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• SINCE 1854 • AMALGAMATED 1999 WITH CLARINGTON THIS WEEK • Pressrun 21,900 30 Pages Wednesday, Max 23, 2001 Families making a connection Page 4 Optional 4 week delivery $5/$l newsstand Golf league a hit with students Sports, page 9 School owner disappears from home Thrill seekers A.J, GROEN/ Statesman photo The annual Courtier Carnival attracted Tory and Kaitlyn Wood, who were enjoying the thrill of riding the Orient express. express. In addition to the rides, there were a number of other activities including games of chance, musical shows and a wide variety of foods to sample. Crash kills driver at Mosport First fatal accident at the track since August 1985 BY JENNIFER STONE Staff Writer CLARINGTON - An Illinois Illinois man remains in Serious condition in a Toronto hospital hospital after a weekend car crash, which claimed the life of another another Illinois driver during a race at Mosport International Speedway. It was the first fatal accident accident at the north Clarington track since August 1985, says Mosport spokesman Glenn Butt. The drivers, both of whom Mr. Butt says had "rookie" status, were in the 38th lap of ACCREDITED TEST & REPAIR FACILITY •An official mark of the Province of Ontario used under licence. Whitby - Oshawa 3 1110 DUNDAS. ST. E., WHITBY, LOCAL (905) 666-1772 HONDA the 50-lap, 3l-car Trans-Am series race on Sunday afternoon afternoon when the accident happened happened near the track's Corner 1. Michael Gagliardo, 46, of Glenview, 111., was pronounced pronounced dead at Lakeridge Health Bowmanville. The other driver, Gary Long, 25, of Evanston, 111., was airlifted to Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto with a serious back injury. His condition is considered serious but stable, and he is expected to survive, says Constable John Payne of the Durham Regional Police Clarington Community Office. Office. Police say Mr Gagliardo's car lost control, and was t- boned by another vehicle. Inside %\ft Statesman WHERE TO FIND IT Editorial Page 6 Sports 9 Classified 10 GIVE US A CALL General 623-3303 Distribution .. .579-4407 Death Notices .683-3005 Sincerely Yours 1-800-662-8423 Web site durhamregion.com Email jbobbitt@durhamregion.com General FAX...623-6161 Newsroom FAX .623-6161 Mr. Gagliardo was in his fifth race, says Mr. Butt, who could neither indicate how quickly cars were travelling at the time of the crash nor provide provide an average speed for such a race. The race was stopped for between 30 and 40 minutes, says Mr. Butt. "It was obviously a very terrible racing accident," he notes, adding he knows of no further investigation into the collision. "I am unaware of any further further coroner's inquest," he says. Owner and principal of Great Lakes College disappeared after leaving Bowmanville campus BOWMANVILLÈ - Police Police are investigating the mysterious mysterious disappearance of the owner of a Bowmanville school. Thomas Ku, 48, owner and principal of Great Lakes College, College, a private school with campuses in Bowmanville and Toronto, disappeared last Tuesday after leaving the ' Bowmanville campus to return return to his Mississauga home. Mr. Ku last contacted his family at about 7 p.m., indicating indicating he was on his way home from work in Bowmanville. Bowmanville. He regularly called home "because my mom prepares prepares dinner for him," says Mr. Ku's son and assistant, Gary Ku. The younger Mr. Ku saw his father's black BMW in the driveway about an hour later, but there was no indication that the elder Mr. Ku had entered entered the house. Investigators from Peel Region police are delving into the man's background in an attempt to unravel the mystery of his disappearance. "So far, there are no leads about what happened," says the younger Mr. Ku. "All we can say is that he's missing at this point." Police say they are interviewing interviewing all business associates associates and friends and have been trying to trace his movements movements before he vanished. Investigators say they have found nothing in Mr. Ku's background that would suggest suggest an abduction or kidnapping, kidnapping, but have not ruled out foul play. "He seems to be an average average businessman," says one investigator. "We haven't found anything out of the ordinary." ordinary." Mr. Ku moved into his $800,000 home in an affluent Mississauga neighbourhood with his wife, son and daughter daughter about three years ago. Great Lakes College, a prir vate school attended mostly by foreign students from Hong Kong, China and Taiwan, Taiwan, was established in 1978, and Mr. Ku took the school over in 1987, says his son. The Bowmanville campus, at Lambs Road and Concession Street, was purchased in- 1999. "The downtown campus could not expand any more," says the younger Mr. Ku, referring referring to the school's original original site on Keele Street. Bow- See PRIVATE page ° A stranger in a strange land Missionary relates life in Taiwan BY JACQUIE McINNES Staff Writer CLARINGTON - Setting off for a new life in a foreign culture can be daunting, especially, especially, when you don't speak the language. When your intent is to translate the Bible into that language, the task at hand becomes becomes just a little more challenging. challenging. So was the scenario facing Reverend Paul McLean and his young family 18 years ago when they packed up a few of their most precious belongings and headed for Taiwan on a mission for the Presbyterian Church of Canada. Rev. McLean related his experiences recently when he came to Bowmanville Bowmanville to speak with parishioners parishioners of St. Andrew's Church. "It was total immersion," recalled recalled the reverend in an interview. interview. For more than a year, the family lived in the capital city, Taipei, immersing themselves in the culture of their new home and learning to speak Mandarin, Mandarin, the most common language. language. But the real purpose of their trip awaited them in a densely populated village of about 50,000 people, where they would have to learn a second second language, that of the village's village's residents, Hakka. There Rev. McLean would minister the Hakka people while working working under the direction of the Bible Society in Taiwan, with a team of 10 Hakka ministers and elders to translate the New Testament, Testament, Psalms and Proverbs into Today's Taiwan Hakka Version of the Bible. "One of the goals was to bring to them (the word of God) in their own mother tongue," he says, explaining the need to translate the Bible and bring the Presbyterian ministry to the Hakka. The village itself was removed removed from modern day life, recalls Rev. McLean, who relates, relates, "We were the only foreigners foreigners within an hour's drive of the village. We arrived with our one-and-a-half-year-old son, this little blond baby. He got lots of attention." A.J. GROEN/Statesman photo Rev. Paul McLean served as a missionary in Taiwan and helped translate the Bible into a Chinese language. The McLeans lived in a housing complex with "six families all in a row with just a concrete wall separating you" and no internal heating. Although Although there weren't Canadian winters to contend with, the temperature would drop in the cold season to about 8 degrees Celsius, recalls Rev. McLean, See MISSIONARY page 8 EXTRA Large Pizza BBfe - 3 Toppings Look for our exciting IftP' 1 Wo W AM9p* Your chance to win a new dreamhome, an new Toyota Cellca Qt, $500 Cash Prize, a Luxur^ruls^on^anor^BubbjeJe^rlnler^ il BettériTâstëTBettér.Vâluc 1 mmm mm» tria