Page 4, The Herald, Thursday, December 14, 1978 TERRACE/KITIMAT daily herald General Office - 635-6357 Circulation - 635-6357 PUBLISHER - Laurie Mallett GEN. MANAGER - Knox Coupland EDITOR - Greg Middleton CIRCULATION - TERRACE - Andy Wightman 635-6357 KITIMAT - Pat Zelinski KITIMAT OF FICE - 632-2747 Published every weekday at 3212 Kalum Street, Terrace, B.C. A member of Varified Circulation. Authorized as second class matt. Registration number 7201. Postage pald in cash, return postage quaranteed. NOTE OF COPYRIGHT The Herald retains full, complete and sole copyright in any advertisement produced and-or any editorlal or photographic content published in the Herald. Reproduction 1s not permitted ‘without the written permission of the Publisher. Published by Sterling Publishers 632-2747 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Dear Editor, I fully agree with “Rock music doesn’t soothe” by Thomas Atrill in today's Herald. I too am sick of the tapes that CFTK plays over and over. Somebody in that office is getting his wages easy. Every nut can play tapes in a studio. What we need there is a man or lady who has some knowledge of music, somebody with. an intelligent mind and a degree in music, The selection of tapes and records for the air waves is a responsible job that only an artistic person, who loves music can do. For sure not a kid, just out of school, who heard nothing but rock during his short lifetime. Now that the Christmas season is here I like to hear music dealing with the birth of Christ and not just folklore like Jingle Bells, The Twelve Days of Christmas and other such stuff. I like to say ‘Thank you” to the children of the Uplands School, who gave such a fine performance in the R.E.M. Lee Theatre, all about the real Christmas.. Also the singing of carols in theSkeena Mall, by the choir of the Thornhill Elementary School, was superb, I just had been reading some books about Russia, where the children are being taught by the state (that there is no God) and where it is a crime to educate your own children according to the will of God. Thank God for true religious liberty in Canada, where kids can sing religious songs in a shopping mall. Are we on the alert to . defend this liberty? It is being attacked through the media, and communism is being taught in schools and colleges, right here in Terrace, We need more Christian teachers to counteract this trend. Have a blessed Christmas folks. Bill Homburg CONSUMER | COMMENT 5 Planning a move? Before you hire a mover; . check his reputation with the nearest Better Business Bureau, or find out if he’s a member of the Professional Movers division of the Automotive Transport Association (ATA). Members must meet established standards and abide by’ a code of ethics. You can get a list of members from the ATA office at 4090 Graveley Street, Burnaby, B.C, V5C 3T6. The telephone number is 299-7409. Charges for local moves are based on the length of time the moving van is in use. The charge begins when the van leaves the moving company and continues until it returns. This also applies to long distance moves. The weight of your goods and the distance they are to be fransported from the basis on which your moving charge is calculated. The moving van is weighed before and after your goods are loaded. The difference between the two figures Is the welght of your goods. - Before you call the movers to get estimates (you should get several), go through your possessions and do some judicious culling. There’s.no paint in paying to have useless odds and ends transported thrown aut. somewhere else to be Make a list of the items to be moved and be sure the estimator sees them all. A good estimator should be able to come within 10 percent of the actual weight of your goods, but remember his figure is only an estimate. The actual figure will not be established until the truck is weighed after loading. Proceed cautiously if one estimate is con- considerably lower than the others. Some companies will deliberately underestimate the weight just to get your bsuiness. Once the goods are loaded and weighed you'l! find the welght -- and therefore the cost -- much greater than you were led to expect. Be sure vou understand the compensation available in case of damage. Unless you arrange for special coverage, Insurance on your goods is usually limited to 60 cents per pound (30 cents on local moves). Thus a claim on a last $22 suit, assuming it weighed three pounds, could be limited to 90 cents if the move was local, $1.80 if It was a long-distance move. Unless the mover did the packing, you may not even be able to claim that amount. If possible, go with the driver to the weighing scale fo verlfy the weight of your goods. If you can’t go with him, call the company a few hours After the truck leaves and get the weight fram them. It's Important to know the exact figure because the driver will not untoad the truck until paymen: in cash, money-order or certified cheque Is recelved. If you don’t have the right amount on hand when the truck arrives, your goods will be placed in storage and the cost added to your bill. Be there yourself, or have a reliable person present when your goods are unloaded and note any damaged or missing items on the bill of lading. Is a savings of $20 a year worth the risk of battery failure, cable problems, tire wear, hose problems, engine wear due to lack of oil and perhaps a costly service jeall? The British Columbia Automobile Association doesn’t think so. If average motorists use about 500 gallons of gas a year, $20 would be the approximate savings. The auto club is all for saving the consumer money, but not if it’s going to cost more in the long run. That's exactly what recent studies by the BCAA’s af- filiated club club in Ontarto have revealed. Ina one year study on the effects of self-serve stations, an amazing 45 percent in- crease in battery and cable problems on vehicles using self-serve stations was , turned up. Many dry or near dry batteries were found and _& large number of batteries and cables were extremely corroded, These two simple WN AAW ari Mw BE } pt Hem, | SELF SERVE STATIONS | Are they worth the risks items alone could lead to roadside failures and costly service calls combined with expensive _ battery replacements. . Tire pressure problems too, increased by 43 percent for vehicles frequenting self- serves, Low tire pressure for prolonged periods of driving at high speeds con damage a tire beyond repair, resulting im premature wear and in some cases violent blow- outs, The premature failure of a radial tire can be not only expensive but also dangerous. This same upward trend was also noted in the 41 percent increase in oil level problems and the marked increase in belt and hose defects, Low oil levels in engines, power steering and +, automatic transmissions can ~tause premature wear. The failure of a fan belt or cooling hese can leave you stranded. All of, these checks can be performed very quickly by attendants at a THANKYOU FOR WORKING ror us! Tes full service gas station if you ask. The most basic problem noticed by the Ontario club, which initially led to the study was the increase in the number of vehicles presented at their inspection station with hoods that were difficult to open — for the very simple reason that the opening mechanisms had become corroded and stiff from lack of use. These vehicles, too, habituated self-serve stations, not full service, Obviously, says the BCAA, self-serve gas stations are here to stay. In recent years oil companies have been systematically increasing the number of them:-and'thus reducing the number of outlets offering service and repairs, The oil companies tell us that these changes are necessary to operate economically. The ultimate goal of most of them is to convert one-third to one-half of their fuel outlets to self. serve, Thus there is no way that self-serve stations can be | “forming *” these ignored. But there are steps that average motorists can take to live with them mare comfortably, without neglecting their vehicles. All motorists must learn to perform basic under-the- hood checks on their own or arrange to have them per- formed regularly. “Tt ‘only takes one ar two minutes to check fluid levels, belts, hoses, battery and tire pressures. Motorists who take the care’ of their automobiles seriously should obtain a tire gauge and not rely on service station gauges for accuracy. The tire gauge and a clean rag ls all that is required to carry out the checks. Per- checks regularly and adhering to the manufacturer's recommended maintenance schedule will minimize overall operating costs and extend the life of the vehicle. Motorists who do not know the proper way to check the basic components and wish to learn, should consult either their owners’ manual, the BCAA or a_ goo mechanic. TOKYO (AP) — Decayed railways, costly air travel, too few buses and too many automobiles—that's the U.5. transportation system in the eyes of one Chinese jour- nalist who visited America. Class differences in America “apparently are not reflected primarily by whether one has a car or not, but by whether one has a Zood car or « bad car, or one car or many cats,” journal- ist Li Yen-ning told newspaper readers in China, & country where personal use of autos is virtually non- existent. Li, a member of a Chinese journalists’ delegation that toured the United States for three weeks, wrote a series on American transport in Peking’s official newspaper, People’s Daily. He said he was told that having a car was an unavoidable burden in the United States. MANCHESTER, England (CP) — The date of your birth has a strong effect on ‘your personality, but it has nothing to do with the stars, says Pof. Alan Smithers, a paychologist at Manchester University, “My guess is that the ex- planation lies in some com- bination of hereditary and climatic causes," he told a recent conference on astrology. “It depends on where and when you were born and the kind of weather prevailing at the time.” Smithers, 40, says his findings were based on a survey among 600 teen IN CHINESE EYES | | American transportation is a mess “A vicious circle has formed,” he wrote. “The more public transportation remains undeveloped, the more private cars there are, and the more development of public transportation can’t advance.” Li said that his only American train trip, irom Washington, D.C., to Philadephia, was un- forgettable, At the entrance to the Washington station, “you simply couldn't tell it was a railroad station, because you couldn't see any travellers going in or out,” he wrote. He enjoyed the train's air conditioning and found the seats comfortable, but riders were so few that “you could imagine it was running at a big loss.” “The train’s speed was faster than our country's railroads, but the strong shaking was something we had not experienced in China oy a number of trips on European trains. Coffee spilled out of the cups. The roadbed certainly was in rather a mess,’ Li wrate, ‘Surprisingly, the American friends ac- companying us said this Washington-New York sec- tion of railroad was America’s best.” He said that in Europe and America, because of com- petition from cars and planes, railways are decaying. “This wasn’t news to us, But that they had decayed to such a degree in America, this was somehwat unex- pected.” He sald the “capitalists who grew immensely rich" from railways in the past don’t see any profit in renovating them now, and the government is more interested in spending money on highways, Air transportation is BUT NOT STARS THOUGH agers. He says persons born in May (Taurus or Gemini) are likely to be quiet and bookish. Persons barn in De- cember (Sagittarius or Capricorn) probably are sociable and impulsive. “In general,” he says, "I found that the later in the year your birthday is, the more extrovert you are ikely to be,” Summer and his research ssociate, Prml Joseph Coo Yorkshire, found that stable, dependable people were likely to be born between May and July. Those with birthdays in March ar April r of Bradford College, Your birth date has an tend to be “anxious, wor- rying types.”’ People born between December and March are the mostlikely to suffer from skin diseases while those born in June or July are the least likely to have them, they found. Those with birth- days in January or February are more likely to suffer from schizophrenia (split personality) than those born between June and August. Smithers says his in- vestigation revealed thal physique, [nlelligence, proneness to illness, success at school or college and cholce of occupation are ali, to some extent, related to the trequent, with good and widespread connections, Li wrole, but flights are ex- pensive, In nine cities the Chinese visited, trolleys and buses were few, and it wasn't unusual to wait more than 10 minutes for a bus, he said, adding that only a few cities had subways. The area in which China has the most to Jearn from America is water transport, especially through the Mississippi and the Great Lake systems, Li wrote. Mississippi barge tran- sport can move freight at one-fifth to one-half of the cost by train, and one-eighth to one-twentieth the cost by truck, “For our country, with its vast river network and serious insufficiency of railroads and highways, the Mississippi River system's transport is a rich in- spiration,” Li said. effect time a person is born. He himself was born under Taurus (April 21May 20)and is therefore “introverted quiet and bookish,” "Most provessore are,”’ he says, “and my wife certaini thinks [ am.” J Lillaa Bertrand of Roch- dale, Lancashire, a studen| of astrology, says Smithers is quibbling when he says his findings had nothing to do with the stars. “History shows that wise men have always learned from the stars, and the professor's findings in his study of 600 teenagers are related in many instances to the findings of astrologers.”’ OTTAWA OFFBEAT BY RICHARD JACKSON OTTAWA - Et happens to them all when they resent- fully face the fact that they have fallen from public ‘favor. "No prime minister can accept it gracefully, Net after experiencing the delights that supreme power bestows. It’s never their fault when it starts coming to an end. And it's all so sudden. They can go on for years * with their ups and downs, plus here and minus there, their highs and lows, but never anything terminal. Then overnight, it seems, it falls apart. Never are they at fault. Never can they accept responsibility. Always someone else must be blamed. Perhaps it's only human that after reaching the pinnacle of success — what higher office and hanor in the lend is there than prime minister — failure is im- possible to accept. To salvage any shred of self-esteem from an ego shattered by threatened public rejection, the falling political idol must point the accusing finger of blame. Invariably, as with ail prime ministers from Mackenzie King until today with Pierre Trudeau, it's the press. Governments slip and begin falling, andthe always useful and regularly used phrase in official circles is: There goes the rotten press again. - Mackenzie King said it, but had the good sense to leave voluntarily, retiring, before the Liberals pushed him out of power’s door. But he didn't want to go, and died within a year, a lonely and embittered man in the isolation of his very ordinary white frame house at" '-Kingsmere. in the ‘Gatineau‘Hills:' Louis St. Laurent said it, but following the lead of his mentor Mackenzie King, jumped before he was pushed, Lester Pearson said it, and it was a tossup whether he was slipping and sliding left willingly with a full and happy heart or was hurried along by Pierre Trudeau, . For Trudeau, after win- ning the Liberal leadership, took over just two days before Pearson had planned — and was anticipating — celebration of his fifth an- niversary in power. And John Diefenbaker said it, with reason, too, for as he from power, the majority of the Parliamentary Press Gallery openly contrived to grease the skids. “To work men’’, shouted a Torontonews correspondent, rallying the largely anti-Dief Press Gallery, ‘we have a government to destroy.” — The press and “they” were to blame, charged Dief, “they” being all these “enemies” at work “out there”’. And now comes Pierre Trudeau with thé same cry against the press, and oddly enough, those same “enemies”. ': Only this time, incredibly, Trudeau identifies those “enemies” as, pointing an accusing finger, ‘“‘the public.” ‘ Imagine, blaming the very people on whom he will be counting for votcs next election. ; That's a prime ministey-in extremis. This time, though, he’s figured a way to beat the “rotten press.” He switched his sup- posedly regular weekly but now decidedly unregular press conference from the National Press Building to the Federal Conference Centre. That way, one of his stooges can control the conference, blocking hostile questions and allowing’ “sweetheart" queries. . _Not to complete control ‘he is inviting palace favorites:in the press to cozy little tete-s- tetes where all is sweetness and light. But the record stands, between his own quotes, the public is the “enemy" and the press the villain. THINK BY JIM SMITH SMALL Losing Both Ways Several decades ago, amar- vellous new chemical was in- troduced to destroy ptant- eating insecis, a scourge of na- ture. Unfortunately, however, il turned out to have a couple of unexpected flaws. For one, the insects built up resistance to the chemical. For another, the chemical killed animals as wellas insects. So weno longer use DDT. During World War 1, an incredible new vaccine was dis- covered to cure everything from the common cold to V.D. Unfortunately, the ultimate ‘result was a new strain of penl- cillia-resistant germs. Once upon a time, we used lead as a base in paints, alumi- hum wiring and 9 drug called Thatidomide. Now we don't, The point? Sometimes sci- ence really doesn'| have much freedom in devising cures, The cost of one cure may be a brand new disease, The some restrictions apply to government economic poli- cles. One useful case in point: the Bank of Canada's Insis- tence on raising literest rates to protect ihe Canadian dol- ” lar and maintain a semblance of health in our international capital balances, Ralsing the Bank Rate - which results In correspond. logly higher rates within the commerciat banking system - lures foreign investment funds into the country, taking some of the downward pressure off the dotlar and compensating, Int part, for the billions of dol- lars which feave this country every year, ‘ But saving the dollar and improving the international capital balance through ad- justments in taterest rates are only accomplished at disturb- lngly thigh cost in another area. Business expansion is slawed and unemployment rises, The pressure on business ls a Iwo-pronged attack. First, * business finds that havestment - In new capital equipment or |‘ factories costs more, sa invest- ment plans are shelved, Then customers discover that their own finance costs are higher, so they cut back on purchases: _ faced with declining dentend, businesses that can afford to expand decide that they no longer have a markel gap ito fill. Many Industries - such as construction and heavy equip- ment - depend on constant business expansion, Postpone- ment of business expansion {because of the Inpact of higher interest rates) creates unem- ployment in these industries. And that, in (urn, will cause unemployment in other indus- (res, Full recovery can re- : quire years of corrective eco. nomic measures. : We've been caught in this -+ sort of bind before. Remem- 2°" | her the mixed blessing of ine secileides. The Bank of Ca- nada’s tconomlc polley isthe + DDT of modern economics.. We could be paying for the Bank's actions a long, longtime. “Think smail” is an aditorial message Irom the Canadian Federation of Independent Business< :