Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - November 01, 2008, Winnipeg, Manitoba C m y k Page a18 bracelets still on trial a s report cards go the results of six months experience in slapping electronic ankle bracelets on High risk car thieves were mediocre. Seven of the 22 chronic offenders thumbed their noses at the exercise and Cut off their bracelets and one tried. Further one youth was arrested for stealing a car while wearing the Bracelet a More Brazen act of non compliance is hard to imagine and another was arrested for curfew violation. The Good news six completed their probationary terms on the electronic monitoring program without incident and another nine Are sticking with it. That is precious few of the 120 teenagers considered to be High risk car thieves who Are targeted by a raft of corrections programs designed to watch them on the streets but it is a measure of Success and the Bracelet can claim at least some role in that. It is Tricky to set a hard goal for Success in these cases the province contends. It was always expected there would be a High number of breaches among this Crew of inveterate thieves teenagers who have repeatedly seen the inside of a courtroom or have done custodial time for their penchant for jacking other Peoples vehicles. Yet the official in charge of the program believes the ankle bracelets have paid off Overall. A number of youths wearing the bracelets went astray committed technical breaches of their terms of release into the Community but were followed up on quickly and compliance regained. It is difficult for these teenagers to stay on the straight and narrow when for example part of the probationary order is to stay away from alcohol drugs or certain individuals when All of that can be part of the culture within your own Home. If that teenager then bolts the House after curfew he is again in technical breach of the probationary order. Daily the official explained those immediately following up on breaches have made Contact with the teenagers and worked with them to keep them in compliance such As finding another Safe place to stay the night. Without that response a teenager can quickly fall into the clutch of Street life. None of that experience was captured within the accounting of the Pilot projects first six months and so remains anecdotal evidence of the Benefit of the $ 336,000 program. Equally significant is the fact that those who Cut and run were caught on average within three to four Days. With that kind of response the Standard three or six hour curfew Check that others on probation must comply with would have been just As useful. It has been a Long expensive Road to driving Down the frequency of car thefts in Winnipeg and police statistics show that All the efforts together have worked and were producing results prior to the launch of the ankle Bracelet project. Expanding electronic monitoring to cover even half those High risk offenders would Cost $ 1 million a year. Before the province decides this program is Cost effective it should see that those who Cut and run Are caught much faster. The broader evidence of the programs Benefit to suppressing car thefts must also be documented. Editorials Winnipeg free press saturday november 1, 2008 Freedom of Trade Liberty of religion Equality of civil rights a 18 comment editor Gerald flood 697 7269 Gerald. Flood free press. My. Ca Winnipeg repress. Com have your say the free press welcomes letters from readers. They must include the authors name address and Telephone number. Letters May be edited. Letters to the editor 1355 Mountain Avenue Winnipeg r2x 3b6. Fax 697 7412. E mail letters free press. My. Ca letters represent the opinions of their writers and do not reflect the opinions of the Winnipeg free press or its staff. Poll vote online at wow. Winnipeg repress. Com do the math on nurses re or nurses needed oct. 30. I read your article about the nursing shortage through gritted Teeth gritted with frustration at the system itself. From my perspective the Issue is far More critical than just nursing working conditions. The number of people allowed to be nurses in Manitoba is controlled by the Post secondary institutions in Manitoba. The government of Manitoba has decided that each Post secondary institution could have one nursing program and then decided which institution got which program red River diploma in u of m and Brandon u in Assiniboine College Len. These institutions decide their capacity for enrolment. If there is no capacity for Community groups or institutions to compete or at least to meet demand the problem will not go away. The math is simple How Many nurses Are we training and How Many do we need Rhonda Mccorriston Winnipeg give profs More Money re the poet president oct. 31. If our poet president of the University of Manitoba is to see a thousand Flowers Bloom the size of the faculty then someone is going to have to attend to their watering. It is Nice to have $ 100 million spent on renovations and $ 150 million on a sports stadium but where is the investment in innovation that expected third Arm of teaching Community service and research that makes universities the driving engine of our Economy and culture i would like to see president David Barnard report on the distribution of research funds. He will find a significant fraction of professors either begging for pittance from local Grant agencies or having Given up asking. Every business provides its employees with the basics to get their Job done except the University. Professors Are expected to get Grants for phone postage paper pencils Chalk computers assistants i. A graduate and postdoctoral students and every bit of Laboratory equipment or Field work expenses. None of this is provided except a pittance of $ 1,600 per year which includes support of teaching. Someone needs to come Forward to invest in every faculty member say $ 25,000 per year each a Small fraction compared to their salaries. With 1,170 faculty members this would Cost Only $ 30 million per year. Richard Gordon department of radiology u of m so much for expert advice re were glad to be Bac oct. 30. Free press editor Margo Good hands announcement of expanding the business Section with More investment advice from the National Post and the venerable still financial Post is ironic. It would be More informative to do a Survey of the Many thousands of canadians who have seen their savings and pensions evaporate because they listened to these so called experts. The emperor has been shown once again to have no clothes. Too bad i retired last year from teaching economics. I would have had so much contemporary evidence on How the free for the Rich Market operates when it comes to managing wealth. On the other hand in the last few weeks i did receive messages from several students of Yore telling me How my historical examples of crashes had helped them understand the mess so often inflicted on society in the past and now again. Jesse Vorst Winnipeg great statue wrong name i opened up the thursday paper and made it to Page a5 and stopped. The sculpture is amazing John Hirsch and Tom Hendry have brought so much to our City beginning with theatre 77 to where Manitoba theatre Centre is today. The idea is a great tribute to two men who had a vision and to this Day brought Over 500 plays and Many great actors to Winnipeg. Its unbelievable that it is 50 years already. I cannot understand How Ruth Abernethy titled her statue imagine. John Lennon was also a great visionary and a pea Cenik. And Why she would steal his title is beyond me. Thirty seven years later maybe she has never heard it Sung before. Hans Lodewyks Winnipeg dont pay for unions re should taxpayers cover Cost of surgery province supports flight attendant oct. 31. Isnit that Why the health act was created now on the other hand i want to ask this question should taxpayers cover the Cost of unions especially air Canadas flight attendants Union the obvious answer is a resounding no i dont pay taxes to support unions. But now that i think about it Isnit this the doer nip isms unions before business we All know where doer came from. Robert Brisebois Ste. Anne a scary situation re Obama a false Prophet oct. 31. Its scary that people like letter writer Paul Kokoski from Hamilton still exist in our world. Paul Kre Stanowich Winnipeg keep pot user out of jail re medical pot crusader found guilt oct. 30. More proof that the Law is an ass. This Man be going to jail he should be getting the order of Canada. But Many criminal growers and traffickers get House arrest and or. Henry Morgentaler got the order of Canada. Now this jury will Send a dying Man to jail where he will Likely die simply because he was helping sick people. As a federally licensed medical marijuana user i too am ashamed to be a Canadian. Russell Barth Nepean ont. Ban the Taser re sex Selkirk Man Dies after tapering oct. 30. When Are they going to abolish tasers they have now killed More than two dozen people with these deadly things in the name of Law enforcement. If they had shot these two dozen people they Likely would have survived and recuperated. They can always shoot people in the Arm or the leg if they Are running away and this would not kill them. I get so angry every time i hear about another Taser death. Police Are supposed to be protecting people not killing anybody that they suspect of wrongdoing. Please ban the Taser Joan e. Coombe Winnipeg Winnipeg free press est 1872 / Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 vol 136 no 334 2008 Winnipeg free press a division of up Canadian newspapers limited partnership published seven Days a week at 1355 Mountain Avenue Winnipeg Manitoba r2x 3b6, pm 697 7000 a member of the Manitoba press Council Bob Cox / publisher Margo Goodhand / editor to Days question what do you think about a new Casino being built near Brandon previous question do you support the provinces decision to file a lawsuit against air Canada in a bid to save the flight attendant base in Winnipeg yes 71% no 29% total 1,583 letter of the Day parental licences wrong re License prospective Parent oct. 31. If somebody discusses parenting licences i think the concept of eugenics must first be explained. Eugenics is the self direction of human evolution. By issuing licences for parenting it Means we must judge people either fit or unfit to have children and thus we maintain a survival of the fittest mentality and change the direction of evolution. Eugenics was actually a Large part of hitlers nazi regime and everybody knows How that turned out except he called it racial Hygiene. Whosto sit on the selection committee and what will the criteria be what one deems unacceptable could be perfectly acceptable to others. Are traditionally White Canadian Christian values the Best parenting values and would we impose these upon everybody parenting differs As much within cultures As it does across cultures and there is no Way to implement a program like this without severely discriminating against others no matter their race religion ethnicity sexual orientation age abilities or wealth. Resources on parenting Are available and i believe in informing not imposing. Joel Charriere Winnipeg last Call in the car Manitoban will soon have to get used to turning off their cellphones while driving under new legislation the government is planning to introduce later this year. Its unclear at this Point however whether the legislation will permit motorists to use hands free phones or the other electronic gadgets and distractions that can be used in vehicles such As phones that receive to signals satellite navigation systems Black Berrys and even fax machines and printers. Banning the use of cellphones and possibly Black Berrys while driving is a Good Start but the legislation should not be so narrow that it permits hands free communication. The objection to using cellphones while driving Isnit that it ties up one hand rather its conversation that is the distraction and the threat to Safe motoring. An upset child or angry spouse on the other end of the line May be All it takes to switch a Drivers focus from the Road ahead to the emotional problems at Home or at work. A passenger engaged in spirited conversation with the Driver can be a distraction too but theress a huge difference Between that kind of dialogue and the one that unfolds on a cellphone. A passenger has the same situational awareness As the Driver and would normally Stop talking when the Driver is focused on a manoeuvre or even Point out potential threats. None of that is possible in a cellphone conversation. In fact the natural tendency is to continue the phone dialogue even under tense driving conditions. There is growing evidence that cellphone use in cars is dangerous so much evidence in fact that More than 40 countries including Britain Australia Sweden Israel and Norway have imposed nationwide bans. Critics will argue that it is dangerous to walk and use a cellphone but the risk to the general Public caused by an inattentive pedestrian is not As great As an out of control car. In an Ideal world common sense would prevail and motorists would turn off their cellphones when they Start their engines. Most people dont read the newspaper while driving because the risks Are obvious but the temptation of a Telephone conversation in the car has been too hard to resist for most motorists particularly Young people who have been raised on a steady diet of gadgetry. The addiction will be hard to break for some people but then it has taken Many years to get motorists to buckle up a Law that is still flouted mainly by older citizens who grew up in a different Era. For those who cant break the habit Well theress always Public transit at least until new automobile technology allows us to drive eat hamburgers read the newspaper and talk on the phone without fear of getting into an Accident. 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