After 20 years of scanning the. [heavens with radio telescopes and eavesdropping through all sorts. .of .. sophisticated. electronic gadgetry, astronomers have grown ‘were a few On, ‘there exciting moments when it seemed they had picked up weird, unnatural beeps from vaious ‘solar systems’ scat- tered through the galaxy. “I. rémember ‘the Ipsilon Bootis : . story; when odd Séciety would have: ‘to meet before. any such..action: was decided and such a meeting may not be. held fora couple As yet, ‘the sociéty has not even heard how. North Shore doctors voted in the provinci ‘referendum. But the: ‘North Shore is: -sufficiently’ ‘remoyed from Vancouver City for doctors to have their own opinion and is confident that ac- ceptance is not -widespread locally. ° “IT know they are more militant here than in other areas,” he says. “As you get away from Vancouver, the more people think on their feet instead of giving up to the government. During the referendum, ages is the suggestion“ by some scientists that no intelligent life exists: except on earth: impulses were picked up emanating from that par- ticular star. A super- civilization signalling from’ distant space? Unfortunately, somebody came up with a logical explanation for the “signals” from Ipsilon Bootis. Like an earlier generation's “Martian canals,’” the super- civilization faded from view. sen Drat, said I, along with millions of . other ’ True their feelings, contacting about 50 colleagues, which represents about 25 per cent of doctors on this shore. Of the doctors he called, he says about 80. per cent were against accepting the fee settlement. He feels that unless there was a _ con- siderable change of mind at the time of submitting their responses that such a-level of rejection would be = con- sistent throughout the North Shore. — “It is a possibility some might give up medicare,” he says. “On the North Shore, we are very capable of opting out.” Not only does he feel local doctors are behind such an idea but he also points to the geographical. aspects which _ classics Cragg conducted his own. - poll of local doctors to assess . the Believers In Life Gn Other Planets. I mean, the entire post-war generation was raised: on the notion of life “out there in space.” _- It was just after the war — remember? — when the Flying Saucer phenomenon got its start, south of the . border, when a U:S. pilot reported UFOs near Mount By the time, there was already a steady flow of sci-fi flicks out of Hollywood. - Some of the best science- fiction writers in history had delivered themselves of their Asimov’s Foundation trilogy, Clarke's divorce the area from the city. These, he says, make North Shore “very desirable” for physicians to be able to successfully separate themselves from ‘the actions of doctors in the city. If a mutiny from medicare was considered, he says, it would have. to be on a large scale throughout the area in order tobe effective. For this reason, Cragg says he is hesitant to take any personal _action. before a ‘meeting of the North Shore doctors’ association. ‘ “If you opt out:and charge patients another 30 per cent more, what are you going to do unless the whole group is doing it? You will be looking at a tremendous drop in volume if you start extra billing. Fire damages W. Van house A vacant house in the British Properties area was damaged by fire Friday afternoon and West Van- couver Fire Department is still wondering how the blaze — . Saturdays call between 10-4 988-6711 Come join us tor an evenin dining and dancing on the Completely New Menu from selected Seafood EXAMPLE: FRENCH ONION SOUP......_. CHEF'S SALAD......... NY STEAK & LOBSTER TAIL DESSERT: GRAND MARNIER SOUFFLE The fire originated in an enclosed garage beneath the house at 1055 Elveden Row, causing a gaping hole in the roof and spreading to the kitchen above. Smoke was spotted by two young boys who called at a to traditional Italian culsine. Open nightly from 5 p.m — Reservations Preferred We book banquets and weddings Monday thru Thursday 980-6818 of superb orth Shore. North Vancouver “a dining experience” ncighbor’s house to alert the fire department. A fire inspector later described damage to the unfurnished house as being “rather extensive, with smoke and water damage throughout the building.” 140 E. 2nd St. _the only effective action by Childhood’s End, Simak's . City, and Ray Bradbury's Martian Chronicles. - I mean, from the time I was 12 years old, I knew there was Life Out There. Oh, in school, the teachers were conservative in the extreme about this burning issue, refusing to admit defeat even when challenged with the inevitable question, “How do you know there isn’t?” But J knew. And in my entire adult life, I doubt that I've run into more than a handful of people who would seriously argue that intelligent life only existed on earth. Of course, none of us who believe in Life Out There can actually say that we've met any of our cosmic brethren yet. If we did, you'd laugh. I know you would. ° There were a few en- thusiasts at the dawn of the Flying Saucer era, like that dicare “If you are yanked out of the system you are cutting the cash flow and you are committing suicide. Instead disgruntled doctors on the North Shore as being to drop out from government medicare on a widespread level. Of such a move, he says: “I would not rule it out. The fellows on the North Shore :.. are going to have something .:’ to say about it, for sure.” altemative. chap Adamski, who claimed to have been taken for a ride into space. They attracted a small, intense following for a while, but I think it’s petered. out. Certainly, I don’t claim to have met any weird creatures from space, but then of course’ they'd hypnotize me so Id think they were human beings. That being the case, I can't say for sure that I haven't metanycither. — Let me tell you a secret, though. I've grown so used to the idea of alien life on alien . worlds that the suggestion there might not be any aliens after all is quite, ah, alien. An empty Milky Way — devoid of the incredible MON. to FRI. 9AM.-4P.M. SAT. 10A.M.-4P.M. -105 East 2nd Street at Lonsdale . ‘North Vancouver, B.C. varieties of life-forms. that Tve comé to assume out out there, doing their thing in whatever. bizarre way they do it? What an awful thought! It sure knocks a hole in all those lovely fantasies of missionaries arriving from Sirius, taking our guns away and teaching us to live in peace and harmony, doesn't it? Nope. Sorry. I can’t buy the idea, even for a minute, that -we’re the only “in- telligent” life, even on earth, never mind the universe. How to account for the silence out there in space, then? It's simple. They're hiding. I mean, wouldn't you? Humans! Yuk! 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