September 4, Byron Shire EchoLetterscontinued from page The heat so erce it melts the identity of many. No-one knows who these poor people are. And that is just a sample of a day in our modern world. There is hope though. A proposal is being put forward to microchip all children at birth, and enter their personal data into a worldwide, centralised database. A simple injectable chip inserted in the nape of the neck is all it would take. We do it to our pets, so surely it cannot be all that bad It would save time, money, resources and some say, help to reduce the spread of terrorism. We could read and reprogram these chips at any time. Use them rather than passports or other types of ID. Forget credit and credit cards just stand within 1 metre of a terminal and your data would be read automatically and your bank account debited. You wouldnt even need a car key just simply walk up to your vehicle and the door would unlock. No cheque books. Crime would decrease as CCTV cameras would be upgraded to read your ID thus helping with anti social behaviour problems in our inner cities. Underage drinkers would be automatically refused entry to bars and clubs. The list ofadvantages goes on and on. Tax and social benet fraud would be all but eliminated. The downside Personal liberty. But surely only those afraid of their personal guilt should be worriedHugh DownieFederalPraising BBHSI am a Canadian teacher and an artist on exchange from Campbell River, BC, Canada. I have traded houses and jobs with another teacher for one year. I have moved to Lennox Head with my wife, and two boys, who attend Lennox Head Public school. I teach art at Byron Bay High School. We are loving our time here. This area is wonderful, full of friendly people and fantastic nature. The surf, sun, and sand are a magical combination. I spend much of my spare time painting local ocean scenes. The style of my paintings change as I am inuenced by the students of BBHS. I often bring my paintings in for advice and suggestions from the students. People ask me if students are more difficult here at BBHS or in Canada. And I tell them that kids are kids, full of emotions and energy and ideas, all trying to gure out how to t in. They are neither better nor worse,they are all simply different. BBHS is a good learning institute that accommodates students with all their variations. The school has a welcoming comfortable feeling to it. Achievement seems to be high in all disciplines. Two programs that I have been involved with at BBHS are the fine arts and the sports programs. The arts program is strong at BBHS. I spend most of the time in the art department where I witness wonderful work getting done. There are some outstanding artists in year . Under the competent leadership of Mrs Hubbard they have created very mature bodies of work for their HSC. The year s will have their art displayed in the Performing Arts Centre for September 6. The opening for the show will be 6pm. The artistic talent spreads through all the grades. I am very impressed with the quality and creativity of all the levels, from year 7 to year . Students seem to be more artistically intelligent than the art students I teach in Campbell River. They have more knowledge of artists, art history, and art vocabulary. They possess an artistic confidence which allows them to creatively experiment. Thus, many students are creating quite mature works of art.Driving up house pricesMuch is in the news about the threat of the sub-prime mortgage crisis in the US destabilising the share market and bringing down the economy. The risk of massive defaults on sub-prime mortgages now poses a bigger threat to US economic prosperity than terrorism a panel of US business economists said on Monday August . Meanwhile the issue of affordable housing in Australia, with record home repossessions, is also growing apace. Property prices have doubled in many areas and interest rates keep rising in In comparison with other drama programs that I have seen, the program at BBHS is nothing short of outstanding. The passion and the maturity of both the teacher and the students is infectious. The performances that I have seen have been wonderful, full of emotion and creativity. I have been spellbound a number of times watching some of the HSC performances. I am amazed at the musical talent of students at Byron Bay High. I have listened to soft acoustic guitar sounds mixed with soothing soft voices. I have also found the need to protect my hearing with the loud teenagestyle drum and guitar music mixed with screaming singing. At BBHS music students have the chance to chase their musical dreams. Two other programs under the umbrella of ne arts are multi media and photography. In both of these two programs students are able to create art with cameras, both still and video cameras. Some of the work done this year has been of a superior quality. If I had to take one thing from the Australian system back to Campbell River, I would take the sports programs. Each Wednesday afternoon students are provided with a chance to experience many different activities yoga, gymnastics, surfing, swimming, snorkeling, circus, skateboarding, tennis, and other sports. It exposes students to a variety of activities and encourages lifelong pursuits. How good it is that students get a chance to try all the activities that Byron Bay has to offer. From my point of view Byron Bay High is a good education facility with strong programs. I feel quite fortunate to be living and teaching in this area. When the time comes in January, it will be tough to leave this area.Shane Harlespite of the federal governments promise that they wouldnt. But over the period of the economic boom wages have only grown 2-3 a year. Though most of the state budgets have cut land tax and stamp duty and increased spending on public housing, reports indicate that affordability is worse in Australia than any other English speaking country in the OECD. Developers argue that affordability could be xed by releasing more land for residential development, but the reality is that only The weeks Horse Flu events have shown it can do the job well. But the joke is on RLP Boards , approximately ratepayers both the overwhelming thousands of minimum ratepayers and all the others. They are paying to keep the racing industry going. The racing industry laughs all the way to the bank after it has stood down all its casual employees, all it has to moan about is a loss of income. Non-users on RLP rated lifestyle blocks, macadamia farms, coffee plantations, wheat and other grain growers and more are seeing their rates used up while the horse industry contributes nothing but words and spin words at that. The public purse bears the cost of beating the Horse Flu problem, yet the industry bewails the fate of the workers. And adding insult to injury for the ratepayers Little Johnny opens the public purse to give out of work support to these strappers, grooms, stablehands, jockeys and all the rest. They should have help, yes, but from the industry or from the public purse And the industry should be paying for its own

early warning system

for Animal Disease. Therell be lots of mud thrown, but heres a clear picture the objective of the RLP Act is To provide for the coordination and delivery of certain animal health, animal production and pest control activities, and drought and natural disaster activities quoted from Report Review of the Act. The key function of the Boards is an Animal Disease

early warning

system. Thats why all of the present system is arranged around the veterinarians employed by each board. Now we see horses and their industries are part of the scene though most obvious diseases were clearly mad cow and foot and mouth. But have a think about Avian Flu, and about pig farmers and more. What of theseof people buy house and land packages, buy established housing. According to property journalist Terry Ryder, the affordability problem relates to the high market price of established homes in established areas and opening new land will do little to change that. Record company profits, generous executive salary packages and a buoyant share market is what has driven the rise and rise at the top end of the residential property marketJillian WattNorth Ocean Shores The Acts name must change to Animal Disease Early Warning Act or similar. Who should pay for this early warning system Just change the question slightly Who pays when disease strikes A week ago I suggested the answer was those people who benet from an industry free of animal disease. Now its the horse racing public, other related groups like trainers and on and on, stud farms and other producers of horses all of these benefit and are the true beneciaries of the Animal Disease Early Warning System Hence, on the user pays principle, cost of the Animal Disease Early Warning System for horses should be spread across the horse groups. For sheep and cattle industries etc etc, those groups should pay, including the meat eating, wool using public. It is high time the load was removed from non-users who are the majority of present RLP ratepayersLaurie StubbsRosebankOh brotherHow is it that if I dont vote, I get ned The Exclusive Brethren openly defy voting in Australian elections, yet they get a chummy little visit from the Prime Minister Howard says it is proper to talk with Australian citizens. Obviously he thinks talking to cults is also proper. That Howard is astonished that people are complaining about his meeting with the Exclusive Brethren is astonishing in itself Its time to get rid of this old, decrepit government, led by an old and decrepit man, who is jumping into bed with anyone if it means hanging onto power.Peter CondeStokers Siding Letters received from Mark Stephan, Byron Bay, Margaret Howes, Empire Vale, Freda Phillips, Mornington VIC, P Moore, Suffolk Park.Lennox HeadFlu ow-onRural Land Protections true function is an Early Warning System for Animal Disease.