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8 Orono Weekly Times.Wednesday. Januaxy 14.1998 P ARLIAMENI HILL NOTEBOOK by Art Babych Ice Capades.. Pariarnent Hill -- like most of the region -- was crlppled by freezing rain this week, leavlng one tourist to cal Ottawa the crystal city. The rain toppled trees, brought down power lines and pasted icicle beards on the statues of great and no-so great for- mer prime ministers alike. RCMP cruisers on the Hill looked like ice sculptures, givlng new meanlng 10 the term, "the heat." But cabinet minister Ralph Goodale willl be keeping warm if the power goes out at his house. The vertically challenged Prairie minister, who holds the for- gettable titie of Federal Interlocutor for Metis and Non-Status Indians, was pre- sented with a large, lavisly decorated Indian blanket at ceremonies marking the gov- ernment's response to the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. While Goodale paraded around wlth the over--sized blanket drooped over hie shoulders. your colunmnist couldn't help but notice First Nations Chief Phil Fontaine standing by, nattily attired inx a bus5iness suit. TMmes have changed. San worshippers' special... If it's January this must be Latin America, Prime Minister Jean Chretien is off on anoth- er Teaxn Canada mission to seli Canada abroad. Last Januaxy the teaxn txavelled to South Korea, the Philippines and Thailand. Trhe January before that it went to India, Pakistan, Indonesia and Malaysia. TIs year's January jaunt to wanner dîimes is a two-week trip to Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and Chile, all vacationers' paradises at this time of year. But hey, thiis is strictly a business trip.- The PM is accompanied by Canadian executives able to cough up $8,000 a piece. But some cynical scribes (those that can't afford to go on the junket) whine that the scripts are written in advance. The pre-ordaied agenda includes plenty of flesh-pressing photo ops, ceremonlal inkings of deals worked out in board- rooms mnonths earlier and rubber-chlcken dinner speeches crowing about eco- nomic cooperation. At the end, self-congratulatory joint statements and news releas- es, ail written weeks earlier, wlll gloat over the accom- plishments of the trade i- sion. 'Team Canada missions send a strong message to prospective partners that Canada is committed to doing business," says a back- grounder. Yes, but only in January. Expensive Chevys.. Remember how Prime Minister Jean Chretien took centre stage when cancellng the contract for -Cadillac" EH-101 search and rescue helicopters in 1993? Surprise! The PM was no where in sight for the announcement of the new deal to buy 15 of the same strlpped-down Caddies. Instead, Defenceless Minister Art Eggleton was ieft to dan- gle in mid air while announc- ing the flip-fiop deal to reporters. "Even when can- cellation costs are factored in," he said wlth a stralght face, 'we are stiil savlng 30 per cent." Other mathemati- clans, like Tory Leader Jean Charest, say the cost was $33 million per chopper in 1993 but wth the cancellation fee of $500 million the new deal cornes out to $68 million per helicopter. No wonder the PM stayed away. Hot off the pres. A historic house in the posh 'Rockcliffe area of Ottawa burned to the ground Wednesday night. The story made the front page of the Ottawa Citizen the next momning and for good reason. The house belongs to Citizen editor Neil Reynolds. He sus- pects the blaze may have started durlng a power surge after a two-day black-out. Which begs the question, how on earth can a Citizen editor afford a home in 1Rockcliffe? A novel idea.. It may be a while before New Democrat Svend Robinson can chomp down on a good B.C. salmon steak. You'll recall that the Burnaby-Douglas MP broke his jaw when he plunged down an. embankment on his property on Gallano Island before New Year's Day. While being carted away by rescue workers, Robinson was able to j oke "What's a politician wvith a broker jaw going to do? Try this. Listen! AÀ[HUte J exerd10se can go a ong way!l WaLkng 3 kmn in 35 minutes can do -wonders for your hea[th. It's that simple. Sharing ai Hecithier Futurej The internet at Clarke The internet - is it a wonderful liew technology or an inherent eýil? Masy parents have askedi themiselves this question when they are confronted with the question of their childrýn using the Internet at school. Every parent has heard the numnerous horror stories of students accessing socially distasteful sites on the Internet and contacting unsavory types through e-mail. In a home setting a parent cas police his or child's access but cas the samne control be cxercised in a school setting with a teacher's attention split in so masy directions at once? At Clarke, we like to think that all parents cas rest easy about their children and the Internet. Mr. Saitz, Clarke's teachef/1ibr.irian is an Internet expert and also the one who oversees mnst students' Internet access. Students cas access the Internet in the library but only after expliaising the research, death by th,. electric. . .toilet. These are just a few of the ways l'd rather sot exit this vale of tears, if it's aIl right with everyone else. But how- ever 1 go, 1 have one last request--Oh what the heck! 1 gave the fiist words to Woody Allen, 1 might as well let himn have the Iast word too: Ose last request, Don't use ernb,4lming fluid on me. 1 want to be stuffed with craD meat. assignment to Mr. Saitz and then getting bim to log the student onto the computer. Mr. Saitz then usually assists the student in finding what he or she is looking f'or from among the 35 million web sites available. A personal log-on can only be authorized by the school's computer specialist, Mr. Roche, and then access is restricted to classroom use and is- withdrawn when the assignment is completed. Each student at Clarke can receive Intemnet e- mail but they may sot send it by themselves. However, while these costrols have almost eliminated nasty incidents on the Internet, they have not prevented Clarke students from benefitting from a whole new educatiosal experience afforded by the Internet. OAC 'computer students study independently and use the Internet to receive and send their assignments to a computer teacher located at another high school in the Board. They also have 'a chat area to discuss computer problems and remnedies. Last semnester Mr. Çlarke High News E~5 Funeral Home THOUGHTFULNESS, SERVICE & CONCERN A Family Owned Business, Offering: Traditional Funeral Services Prearranged & Prepaid Services - Cremation Arrangements Alternatives to Traditional Funerals - Out of Town Sbipping Cory Kulpers - President 53 Division Street Bowmanville, Ontario LiC MZ 623-5668 OFF STREET PARKING Saitz inked a Grade il English student witb another stuident at a school in Japan and the two students completed e-mail assignments that formed a part of the Clarke student's evaluation in the course. In addition, Mr. Saitz gives classroom instruction on the use of the Internet and in the past French students have toured Paris and sumerous students have obtained information on almost every conceivable topic by accessing web sites around the world.- OAC students prepared for a trip to the Metro Reference Library by accessisg the metro site's collection and selecting books and resources before tbey left. Two students designed the Clarke web site which Mr. Saitz maintains, complete with links to sumerous career and research sites. In the coming semesters, the Internet will become a central part of the Grade 10 research, unit and there are plans to develop usits in the Travel and Tourism course and various History courses. The Internet is alive'and well at Clarke. And rather than a portai to evil, it is the doorway to untold educational resources. -- R. Saitz