Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 23, 1979, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free july 1979 3 buyers unaware of Legal prof says by Manfred Jager Canadian Consumers Are still not As aware of their Legal rights As they should says University of Manitoba Law professor Janet in a weekend Debicka said the reasons for this Are largely psychological and Centre on the Lay mans fear of Legal she also blamed the news Media and the Legal profession for not doing enough to familiarize people with their who has pursued a number of consumer rights research projects in recent said there is a need for better dissemination of con Marks awards criticized for the brightest doing Well in High school often Means earning far More than just High there Are scholarships totalling thousands of dollars awarded at the end of every school handsome school officials believe that too Many awards Are Given for High such things As Community work or school they should also be no one seems to know just How much Money in scholarships is one Winnipeg school official said he figured about was available to each Winnipeg High yet Many schools report much higher pools than for High schools in Tran Scon Springfield receive about each and Daniel Mclntyre collegiate receives about significant plums most of the awards and the Money Are for academic excellence generally for students with the highest Grade or subject the significant plums Here Are the governor generals and Isbister in Many divisions they include school boards also Reward their top students with Winnipeg division offers and vital and Tran Scon Springfield divisions offer about in each of their it also pays to get the highest Mark in a the top French student at Nel son Mclntyre can get High history Marks Reward one Dakota collegiate student to the tune of such a school officials a nouns of students walk away All the glory and spread the a widespread the education officials contacted said they try to spread the wealth among the this sometimes Means giving awards for service to the school As Well As the governor Gener als medal and several school divisions and a few private scholarships provide such principal Anthony Romanow of Dan Iel Mclntyre would like to see even More of the wealth he said most awards Are for students with High Marks who Are going on to univer its time other Fields such As business and technical education were also he a few awards for these areas now exist in some for two Daniel Mclntyre students get each for the Best High athletic and academic and the seven Oaks Board has Worth of awards for students going into technical one division with a slightly unusual twist is it hands out eight certificates and cheques to Grade 12 students who have excelled in such things As Community physical education or school autism by Noelle Boughton push suddenly the tall social work Stu Dent stopped walked two paces in front of the shiny red and White and sat legs outstretched on the school gymnasium come Mary Joe Egan pleaded with the tiny Lightyear willing her legs to Bear Down on the tricycle Mary Annes head lolled toward her right and she stared with out focusing into the cause unknown Egan clapped his hands de manding Mary Annes head snapped towards the grinning broadly she mimicked the sound by clapping her then her head bobbed Back toward her her eyes still Mary Anne is one of the children with faraway Shes an Afflic Tion which probably Only troubles 450 Manitoban four out of five of which Are no one really knows what causes autism could be the result of a brain dysfunction in the Central nervous or just too much confusing but within their first three these who in Many other Sumer Protection information in Mani theres also a great need for More and better consumer even though several previous Manitoba governments were some of the first to introduce fairly far reaching consumer Protection the trouble with that legislation is it Hast really kept up with advances in political and consumer think provinces such As Ontario and British who came into the picture much later than now have better and More far reaching con Sumer Protection than we Debicka said the area of unconscionable practices by Sellers has Paul free pre8s shown a particular need for increased Legal Protection the Only Protection Consumers now have is to get out of the she most people Are unaware that such escape is regardless of what has been As Long As a practice such As High pressure salesmanship or the Transfer of shoddy goods or services can be demonstrated a relatively simple Legal its quite possible to get out of a contract if you have been subjected to these what you could not get is but in Ontario and you can even get damages awareness is the key to All the professor particularly in the area of consumer Protection its no Good having a unless you also have a and unless you Are aware both of the right and the now there Are remedies for the Little in terms of the Small claims in terms of the Consumers Bureau or the rentals Man or even the better business Consumers buying shoddy either with or without a Purchase or credit dont know they have and Are unaware of Liow to obtain their she gave the example of a used car buyer who feels locked into a contract with impressive clauses before the fall Rose Mcrae of Winnipeg packs a Parachute during the Canadian parachuting championships which began at Gimli air base saturday and continue until see Story on Page the present september to june school year be the Manitoba association of school trustees Mast executive Mast president Al Rouse said in a statement the executive has endorsed guidelines saying the current schedule is in the Best interest of an alternative system proposed by the Manitoba association of school superintendents would Divide the school year into four 47day with school to Start the first week in August and run through the end of although conceding this timetable would have some such As a longer Christmas break and reduced heating a Mast position paper said the University summer vacations for workers and other established procedures Are based partly on the Public school year As it now should we change now we would be out of step with our whole the paper it also charged that the Manitoba teachers society favors a 183day school society presi Dent Marilyn Thompson said yesterday the the teachers group favors the cur rent 200day miss Thompson said the society has asked the province to establish a two week break at rather than the current flexible system which sees Breaks ranging from 10 to 16 depending on which Day of the week Christmas and new years among other Tell you that you have no remedy at she said that buyer is often unaware the provincial consumer Protection act protects him if the Purchase is less than As people buying a secondhand car usually dont know that everything the seller said about the even without witnesses is automatically part of the sales a purchaser who takes notes about the claims and who later finds the Purchase does not meet the original claims has full she Debicka said the perceived threat of Legal costs whenever there is a conflict is largely a in the Small claims court Here Law yers Are but they Are not she we know from that lawyers have no greater Success rate in Small claims court than people appear ing there the Only worry claimants in Small claims court have is proving their she and that simple if you say you bought have the Bill if you say there have some proof of some evidence As to Why there Small claims courts were set up for informal 1 Al Tiv Ync 1iv at ill lab by Allan Wilson a High stakes game which could affect most Manitoban is being played Between the Manitoba Telephone sys Cable television operators and numerous companies in the Home electronics they Are fighting for a share of the massive revenues they expect to flow from a growing telecommunications including Home information not Only its but All Telephone systems in North America have to turn to this new technology because their growth has says Don Esta manager of Avo protective a burglar and fire alarm monitoring the its saturated its Market with phones Long limiting further and new technology is threatening to Cut into Lon distance which account for 60 per cent of the Utility Revenue and in part support regular Telephone income sources if other sources of Money Arent its officials admit Basic Tele phone service could become very sex in a recent Iain an its Market development said we have masses of investment in poles and lines and we dont get a return on that As a result its will spend million on an Experiment in 100 Homes in Kea Dingley in the Experiment involves burglar and fire alarms that can be remotely plus the electronic monitoring of Utility meters so they can be read without a Home fifty of the Homes will get a print information system next year which will allow them to Call up programmed information on television an Experiment involving Fibre optics transmissions is also under Way at West of with its the major Laurie Stovel of Winnipeg Videon regards the its Experiment As a threat to the Cable companies its a View shared by others in the Cable basically they Are using it All the Home system As a front to take Over the Cable said its spokesman Glenn Schneider re sponds would you really like to see this in the hands of Cable operators Stovel said cd hate to see that in the hands of the the High stakes game is if the Cable company loses control of its Plant it cant guarantee the level of service customers in Winnipeg have come to she Grant said of our mandate As a responsible Crown corporation is to serve All of he said Cable companies clip coupons and go to Monte Carlo with their Market saturated Videon since starting its Busi Ness in saturated its Market West of the red River for Cable television at a recent Canadian radio television and telecommunications Videon asked for a rate increase because it could no longer earn new Revenue by expanding in its Market Schneider said Videon is manoeuvring to add services beyond Public Tele vision to its they dont just want to be a Carrier but a provider of and that is a private to future revenues from services and equipment will be avos Estabrook said if Homes its predicts an ultimate took the fire alarm system at a month that would generate Revenue of a month or a operating costs would be about a making Way for tremendous so who controls Ai the equip decides to take Over the Busi said Good but it puts us out of supplying equipment Paul manager of National a Winnipeg electronics equip ment said a look at possible revenues from a single Extension phone gives some idea of the Money involved in supplying equipment which plugs into the Telephone a recent itt catalogue lists a regular dial Telephone in any color at bulk yet when installed As an Extension the phone generates Revenue of a or Over five Naaykens what youre writing about is an age old struggle against a monopoly All its wants to do is provide the capability to everyone to Start using the medium As a free Grant James free press ways Are Back into their own isolated worlds and find it almost impossible to relate to out of cocoons its our Job to get them out of it any Way we says education Stu Dent Maureen Groves who now work ing in the Jame Assiniboia summer program for autistic we have to get them into this we really have to pull them out of their own Little Jame Assiniboia school division introduced programming for autistic children in Manitoba Public schools when it began a Pilot program at Kirk Field Park school last the five children in the program spent the year learning the basics How to tie Brush dress by themselves and communicate in a simple sign at the end of the school officials feared that a summer off might mean the children would forget All they then if they came Back in septem Ber they have to Start at Square said so the division applied to the Feder Al government and was awarded enough funds to hire three University students for the Donna Marion teacher of the autistic in the regular school and Kirk Field Park principal Ann Masliuk volunteered to Many of the eight children Wholl be at the school this summer cant so mornings Are spent concentrating on language skills afternoons Are for Field and Home eco for those who dont talk that Means learning sign language for important words rubbing ones Tummy Means the morning is broken up into All kinds of patterns so the each adult can work individually with a changes difficult each child has a different set of Teny Earold Robbie can talk quite but he insists on walking everywhere on his and Ever since school started july Hes spent recess leaning on one special spot on the there All in different they never play says explaining that another student has spent most of his recesses constantly twirling on one but autistic children prefer life whether it be recess or classrooms to be changes Are extraordinarily difficult for them to Cope take 11yearold at the end of one session of trying to learn to ride a he angrily started smashing his elbows into the Cement Block Wall and then pounding his fists into his patient but firm frustration painfully lining his face quickly ruled out a preteen temper Marion later explained hed just moved to a new House and also had to take a bus to school his parents had always drove him both traumatic but the teachers Are patient but they give the children direct ions which they expect to be when a Childs attention bobs her face is deftly turned Back towards the who firmly repeats the crisply enunciated but firmly intruding on the Childs Progress is says but its each accomplishment brings the child one step closer to functioning the program for autistic children at Kirkfield Park is the Only operating in a Manitoba Public but Winni Peg and Norwood divisions have received funding from the department some people race around on but not this Young of education to Start similar Pilot projects in Robertson and soft Ley schools this they pedalled Down Wellington Crescent yesterday at a Pace slow enough to enable a Little ;