The Gazette from Montreal, Quebec, Canada • 5

A-5 U.S. rail link vital to city's tourism industry, MCM says By DANIEL KUCHARSY of The Gazette The loss of the Amtrak Mont-realer train would have as severe an effect on the city's tourism industry as did the demolition of the Lauren-tian Hotel in 1977, says Abe Limon-chik, Montreal Citizens Movement transportation critic. The train is an important link with the middle-income American tourist market, he said. "There is a growing interest in the U.S. in train travel." More than 37,000 people, many of whom are American tourists, get on or off the train annually in Montreal, said Guy Chartrand of the lobby group Transport 2000.

But Amtrak official Clifford Black said the line bad a 16-per-cent decline in riders in the first three months of this year from the first quarter of 1984. Amtrak is threatening to discontinue service of the nightly Washington-bound train out of Central Station in October because of a U.S. annual deficit, most of which is incurred in Canada. Instead, the train would stop in St Albans, and passengers to and from Montreal would be bused. Canadian National charges Amtrak $2 million U.S.

annually to use its tracks, a cost that's 2.5 times higher than in the U.S., Black said. But CN official Jean Guy Brodeur said: "We're not making an extravagant profit "I don't know what Amtrak would charge a Canadian line for using their tracks. We don't have a basis to compare." Tom Van Dusen, press aide to Transport Minister Don Mazan-kowski, said CN charges Amtrak any amount it wishes and Amtrak "takes it or leaves it" Amtrak is not alone in its dispute with CN over rates, Van Dusen said, noting that Via Rail has complained "over and over." New legislation controlling passenger rail service rates will take effect in the fall, Van Dusen said. "CN and CP charge whatever they want We're specifying in the future they'll have to spell out the costs." But Van Dusen said the legislation may not apply to Amtrak. Philip Cooper of the Canadian Transport Commission said Am-trak's rates are much lower in the U.S.

because railways are under pressure to give them "special concessions." Also, Amtrak received heavy federal subsidies. An Amtrak document obtained by The Gazette indicates that Amtrak proposed to CN last year that operation of the daily Montreal-New York Adirondack train which operates out of Canadian Pacific's Windsor Station and uses CP tracks be switched to CN tracks and to Central Station. Under the proposal, CN would receive estimated annual payments of $782,000. Black said the move would centralize Amtrak's Montreal's operations. The Adirondack line is partly subsidized by New York State, which "is willing to absorb" its deficit Black said.

CN and Amtrak officials are; to meet Wednesday. Transport Department officials will also meet with Amtrak. i Montreal, Friday, July 12, 1985 Course is 'breath of fresh air' for teenage mathematics whiz Canada taking part in the four-week program, which takes place at universities in Fredericton, Calgary and Waterloo. "It's such a breath of fresh air to be here there's no comparison between (the program) and high school," Majumdar said in a telephone interview from the University of New Brunswick, where he'll be studying until July 19. The program will give him a head start when he enters Marianopolis College in the fall, he said.

But a long-term goal of the university-level classes is to help bright students become leaders in high-technology industries, said Barry Bisson, a civil engineer professor at the University of New Brunswick and a director of the program. The students "just ordinary kids with a thirst for knowledge" are chosen on the basis of marks (especially in maths and sciences), drive, creative ability and skills in dealing with people, he said. The students' time is divided among classes in business, mathematics, computer science and engineering, plus recreational activities such as aerobic dancing and squash. "Some of these courses are at a very high university level and I'm overwhelmed with what they've been accomplishing," Bisson said. In their spare time, students are attempting to build a tractor out of items they were given at the beginning of the program pieces of wood, springs, coat hangers, aluminum pipes and axles.

The program costs about $3,000 for each youth. Most of the students are sponsored by private companies, but must pay a $400 fee on their own. Students who have no sponsor pay $1,500. By LINDA MASSE of The Gazette When 15-year-old Rahul Majum-dar was only 7, he began reading the sports pages in the newspaper for the baseball scores. He was interested in the statistics, not the game.

And that fascination with numbers grew into a passion for mathematics that is evident in his final marks at Marymount Academy High School this year He graduated with a 91-per-cent average, and a mark of 95 per cent in math. This summer, he's developing those academic skills at a university program for gifted high school students, organized by the Canadian Centre for Creative Technology in Waterloo, Ont. Majumdar is one of 10 youths from Quebec and 150 from across in Hf1 II 1:1. ll I I- I A-m fr -vW i 1 -j If -w I I i 4 I 'r i i -y'Tj n-iiVn- -rr- i Depicts Oriental woman City ad angers Chinatown leader south is blocked by the Guy Favreau complex, Dorchester Blvd. and the autoroute.

Other ads boast about the massive construction work that has been undertaken in Montreal The city has rented about 45 such panels for several months every year for the past three years, said Yvon Riopelle, vice-president of Publicite Transpublic, an agency that specializes in transit advertising. Guy Morin, advertising and production co-ordinator for the city's economic development commission, said the ads are left over from last year's campaip. ministration is moving to destroy Chinatown. "They should be ashamed of themselves, as public administrators, to exploit the innocence of the public," Cheung said. Cheung, a real estate agent said the advertising project is only one in a series of "mean and vicious" attacks on Chinatown.

His major objection is to a decision last fall by the city to zone residential a section of la Gauchetiere St. east of St. Laurent Blvd. a move that closes the last avenue of expansion for the downtown Chinese community. Development west, north and By MICHAEL DOYLE of The Gazette A city of Montreal advertisement that shows an Oriental woman inside a Chinese-style telephone booth has aroused the ire of the leader of the Chinese Professional and Businessmen's Association.

The ad, which appears in the Metro, extols Montreal's cosmopolitan style. It mentions the Greek and Portuguese communities, but the display panel is built mainly around Chinatown. Kenneth Cheung said the city is using Chinatown to boost Montreal. But at the same time, the city ad Ga2tt6, Pierre Obendrauf Time for a cool one Kora Van Den Bulcke, 13, pours a cup of lem- Canada from Belgium last winter, sell lemon-onade while sister Eva, 10, and cat, Loebas, ade to Westmount residents from their stand look on. The enterprising girls, who moved to at de Maisonneuve Blvd.

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Toxic-waste dump discovered in LaSalle Environment Quebec has discovered a major toxic-waste dump in a residential area of LaSalle, on top of what used to be the old municipal dump. area, west of Angrignon Park and north of the aqueduct, is bounded by Shevchenko, Bour-deau, Belec and Bouvier Sts. than 50 homes may affected. Environment Minister Adrien Ouellette and LaSalle Mayor Michel Leduc will hold a press conference this morning to outline details about the dump and its possible effects on residents on the area. l'v -T 7- LAYAWAYm.

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