Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - September 12, 1999, Winnipeg, Manitoba Think tank dismisses school districts by Manfred Jager staff reporter a senior staff member of a Public policy think tank recommends abolishing school districts in Manitoba. Dennis Owens of Winnipeg a Frontier Centre for Public policy wants a system of Independent schools to compete with each other for students As Well As teaching excellence and learning achievement. The schools would be financed through annual Public school vouchers issued to parents by the government. The schools parents choose to Send their children to would receive the voucher. The voucher system would be carried by the provinces general Revenue tax system. Public school financing through property taxes would end. Schools that can to compete would Wither on the Vine and eventually fold. As for the provincial education department Owens sees its role As nothing More than that of a a super copy setting and enforcing school standards. Owens made his Points in a speech to a one Day Frontier Centre conference on the future of Public schools. About 70 school trustees teachers academics administrators and parents participated in the meeting at the University of Manitoba. Owens criticized today a school system As far too expensive and in dire need of paring. During the Early years of the postwar baby Boom educating children up to Grade 12 Cost one third of what it costs today. More expensive As Well As becoming More expensive education administered by Large school boards tends is becoming less effective Owens said. . Studies show that students in Small jurisdictions outperform those in larger school districts on standardized achievement tests he said. Student achievement is linked to the percentage of funding derived from local sources he added. As responsibility for school funding has shifted to state governments from local governments productivity in the larger school districts Falls by up to three per cent a year Owens said. In Manitoba a when we strip out the effects of inflation real spending per student increased almost four fold Between 1960 and 1994 a there were 205,584 students and 8,101 teachers one teacher for 25.4 students in 1960, costing $63,859,000 or $310 per student. In 1994, student numbers had increased to 221,747 and teachers to 12,715 with a teacher student ratio of 17.4. Provincial school expenditure meanwhile had risen to $1,467,811,000 or $6,619 per student. In the system Owens envisions Law amendments would enable parents to use school vouchers in All accredited religious and secular private schools in Manitoba. The system a would swing control Over schools to parents. Schools that failed to perform adequately would lose their students. Schools that succeed would be constantly forced to rethink their policies and curricula in the direction of constant improvement. Schools would be allowed to become financially autonomous with elected boards of parents and teachers acting As governing councils. Education minister Jim Mccrae said the provincial government has already Given parents a greater Choice of schools and has financially encouraged school divisions to merge to make the system More efficient. 4 withering on the Vine for some schools is not an option however a the minister said. A if a school in Rural or Northern Manitoba were to fold that Way you a still have to educate the kids in the Jean Friesen nop education critic said Owens system a puts Faith in the Market system but the Market system is not accountable its not fair and it is a we believe the Public school system with elected trustees has served the Public Well and has meant that everyone is treated equally regardless of who they Are where they live or How much Money they Fred Greenslade Winnipeg free press River dance Amie Perleberg of Jamestown . Keeps it on the straight and narrow yesterday after being dropped off by a charter boat at the Forks. Winnipeg a River Walkway was closed Friday because of flooding and Public works director Jim Thomson said heavy Rains in the United states Are expected to raise River Levels Here next week. Young amputees learn to level playing Field a Keystroke at a time prostate patients get in line cancer treatment moves slowly by Ross Romaniuk for the free press even in these enlightened times workplaces and schools can present daunting challenges to the disabled. But Cameron Adamson and thousands of amputees like him Are learning to level the playing Field a one Keystroke at a time. The 15-year-old Winnipeg Ger has joined close to to other disabled teens from across the Prairies this weekend to pass on some computer tips experience and a Little Friendly advice to 117 Young amputees converging on the Lombard hotel. The child amputees a or champs a ranging from toddling age to 20 a Are in town from across the West for the War amps Western child amputee seminar. While the annual conference has several goals one of the biggest is letting disabled youth know about the High tech tools that Are making life without limbs a Little easier than it used to be. A especially for super champs those missing three or More limbs its especially hard for them to get to the Library a said Adamson a senior 3 student at Murdoch Mackay collegiate. A the computer expands the playing Field so they no longer need the Book. They can just use the born without a femur Bone and confined to a wheelchair Adamson has been fortunate. The War amps jump Start program has provided him with a computer and educational software to learn about web pages and How to surf the internet. Each year More than 120 champs use the jump Start program to get their hands on in Home technology that a paid for entirely by the War amps key tag program. Single handed and on screen keyboards of various sizes Are just some of the a was sistine devices that Are helping disabled youth keep up with others said Brian Wade. A 24-year-old education development coordinator Wade used one of yesterdays sessions to show the Junior counsellors a All of them use prosthetic limbs or other devices a How computers have been the great equalizer in his Job experiences. A i kind of open up their mind to what a person with a disability can do a said Wade himself a quadruple amputee. By Alexandra Paul and Helen falling staff reporters four to five month Long wait to get treatment for prostate cancer the second leading cause of cancer death in Canadian men threatens to get longer in Manitoba due to a dire Lack of medical and radiation experts. A if you get a diagnosis of cancer you want treatment now. A 20-week wait for radiation is five months and that a scary a said Norm Oman a member of the Manitoba prostate cancer support group which represents 1,200 men with prostate cancer. The province is losing a noted cancer specialist or. Milton to who is moving to Surrey b. C., at the end of the month to do the same work he was doing Here As a radiation oncologist. Long wait Joe Cermak of Pine River North of Dauphin had been counting on to to treat him in Winnipeg but will now have to go to Toronto. Diagnosed with Early stage prostate cancer in february Cermak is taking expensive drugs to keep his cancer in Check while he Waits for treatment. Cermak told his Story at a news conference in Swan River this week called by nip la Rosann Wowchuk who is campaigning for re election. Connie Cermak said her husbands doctor explained that Low dose radiation seed implants Are no longer available in Winnipeg. A this exact words were a thanks to the Filmon Winnipeg urologist or. I in Leboldus said he a aware of the departure of a second radiation oncologist recently from Winnipeg and said a third is also thinking of moving. A Manitoba Isnit the easiest place to recruit doctors to a he said. A we Are noted for having Low fees and High the situation is so bad Leboldus said he and other specialists put patients in a holding pattern prescribing expensive hormone therapy to keep the cancer from spreading before its treated. A not All prostate cancers Are slow growing a Leboldus said. A if they Are Gate West Coin Ltd. One of Canadas largest Coin dealers and official Canadian mint distributors we buy and soil All coins Gold Silver paper Money Militaria and belated collectables All current mint products available at mint Issue Price 1711 Corydon at Lanark 489-9112 Canada s major Coin Market maker High Grade cancer they can Meta size spread while we watch them so patients Are put on the holding pattern retards Tumour growth but it is costly financially and emotionally for patients. Hormone shots Cost $1,200 and Are Given once every three months in addition to pills that Cost $700 a month. Leboldus added the current wait is 19 weeks from the time a patient is seen by a radiation oncologist to treatment. In Thunder Bay and b a the wait is two weeks. A the ones who wait the longest Are the ones relegated for radiotherapy and that wait is the one that should be the shortest a Leboldus said. The 19-week wait is a on top of the wait to see your family doctor and the at the Manitoba cancer treatment and research foundation executive director or. Brent Schacter dismissed concerns Over a shortage of specialists or equipment. Out of to doctors one left this summer and was replaced and to will also be replaced Schacter said. Radiation therapist shortage he said Manitoba is the victim of a National shortage of radiation therapists who run the machines and guide patients through radiation. Three therapists Are due to come on staff two others will return from maternity leave this fall leaving Only two vacancies. Shift changes and overtime Are adding hours to Cut the waiting lists Down to size Over the next six months Schacter added. A the waiting list is too Long. Basically our problem has been to hire the staff to extend the hours. We have the funding. But we be hit this Brick Wall because there Are so Many vacancies a Schacter said. Prostate cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in men. One out of every three men diagnosed with prostate cancer die from the disease. Annual statistics jointly compiled by statistics Canada and the National cancer Institute project that 16,600 new cases will be diagnosed this year including 700 in Manitoba. Last year the actual number of new cases however was far higher at 866. Across Canada in 1999, it is projected another 4,100 men will die of it including 180 Here. Cooler Heads prevail for Good cause Boris Minkevich Winnipeg free press Wade left works with Adamson. The conference will cover a lot of ground before it wraps up tomorrow. Just As important As the technical training said Adele Fifield is learning to Deal with the emotional and social implications of life As an amputee. That can mean enduring names ranging from Captain Hook to Peg leg and everything in Between said the prosthetic and counselling specialist. Its when the amputee enters the adolescent world of dating and driving that the insults Hurt the most. A in fact your amputation can be a useful tool to Weed out those whom you want to Date anyway a she said. The teen counsellors will show participants How to respond to a variety of awkward social situations through conference sessions called what bugs me and teen talk. Other workshops Are aimed at showing Job seeking amputees various ways of getting around employer prejudice. By Jeff Solmundson for the free press paramedics firefighters and police officers in Selkirk yesterday paid $500 and up just to get their Heads shaved but no one is complaining. John Mackay is a Selkirk paramedic and organized the towns first Charity head shaving event. He said nine volunteers raised at least $6,000 for the Manitoba cancer treatment and research foundation. Mackay was among those who decided to part with their hair. A fall of the sudden it got cooler i think it dropped about two degrees. You done to realize How much insulation is up there a he said. Mackay and his workmates bared their scalps for children with cancer. As a paramedic Mackay sometimes takes Young cancer patients to the Hospital in Winnipeg. He says nothing is harder to watch than children suffering from cancer. A it takes an exceptional person to work with children with cancer. I would be too emotional. My hats off to them a he said. A my hairs off to head shaving fund raisers were started by a police officer in Australia in 1995 but the idea has caught on recently in Canada Britain and the United states. 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