Edmonton Journal from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada • 39

I I EDITOR: Bart) Wilkinson, 429-5290 Edith Kirby I I II ILUIIll I.IU.M...I II l.ll III. I I' 0 '1 i I Researched by 5 I Jonathan McDonald -II Seniors ft Mmm Ian Scott rte Journal Amanda Stepto spoke to students at M.E. LaZerte High School Degrassi star urges teens j. i xi io Done up on ine issues duty to make sure they are aware of the issues, she says. "If you find out now who's in control and what they're doing, hen you can vote you'll know hat you want changed." She has many issues on her personal list.

Gay rights, animal rights and the environment are at the top. She's also concerned about teen pregnancy. That's no surprise. She knows what it's like. Her Degrassi character was a teenage mom.

Like most of the Degrassi actors, Stepto was picked for the show from high school auditions. Most had never acted before the series. She was 16 hen the award-winning drama hit the airwaves in 1986. At the time it was known as Degrassi Junior High. As the characters grew, it later Operating Position Revenue 1993-94 Estimate Rmoutc.

RtvwiM 20.1 Ptftonal Income about sex, relationships and responsibilities. With all that travel she couldn't help but notice that Albertans will vote June 15 to pick a new government So she took a few minutes out of her schedule to urge young people to get involved. Politics for the Degrassi generation can start in junior high with some awareness of the issues and why they're important, she says. It's easy. Start with one or two things that catch your interest Get to know the different parties' views.

"We have to realize a lot of older people have the money and younger people have the new ideas," she says. "Maybe if we can work together we can turn things around." Transportation and Utilities 23 Environmental Protection 2-5 Treasury 26 Justice 30 Agriculture, food and Rural Development 3.1 Public Works, SopOhj and Services Municipal Affairs -3 9 Six Otter Dtoartmems and Lagisiative Asssmbly 44 Education -14 2 and Career Otvelopment 87 Grandmotherly care eases moms' minds It's cookie time for the children at Jasper Place Centre's nursery. Each child is allowed two. How can you tell ho might be sneaking back for a third, I ask. Rita Bellamy is an experienced grandmother and she knows all the tricks.

"Just look at their mouths," she says. Sure enough, one suspicious lad's mouth is ringed with crumbs. Bellamy is in charge of the little ones every Tuesday morning. Even though Bellamy has 11 grandchildren of her own, once a eek she leaves her peaceful home to enter this noisy netherworld of soothers and rattles, each attached to a kid under three eight to 15 of them at a time. It's Mom's Day Out at this Community and Family Services centre, and Bellamy is perfect for putting the moms' minds at ease about their kids.

Across the hall in another room are the older children, being cared for by other "child care providers." But the wee ones are Rita Bellamy's world. It soon resonates with the sound of tooting horns, banging drums and ringing bells. Two little ones are squabbling over a toy, another needs a diaper change and yet another ants to get out of there altogether. In the midst of the festivities, Bellamy calmly gives one baby a bottle, while reading a story to a child on her other knee. Several children are mixing and baking in the toy kitchen.

Another tries to get into the toy chest but it's a tight fit Bellamy and her helper keep busy. Karen McAree is child-care co-ordinator for the department's various parents' programs, which run every day but Friday. Some programs are in the evening; some on weekends. "Hours are very part-time and very irregular," says McAree. If you envy Rita Bellamy, they can use more help, both paid and volunteer, and seniors like Bellamy are most welcome.

What if you're just a grandmother ho's raised kids of her own? "That's perfect" McAree says. (But if you happen to have professional child-care qualifications, that won't be held against you .) Some training is provided, and you attend workshops and seminars three or four times a year. Other qualifications? "Willingness and love of children, and willingness to work as a team member because they're never alone; they're always with another volunteer or paid staff," says McAree. Understandably, police security clearance is also required. And a first-aid certificate would be a plus.

Pay is according to training and experience. Programs run most all the time between September and June, McAree says. Since there are nine Community and Family Services centres in the city, you can choose a centre in your neighborhood. And you can choose the age of children you prefer to work with. It's usually a three-hour shift: half an hour to get ready, tw with the kiddies and half an hour to clean up.

(No pay for the next few hours spent recuperating.) It's interesting that having raised their own families, many seniors still like child care. Why? "Well, they seem to like the opportunity to be with children, and it's one way of doing it and walking away from it They enjoy the benefits without a lot of responsibilities," says McAree. And she adds that these are well children, which some prefer to, say, being a baby cuddler in a hospital. "Because of the number of groups that are going and growing, we need more people all the time," says McAree, and it's hard to believe but "finding people ho are willing to do baby care is a problem, because we always have infants with our groups." Phone Karen McAree at 496-5839. She'll tell you all about it Think of it Earn extra money.

Collect lots of hugs. Eat lots of cookies! This should be a great finale to Seniors' Week. Saturday is the third annual Farmers' Day Festival at the Multicultural Heritage Centre in Stony Plain. There'll be bands, face-painting, old-fashioned ice-cream, dancers, entertainers, old-time music jamboree. Or you can entertain the folks if you sing, dance, juggle, or act For more information, call Chery at 963-2777.

an RICK McCONNELL Journal Staff Writer Edmonton Amanda Stepto took her first political steps in the halls of Degrassi Junior High. Now she hopes teens in Alberta school hallways will follow her lead and get drawn into the fray. "Just because you can't vote doesn't mean you can't influence other people," she says. For five years Stepto played Spike on CBCs critically acclaimed series about the trials of teen life. She came to Alberta this month to talk about sex.

She ran smack into an election. With so much at stake, all teens have a 9 ere's a song clip. What's it all about? If you think you know the issue presented by Neil Young, tell us. Call The Political Beat at 498-5694 and leave your answer, name, phone number and school in one minute or less. Please phone after 5:30 tonight The person who gives the most interesting response will win a $20 HMV gift certificate.

The winner's name and answer will be published later. NEIL YOUNG "Rockin' in the Free World" see a woman in the night With a baby in her hand There's an old street light A ear a garbage can Now she puts the kid away And she's gone to get a hit She hates her life And what she's done to it There 's one more kid That will never go to school Sever get to fall in love Never get to be cool Monday's winnerC10 TheWordC10 3 fcdtefc DCS i a became Degrassi High. The series as based on the stuff of real-life and set in east-end Toronto. It became a sounding board and a mirror for Canadian teens. The final episode aired in February 1991.

The show is now in reruns. From the beginning, Degrassi itself as political. It dealt with homework and homosexuality, AIDS and abortion. And everything in between. "The object of the show as to be educational and entertaining," says Stepto.

"It's pretty hard to do both." Her role as Spike made Stepto an obvious choice when Planned Parenthood Alberta looked for a pro-choice spokesperson for its recent campaign. She just finished a tour of 37 towns and cities in the province, here she talked Operating Position Expenditure 1993-94 Estimate Tn 26.3 MM Swvkiog Com Corporate Incomt Tn 5.8 Other Tun 11.1 Advanced Education Family and Social Services -11 9 Million HOW THE GOVERNMENT GETS MONEY his year the government estimates it will collect $11.5 billion. The money will come from income tax deducted monthly off every workers' pay cheque. It comes from taxes paid by businesses. It comes from petroleum royalties paid on every barrel of oil and on gas.

It comes from taxes on gasoline, alcohol, cigarettes and hotel rooms. It comes from lottery tickets, and from fees you pay for things like driver's licences and fishing licences, and licence plates. It comes from the federal government in the form of transfer payments. Mi Total Operating Offitr Trmsftn from Government Enterprises 3.7 Premiums, Fees and Uctncvs 7 3 Expenditure $13,408 Million Investment tncome 8 4 Payments from Government of Canada 15 4 Total Revenue $11,486 niH'NV7; I AND WHERE IT SPENDS IT This year the Alberta government estimates it will spend $13.4 billion. That's more than $5,000 for every one of us.

The money goes to run schools, universities and hospitals, and to pay doctors, nurses, professors and teachers. It goes to fix highways, maintain public buildings and subsidize farmers. It pays for welfare. Almost 65 per cent of this money goes to the four biggest departments: health, education, social services and advanced education. Another 10.7 per cent goes each year just to pay the interest on our $20-billion debt About 15,000 students from nearly 60 schools in the Edmonton area and northern Alberta will vote Friday in Student Election "93.

If your school isn't participating, you can still vote at The Journal's advance polL ItH be Thursday from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at The Journal's downtown building, 10006 101st St For more information on the poll or if you have other questions, comments or advice for us about STUDENTS' VOTE, please call 498-5694. You're the premier and you need to balance the budget How would you raise more money and where wouid you cut? 1 -JTW': "The government should quit the under-the-table, high-risk investments. It should quit buying companies that are in debt.

Invest in students it'll pay off for the government later." Peter Laffia. It. Gr. 11 J.H. Picird Catholic Senior H.S.

"Spend less time on special events, which we have lots of in Edmonton. There is a lot of money that could be better spent in better places. If government takes a more active interest and role in the arts, fund-raising could be done." Karea Stiles, 17. Gr. It Old Scona Academic High "To raise more money it might be important to branch out into more research and development instead of primary industry.

A sales tax would also be important Alberta MLAs are paid more than they are in other provinces they should take pay cuts." Bern Hirst. 17. Gr. It OU Sctna Academic High I.