The Fitzhugh - Letters

Letters

The Fitzhugh welcomes complaints, praise, damnation and any other form of response to what you read in our newspaper. Diverse and varied opinions are welcome. Letters can be submitted by This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , fax, snail mail or in person to our offices at 626 Connaught Drive. The Fitzhugh reserves the right to accept or refuse any or all material submitted for publication and maintains the right to exercise discretion in these matters. The Fitzhugh reserves the right to edit all submissions for libel, length, content and style. Please limit letters to 600 words. Letters must include your name and phone number or email, for verification purposes. WE DO NOT PUBLISH ANONYMOUS LETTERS!

September 2, 2010

Being the best little shrub

With regards to “In Pursuit of Greater Education” it would seem that both parties are correct. Given the premise that all men are not created equal, I believe the words of an old song say it best: “If you can’t be a pine on the top of the hill, be a shrub in the valley but be the best little shrub on the side of the hill. Be a bush if you can’t be a tree.”

Just remember that a tree bears a great variety of fruit and never underestimate the power of a bush; the closing lines of the same song are paramount: “We can’t all be captains, there’s got to be a crew, there’s something for all of us here.” Yes, in this sense, all men are created equal.

That fire in the belly needs stoking, not quenching and if Brentwood is the stoker, so be it! Congratulations Desmond Kong on all of your accomplishments thus far. Enjoy your studies abroad!

Harold and Donna Schultz

Re: Pakistan Editorial

This week’s Guardian details the impacts of the Pakistan flooding disaster:

•UN warns 3.5 million children are at risk from deadly waterborne diseases

•20 million people are affected by the disaster and a cholera scare

•UN’s Secretary General Banki Moon stated he had never seen such devastation and that the world must stand with Pakistan – but not the Fitzhugh apparently.

How many dead, starving, displaced, cholera-struck refugees have to happen before the editor approves help? This financing help seems to be one of the few good things the federal government has done. In Pakistan, due to governmental procrastinating Cyclone Bhola caused approximately 500,000 deaths in 1970. Corruption is rampant, appointments are too often “inherited” and assassinations and military takeover are always a threat. Their present PM has had time in gaol for corruption.

Your editorial appears somewhat smug, coming from the comfort of Jasper.

Serving in the Indian Army in the 1940s, I was stationed in three hard-hit areas, the NWFP, Nowshera and the Sindh Desert. The locals are mostly sturdy farming types, too many living on less than $2 a day. They are suffering an unbelievable disaster, one that we in Canada cannot even imagine. They deserve all the help we can give.

To avoid the corruption we can subscribe to agencies operating in Pakistan such as the UN, or to ENGOs like UNICEF and MSF.

Basil Seaton

Long-gun portion of the national gun registry

The Government of Alberta has long supported the abolishment of the long gun portion of the national firearms registry.

Our priority as a government is to support police efforts to make our communities safer, and we believe this registry has not contributed to this goal in a meaningful way.

As such, we view the long-gun registry as an ineffective use of taxpayers’ dollars; dollars that could be better used to combat serious and violent crime. Registering long guns does not prevent their use in the commission of crimes.

Under the leadership of our Premier, the Alberta government supports a comprehensive approach to the prevention, awareness and enforcement of crime through innovation and cooperative solutions, which includes actions to strengthen legislation to better handle firearms offenses. We feel that this is the best way to make our communities safer and make a real impact on reducing serious and violent crime.

Hon. Alison Redford, Minister of Justice
Hon. Frank Oberle, Solicitor General

August 26, 2010

Nuclear?

This issue may try to be forced down every ones throats by our own ill informed Provincial Government.

Please just look up the true science facts for yourself on the impacts this toxic industry has on our air, water, land and all life forms.

From Ur mining to nuclear reactors to the source for nuclear bombs as well as the depleted uranium weapons which have poisoned thousands of Iraq civilians from their use in armor piercing bullets and shells by the US military.

The birth defects being created in Iraq alone are an outrage to any decent society.

We have our own example from just one accident, the Chernobyl kids. They come here to Jasper and Hinton for the clean air, water and food as a break from their toxic home land and this is the 3rd generation already being continuously poisoned in the Ukraine.

“Nuclear energy has to be seen as a totality: from the mining of the uranium ore (causing pollution and carbon emissions) to the production of electricity (routine radioactive emissions into the air, water, soil) to the long-term management of nuclear wastes (no permanent solution) and finally to the unsavory reputation of CANDU technology due to its links to nuclear weapons.”

The actual CO2 created in the total nuclear cycle, along with many other far more deadly and toxic gases than CO2, are no less than current energy sources in use and that does not even begin to take in the $300 billion estimated cost (and CO2 released) it will take to dismantle and store the waste these nuclear dinosaurs have created at the end of their short lives.

Wonder why the people in the medical community don’t want this industry – just look at the 25 billion tax dollars wasted by our Feds to start with, propping up an industry that has created nothing but untreatable toxic waste for the future to deal with.

How many schools and hospitals that would have created!

Cancers and many other immune diseases for people living anywhere near reactors are the highest for children. Pregnant women are advised not to eat the food or drink milk or the water within a 10 to 50 km radius of reactors. Wonder why?

The real choice we can now make is to support all forms of renewable and not continue to prop up, with our tax $, these totally unsustainable future energy sources like oil or nuclear.

Art Jackson,
Jasper resident

RE: Leaving Jasper: Local boy leaves Jasper to pursue greater education

In regards to the article about the young man who had to leave Jasper to find educational success, I have to say that I had some difficulty accepting the overall tone of the article/interview.

Let me preface my response by saying that I am very happy for the student that is the subject of the article. His goals and values are clearly admirable. He has clearly worked hard and should be congratulated for his acceptance to such a prestigious university program.

However, whether it was purposefully or accidentally implied, the message I took away from the article was that an education in Jasper limits and does not create opportunities for students. He, among others in Jasper, has chosen the private school route for his high school career and this is fine – to each his own.

But to say that this post-secondary education opportunity would have never happened by staying in Jasper, I must respectfully disagree. I can point to some recent Jasper graduates who are accomplishing some unique and amazing things which are also beyond the realm of our small town. In fact, on page three of the very same paper that the article was featured, there is an article about a recent Jasper grad that, with support from the Jasper community, traveled to Kenya to help a community create their own source of fresh water and education. He will now pursue studies at UBC’s Natural Resource Conservation program this fall. Though this particular student was also bright enough to rest on his laurels through Junior High, he chose a path that is available to all those that go to Jasper Jr./Sr. High School. He got involved outside of the classroom and took on challenges that made his high school experience more challenging.

Earlier this summer in the Fitzhugh, there was an article about another recent Jasper grad who was going to Mexico to take on similar challenges in an impoverished area. I would like to think that these Jasper grads were inspired enough during their high school careers to pursue such opportunities outside of school.

When I think about available opportunities to our high school students, I can think back in the last two years about students with the opportunities to go to places like Ottawa, Yellowknife, Quebec, Seattle, Ireland, Japan and Kenya. Opportunities are available; students must be willing to take them when they come.

Jasper does feel isolated and like a ‘bubble’ from time to time. However one thing this community and school will ensure is that if you are a motivated student and have a dream or idea, you will be supported. Also, remember that where you are is always the greatest place to get something going. I’m happy for the young fellow off to Leicester to pursue a dream he never could have if “he hadn’t of left Jasper High School several years ago”.

But I’m also happy for our many local students who are right now getting ready to go (back) to schools in Calgary, Edmonton, Camrose, Vancouver, Saskatoon, Kelowna, Victoria, Ontario, the Maritimes, the U.S.A., Thailand, etc... Good luck to you all and congratulations on your hard work to this point.

Adam Robb
Teacher, Jasper Jr./Sr. High School

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