The Informer Page 3

March 1988

continued from page 2

late 1960s, when the main business of
the neighbourhood was illegal
narcotics, the library was boarded-up.

What saved the library and the
neighbourhood were the efforts of the
residents themselves who refused to
be displaced for the restoration of
Gastown. In 1972 the library was
declared a historic site which
protected it from “urban renewal”. In
January 1980 it re-opened as the
Carnegie Community Centre and
Branch Library. itis the city’s busiest
community centre and serves 1500
people a day.

The lives of a few of those people
make up this book. Many of their
memories are dark ones of violence,
poverty, and alcohol abuse. What

stands out, though, is the lack of
bitterness and self-pity.

Listen to Katharine Kosta who
was raised in the downtown eastside:
“Don’t call us skid road bums
here... ’ve survived on my own guts
and my own mentality and because I
don’t sit down and let anything worry
meno more. When my eyes open in the
morning, I live for today.”

As a walking minesweeper in the
Korean War, Alfred Yeske suffered
only torn clothes from the explosions.
The other stories may not be as

sensational, but they are also tales of a

survival, of people and the corner —
Hastings and Main.

Robert Campbell is a history
instructor and freelance writer.

Jeri Krogseth:

Jeri Krogseth can sum up in one
word why she’s been a student advisor
for 20 years.

Satisfaction.

“I like the satisfaction of giving
students the information they need to
make their decisions,” Jeri says.

She adds that the job is especially
satisfying when she contributes to
making a troubled student a
successful one. Her favourite success
story concerns one of the first students
to walk through her door after she
joined Cap’s staff in the fall of 1985.

“She was a good high school
student who began to fail courses once
she started college. She was totally
discouraged and didn’t know where
she was going,” Jeri recalls.

She helped the woman with long-
term planning and course selection.
Then when the student wasn’t
accepted to UVic, Jeri helped her
appeal the decision.

“We spent a lot of time together,”
she chuckles.

And the time Jeri spent with that
student paid-off. She was eventually
accepted to UVic, where’s she’s
finishing third year.

Now she’s planning to enter
Architecture school, so last week she
came back to Cap to get more advice
from Jeri.

Information Broker

Jeri Krogseth

“I was really complimented that
she wanted to involve me in the next
level of her education planning,” she
says, adding that “one student in 100”
comes back to tell Jeri she’s made a
difference.

“But it’s that one student who
keeps you going for the next 200 who
come in.”

When Jeri joined Cap, the
advising job was only eight months a

F three friends to take along o on n her
holiday. Se

Ww o can't s swim."

“Three nice-looking young r men =

year. After 18 years at Coquitlam’s
Centennial High School Jeri was
looking forward to “semi-retirement”.

But the demands of thejob quickly
expanded to fill 10 months. In spring
about 80 per cent of Jeri’s time is spent
away from the college doing high
school liaison across the lower
mainland, and in Cap’s three regions
— Squamish, Sechelt and North
Vancouver. The rest of the time is
spent working with students on
campus and producing a bi-monthly
newsletter The High School Hotline
to make prospective students and
senior secondary counsellors aware of
what’s happening at Cap.

And high school students aren’t
the only ones to benefit from Jeri’s
expertise. She also teaches a careers
CHOICES workshop through North
Shore night school.

Jerisays she spends the little time
she has left working at her “second
career” being a mother to sons Steve,
14, and Jon, 15. The family skis at
Blackcomb, and spends the summers
enjoying outdoor activities like
hiking, camping and canoeing.

She likes to spend her relaxation
time on athletic hobbies, and she’s
looking forward to summer break and
a chance to work on her golf game.