The record, 14 mai 2003, mercredi 14 mai 2003

THE The voice of the Eastern Townships since 1897 70 CENTS WWW.SHERBROOKERECORD.COM Wednesday, May 14, 2003 Popularity threatens wild leeks Take a few, leave the rest, suggests conservationist By Rita Legault Sherbrooke Every May, as the trees start to bud and flower, Townshippers begin foraging through the woods and riverbanks for nature’s spring bounty, including fiddleheads, morel mushrooms, and that much sought-after Québécois delicacy, wild leeks.“Before the leaves come out, on the slopes where maple trees grow, wild leeks begin peeking through the earth,” says Ayer’s Cliff biologist Beth Girdler.“It’s so easy to spot.The leaves just stand out, it’s such a lovely colour.” With broad grass-green leaves that smell of garlic and onions, the wild herb grows in fragrant patches mainly in the moist environment and rich soil of hardwood and maple forests.Wild leeks look a lot like green onions or scallions, but the non-do-mesticated vegetable has a more pungent flavor reminiscent of a mild garlic bulb.While they have been known to Québécois and country folk Please see leeks Page 4 J~V ' THANKS IT WOULP REALLY w n y Pi HELP! Record Wednesday, May 14, 2003 page 3 Reporter’s lies tarnish profession: Journalism prof By Kate Shingler A young New York Times reporter resigned last week after reports of lying, falsifying information and deceiving his colleagues, editors and the public at large surfaced, placing the highly reputable newspaper at the centre of a media storm and raising questions of accountability as well as journalistic integrity.Jayson Blair’s recent articles on the Washington sniper case received top billing in the Times, making the front page more than once in the past six months.As a national reporter he also covered high-profile news stories on the war in Iraq, including the return of injured U.S.soldiers and a funeral service for a soldier killed in Iraq.In an internal inquiry, staff reporters uncovered new mistakes in at least 36 of the 73 articles Blair wrote for the paper since late October, according to a lengthy account detailing the affair published in the paper’s Sunday edition, May 11.Director of Concordia University’s journalism department, associate professor Dr.Enn Raudsepp teaches a class on ethics in journalism.Calling the Jayson Blair case “shocking”, Raudsepp said the repercussions will be felt by the journalism community as a whole.“The paragon of virtue, the acme of journalistic responsibility, The New York Times, is shown to be blemished,” he said in a telephone interview with The Record Tuesday.“It is going to take a major effort to convince people that this is not the standard, it is an aberration.” Comparing the level of deception to former Washington Post reporter Janet Cooke’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 1980 story about a fictitious 8-year-old heroin addict, Raudsepp said Blair’s is a case that “shakes the foundations of journalism.” Flaws in the system are partially responsible, Raudsepp said, acknowledging that technology allows reporters to be constantly in touch, through laptops and cell phones, without editors ever knowing precisely where they are.The Times reported Blair likely filed stories from his Brooklyn home when he claimed to be on assignment in Texas, Maryland and other states.“He convinced people that he was on the scene, when he was in New York City,” said Raudsepp, who said that he believes increasing pressure placed on journalists to produce a lot of colourful, and dramatic copy can lead to falsifying information.“In order to get to (a paper like the Times) you have to produce something really memorable,” noted Raudsepp.“It’s ironic - though I don’t know what it says - that both (Blair and Cooke) were young blacks, who were extremely ambitious, who wanted to get ahead and who unfortunately succumbed to the temptation to fabricate.” But, the New York Times, he added, is supposed to be immune to that.A former reporter and copy editor for The Montreal Star, The Toronto Telegram and The Globe and Mail, Raudsepp said while he does blame Blair’s editors, ultimately the responsibility lies with Blair.“Editors have to make good choices when hiring, basically you have to trust your reporters,” said Raudsepp.“(Blair) obviously was a practiced con artist.It is very hard to defend yourself against someone who is intentionally trying to deceive you.” On the Times Web site, under a heading that reads: “Correcting the Record: Times Reporter who resigned leaves long trail of deception,” are links to the paper’s comprehensive coverage of itself.Included are all of Blair’s articles published in the Times dating back to October 2002, and an e-mail address where readers can write to the paper about any unnoted inaccuracies in Blair’s stories.A link is also provided to the online NewsHour interview executive editor Howell Raines gave on May 9.During the 15-minute interview he said the Times is “an institution dedicated to openness” and called Blair’s behaviour “pathological.” Raudsepp said these kinds of falsifications are nothing new.“What is surprising is that it happened at the New York Times, which we are led to believe is one of the most thoroughly edited newspapers in the world.” Occasional spot checks on sources could help monitor reporters’ work, Raudsepp said, but, in the fast-paced world of daily newspapers the kind of extensive fact-checking found at publications like Readers’ Digest, or The New Yorker, is just not possible.With 375 reporters, 700 editors and support personnel, The New York Times is a veritable institution.“It is so large, so impersonal - it is easier to fall between the cracks,” explained Raudsepp.“The bottom line is it’s up to the reporter’s integrity.” Cheque-writer sought Sherbrooke police are seeking the public’s assistance in locating a suspect in connection with a series of fraudulent cheques passed in a Sherbrooke-area dépanneur.Several warrants have been issued over the past several months for the arrest of Jacques Veilleux’s by various police detachments.According to police, the suspect would buy various items and pay by cheque written for an amount exceeding the purchases, taking the rest in cash.In several instances, he would act as thought he knew the owner in order to justify the transaction with store clerks.The suspect apparently used several names including Daniel Boutin.Veilleux is 41 years-old, 5-feet-seven-inches tall with varying appearance -sometimes appearing with a beard, moustache.All information can be transmitted in confidence to police at 821-5544.Brief Missing student located 48 hours later Staff A Champlain student who went missing last week for approximately 48 hours was found unhurt, confirmed the CEGEP’s campus residence director Peter Bélanger yesterday.Notices alerting other students and staff of the missing young man were posted in the sports complex the CEGEP shares with Bishop’s University.The Sherbrooke police department was informed of the missing student, and worked with the individual’s parents and Champlain administrators to locate him.Bélanger said that “end of semester pressures” contributed to the student’s disappearance.POUCE PHOTO Police seeking jacques Veilleux.£ \ p RECORD » -, I Michel Duval , — Advertising Consultant Tel.: Ô19-569-9525 ,/*» Fax: Ô19-Ô21-3179 remail: sherbrookerecord@Videotron.ca Journalist Jayson Blair misled editors, public.?; TAS REPONSE PLUS ; * The leader in telephone answering 24/7, * * for over 51 years, * * answering the needs of customers * + throughout Canada and the US.* ^ is now offering a new service * * Support by Telephone to * * All Residing Solo (aione)i * * Have no Fear.* * S.T.A.R.S.is near! * * * ?What is this program S.T.A.R.S.?* ?* STARS, a completely computerized * * service that will call you twice daily at the * * times of your choice, and you will be * * asked to confirm whether or not you * * require immediate help.10 DAY FREE TRIAL wi,h ki r* absolutely B ^B OBLIGATION.How do I subscribe to this service?Call us today! ^ STARS per month ^ ?l WE WATCH OUT FOR YOU! Î ?Approved by the CISC, FADOQ ?* ?It could make a difference, ?A very big difference! * ?819-347-1250 (Sherbrooke) * £ toll free (Can/US) * J 866-805-3150 ?•a-*** page 4 Wednesday, May 14, 2003 THEi pM-isesi?4k-£L Record : - ___ ~ _ ~ ‘There used to be a rule: Pick one, leave one’ Leeks: Cont’d from Page 1 throughout the Southern Appalachians for generations, more recently wild leeks have become popular with fine chefs and gourmet food purveyors of wild delicacies like fiddleheads and wild mushrooms.Picked early, the bulbs are tender and tasty.With an oniony taste and a sharp garlic aroma, wild leeks are delicious as a raw crudity and the tender leaves can be used in a salad.Like their cultivated cousins, wild leeks can be added to soups, casseroles and potato dishes, or cut up and sauteed with other vegetables.They can also be pickled or dried for use later in the year.Victim of its popularity But this bounty of the earth has become a victim of its own popularity as a growing number of leek lovers and over-zealous pickers - especially those harvesting for commercial sale - have rendered the pungent and popular “ail des bois” (garlic of the woods) scarce by cleaning out whole patches of the plant, sometimes called wild garlic.“People just don’t take some, they take the whole thing,” laments Girdler, an ardent conservationist.The bulbs of wild leeks are tender and tasty with an oniony taste and a sharp garlic aroma the shores of Lake Massawippi.Like spring crocuses on your lawn, they are the first forest plant to come up in spring, and with bright green leaves they are easy to spot on the brown forest floor, said Girdler.Like onions, scallions, chives, the edible bulbs aren’t as big and plump and juicy after the plant flowers, she said.After a while, as the trees bloom and the shade invades the forests, they leaves turn yellow and the plants disappear.“Like spring flowers, they die back, but it’s important for them to be left alone as the dying plant stores energy in the bulb for the next spring,” explains Girdler, adding that it can take from six to nine years for the plant to achieve full growth.“They propagate much like tulips and crocuses, by the bulbs splitting,” she said, adding that while they can be grown from seed, it takes much longer.“And if you wipe out the whole patch, there aren’t any seeds left either.” Take only a few Girdler suggests that foragers pick five per cent of a clump, leaving it strong and able to persevere.“It’s like thinning carrots.You should take a few at random.” she said, suggesting that foragers treat nature like they would their own garden.“More and more people are less and less respectful of how these things get here and how they continue to exist,” Girdler said.“All people need is a little respect and common sense - that’s all.” And not only are wild leeks being picked out of existence, their habitat is also disappearing, she remarked.“It grows in maple bushes and they are disappearing too,” Girdler said.“We’re surrounded by forests and it looks like we are safe, but bit by bit, with the popularity of hardwoods, the habitat is disappearing too." Know regulations As the wild leek seasons begins, wildlife protection officials are advising foragers to get to know regulations and picking restrictions and to respect them.They are also encouraging people to blow the whistle on plant poachers who are endangering the survival of the vulnerable species through abusive picking or the illegal commerce in wild leeks.Anyone wishing to report illegal cultivation of wild leeks can contact the provincial anti-poaching (S.O.S.Braconnage) toll-free line at 1 800 463-2191 or contact their local wildlife office.For more information about wild leeks, call the provincial wildlife ministry office at 1 800 561-1616 or check out their Web site at www.menv.gouv.qc.ca/biodiversi te/es-peces/ail/ PERRY BEATON//SPECIAL Wild leeks can readily be found in the woods of the Eastern Townships - but not for long if foragers overpick.“There used to be a rule: Pick one, leave one.Now people don’t respect those kinds of rules.They just take it all out in a garbage bag.” In order to stem an alarming decline in the precarious plant population, the provincial wildlife ministry has declared wild leeks, known by its Latin genus as Allium tricoccuma, a vulnerable species.Strict controls Since 1995 the sale of wild leeks is strictly prohibited and there are strict controls on harvesting it under Quebec’s Loi sur les espèces menacées ou vulnérables.The annual limit is set at 200 grams per person - the equivalent of about 50 tiny bulbs.The law includes stiff fines that vary from $500 to $20,000 for individuals and from $1,000 to $40,000 for companies for a first infraction.The Direction de la Protection de la Faune of the provincial wildlife ministry has been rigorously enforcing laws governing wild leeks, conducting air surveillance of known patches of the plant, and sending out forest foot patrols to ensure people respect the laws and limits.During the spring of 2002, wildlife conservation agents seized some 20,000 bulbs of wild leeks from four dozen individuals who surpassed the permissible picking limit for the en- dangered plant.The culprits were charged with illegal possession of an endangered species.Thousands of the seized bulbs were given to volunteers who planted them in appropriate areas under a réintroduction program started by Environment Quebec and Montreal’s Biodome to stem the decline of the heritage plant.Used by early immigrants, wild leeks can readily be found in the woods of the Eastern Townships.The wild onions are a native North American plant that grows throughout the Appalachian mountain range from Canada down to South Carolina - especially in areas where there are concentrations of sugar maples and other hardwoods like beech and hemlock.In the south, they are known as ramp or ramp scallions and each year in the mountains of West Virginia, festivals sprout up to celebrate the wild vegetable - a stinky, spring tonic used as a folk medicine to ward away colds, the flu and pesky neighbors.Also known as wild garlic Further north, in the Great Lakes region, they are called wild leeks and in Quebec, the plant is known as Tail des bois - often translated as wild garlic.In the Townships, wild leeks can be found all over the place, including the banks of the St.Francis River and off THE! Wednesday, May 14, 2003 page 5 üWÜÉrf #-¥• FILF PHOTO Bee parasites will affect more than honey prices By Stephen McDougall Special to The Record Two parasitic mites that have killed more than half of the province’s bees last winter and this spring will affect more than just the price of honey, says beekeeping expert Jim McK-eage.“With fewer bees, many fruits and some vegetable plants will not get the pollination they need to grow, so there could be a shortage of fruit and vegetables later this year.” he predicted.“The bees do more than produce honey, they are the ones that bring pollen from from one plant to another.This is a crucial link of nature.” McKeage has been a beekeeper in St.Lazare, west of Montreal, for close to 30 years.He said the mites came to Canada in the last five years from the southern U.S.by travelling from bee to bee in a steady northern migration.“The cold climate in Canada does not seem to affect them,” he said.Mighty mites One mite, known as the Tracheal mite, blocks the bees airflow and causes it to become weak and slow down its wing movement.With slower wing movement, the bees create less heat in their hives and can freeze or catch a virus and die.The second mite, called the Varroa mite, lives on the outside of the bee and sucks its plasma.“The mites don’t kill the bees, but they make them so weak they cannot function for long,” said McKeage.“It is normal to lose a lot of bees as the older ones die, but this time, whole hives are dying because the mites hit the young and old alike.” He said one keeper near St.Lazare had 530 hives last year and is now down to 16.Another had 60 hives and lost them all.Jean Marc Labonté, president of honey maker Labonté Miel Inc.in Victo-riaville, said the lack of bees has caused the price of honey on the store shelf to double since last fall.“It went up by 60 percent before December, then jumped again by 40 percent this spring,” he said.“One kilogram of honey used to cost $4.99 last year.Now it is over $10.That is much too much.” Labonté agrees with McKeage that the lack of bees will affect the pollination of fruit and vegetable plants.Apart from being president of Labonté Miel, he is also head of a federation of 100 beekeepers in Quebec and has received urgent calls this spring from fruit growers wanting bees to pollinate their crops.“Our idea was to import bees from parts of the U.5.which had become immune to the parasites, but we can’t get permits from Agriculture Canada,” he said.“They argue that the U.S.keepers use hive," he said.One beekeeper who has not been as affected as others is Jean-Pierre Chap-leau from St-Adrien de Ham, near Wot-ton.A beekeeper since 1977, most of his 1,000 hives set up near Sherbrooke and the St.Francis Valley areas of the townships have been protected because of a natural method called “Integrated Pest Management” or IPM.“I have not lost any hives, but some of the colonies did become weak because of the parasites.The rest were freed because of IPM,” he argued.Chapleau said the IPM method included trapping the mites with bottom screens as well as using formic acid, but also concentrated on finding out which bees were stronger at resisting the mites.“It meant a lot of hours studying the bees and selecting which ones were strong and which ones were weak at defending themselves from parasites," he said.“I lost less than 10 percent of my production, whereas a lot of other keepers lost more than half.” He said many keepers were depending on synthetic pesticides to solve the problem, only to learn that the mites soon became immune to them last year.“They were looking for one solution to solve all their problems,” said Chapleau.Multi-pronged attack “I learned that no one solution would do that.You have to use several methods to reduce the number of mites and let the bees become stronger and use their own natural defences.” Chapleau added that he is opposed to importing bees from the U.S.because of the risk of other diseases or pesticide residue being brought in.“The American keepers are heavily into using chemicals on their bees and 1 for one do not want that imported here and affecting my hives,” he said.“My method may be more time consuming and labour intensive, but it means we have bees that are stronger and free of chemicals.” Chapleau points to a recent restriction on the importation of honey from China.The restrictions were imposed by Canadian food inspectors after they found traces of the chemical Chloramphenicol in the Chinese honey.According to McKeage, that import restriction and the present mite problem has caused a “double whammy” for honey producers and consumers.“Many of the major food producers such as Weston and Kelloggs use honey in their products, so the price of their products will shoot up this year as they pass the higher price of onto the consumer.” He added the lack of pollination could mean higher prices for such fruits as apples and berries and such vegetables as pumpkins, squash and cucumbers.The mites don't kill the bees, but they make them so weak they cannot function for long’ -Beekeeper too many pesticides that could affect our bee populations here.“I think they have their heads in the sand and don’t want to take action.” Use of chemicals Labonté argued many American beekeepers have survived the mite plague by alternating and experimenting with different pesticides and herbicides.“Some keepers who almost went out of business two or three years ago are now back in business and their mite problems are behind them,” he said.“We should take advantage of that and import their bees, but the government is ignoring us.” Labonté said the only bees AC will allow in to the country are from New Zealand, but he said they are also infested with the parasite.Labonté argued the AC policy of closed borders has caused the Quebec beekeeping industry to shrink.He said there were up to 120,000 hives owned or run by 4,000 keepers 10 years ago.Now, the number of hives is less than half and keepers have been reduced to 400.“My two sons have 4,000 hives and the parasites have reduced that number to 1,500 hives,” he said.“We need to import bees or the ten employees they have will be laid off soon.” McKeage said one solution to the problem is to import bee semen from other countries that have not been affected by the parasites.He said the University of Guelph in Ontario is studying a Buckfast bee from England and a select number of colonies from Russia that have been able to resist the mites.Another solution is to use Formic Acid, a substance found in honey that is harmful to the mite.Costly solution But McKeage said the acid solution is expensive, because it costs about $4 per colony of bees.A colony consists of roughly 15,000 bees.A beekeeping hive can contain between three to six colonies.A beekeeper with 500 hives can see a Formic acid bill of well over $12,000.Another solution is to place screens on the bottoms of the hives with sticky paper underneath them that can trap the mites as they fall from the hives.But McKeage said that method is slow because many mites fall from one bee to the next and never leave the hive.“For one mite that is trapped, there are about 200 mites that are still in the 1 THfci page 6 Wednesday, May 14, 2003 __ Record __ Community Forum Letter to the editor Shock and awe - Living in a rural fog Dear Editor, I am in shock and awe after reading the latest news of the ongoing campaign by the Eastern Townships School Board to introduce laptop computers into its schools.Both parents and the individual schools are now being asked by the ETSB to come up with more funding to make up for the financing deficit ($300,000) that the school board projects in implementing the laptop program for the next school year.Meanwhile, there is no mention of the projected deficits for the following years of the laptop initiative.Based on the present financial model used by the ETSB, it can be assumed that these deficits will be considerably more (in the millions), as the laptop program is implemented in more schools and grades/levels.SIRE ANDVASStCMW* REVOLT*./¦ CUMfcM \MSWR W 0WU 2003.Sears Canada Inc.13516621