Opinions August 5, 2008 New Lady opinions @theotherpress.ca Since when did a human life become so worthless? By Garth McLennan Bas Castaneda was gunned down on July 16th in Mexico along with a friend of his, Ahmet Kaawach. What makes this case special is that both victims were alleged members of the notorious United Nations gang, which has plagued B.C. with drugs and violence for years. The two were dining at a Mexican restaurant when a man armed with a machine gun came in and opened fire. Castaneda was 28 years old. Officially employed by Homelife Glenayre Realty, based in Abbotsford, Castaneda worked there for two years. However, the firm has revealed that he quit last month. Castaneda worked from home and rarely made office appearances. Kaawach’s profile is a little more violent. He was earlier deported out of Vancouver to Lebanon for a weapons offense. Before his deportation, Kaawach lived in Metro Vancouver. According to police, he was very close with Clayton Roueche, alleged United Nations gang leader. Police believe that Kaawach was the group’s Mexican drug connection for smuggling illegal substances to places such as BC. Kaawach had met with Roueche shortly beforehand in Lebanon, which police have deemed suspicious because their meeting could have been used to further the gang’s drug trafficking into British Columbia. What I find disturbing isn’t so much that these two were murdered. Unfortunately, that is often the outcome of a criminal lifestyle. No, what really upsets me is the response from Vancouver citizens in the wake of the shootings. In an online discussion shortly after the killing, many people had very tasteless things to say about the incident. “We should buy the rest of the UN gang tickets to Mexico, one way of course!” was a comment posted by a person named William. Another respondent stated, “Good riddance to bad garbage! The rest of the UN gang should take a holiday, have a real shoot out with the Mexicans and see who can hit the most garbage.” All of the above remarks are in extremely poor taste. Both of these men could quite possibly have been the scum of the Earth, but that does not mean they deserved to die. We should never celebrate when someone dies. What I want to know is when did the value on a human life decrease so much? When something like this happens, we shouldn’t be delighted, we should feel sorrow for the loss of a life. You don’t have to feel for the person who passed, but that person undoubtfully had family and friends who will feel the gaping loss that only someone who has had a relative or friend die can fully understand. This wasn’t the only time I’ve heard such negative comments. On Canada Day, police shut down the Iron Workers Bridge after they discovered an older woman contemplating suicide off the bridge. In order to establish peace and quiet to speak to the women, police closed off all access to the bridge completely. It took officers six hours to save her life. Immediately following the restoration of order, BC Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon, who was caught in the massive gridlock, demanded to the papers “I want answers!” ] perfectly understand that countless people were trapped for six hours, and that they had to sacrifice their Canada Day. I also understand that many missed work or significant commitments. On the other hand, this is another person’s life we're discussing here; isn’t that worth six hours? ) Human life is something that we shouldn’t have a say over. Only in the most extreme cases should taking another’s life be considered or appreciated. People regularly complain about the crime harming our streets. Maybe we should look at how we treat one another as a partial solution. Electric rail a solid choice for Fraser Valley By Matthew Steinbach, Opinions Editor The Olympic truce is needed NOW More thal QVEM » suis seins opin si De citizens of the Fraser Valley are truly beginning to pursue better public transit. They have been actively proposing the restoration of the previous interurban line, which once went from Columbia and 8th in New Westminster through to Surrey, North Delta, Langley, Abbottsford, and Chilliwack. Many of the opponents have stated that this would be unnecessary as some of the areas are still agricultural, but this would be an inexpensive way of connecting the areas that are not. The line would still provide an adequate, if not superior, form of transportation to an area greatly in need of such an infusion. Such a scheme could also provide relief to students from Douglas arriving from Surrey, Kwantlen, and the University of the Fraser Valley as they would finally receive transportation at the swiftness of SkyTrain. This will allow them shorter commutes between their schools and home. Community members would have access to improved accessibility to Abbotsford and Chilliwack as people cannot currently reach these destinations by public transit. As the Abbotsford International Airport is further developed, this will allow many users to decrease their dependency on the Vancouver International Airport, as well as developing many more economies along the way. Also, providing these areas with an opportunity to plan their cities around the public transit system as opposed to the highway. The return of electric rail to the valley would actually be the most ideal of any past or currently anticipated projects; unlike in Coquitlam or Vancouver, the initial lines still remain entirely intact from our earlier experiment during the 1900s. The government had this alternative when erecting SkyTrain on the Expo and Millenium lines but chose instead to pursue the costlier selection. Clearly, the provincial government has not always committed to what would be best for public transit. Win the impending Olympics in Beijing, there is dialogue concerning returning to the “Olympic truce,” which once existed in Ancient Greece before the modern Olympics. Essentially, this would entail there to be no wars or conflicts throughout the course of the games. Many cynics would probably be correct to state that “it will not happen,” but in a few years, who knows? The world is constantly amending itself; if the will is there we could accomplish this. Otherwise, without any kind of belief that “change can happen,” this is nothing more than an invention of some childish Disney emotion that people can overcome any adversity and fashion their own “happily ever after.” This aspiration may seem far removed from current contexts, but the spirit of the games is to tolerate peaceful co-existence between nations as they struggle with one another for superiority over _ other playing fields. The truce _ would fit in perfectly with the Vancouver Olympics, which would be the first instance where it could be enacted. This would enable Vancouverites to invent a contemporary model of what a host city should strive for. Given our once peaceful Canadian reputation, this would also be ideal pursuit for our nation. This would put a stop to our once proud reputation becoming more tarnished by our aggressive actions that we have committed to recently. Canadians could rise up once again like we did so many years ago through proposing the UN Peace Keepers and other peaceful initiatives. This status is well worth maintaining for future generations.