NY rally to protest school cuts planned CUTS TO education tunding in North Vancouver District 44 wiil be the subject of a one-hour rally scheduled for Sunday at Kinsman Park in North Vancouver City. The event is being organized by the North Vancouver Parents’ Advisory Council. Dianne Kennedy, one of the or- ganizers, said the rally will pro- vide a public forum for ail special-interest groups concerned about announced cutbacks to North Vancouver District 44 School Board (NVSB) programs and services. Earlier this month, the NVS8 submitted a budget for the 1992- 93 school year that was $10 mil- lion below the board's 1991-92 budget. The new budget will result in: @ the elimination of 96 full-time teaching positions; @ the loss of a further 10 full- time equivalent positions in ad- ministration time in elementary schools; @ the elimination of 26 full- time-equivalent support staff; @ the loss of seven District 44 administration positions. Program cuts include the loss of the district’s highly regarded elementary band and strings pro- gram and the popular outdoor school program. Other services facing the axe in- clude: @ community school staffing; By Sur} Rattan News Reporter @ consultant services; @ French as a second language (kindergarten to Grade 5); @ summer curriculum writing; @ and secondary school athletics coordination. Kennedy said District 44 only asked Victoria for enough money to maintain existing programs and services. The education ministry is reser- ving a contingency fund of ap- proximately $85 million for unex- pected enrolment increases in B.C. schools this September. But Kennedy said the provincial government should release $10 million of that fund to help offset District 44’s deficit. The rally will be held frem ! p.m. to 2 p.m. and is open to all niembers of the public. North Shore MLAs, school trustees, North Vancouver District and City alJermen and representatives from . thr business community have also bern invited to attend. insman Park is adjacent to Carson Graham Secondary school alo:g Jones Avenue in North Var. couver City. Crew abandoned on N. Shore, union says Freighter declared unsafe to sail THE CREW of a Panamianian-registered cargo vessel has been left stranded on the North Shore by the ship’s owners, an official of a maritime union has charged. The Rio Mafil is now dock- ed at Versatile Pacific Ship- yards inc. (VPSI) in North Vancouver and has been declared unsafe to sail by the Canadian Coast Guard. Meanwhile, its 16-member crew continues to live aboard the vessel without heat or food, said Gerry McCullough, an in- spector with the International Transport Workers (ITW). The crew, he added, is also owed back wages, which is why the crew initially went on strike against the ship’s owners when the vessel docked in North Vancouver in March. “The crew has been aban- doned,’’ said McCullough. “They're living cn board the ship, and they have no food or heat.” . North Vancouver-based Vancouver Wharves Ltd. has also placed a tien on the vessel for unpaid dockage fees. The ship originally docked at Van- couver Wharves. “The .captain has goné home, and the company that owns the ship is doing nothing. The crew are living in bad conditions,’’ said McCullough. “We're trying our best to get. the crew heme and trying to get them their back wages.’’ Most of the crew are from Chile, Peru and Panama. McCullough said Naviera del Sur, the Chilean owner of the vessel, has hired a Vancouver By Surj Rattan News Reporier tlement to the dispute. McCullough said that he had hoped an agreement could have been reached this week and that it was expected the crew would have been sent Lome last Tuesday. But he said the crew and the ship’s owner could not reach an agreement on the back- wages issue. “The company did want to send them home on Tuesday, but they first wanted the crew to sign an agreement saying that the total amount owed is $27,000. The crew refused to sign that,’’ said McCullough. He added that the ITW had originally estimated that the crew was owed wages of be- tween $30,000 and $40,000 when the vessel first docked at Vancouver Wharves with a shipment of ore in March. * McCullough said that figure has now increased. He added that the ITF will go to.court on Monday to try to sell the vessel and use the sale’s profits to pay the crew’s wages. “When the ship originally docked here one crew member broke a leg and was sent to Lions Gate Hospital. The Chilean consulate sent him back home, but the hospital bill still nasn’t been paid,”’ said lawyer to try to mediate a set- McCullough. | Tada oh eter PORTERS NEWS photo Pau! McGrath MISS NORTH Shore Princess Ginny Pereiza disagrees with the headline from the Capilano Courier’s opinion page. The Courier editorial staff regretted placing Pereira's ad for the upcoming North Shore co-ed pageant, saying it was offensive to women. The editorial said that the Capilano Coltege student publication ‘‘claims to be enlightened and non-sexist."" Ad pull steams Cap student Local pageant deemed sexist by college newspaper CAPILANO COLLEGE student Ginny Pereira was doubly disappointed when she tried to advertise what used to be called the Miss North Shore Pageant in the college and in the college students’ newspaper. 1991-92 Miss Narzh Shore Princess, received permission from both the Capilano Courier students’ news- paper and the students’ union to advertise for candidates for the July 27 event using posters and an ad in the Courier. But shortly afterwards, both student organizations changed their minds about the advertise- ments without informing Pereira. To Pereira’s shock, the posters, numbering about 20, were torn down, atid the Courier printed a page-two apology for running the Miss North Shore ad. “7 totally feel my rights have been violated,’’ said Pereira. The management-program stu- dent started a petition against the newspaper in April, shortly after the actions were taken in March, and she plans to continue collect- ing names in the fall. “We have no say on what is printed,’’ said Pereira. ‘‘The paper (staff) basically does what it wants, they have no supervision. They shoutd be more flexible or the students won't financially support them.”’ Courier news editor Jud Lewis said the ad coordinator wrongly accepted Pereira’s ad. Pereira, the —_———_— By Anna Marie D'Angelo News Reporter “*Beauty contests fall within (our policy against) racist, sexist or homophobic material as per CUP (Canadian University Press) guidelines,”’ said Lewis. Lewis said he was unaware that the Miss North Shore Pageant had this year been rechristened the North Shore Youth Awards com- petition and was open to both male and female candidates. He said that the six-member newspaper collective voted to write an apology based on the ad itself which solicited Miss North Shore candidates. Pereira said she ‘old the ad coordinator that the competition was co-ed and that the ad needed to be updated with the competi- tion’s new name. **! told him to change the ad,’’ said Pereira. .She said the newspaper routine- ly bashes men and uses offensive language. ~ Its front page masthead describes the newspaper as ‘‘the left wing ‘politically correct’ pile of sh** at Capilano College since 1974."" Pereira said the Courier was the opposite of homophobic and published a ‘‘disgusting’’ explicit piece on gay sex on Valentine's ay. She said the newspaper does not represent the entire student body. Meanwhile, student union chairman Melanie O'Neill said a work-study student, not a perma- nent staff member, had given Pereira permission to put up the posters. **You’re allowed to put up pos- ters if you pay student fees here, but it’s subjective by the execu- tive, and they decide if it is of a sexist or homophobic nature,’’ said O'Neill. Both O'Neill and Lewis said Pereira could appeal the poster removal and ad apology by facing both decision-making student bodies. “Obviously, they pick people to work with the same views because ho one bothered to disagree with them or clue in that this was wrong,’’ said Pereira. “(Do you want to be one person standing in a room of six people? You feel intimidated.” The North Shore Youth Awards will be held July 27 and is open to male and female participants, ag- ed 16 1/2 to 21. The competition’s entry deadline is June 28. For more in- formation call 985-0555.