BRIEFS August 21, 2014 Team FSM In Haguenau For Festival Du Houblon HAGUENAU, France (Media Division, Aug. 18, 2014) — Team FSM has left Confolens to join the Festival du Houblon in Haguenau, another small rural town in France. The Team took an almost 12-hour bus ride from Confolens to Haguenau starting on Monday morning around 7:00 AM, with volunteer Lise Combet and another small group of band players from France, with several restroom breaks along the way. After a long scenic bus ride of the countryside, the Team arrived into Haguenau on Monday evening, then had to cart their luggage up three flights of stairs to the top floor of the dormitory-type building where they stayed in mixed accommodations with other country delegations. The Team will be in Haguenau until Monday, August 25, 2014, when it will take another long bus ride to the city of Paris where the Team will catch its flight from Paris to Amsterdam with the long connecting flight to the Philippines. Before leaving Confolens for Haguenau, the Team FSM dancers exit performance was one last parade through the streets of Confolens with the other country delegations to a packed crowd lining both sides of the streets waiting to get a glimpse of all the performers up close and personal. Following the parade there was one small showing at the main stadium “Theatre des Ribieres” around 4:30 PM before the big finale at the closing ceremony at 9:00 PM in the evening. Tickets to the 3,000 seat stadium were sold out. In between the 4:30 PM Show and 9:00 PM Closing Ceremony, there was a small farewell reception hosted by the Confolens Festival Organizing Committee Chairman Xavier Soupizet. Former Governor and Team FSM Organizing Committee Chairman Vincent Figir and his wife Carol Falagong represented Team FSM at the reception, where there was an exchange of gifts. Festival President Xavier Soupizet in his address to the delegations thanked all the countries from his heart for attending, and apologized for any hiccups that the delegations may have experienced along the way but they tried their best to accommodate everyone. Chairman Figir presented President Soupizet with some local ropes, lava-lava and stone money carving on behalf of the delegation. The delegation’s travel to Confolens, France is the result of a request by the French Parliament several years ago to the then FSM Congress Speaker, Isaac Figir, and is funded by the FSM Congress through appropriation. College Mourns The Passing Of Grady Gil Landers Pettigrew [Updated] TOFOL, Kosrae (COM-FSM News, Aug. 19, 2014) — The College is saddened by the recent passing of Grady Gil Landers Pettigrew. Pettigrew had been with the College’s Kosrae Campus since September 2013 until his untimely passing on August 17, 2014. Before moving to the FSM, he worked as an adjunct instructor in biology at Nova Southeastern University, Miami Campus Miami-Dade College, InterAmerican Campus in the Natural & Social Sciences Department. Kosrae Campus Dean Kalwin Kephas recalls that “ Gil was a very innovative instructor, he led his students to understand and be aware of their surroundings by making special visits to sanctuaries, historical sites, and marine laboratories on Kosrae, Gil volunteered to add tutoring sessions as part of his workload.“ The College community mourns the loss of one of its own, and asks that you remember him at this difficult time. College Chief Of Staff Meets And Greets Alumni In Honolulu OAHU, Hawaii (COM-FSM News, Aug. 21, 2014) — College Chief of Staff Ms. Universe “Uni” Yamase, participated in the very first COM-FSM Alumni Association meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii on August 14,2014. With a partnership of the Pacific Islands Development Program located at University of Hawaii, Manoa Campus, the meeting took place at the East West Center. Five participants attended the event. With a small group, there was a lot of room for one on one conversation. Ms. Yamase shared that, “Coming out of the meeting, there was a lot of excitement, positive feedback and support to launch a COM-FSM sub group based in Honolulu.” Ms. Alice Ehmes, the President of the Pohnpei Women’s Association in Honolulu and a graduate of the College, had agreed to help collaborate with the COM-FSM Association-Pohnpei to get a group launched in Honolulu. According to Ms. Ehmes, “we need to shed positive light upon our college, lift the spirits, and share success stories about the alumni”. With an alumni-working group in place, the College is now active in establishing and strengthening the College’s Alumni Association. Ms. Yamase added that, “more initiatives and activities will occur through the year. Individuals that were not able to make it to this meeting, will still have a chance to participate and be involved on the next Alumni activity. President Mori Meets With Commanding Officer, Captain Pruett PALIKIR, FSM (fsmupdates, Aug. 19, 2014) — President Manny Mori meets with Captain James B. Pruett who assumed the role as Commanding Officer of the United States Coast Guard (USCG) Sector based out of Guam in July 2014. In his meeting with Captain Pruett, President Mori expressed his and the nation’s appreciation for their role, the continuous cooperation and military protection provided to the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). As the Sector Commander, Captain Pruett thanked the President for the warm welcome and acknowledged the assistance and positive cooperation received by staff from both fronts. Aware of how the mechanism works, information sharing with the USCG is significant to operating under the formal channels that illustrates the formal practices that have already been taking place. The USCG Captain announced to the President and his staff that a 378’ High Endurance Cutter will be doing a port visit to the FSM shortly. Further, the nature of Captain Pruett’s visit is to meet with staff members to ensure and optimize a continuous collaboration between the FSM and the USCG. During the formal exchange, both President Mori and Captain Pruett recognized that orange paint on boats is significantly effective for rescue measures. By re-affirming the nations continuous appreciation, President Mori concluded the meeting by expressing the strong relationship the FSM has with the United States and the significant role the military carries out by safeguarding the FSM in aspects of defense and security. Also present at the meeting were Lieutenant Commander Joshua N. Blocker, U.S. Ambassador to the FSM, Doria Rosen, Chief of Staff Leo Falcam Jr., and Foreign Affairs Secretary, Lorin S. Robert. United Airlines Faces Grilling At Guam Legislative Hearing HAGÅTÑA, Guam (Pacific Daily News/PIR, Aug. 21, 2014) — At a legislative hearing on air travel safety last night, a United Airlines representative said the company will never compromise the safety of air travelers. United has recently faced customer complaints, including some that were shared with the Guam Legislature, about canceled flights, or delayed flights. United is very aware that our operations at times have caused frustrations, and for that we greatly apologize, said Sam Shinohara, Uniteds managing director for business development in the Asia Pacific. United managers and many of the airlines Guam employees, including flight attendants and pilots, attended the legislative round-table meeting, which was called by the Guam Legislatures aviation committee. The local legislative committee doesnt have authority to legislate airline safety standards, so Uniteds participation was what the committee called voluntary. Landing, turnaround The meeting was called because of recent concerns from certain members of Guams community and to allow United to clarify recent events, said the committees chairman, Sen. Michael San Nicolas. A United flight from Honolulu to Guam made a safe emergency landing on Midway Island several weeks ago. A United flight from Guam to Honolulu turned around within a few hours of starting more than a week ago because of a problem with the seal on a cockpit window. Both incidents involved Boeing 777 aircraft. Shinohara acknowledged that Uniteds Guam-based 777s have had high-profile irregular operations very recently. Three planes from US Operational reliability on Guam has been restored, Shinohara said, in part by moving three aircraft to Guam from Uniteds stateside operations. He said of 767 Boeing 777 flights on the Guam hub this year, only 16 were canceled, in part due to weather and in part because of maintenance issues. Uniteds Guam operations performed better than any U.S. airline industry average this year, he said. He cited U.S. Transportation Department statistics. Community impact We share your disappointment in the operational challenge that we faced in the past several weeks, Shinohara said. We recognize the negative impact on our community, ... but I want to assure you, the committee, and most importantly, our customers, that the safety of our fleet has never been compromised. A few members of the flying public, including Dr. Thomas Shieh and Eloy Hara, both frequent travelers with millions of miles flown, talked about being disappointed by their experience with United. Hara said United has used junk, or older aircraft, compared to the new fleet Continental Airlines used for the Guam service before it merged with United. Shieh said Guam employees of United, who were formerly under Continental, provide good service. But Uniteds corporate decisions about the Guam service is a point of contention, Shieh said. Most of the public comments were in support of United. More than 1,000 workers Businessman Lee Webber, former publisher of the Pacific Daily News, said he has no problem flying with United and questioned the timing of the hearing. Its an election year, and I believe, ... it has a lot to do with this, Webber said. Supporters of United applauded Webbers comments. Supporters of United also reminded the legislative committee that Uniteds more than 1,000 employees on Guam, just like disheartened customers, are voters too. Tuna Industry official: Penalize Nations That Don’t Comply MAJURO, Marshall Islands (Marianas Variety, Aug. 21, 2014) — Fishing nations that are refusing to provide tuna catch data to regional management organizations should be sanctioned, a tuna industry official told journalists in Suva, Fiji on Tuesday. “The industry can provide accurate data,” said Phil Roberts, the Singapore-based managing director of Tri-Marine International, a global supplier of tuna. “If they don’t provide the data, don’t wail about it in the newspaper, penalize them.” Roberts was commenting on concern raised by fisheries scientists earlier this month during presentations of new stock assessments that show bigeye tuna is now being over-fished and by island fisheries officials in Suva at a two-day tuna workshop who expressed concern about the lack of data from four Asian fishing nations. Roberts and Dr. Transform Aqorau, CEO of the Parties to the Nauru Agreement or PNA, said Tuesday the refusal to provide fishing data to regional management authorities is tantamount to illegal fishing. Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing includes mis-reporting and under-reporting, said Roberts. “Failure to provide catch data should be considered IUU,” said Aqorau. Vessels engaging in illegal fishing have been blacklisted throughout the western and central Pacific and have been forced to pay heavy fines to resume fishing. Aqorau’s comments were referring to South Korea, Japan, China… whose fleets of longliners fish the high seas in the western Pacific for bigeye and yellowfin tuna to feed global sashimi markets. All are members of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission which regulates fishing on the high seas and requires all members to report operational catch data. Earlier this month, the Forum Fisheries Agency, which represents 17 island members, criticized the four Asian nations while praising the United States for updating its domestic laws to allow it to provide the required data that scientists say is essential to developing accurate stock assessments. Aqorau said the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission needs to act decisively at its December annual meeting to get these nations to provide data and to reduce catches of bigeye tuna, which scientists say has plummeted because of heavy fishing to just 16 percent of its original population level. Roberts said the responsibility for policing high seas fishing “rests with the flag states.” But the four Asian nations have refused to provide data from their vessels on the ground that national legislation prevents it. Aqorau said illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing is “significant” in the Pacific, particularly on the high seas in the vicinity of the 200-mile exclusive economic zones controlled by the eight PNA nations, where over 50 percent of the global supply of skipjack tuna is caught. “There should be sanctions (for non-reporting of catch data) and (illegal, unreported and unregulated) is the ultimate sanction,” Roberts said. New Waste To Energy Technology Could Come To Pacific WELLINGTON, New Zealand (Radio New Zealand International, Aug. 21, 2014) — A New Zealand energy consultant says a technology which converts any kind of waste to renewable energy could be the way forward in making the Pacific region more sustainable. Otago Polytechnics Neville Auton will present to the United Nations Small Islands Developing States conference in Apia next month on the logistics and benefits of the technology, called pyrolysis. Mr. Auton says it uses high temperatures to break rubbish down to its organic components and create a gas which can run engines and turbines. He says the technology would have a number of benefits. This is looking to remove the diesel component out of the energy generation system, its really looking at what are the potentials for the waste. Is there product manufacture opportunities out of that waste, to generate local employment, and improve sustainability within the islands, and having positive sustainability outcomes is really part of the process. Neville Auton says the pyrolysis equipment would cost Pacific nations between 15 and 40 million US dollars. -END- COMMUNITY MESSAGE: It is the start of the school year again. Many parents, not all the parents though, will go through the usual worries for their children—safety, not going hungry while in school, not bothered or troubled by other children, etc. And we wonder about children who did poorly behavior-wise the school year before and children who will enroll for the first time. We wonder if all the parents have done their parts that their children, when in school, are actually there for the learning environment. And we wonder if teachers are prepared to do the right thing when a child or so are not in school to learn. We know certain basic things—concerned parents go through a great deal to enroll and make sure their children do well in school; children cannot do well, even adequately, if other children deprive them of the opportunity; and teachers cannot teach and do parenting at the same time
Posted on: Thu, 04 Sep 2014 14:12:32 +0000
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