The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Local VIA service derailed By Dave Chmara With the recent announcement of the VIA Rail cuts, both Terrace Bay and Schreiber will no longer have rail passenger service. Benoit Bouchard, Minister of Transportation, announced the cuts will take effect Jan. 15, 1990. Of the current 38 VIA routes in Canada, 18 will be eliminated which will lead to over 2,700 VIA employees being laid off. Schreiber Reeve Mike Cosgrove said there will be 22 to 25 jobs lost in Schreiber. He said some of these people 'may kecp their jobs because of seniority, but they will no longer be work- ing in Schreiber. "I'm angry and shocked," com- mented Cosgrove on the cuts. "Passenger service across Canada means just that - Canada. The government is simply not listen- ing to the people, to Canadians," he added. Cosgrove said, "the handi- capped, seniors and people with- out cars" will be hurt by these cuts. Saying he was extremely upsct with the announcement, Cosgrove said, "the government can spend over $500 million on bilingualism but they can't on the train. Jobs, people and heritage are being taken away from the country." Saying Schreiber won't give up without a fight, Cosgrove said, "at the minimum we'll send a del- egation to Transport Canada" to oppose the cuts. The ~day Continued on page 2 the cuts were Terrace Bb Vol. 43, No. 41 Reading Rising continues with sov't grant By Dave Chmara The local adult literacy pro- gram, Reading Rising, and the Literacy Northwest Network have received grants of $36,700 and $20,000 from the Ministry of Skills Development for this year. Pam McKeever, Community Literacy Coordinator for Reading Rising, said the money will help in the purchase of materials and supplies needed to help people to learn to read and write. It will also help pay for the training required for the volunteer tutors before they can start teach- ing, any necessary travelling and salaries. : McKeever said at this point the literacy program has 30 tutors that have been trained and others have come forward to be trained. ~ There are currently 19 students enrolled in the literacy program. McKeever said their ages and reading levels vary. "Some people are learning English as a second language, other people are taking courscs needed to get their grade 12 and some are at a basic level," she said. The tutors, who are asked to give three hours per weck (although some give more), work one to one with their student and the student's involvement in the the, program is kept confidential. "Some people have been in the program for three years and peo- ple don't know about it so the confidentiality is working," said McKeever. McKeever said she does an initial interview with the student to get an idea of the person's reading and writing level. She said one reason the pro- gram is so successful is because it is based around learner centred training. "Each student decides what they want to learn. For example, a person may want to learn how to diive so we'll help them towards this goal. The adults learn very well if what they're learning is what they want and need to learn," said McKeever. She said the work.can be very saisfying to both the student and the tutor. McKeever said she trics to match students and tutors who have similar interests. "If the tutor has trouble adapt- ing to the learner centred curricu- luin we can always change the tutor," she said. Jcanne Marcella, the head librarian at the Terrace Bay Library, is one of Reading Rising's tutors, said she really belicves in the program. "Lenjoy it and you get to know a = Schreiber 40 cents Terrace Bay Public Library Box 369 Terrace Bay Ont POT 2WO Doctors Mark Woldnik, left, and Amir Geran are two physicians who recently took up practices in Terrace - Bay and Schreiber. Dr. Geran works out of the Schreiber Medical Clinic and Dr. Woldnik has a private practice at McCausland Hospital. See their story on page 2. people. You develop friend- ships and the students are really appreciative," said Marcella. She added it's no problem attracting tutors but it's hard to attract students. : "It's difficult for them to come forward. It's a big commitment on the part of the student." Marcella first became involved in the Reading Rising program after attending a conference origi- nally intended to promote literacy through the libraries. "A series of workshops were held and other literacy groups attended as well," said Marcella. She then decided to volunteer to become a tutor and to also sit on the literacy committce. "Anyone can be a tutor," she said. "But they do nced some guidance and training." | All tie resources used in the program can be found in the Schreiber or Terrace Bay Libraries and McKeever said they have both been very supportive of the program. The Reading Rising program does not take referalls noted McKeever. People wanting to learn to read and write must con- tact someone in the program themsclves. Locally, McKeever said according to Statistics Canada, the illiterac y Fate is 15 per cent. Photo by Dave Chmara. Here are more facts on illiteracy as found by a Southam Inc. sur- vey conducted in Sept. 1987. - Illiteracy is higher among men than women, 53.5 per ccnt to 46.5 per cent. - Illiteracy is higher among francophones than anglophones - 29 to 33 per cent - but the gap is biggest among the oldest and vanishes among the young. - There are five million illiter- ate people living in Canada. - Nearly half of Canada's illit- erates are 55 or older even though this group accounts for 29 per cent of the population. SUPERIOR Beton: INSIDE THIS WEEK SHORELINE fas INSURANCE LTD. Terruce Bay, Ont | | Doctor, Doctor Editorial Pet Talk The Northshore. Juris Zderevskis | | Physicians take up A look at the issue of _ Winter tips for your ggr eee = og | Broker -local practices VIA cutbacks pets : 825-9492 1-807-824-2933 Page 3 Page 4 age 8 825-9646 1-807-825-9393 -- f =