nesday, January 15, 1992 — North Shore News es SS ‘ee WAM NEWS VIEWPOINT The right connections ISSING IN all the hoopla ex- pended over last Sunday’s open- ing of the $115-million Cassiar Connector is any statement over the future of the Westview Drive and Upper Levels overpass. The connecter has unknotted one of B.C.’s most congested and most dangerous urban intersections; it has removed one of the last sets of traffic lights from the Trans-Canada Highway and unblocked a chronically infuriating commuter nightmare for North Shore, Burnaby and Vancouver drivers. Traffic can now flow freely onto the North Shore’s Upper Levels Highway, home to the area’s last major highway bottieneck. The Upper Levels was relieved of one of its two traffic-light controlled intersections im August with the opening of the $22- million Lonsdale overpass. But the highway’s intersection at Westview remains. So, after sailing through almost $140 million worth of new Lower Mainland area highway improvements, traffic still grinds to a halt at Westview Drive. The Westview interchange was originally scheduled to follow the completion of the Lonsdale overpass, the investment in the one being almost pointless without the. other. With the opening of the Cassiar Con- nector, the focus of local traffic problems has moved from Cassiar and Hastings to Westview and the Upper Levels Highway. North Shore commuters and highway users need a commitment from the NDP governnient to get on with the Westview interchange now to ensure the investment in the Lonsdale overpass and the Cassiar Connector pays proper dividends. LETTER OF THE DAY Cap parents group expresses thanks Dear Editor: The Capilano Parent Society wishes to express our gratitude to a number of individuals and ‘groups involved in the planning and completion of the multi- purpose recreational facility at Capilano Elementary School. Thanks to the GO BC Provin- cial Lottery Fund for their much-needed financial assistance. A sincere thanks to many indi- viduals, including Ald. Ernie Crist, and departments of the Corporation of the District of North Vancouver for their exten- Publisher Managing Editor . . Associate Editor Advertising Director Comptroller...... Peter Speck Timothy Renshaw Noel Wright ... Linda Stewart .......Doug Foot sive financial support, and a special thanks for all the assistance the Parks Department has contributed during the plan- ning and construction phases. We are very grateful to School District #44 for their assistance and cooperation at all phases of the project. Also the Capilano Lions Society for their financial contribution to the play equip- ment that will provide many hours of fun for the community children. Lastly we wish to thank John Lewis, past principal of Capilano Display Advertising $80-0511 Reai Estate Advertising 985-6982 Classified Advertising 986-6222 Newsroom 985-2131 Tw VOCE 08 peUTTNS AND WELT VANCOUVER Distribution Subscriptions Fax Administration School, for his unwavering perse- verance Over many years to make sure this project would finally be completed. The facility is expected to be completed in the spring of this year. It wil! provide many hours of fun and exercise in the form of hockey, tennis, basketball and other games for the children of Capilano School and the members of the North Vancouver com- munity. Thank you all so very much. Capilano Parent Society North Vancouver 986-1337 986-1337 985-3227 985-2131 —- MEMBER North Shore Savaged ads never get a isecond chance WAR, CIVIL strife, economic chaos and famine breed on theinselves by wrecking tomorrow’s lives, not just today’s. The defenceless victims they savage the most cruelly are tomorrow's people — the children. , That's the message in the an- nual report issued iast month by j UNICEF, the United Naticns Children’s Fund, whose workers are found everywhere in the world where children are at risk. “Protection for the growing bodies and minds of the young,”’ says the report, ‘‘should have a first call on societies’ resources ... =| (and) ... vecome an accepted ethic of the new world order.”’ Human development, both physical and mental, begins in the first few years of life, it points out. That’s a child’s one and only chance to grow normally, ‘‘There is no second chance.”" As examples of the damage to children that the world tolerates it cites debt-ridden Africa and Latin America, economic breakdown in eastern Europe, war-shattered Iraq and the southern Sudan. Add today Croatia and soon, maybe, many parts of the new Russian Commonwealth. In all these cases children are hurting much more than adults. Nor does North America escape. U.S. children living in poverty have risen from 14% to 22% over the past 30 years. In Canada they numbered some 837,000 (one in seven) in 1989 and today’s figure is undoubtedly higher after 18 months of reces- sion. UNICEF also notes how the population explosion — the major threat to the environment — may eventually be halted. Fewer child deaths, due to rising incomes and female education, means fewer births. Once the mortality rate for up-to-fives drops below 150 per 1,000 and keeps going down (in Canada it’s about 19 per 1,000), ‘the birth rate starts to drop rapid- ly too. This is already being seen in India. For that reason UNICEF strongly promotes breast-feeding which, it emphasizes, ‘is more nutritious, more hygienic, cheaper, immunizes against common infec- tions, protects mothers against pregnancy and reduces the risk of breast and ovarian cancer.’’ Not all the report is gloom. Globally, one-third fewer children now die than in 1982. Immuniza- tion against diseases has reached 80% — from 10% in the 1970s. Polio may be eliminated by the year 2000. But physical progress alone doesn’t alter the many ways in which grinding poverty can still Noel Wright HITHER AND YON distort the ATTITUDES of youngsters who survive to adulthood. Nurturing is just as” vital for a young child’s mind as for its body, if we want a better world tomorrow, ‘ . That’s why UNICEF insists that the world’s savaged and helpless kids are ‘‘the first call’? on our resources — and pockets — to- day. TAILPIECES: The shy West Van - philanthropist’s many gifts to community amenities, ranging from Lions Gate Hospital and the Arts Council to West Van Library and waterfront embellishments, : add up to a lot of ‘‘000s"’ to date.- : Now, Kay Meek — 1990 “‘Citizen . of the Year’’ —- has been at it again, this time with a $50,000 donation to West Van Museum & Historical Society for display cab- inets and furnishings in the ne museum section of its new home || in Gertrude Lawson Heritage . House ... Intriguing guest speaker’ at the I] a.m. North Van Reform. Party brunch Sunday, Jan. 19, in -. Cheers Restaurant, 125 East 2nd, : . is Graham Lea — Highways _ Minister in Dave Barrett’s {972-75 © NDP government! Call Elinor. Ryan, 929-2167, to check for any: remaining tickets ... And keep _ . your cheque book handy along with your warm heart tonight — the kick-off evening of the two- week Kinsmen Mothers March. aee WRIGHT OR WRONG: It never: - seems to occur to teenagers that one day they'll know as little as their parents. ot North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an independent suburban newspaper and qualified under Schecule 111, Paragraph IN o1 the Excise Tax Act, is published each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by North Shore Free Press Ltd. and : q distributed to every door on the North Shore. Second Class Mait Registration Number 3885. Subscriptions North and West Vancouver, $25 per year. Mailing rates available on request. Submissions are welcome but we cannot accept responsibility for unsolicited matenal including Manuscripts and pictures which should be accompanied by a siampe2d, addressed envelope | W@i SES BUNDAY + WEONESDAY + €uDAY == a 1139 Lonsdale Avenue, ~~ SDA DIVISION North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2H4 Entire contents © 1992 Narth Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved. am Photo submi §1,582 (average circulation, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday) THE FIRST few years... a child’s one and only chance.