The Ottawa Citizen from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada • 21

THE OTTAWA CITIZEN CITYLIFE FRIDAY, MARCH 7, 1997 B3 Frequent flyer's message could save lives UW. WLWll vice to keep in touch with distant friends. Months ago, Canada Post said the phone service that provided postal codes would no longer be free. Mrs. O'Neil didn't see that announcement "I located somebody and knew the city and street address, but when I was told the code would cost me 75 cents, I objected.

Without a code, I was told, the letter wouldn't be delivered. I said, surely, there must be another way. I was told I could buy the book of codes across Canada. And that would cost $24! I said no thanks. I buy stamps, but I'm going to be doing less of that" I suggested she could probably get at least one free postal code.

She called back and said I was right. She wasn't charged for the postal code of Canada Post president George Clermont. She was going to write, but she happened to call while I was in a mood fo help people get around communications blocks. You can read this previous Brown columns, at the Ottawa Citizen Online, httpyAvww.ottawacitizen.com end," he says, "he couldn't get through either, He suggested I try you." Claims have been made that the system is now operating efficiently. The father has no objection to supporting his children.

His wages are deducted at source at a rate of 50 per cent His problem is that seven months ago, by mutual agreement, it was decided the children would live with Dad, and the support payments would stop. "I was told (by a lawyer) either the garnishment would be lifted, or the money rerouted to me. My ex-wife says she isn't getting it, and I trust her. It seems to be ju st disappearing into the system. We don't have enough money to meet our needs." If somebody at FSP gets this message, it's a simple one: "Help.

Mail block Gerry O'Neil is a retired high school teacher, lives in the west end, and says she discovered Thursday she has become isolated. She used to rely on the postal ser experienced soldier in the war against weight that there was a problem. He was looking at a fried potato cake, an omelette and creamery butter. "I attempted to return the meal for a correct one, but was told politely that was the meal the caterer considered low fat "During the process of looking into the problem, I discovered there was a recent change of caterers and such errors were not uncommon. "Considering the dangers of allergies, or diabetes, I believed it would be dangerous to delay checking into this issue, and it should be given executive priority action." Family Support Plan For seven months, Peter Olmstead has been trying to make contact with somebody in the office of Ontario's Family Support Plan.

Queen's Park said there were problems during a reorganization of the system that garnishees support payments at payroll offices and passes them along to the custodial parent. Mr. Olmstead, father of two, turned the matter over to a lawyer. "In the 1 I ven as communication be comes more sophisticated, I many people are finding it I difficult or impossible to make contact Today, thfs column will attempt to pass along messages, there-! by getting around systems that failed. First up is money collection special-; ist Matt McGrath, a man with a repu tation for being able to track people down.

He wanted to get a warning to the president of Air Canada. He wanted to put it in writing. But he was unable to get an address. "Please excuse McGRATH me for writing to you through a newspaper," he says to airline president Lamar Durrette. "No one I could reach at Air Canada could or would give me your address.

Only one person in the 10 calls I made knew your name. She believedyour 'office was in Alabama, but didn't know the address. She suggested I Historic home demolition plan draws criticism Ah 'Steii-n Mackenzie King's former residence is beyond repair By Tony Lofaro The Ottawa Citizen The former residence of prime minister William Lyon Mackenzie King on Somerset Street West will be torn down once the owner obtains a demolition permit from the city. Fire gutted the no-year-old heritage building at 331 Somerset St which housed a deli and a financial investment firm, on Feb. 3.

The fire is believed to have started in the basement. No one was injured. -j The building is owned by Anthony and Joseph Kwai, and two nephews who live overseas. manager Allan Kwai said the property is beyond repair and a new building in a similar architectural style will be erected on the site. Mr.

Kwai is working with Ottawa architect "Barry Padolsky, who will try to match the' new building to blend with the "character of other homes in the Somerset Village area. demolition has upset Heritage Ottawa officials, who believe more should be done to preserve the former residence of Canada's longest-serving prime minister. "There is a tremendous disappointment within the heritage community (about) the lack of attention generally that is paid to former residences of prime ministers," said Jennifer Rosebrugh, president of Heritage Ottawa. If this were the United States, I think we would see this lack of attentioa" The heritage building was home to Mackenzie King from 1901 to 1910, while he was the deputy minister of -labour and then minister of labour un--Mer prime minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier. Mackenzie King was elected to Parlia- Dave Brown Brown's beat contact a vice-president at Dorval.

Your customer relations number yielded only a constant busy signal," Mary Manni at the airline's corporate communications office in Toronto gave me a box number in Dorval that she said would reach the president She felt there may have been some confusion because Mr. Durrette made a business trip to Alabama. Mr. McGrath wants to warn about a possible danger in the food service. On a Feb.

27 flight from Los Angeles, he ordered a meal described as low-fat and low-cholesteroL When he got his meal, he knew as an "There is a tremendous disappointment within the heritage community (about) the lack of attention generally that is paid to former residences of prime Jennifer Rosebrugh President of Heritage Ottawa ment in 1908 and served as prime minister for 21 years between 1921 and 1948. He died in 1950 at Kingsmere, Que. Ms. Rosebrugh said the Heritage Act in Ontario works against those who want to save old buildings, since there are no tax concessions or grants to assist with repairs: "In many cases, it makes much more sense for (them to) tear down." Ms. Rosebrugh said many homes and businesses in Lowertown and the Byward Market destroyed by fire over the past few years could have been saved had the owners been given greater incentives.

Mr. Padolsky said he met this week with City of Ottawa heritage officials and they issued guidelines on what could be built on the site. "The zoning for the area requires that we build to the same character of the building that was burnt," said Mr. Padolsky. The zoning, however, does not state that the new structure must be an exact duplicate of the existing building, Mr.

Padolsky. The home was built in the Queen Anne revival style and is one of the prominent buildings in the Somerset Village heritage zone, identified by the City of Ottawa in the mid-'70S. The original owner of the house was James Mather of Ottawa. The Queen Anne revival style was The pros and cons of In a 1995 article in the journal Tobacco Control, researchers list the advantages and disadvantages of a smoke-free policy in a locked adult inpatient psychiatric unit at the Mayo Clinic, as reported by staff. Advantages: 1) A healthier environment and health promotion.

2) A cleaner environment. 3) Increased patient interaction and decreased subgrouping of smoking and non-smoking patients. 4) Increased involvment of smokers with activities other than smoking. 5) More staff time spent with patients on activities other than lighting cigarettes and monitoring the smoking lounge. 5) Reinforcement of effective methods of coping and managing stress other than by smoking.

there's a baa If the ban is approved, it won't be the first time a psychiatric hospital has prevented patients from smoking. The Homewood Health Centre, an acute-care psychiatric facility in Guelph, banned smoking inside the building several years ago. The hospital is also hoping to soon ban smoking outdoors on hospital grounds. Wendy Tolmie, an addictions specialist at Homewood, says that if pa- The former home of William Lyon Mackenzie King, at 331 Somerset St. will be torn down once the owner obtains a demolition permit.

The building was gutted by fire Feb. 3 and is no longer structurally sound. Computer store manager forgets fear after robbery; BY JULIA ELLIOTT The Ottawa Citizen Less than 24 hours after robbers pointed a gun at her, stole computers and microchips from her office, then and used duct tape to tie her up and left her on the floor, the office manager of a computer company seems hardly moved by the incident. Sissy Wong, office manager at Comtronic Computer Centre on St. Laurent Boulevard, was at work again yesterday, calmly displaying a wrist still raw from duct-tape binding she struggled free soon after the robbers left and says she's thankful no one was hurt.

(Before taping mouths, one robber asked if anyone had a breathing problem) At about 6:30 p.ra Wednesday night, three men, one armed with a high-powered automatic rifle, walked through the company's unlocked front door, bound Ms. Wong and two others and got away with possibly $15,000 worth of microchips, some cash and two computers worth about $2,000 each, she said. Comtronic, which employs 15 people in Ottawa, distributes computer hardware and services. High-tech theft takes an estimated $10 million a year from Eastern Ontario. Last year, in Ottawa and Vanier alone, there were about 1,500 break-ins, thefts and robberies for computer components, according to police.

Last month, the Ottawa-Carleton region set up a Computer Component Theft Team, believed to be a first Canada, made up of three officers who investigate and prevent the theft of high-tech equipment. CHRIS MIKULA, THE OTTAWA CITIZEN Keltie Bassett took advantage of the fresh snow and got in some cross-country skiing yeste rday on the unplowed portion of the canal Parts of canal open for skating The Ottawa Citizen The weather this week has been cold enough to allow part of the Rideau Canal to reopen for skating. The National Capital Commission announced yesterday that a portion of the canal from the Pretoria Bridge to the Bank Street Bridge is back in business. The yellow flags are up, which means there are fair to good skating conditions on the canal. The NCC reports there are cracks on the ice and ice surface conditions vary.

For updates on ice conditions, call 239-5234. Proposed hospital smoking ban sparks debate popular in North America between 1880 and 1900, and is characterized by decorative detailing in the gables and decorative brickwork around windows. Mr. Padolsky said the building was inspected by insurance company engineers, the City of Ottawa fire marshal and officials from the city's property standards department, and they agreed it cannot be repaired. It is not structurally sound and must come down.

a smoke-free policy Disadvantages: 1) An increase in surreptitious smoking and in the smuggling of cigarettes, matches, and lighters into the unit. 2) Inconsistency in staff enforcement of the policy (for example, some staff gave patients passes to smoke, but others did not.) 3) An occasional increase in the privilege level of the patient sooner than appropriate so that he or she could leave the unit to smoke. 4) Attention often diverted from more psychotherapeutic issues to a focus on smoking, 5) Some patients leaving against med-cial advice or prematurely so that they could smoke. 6) Added anxiety in some patients, especially those receiving tapered doses of medication, because of smoking withdrawal. tients don't smoke during treatment, they learn to deal with stress in more appropriate ways, such as writing in journals.

Because of the way cigarettes interact with medications, patients can decrease the dosages of certain drugs after they quit smoking, she adds. Homewood gives out nicotine gum to help patients cope with the symptoms ol withdrawal. Hospital staff at Homewood contin He said the owners may receive a demolition permit from the city in a few days and the building may come down early next week. He expects to start soon on a new building, which could be completed by fall Over the years, the building has housed a jewelry store, a bridal shop, a fur company and a tailor. It was sold about two years ago to members of the Kwai family.

The building was fully insured. ue to debate the ethics of refusing cigarettes to patients kept in hospital against their will. "We don't let people drink in Home-wood," Ms. Tolmie says. "There's no difference between nicotine as an addiction and alcohol as an addiction." A 1995 study exploring the consequences of banning smoking in a locked psychiatric ward of the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota concluded that staff anticipated more problems than actually occurred.

For example, there was no significant increase in the use of restraints, an indication of "acting-out behaviour." Staff at the Mayo found a smoke-free policy meant that they spent more time on activities other than lighting cigarettes and monitoring the smoking lounge. But there was also an increase in surreptitious smoking and smuggling of cigarettes into the unit. The Royal Ottawa will study the merits of the ban before making a final decision, including exploring the experiences of other hospitals and examining the fears of patients. "Most psychiatric patients smoke," says Vicky Gauthier, 38, a smoking patient with depressioa "It helps relax them, gives them something to do. I think it (the ban) is going to be hard to maintain.

A lot of people would be smoking in their rooms, in the bathroom, and there's going to be a fire hazard. It would probably cause a bit more violence." Royal Ottawa studies effects of butting out -at psychiatric facilities BY ELAINE MEDLINE The Ottawa Citizen "Three people, all patients in for psychiatric problems, are sit-' ting on a red leather couch in a smoking lounge at the Royal Ottawa Hospital. Two are smoking; the third quit "eight years ago. They're discussing a proposed smoking ban at the hospital. think it sucks," says one woman, smoking.

-'I think you're looking for trouble," a man adds. But Rosemary Campbell, 36, the "non-smoker, supports the baa "I think it's about time," she says. "It should have happened a long time off my couch," the man jokes. unhealthy," Ms. Campbell continues.

She says she prefers the smoking lounge to the non-smoking lounge because "this is where everyone hangs out." A group of doctors and nurses at the ROH wants a smoking ban throughout the hospital, arguing hospitals have an "obligation to help prevent disease. But a patient advisory group is it, saying psychiatric patients often Ifhioke heavily to relieve stress, and 'won't want to come to the hospital if.