6 - Wednesday, July 31, 1985 - North Shore News

Editorial Page —_

Why not ask?

hould taxpayers play a part in judging and seiecting public works of art which they pay for? And if so, how?

The current case in point is the controver- sial sculpture proposed for the Lonsdale Quay waterfront park. Members and friends of the Community Arts Council, which sponsored the judging by an independent panel of ‘‘experts’’, love it. Others have likened it to a corridor of bent railroad tracks likely to make North Van a laughing stock to all who visit its waterfront.

With works of art, of course, it’s impossi- ble to please everyone. Even if you try, the result is almost sure to wind up like the camel — a horse drawn by a committee. So the citizenry has never been scientifically quizzed or the Lonsdale Quay sculpture aud to da ; only indication of overall public re = is a financial one.

During the two years in which «.: - cil set out to raise $75,000 ~ . ‘ cost, less than two-thirds of .- forthcoming. Times are toug. average monthly donations c. hardly. ‘suggest massive public supe ;

‘Now, some:City council members wani co back out of the City’s matching grant offer unless the Arts Council comes up witli at least $50,000 by an early deadline. For the moment,

‘that’s been vetoed by a majority of aldermen. ”~ who insist on honoring their commitment.

_; Nevertheless, they’re talking about. tax- payers’ money, not their own. A this state‘in their unhappy problem they nfight be well ad-

_Vised to blow a couple. of thousand on an in- dependent public opinion poll to get a line on what taxpyers REALLY think about it all.

And now what? here’s good news and bad news, quite

T aside from the disastrous forest fires, about this month’s weather. The good

news is for those who’ve just completed their vacation and found, even without today’s score, that they chose the sunniest July since records were kept. The bad news, of course, may be for those who remembered all those Ju- ly’s in between the records — and postponed their vacation until Augusi!

Display Advertising 980-0511 Classitied Advertising 936-6222 Newsroom 985-2131 Circulation 086-1337 Subscriptions 385-2131 1138 Lonsdale Avea., North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2H4

Publisher Peter Speck

Genera! Manager Roger McAfee Operations Manager Berni Hilliard

Marketing Director Advertising Director - Sales Bob Graham Linda Stewart Circulation Director Advertising Director - Admin. Bill McGown Mike Goodsell Production Director Edltor-in-Chiet Chris Johnson Noel Wright Photography Manager Classified Manager Terry Petors . Vat Stephenson North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an independent suburban newspaper and qualified under Schedule Iti, Part tlt, Paragraph EI of the Excise Tax Act..is published each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by North Shore Free Press Lid. and distibuted to every door cn the North Shore. Second Class Mail Registration Number 3885. Entire contents © 1885 North Shore Free Press Ltd. Atl rights reserved. Subscriptions, North and West Vancouver, $25. per year. Mailing rates available on request. No tesponsibilly accepted for unsolicited material including maruscripts and pictures which should be accompanied by a stamped. addressed env.lope.

Member of the B.C. Press Council

cea’ $6,245 (average. Wednesday

Friday & Sunday)

THIS PAPER IS RECYCLABLE

‘| hate your guts!’.-BE

IF YOUR PROBLEM i is too many. friends, there’s ‘a quick-and absolutely dependable solution. For a mere $139.95 you can be rid of them in no time.

Buy a telephone answer- ing machine.

I'd long been intrigued by.

those smart types who’ve answered the phone for years with a canned greeting. ‘Great, I thought, never to miss a call. And if you work at home, very businesslike.

You don’t even need to be out. You can take a shower, tend the garden, watch TV, entertain guests undisturbed or simply go to sleep. Plus, you never have to talk to wrong numbers, opinon pollsters or carpet-cleaning salesmen.

Meanwhile, in theory, your friends remain as near as the endless loop o: tape that turns on when they dial.

Last week I was finally moved to take the plunge by our focal electronics shack. Its weekly fire sale featured a TAM at 40 per cent off. How could one resist such a bargain-price device for

staying close to one’s bud- dies?

Back home, how-to book,

I read the recorded a

LETTER OF THE DAS

Sympathy is needed for disciplined WV police constable

warm plea for the caller’s number, promising to phone back pronto, and left my transistorized secretary on duty while I went for a long walk.

She started off quite well. Sure enough, her little red light was on when I return-

ed. A congratulatory call .

from the electronics shack, apologizing for overcharging

me $10 and inviting me to .

drop oy for a refund -- BEEP. A call from a carpet-cleaning salesman --

. BEEP. And a brief muttered

oath -- BEEP.

The two former are the first and last coherent messages I've had out of the thing for the past seven long days. Not that it hasn’t been trying. The little red light is always on when I return. 1 hopefully switch to playback, but always with the same result. "

Silence -- BEEP, Grunt -- BEEP. Bang, crash -- BEEP. One talkative caller splut- tered out ‘‘Hell, no!’’ -- BEEP.

Dear Editor:

I would like to know just what kind of a chip you have on your shoulder with regard to the ‘West Vancouver Police Force’?

The article { refer to is: COP DISCIPLINED FOR HARASSMENT (July 14). After reading this article I couldn't decide to laugh at your ridiculous attempt to defend this ‘‘Mark Hagger- ty’’ person or to phone Csi. Dave Marskell and apologize for the lack of public sup- port/local support and add that there really are some of

. us out there who appreciate * our police force.

By chance is this Mark Haggerty related to any of you, a friend of a friend?

{ do concede that perhaps Cst. Dave Marskell could

MS THE SAME EVERY YEAR, THER BAFFLING HEADLONG DASH TO THE SEA.

Whenever I'm in, of course, I switch the thing ‘off, but that doesn’t help any more, either. After a week without a single call

focus

; Noel. Wright Pe]

from a friend the harsh truth is sinking in: people not only refuse to talk to a machine but hate its owner’s guts for trying to make them.

have handled this situation more professionally, as in referring this matter of a “Jewd note’ to his superior or whatever; however, are we all not guilty of threaten- ing someone at one time or another when they have angered us? I wauld imagine that statements like ‘‘hit him over the head with a baseball bat”? wouldn’t. be far off what any one of us has said when a member ef cur fami- ly has been jeopardized. You offered no sympathetic comment for Cst. Marskell’s privacy being invaded by this Mark Haggerty person.

As far as Mr. Haggerty playing it safe by bringing in his pocket-sized tape re- corder, come on, any idiot can sec he was hoping that past aggravations would help in setting Cst. Marskell off

Just like 1 did in the old days. On principle, I never uttered a word to a machine. Dammit, I'd say to myself, if the fellow can’t have the courtesy to wait patiently by the phone until I choose to call him. I -just- won’t: call him ' any more. For good measure I’d usually bang down the receiver.

‘But since last week, as

" Jack Webster is wont to

observe, it has become a case of whose ox is being gored.

Though the book warns against saying you’re not home, I’m now thinking, in desperation, of changing my message to something like the following:

“Thank you for calling. We're away for a month but the door is unlocked, so ‘do drop by and enjoy some of our nice things: the VCR and stereo, the home com- puter, the jewelry, the steri- ing silver and the hnnd-- }- buck notes we kec kitchen drawer.”

I guess that’s about the only way the machine. will ever bring me friends who don’t hate me -- and I still may not get to talk to them!

in hope that he would react such as he did. And why wasn’t there equal defence space allowed for Cst. Mar- skell? ! suppose being a municipal employee he wasn't allowed to comment.

E could go on, statement for statement, but I’m sure you've got the point,

I would appreciate my name and address being kept confidential, as I'm cun- vinced that someone of Mr. Haggerty'’s character couldn't be trusted to take

- constructive criticism but

rather retort on a destructive level. NAME WITHHELD BY REQUEST

ED NOTE: Mark Hagger- ty is not related to anyone at the North Shore News, nor is he a friend of any of our employees.