an ae tempore Carter igaraty Preme Ista BEE Poem eB ge age thot ree 1 prublahed act Wednenday and Saay try Nott ‘shore bree Mirena (bed aed fietcatnstescd bo erweey Ue coe thee Mae tt ota Secon (tans Matt Heyintato: Nurmibe 1805 Entire contents © 1063 North Shore Free Press Lid All rights reserved Daan ciple Mott ad Went vaceenree 85 pe yea Mane a, oat awattatiiec on caw est! Nu Creag mm penreat pedtty thee eg tetel FORY a eo ate a TN Tr agetr, art) gree Meter awh. 9 abet bre me oti mm ty aa atk ooned oovel aoe Member of the B C Press Council $4 TOO ave age Wedloenday Amida sx. G&G THIS PAPER IS RECYCLABLE BIG-BUCKS-A-PLATE fund raising dinners for political parties and other charities may be on the way out. Instead, you now look for a show with a big-name star, buy up all the first-night seats a couple of months in advance, flog them to your supporters for twice the price and turn over the profit to the good cause. Such was the brainwave of West Van MLA John Reynolds who cornered all the $20 tickets for last Mon- day’s opening of Ella Fitzger- ald at the Plaza and sold them, back in October, for $40 apiece to 400 of the local Socred faithful — netting a nice little $8,000 for the con- Stituency coffers. Undercutting him this Tuesday, Dec. 6, is North Van’s Presentation House, urgently in need of funds for its own survival. PH is selling the benefit tickets for the Ella show that night at a relatively modest $325, including a 6 p.m. reception with free food in the Jack Wasserman suite — and you don’t even have to be a Socred to buy your place in the fun. Call Ann Sutherland at 986-1351 early Monday to reserve. By last Thursday half her tickets had already gone. Meanwhile, this Sunday afternoon, John co-stars in his own big 1983 show, with admission free on a first- come basis. At 2 p.m. he marries West Van's Yvonne Sohnson in St. David's United Church at Taylor Way and Upper Levels. Turn to page B9 to see why he’s such ahappy man .__ . e » ° The frendly Indians of Old Crow, Inuvik, Tuktoy- sunday brunch. by Noel Wright uktuk and other isolated villages in Canada’s far north got the biggest publicity break in their history when West Van artist Danie} Izzard flew in last spring to capture them at work and at play on his impressionist canvas. Accompanying him was son ©. Va CENTENNIAL SMILE is shared by ed North Shore taxi services $00 per cent by smartening up the competition as well — can use a few letters of sup- port in his bid to be allowed to pick up North Shore customers over town for the return trip home. Write and tell Vancouver City Council En N Eggertson Elizabeth Bennett, who celebrated her 100th birthday November 24, with Nurse Joan Wright at Altamont Private Hospital. Daniel Paul, an assistant director with TDF Produc- tions in Toronto, toting several hundred pounds of camera equipment with which he filmed the same scenes for a documentary while Dad wielded his brushes. Daniel senior’s vibrant pictures of everyday Arctic life are on exhibition until Tuesday at the Harrison Gallery in Park Royal. Mean- while, it will take a little longer for Daniel junior’s Pictures to appear on the local tube but they, too, should be well worth waiting for... Richard Hughes — whose Sunshine Cabs have improv- you want a clean cab and a polite driver both ways when you spend your night-out bucks south of the Inlet, where the taxi monopoly couldn’t care less .. . SCRATCHPAD: North Van City’s tireless crusader for safe homes and streets has not gone unnoticed in Ot- tawa’s corridors of power. Last week Alderman Stella Jo Dean received a letter from Solicitor General Bob Kaplan commending her *“fine example’’ in contribut- ing to crime prevention and ‘improving the quality of life in your community”” ... Top nurse from the North Shore’s top-ranking hospital has been named a nurse surveyor by the Canadian Council of Hospital Accred- itation. LGH Nursing Direc- tor Joyce Campbell will travel with the CCHA team that rates hospital standards across Canada — last year it granted LGH the highest status, a three-year accredita- tion . . . Norman MacKenzie Alumni Scholarships ($750 each) have been awarded to UBC students Melissa Hui, Susan Stevenson and Dennis Chong of North Van, and James Chesko of West Van, for ‘‘high scholastic achieve- ment and outstanding per- sonal qualities’’ . . . Latest in Christmas reminders of good ’ deeds are candles and Christ- mas cards being sold this year by the North Shore branch of Amnesty International, the worldwide human rights organization working for the release of prisoners of con- science in totalitarian coun- tries. Call Elspeth or John Richmond at 988-3706 for in- fo or to order . . . Congrats to John Hale, manager of the International Plaza, whose restaurant was a first-place finisher in the 1983 B.C. Hotels’ Association competi- tion ... West Van artist Zargarpour is spon- soring the exhibition of noted Spanish and Portuguese painters (Gancedo, Olayo, Guerri and Vilmon) opening Tuesday evening, Dec. 6, at the Grosvenor Gallery, 925 West Georgia ... And belated birthday wishes to Elizabeth Bennett whose friends didn't tell us in time that she’d reached the ‘‘cen- tury’? mark Nov. 24 in Alta- mont Private Hospital, her home since 1970... s 2 » WRIGHT OR WRONG: The trouble about Christmas isn’t the short 18 shopping day: teft. It’s the short 18 earning days. Check-up myth bursts REMEMBER WHEN DOCTORS and govern. ments recommended that everyone have a complete physical every year? You haven't heard that for some time now. What happened? It sounded lke such a good idea Routine medical cxaminations would discover diseases at an carly stage Prompt treatment would save lives and cost less The big promise was that the savings from carty treat ment would outweigh = the cost of the crxaaminacons This hope was dashed People are normally healthy if they feel hl, they consult a physician) Uherefore, routine checks discovered very few il Inesses The savings tn terms of carly treatment and lives saved were very small MONEY WASTED They did not cover the cost cheeks Dow tons Bove rnAments in all of routine and Western countries abandon ed the program That's why your doctonis aot calling you any more fort Poutine chee ups Some people believe that the saving of even ome life makes such a programy woe thwhile But this reasoning negiccts the limited capacity of doctors, hospitals and laboratonmes tt also neglects the alternative uses of lax payer's money needed to pay for medical services Money wasted on routine medical checkups is) not available for other services that may save even more lives People paying lower taxcs have more moncy to spend on then own health and dict, when and if it ts necded CARS THE SAME The routine parallel between medial checkups ts and «ar Only small numbers of unsafe cars are found in the testing sta trons Why? Whenever something gocs wrong tno a cas that affects safety of operation, people have tt fined Dhey do so nut for the benefit of others or because there ts) government obvious Inspection They do oat) for By HERBERT GRUBEL their own safety. The results of accidents are unpredict. able. The chances of getting hurt or killed are great. In addition, socicty has laws strengthening incentives for safe cars. Police can and do tucket cars with defective lights, windows and so on Accidents caused by im perfect brakes, tires and steering evoke the costly wrath of judges, jyumes and insurance Companics. In paralict with the health check-up, vehicle safety testing is also cxpensive Most obvious are the fees that often) are = subsidized from gencral tax revenuc HIDDEN COSTS More important by far arc the other costs tncurred by car owners Dinving to and trom the testing station, waiting in line and for the (ests require an avcrage of at feast one hour Fuel is used up driving to and from the slations Many people have thet cars checked specifically before submitting to the government tests. This in- volves costs and tume, even though few defects are found routinely. It is a worthwhile precaution because of the often long delays at testing stauions. Time is moncy. There must be a million cars tested in BC every year Al current wages, the often overiocoked tume-costs of car owners are very large Like in the case of medical check-ups, the numbers pro bably do not add up. | have secn no studics showing that routine car safety testing 1s economic Given the cx perience with health tests, the burden of proof is on the proponents of routine car (esting to show that tt pays sOcicty There ts) a strong pre sumption that car owners’ self mterest, backed by ade quate police enforcement of existing safety laws provides appropnmate protection = for the public (Herbert CGaubel is Professor of Feonmomics at Simon Praser University)