6 - Friday, July 13, 1990 - North Shore News iP yore lte (asst. SORRY OLD BOY... BUT QUE, ALLOTTED AIA AMBULANCE TIME JUST EXPIRED... Time for truck terminal T IS time to consider pulling com- mercial trueks out of the Horseshoe Bay ferry traffic flow altogether. Truckers aren’t happy with the safety hazard posed by the steep 12 per cent grade trip dowrhil! to the terminal. Monday’s horsific accident graphically drives home ih: unacceptable risk runaway trucks pose to other ferry users. Last year a semi-trailer truck lost its brakes and the load of steel beams it was carrying shifted and struck vehicles waiting in line. A pickup truck lost its brakes and destroyed a booth. Another vehicle drove into a ticket booth after its brakes failed. In the aftermath of every tragedy or ‘near tragedy, the usual indignant calls for action are made: Truck drivers should be more stringently trained and regulated. Motor vehicle testing should be beefed up. The $30 million upgrade to the Horseshoe Bay terminal should allow for the installation of runaway lanes. In May the B.C. Ferry Corp. moved a Horseshoe Bay-Nanaimo route ferry to travel between Tsawwassen and Nanaimo, as a result of trucker com- plaints about the toll the Horseshoe Bay hill exacted on brakes. But the time for handwringing and half measures is over. A commercial trucking ferry route serviced by a sepa- rate terminal, perhaps based in the Bur- rard Inlet, would solve the problem. Until then don’t stay near your vehi- cle while waiting in line for a ferry at Horseshoe Bay. It’s dangerous out there. PM should give cash to Zulus Dear Editor: Mr. Mandela’s utterances on the eve of his departure added a rather bizarre ending to the whole circus which has characterized his visit. He stated that he would be back soon, setting October as the date for his return. He continued that he had an important role to play in assisting the native peoples, the Indians, to achieve their goals. Publisher Associate Editor Peter Speck geese rerermne Managing Editor Timothy Renshaw J : Noel Wright Advertising Director Linda Stewari I am a little puzzled as to how he proposes to achieve these ends. Would it be irreverent of one to ask whether he proposes to teach them the niceties of ‘‘armed resistance,’ South African style? As a taxpayer partially respon- sible for meeting this generous ac- tion of our prime minister, 1 def- erentially submit that the $5 mil- lion would have been infinitely better deployed had it been paid to the Buthelezi Zulu Canadian SUNDAY « WEDNESDAY - FRIDAY North Shore News, tounded tn 1969 as an independes: sUbUTDaN Pewspapet and Qualified undet Schucule Paragraph tl of the Eactse Tae Act. «5 published eacn Wednesday. Friday and Sunday by North Share Fes Press Lid and distebuted to every doot on ine Norn Shore Second Class Mant Registration Number 3884 Subse ptions North and West Vancouver Maiing fates avavable on request Submins: 1139 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver. B.C V7M 2H4 59,170 (average. Wednesday Friday & Sunday) Display Advertising Classified Advertising Newsroom Distubution Subscriptions Education Foundation. As any student of history will agree, it is likely that the great Zulu nation will still have a major role to play in the future of their troubled country. They are after all 7 million in number, with a pride and character that singles them out as being in a class of their own. Maurice Butler North Vancouver 980-0511 986-6222 985.213) 986-1337 986-1337 985-3227 MEMBER Begging one of the growth industries! “The poor always ye have with you.’’ — John XII.8 IF YOU seem to be getting more begging letters than ever in your mail these days, you’re carn right. And you’re not alone. Just talk to a senior executive in almost any well- known company. He’ll tell you chat appeals for business handouts to everything from health, welfare and educa- tion to culture and baseball dia- monds are. soaring. One major B.C. corporation puts the current rate of increase at 30-40 per cent a year. And a re- cent York University study in- dicates that some corporations are now fielding an average of 15-20 pleas for donations every single working day. Not so surprising, however, when you learn that in B.C. alone registered charities skyrocketed by 37 per cent in the past decade — to 6,528 from 4,760 in 1980. The days when ‘‘charity’’ was pictured as hard-working volun- teers rattling quarters in tin cups are long dead and gone. Charity today is a major growth industry itself, with an estimated $2.5 billion upward being sought at any one time from private donors in Canada. And, in the best free enterprise tradition, competition is cutthroat. Not, of course, in terms of “‘price”’ or ‘product quality” but purely of IMAGE — the image being equally as deserving as all the others, hopefully more so. To have a chance against the big boys in the begging game the minimal needs today are a well equipped office, a full-time execu- tive director and probably at least one or more other paid workers, plus hefty printing and postage budgets. Annual overhead can well add up to $70,000 before a cent is collected for the good cause itself. Often more. Meanwhile, ‘‘charity’’ — once defined as helping individuals in real need due to poverty — now covers almost every human activi- ty except making money. Charity today funds medical research, community recreation, universities and many other educational pro- jects, teenage sports, theatres, concerts, art groups, animal rights, personal and family counselling, environmental lobbies --» you name it. It’s no Jonger necessary to ac- tually be in POVERTY. Anyone’s **good cause’’ can become a char- ity just by being short of cash for all the things it wants to have and do. As the endless glossy appeals plop through the mail slot, the strapped taxpayer could be forgiven for asking: ‘‘Why should I pay for all these poor people, many of them I never even knew were poor? If things are that bad, why can’t the government — which already has most of the money — help them more?’’ The answer being that govern- ment — the richest charity of all, armed with a big stick to make sure EVERYONE gives generously — suffers from tunnel vision when it comes to handouts. It sees only votes. The fewer the votes, the fewer the bucks, if any at all. So tough luck, B.C. Retired Morris Dancers Benevolent Association — but why not ask George if he can help you? How right Gospel-writer John was! kak TAILPIECES: Long suffering Ambleside merchants and their customers are asking what they’ve done to deserve Aggressive Road- builders, whom they see as waging aggression against them in as many spots as possible for as long as possible. A.R., who won the contract for this summer's parking mayhem, rate straight ‘A’s for the number of streets, lanes and side- walks dug up simultaneously — and so far straight ‘D’s for the time taken to finish them. Any- thing to do with their name? ... Nine to 19-year-old North Van music makers please note that North Van Youth Band is now auditioning prospective new members — all the details from Ron Smith, 929-3637 ... Anda total of 132 years of service pro- tecting life and property were honored at a recent Hollyburn Club dinner to salute four retiring senior West Van Fire Dept. of- ficers. Thanks for all your many fast responses Art Ridley, John Halstead, Grant Bott and Frank Holinaty! . zak WRIGHT OR WRONG: If you want your dream to come true, you first have to get out of bed in the morning. phatos submitted welcome but we cannot accept respor unsolicited Matenal mciuding MHANUSTHIMS ANTS PIC tures, which should be accompanieg by a stamped, addressed envelope : S$ ee SMOKE EATERS FETED ...retiring long-service West Van firefighters SDA DIVISION (left to right) Asst. Chiefs Art Ridley (35 yrs. of service), John Halstead Entire contents © 1990 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved. (33 yrs.), Grant Bott (28 yrs.) and Capt. Frank Holinaty (36 yrs.).