6 ~ Wednesday, June 12, 1985 - North Shore News

Editorial Page

News Viewpoint

Market laws

n rejecting the proposed retail develop- | of the Park & Tiiford site, which

could restore the popular Gardens for the enjoyment of thousands of residents and -tourists, City council may be exceeding its mandate.

The development would create a garden- type shopping centre (including food and department stores, boutiques and a theatre) behind the Gardens themselves -- which would then be maintained and kept open year round free of charge. But the property, now zoned industrial, would first have to be rezoned commercial.

The City’s formal argument against rezon- ing is an alleged shortage of industrial land. This, despite the absence of any industrial bidders since P&T announced the closure of its plant over a year ago; and also despite the fact that the shopping centre would generate appreciably more jobs and tax revenue than industry, Rut this, it seems, is not the whole story.

There are indications that some council members are primarily worried about the impact of competition from yet another at- tractive retuil complex on the City’s numerous commercial: developments already in hand -- the Capilanop Mall expansion, the nearby Wosk building and Capilano Village Market projects, Lonsdale Quay and a revitalized Lower Lonsdale.

If that’s the REAL reason for council’s stand, it should think again. In a free enter- prise society competition should be regulated only by market forces. It’s not for councils to kill business initiative, let alone forfeit jobs and tax dollars, merely in an effort to revamp the laws of the marketplace.

An $8 question

f inflation continues at about 3 per cent,

the partial de-indexing of the old age pen-

sion will cost seniors about $8 a month in lost spending power and save the government about $250 million a year. That’s roughly 22 per cent of ‘the total payroll for federal employces, which leads to a tempting thought: would we ever miss one in 40 bureacurats nearly as much as seniors living on the poverty jine will miss that ali-important eight bucks?

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‘north shore:

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news.

7 WHONESDAY “ PRMDAY

Advertising Director - Sales Dave Jenneson Advertising Director - Admin. Mike Goodsell Editor-in-Chief Noel Wright Classified Manager Vai Stephenson

North Shore Nevrs, founded in 1969 as an independent suburban Newspaper and quahtied urdert Schedule Il, Part Il, Paragraph Hl of the Excise Tax Act, is published each Wednesday. Friday and Sunday by Nonh Shore Free Press Lid. and distitbuted to every door on the North Shore. Second Class Mail Registration Number 3885 Entire contents © 1985 North Shore Free Press Ltd, All rights reserved.

Subscriptions, North and West Vancouver, $25. per yeas. Mailing rates available on request

No responsibility accepled tor unsolicited maternal including Manusctipts and pictures which should be accompanied by a stamped. addressed envelope.

Member of the B.C. Press Council

a 55,770 (average, Wednesday SDA DIVISION Friday & Sunday)

THIS PAPER IS RECYCLABLE

V0 SAYS WHERE. NOT SORTING. “WELL WATT TL HE TRIES To

Straight talk meeded for happy marriage to a PC

March. For a time [| wondered whether it was

| MARRIEP A PERSONAL COMPUTER last

for better ur worse.

Many others, including colleagues Hunter and Col- lins, have written movingly of the agony and the ecstasy of those first weeks wedded to a PC (as they’re called in the trade). Buying one isn’t just a purchase. It’s a life experience closely akin to matrimony.

The main difference being that the honeymoon is sheer hell. But I’ve discovered the

reason and it doesn’t have to be that way. When the urge finally

conquered me, 1 thought I was quite familiar with word-processing computers. We write our stories on them daily at the News where they have big, friendly 14- inch TV faces and, as fong as you press the mysteriously labelled keys the way you’ve been taught, behave very nicely. Like the girl next door you went to school with but would never dream of marrying.

But with spring in the air I yearned to have one share my home life. For some time, at the local Radio Shack, !'d been eyeing a cute

litde portable’ number that would sit on my lap. She looked like a' meaningful relationship.

For a fous-figure fee the store manager conducted the brief wedding ceremony and I staggered home with two Jarge boxes, the other con- taining her printer. As I fingered her and feasted my eyes on her, she seemed to promise everything ! ever wanted in an_ electronic mate.

There remained the little

matter of persuading her to , function, for which purpose ; the manufacturers supplied a:

manual slightly bigger than the computer itself. Written for honor graduates from. a three-year programming course.

It told me what to do all tight. The trouble was it didn’t offer a clue about the meaning of the words. What was a byte? Or a buffer? How did ! run, load, save, define? Would | know an in- terface if I met one? Let alone a baud?

Back to the store with my tale of woe. ‘*To make the

LETTER.OF THE DAY

NEWS insuited sport fans

Dear Editor: Your smug editorial ‘War Games’’ June Sth, 1985

cannot go unanswered.

Blaming the Belgium soc- cer tragedy on long ago wars between Europe and Great Britain is ridiculous. Your Statement regarding the game of golf and tennis is also true for the many soccer

fans in Europe and Great Britain, who have for years maintained a genuine inter- est in the game of soccer and abhor alf the violence that has become so prevalent in the last few years.

You are insulting these genuine fans in your ig- norance of the fact that soc- cer is the No. 1 game in Europe and Great Britain

y . Noel Wright Pe

printer work the way you

want,’’ they explained pa- tiently, ‘‘you need the Scrip- sit software, It’s $49.95. And a cassette recorder to load it. On sale today for only $59.95.""

! returned home with a third box, wondering why | ‘lidn’t need to know all this at the News. After four

and has been enjoyed for many many years without violence up until recently; and you don’t honestly ex- pect us to believe that the North American games of hockey, baseball and foot- ball are without any vio- lence, and that there are no hard feelings, for whatever reason, between the U.S. and Canada when their

perspiring hours the printer smartened up

Then I lost half my bytes and couldn’t find them anywhere. Back again to the store. They told me how to clear the buffer memory. They actually told me (I think) what the buffer was. ‘Shortly afterwards came. that dreadful evening when everything seized up and my new fove refused to speak to me at all. A phone call to the store next morning brought

a slightly curt tip to read

about the SHIFT-PAUSE- BREAK keys.: At length I cajoled PC out of her sulks,

Slowly the marriage began to settle down as we got to know each other a little bet- ter every day. Visits to the store for counselling therapy were reduced to about once a week. So far this month I haven't been at all.

But oh, the grief we both could have been saved if on- ly computer book writers were taught English. Once I get to the end of my own manual in mid-1986, | plan to rewrite it. With some straight talk for idiots. I’m superbly qualified.

It could earn me-a bundle. And PC says she’fl be with me all the way! .

teams play these games.

If the media dwelt more on the positive attitudes of the genuine fans instead of the violence of the negative thugs, who are still in’ the minority, perhaps it would zo a long way to helping solve the problem of vio- lence in sport.

Angela Beer West Vancouver