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The Ascension Island Newspaper |
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The Ascension Island Newspaper |
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ISLANDER
NEEDS YOU! |
As we approach the end of another
year and start looking forward to the next, now is the
time to start thinking of ways you can help keep the
Islander going up to the Millenium and beyond. To put it
bluntly if we dont't get some volunteers, willing or
otherwise soon, the future of the Islander Newspaper
could be in real jeopardy. With the sad departure of Bill
and Sandra Cooper this week, we have lost another editor
and also a treasurer. There is also the perennial problem of finding printers and collators. All we ask is that you give up 1 morning a week, or even 1 morning a month. Surely that's not too much to ask. As for editing, thanks to the fine efforts of our contributors and helpers it isn't quite the daunting task it used to be. Even if you could attempt one issue a month that would be great. So please think on......Ascension without an Islander....well that's like having a bar with no beer.....too hideous to contemplate. |
Apologies to those expecting wedding photos on the front page this week. Due to an over eager groom and a communication break-down on the Islander team this was not possible. Full coverage of the nuptials (excluding details of the honeymoon, naturally) will appear in next week's issue.
XMAS & NEW YEAR SPECIAL EDITIONThe last issue of 1998 will be a bumper Christmas and New Year double edition - published on 22 December 1998. It will contain all your usual favourites, plus much more besides. The aim is to produce the biggest edition ever, so if you want to contribute please contact a member of the editorial teams.
Anyone wishing to send seasons greetings to islanders via the Islander should ensure that the editor's receive their messages no later than Friday 18 December 1998.
Please send all Christmas greeting e-mails for publication in The Islander to editors@the-islander.org.ac .
Just when you think it's all going so swimmingly...................
Sadly, this week, we have to say toodle pip and bon voyage to our favourite scousers, Bill and Sandra Cooper. They've only been here a year, but in that time have managed to get involved with many island activities and will be sorely missed. With them leaving many vacancies will be opening up for like-minded, public spirited volunteers, for example; Chairman and Treasurer, Exiles Club, Treasurer and Editor, Islander Newspaper, Treasurer, ADF, Two Boats Committee Member and probably some I've forgotten. They have also been whole-hearted and much appreciated supporters of the AISPCA and generally all round good eggs. On behalf of all at the Islander, I would like to wish them and their children, Nicola and Samantha all the best for the future. Let's hope '99 turns out to be your year. Please keep in touch and don't let the buggers get you down !
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Dear Friends,
Well we didn't burn the church down and nobody had their hair
singed but we did have over 100 Christingles list in St. Mary's
last Sunday evening as the children sang "Away in a
manger".
Thanks to all who attended, and especially to the children of our
school for making the Christingles on Friday and then forming an
impromptu 'choir' to sing "This little light of mine, I'm
gone let it shine .... 'at the service.
In my letter next week I'll be able to let you know how much was
raised for the Children's Society.
As our preparations for Christmas gather pace this week, it is
the School's turn to shine - by the time you read this, two
performances of the Christmas Production 1998 will have come and
gone and no doubt been enjoyed by all, but there is still time to
come to the School Carol Service in church on Friday at 11.00 am.
Then it's holiday time for the children and a well earned rest
for our teachers.
But for many others the pace will quicken as they prepare for
parties, decorate their homes, wrap presents, maybe pack to 'go
home' or get ready for guests to arrive to stay and share
Christmas with them.
In all the busyness we might lose sight of the fact that it is a
time of waiting too.
So when you're feeling that all the rushing around is getting a
bit too much and wondering how you will ever get everything done
in time why not take just a few moments to remember what these
next two weeks are really all about and who we are waiting and
preparing for - Jesus, born in a stable, alive with us now.
In Psalm 27 we find a 'thought for the day' at this busy time:-
Wait for the Lord
stand firm and he will strengthen your heart:
and wait, I say, for the Lord.
God Bless you all
Fr. Keith & Ginny
From the Administrator's Desk
With the Christmas season fast approaching the social tempo has increased (along with my waist-line). But three recent events gave Niddy and me particular pleasure. These were the weddings of Patricia Peters and Gavin Youde at St Mary's; this followed a week later by that of Jacky Williams and Mario George at the Residency; and last but not least a delightful christening ceremony and party for baby Jade Benjamin who was as good as gold throughout the day. We felt privileged to attend all three celebrations.
There is some confusion still about bookings on the RAF Airbridge. As far as we on Ascension are concerned there is no change. We can still go along to the Accounts Section at the Airhead and buy our tickets for what we paid for them before. But at the UK end there have been changes. Instead of a clerk in the Foreign & Conunonwealth doing the work, all bookings will now be via Cumow's, who already manage the RMS. As a commercial organisation Curnow's are charging a booking fee so the price of tickets purchased in the UK has gone up from 1 December (the return fares are now: Apex £774, Full Economy £1252).
We have entertained two groups of British Members of Parliament over the last few weeks. On the 13th and 20th November an all-party group of six MPs passed through. There were three from the Labour Party (Messrs Malcolm Savidge, David Borrow and Robert Blizzard), two Conservatives (Geoffrey Clifton-Brown and Owen Paterson) and an Ulster Unionist (William Thompson). Then on the I st and 5th December Mr Douglas Henderson MP (Minister of State for the Armed Forces) and Ms Gillian Merron MP (Mr Henderson's Parliamentary Private Secretary) stopped over. On each occasion we are able to brief the MPs about Ascension and seek their support for full British passports for Saints. As an aside, Mr Henderson is a keen and very able cross-country runner. Within minutes of arriving at the Residency he had donned his athletic kit and zoomed off to the Dew Pond. The round trip took him only 20 minutes - a very creditable performance.
Last week I had a nice E-mail message from Steve and Amy Hill. As many of you will recall Steve was the US Base Commander from 1995-97. They send all their friends their best wishes and compliments of the season.
There's none so odd as folk! My dear wife is no exception. Her present to me on my recent birthday was a pair of wire insulation-stripping pliers. I wonder if there is a hidden message in there somewhere!
And now we look forward to the Christmas festivities.... Please don't overdo it.
Roger Huxley
8 December 1998
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I would like to dedicate this article to an issue that has the potential to affect all of us (some even suggest catastrophically) no matter what your age, gender, or nationality-it is the Year 2000 (Y2K) Millennium Software Bug.
As most of you know, software dependent on a real-time clock, CMOS and BIOS systems programmed with two-date logic, always assumes the first two digits to be 19. As these systems' clocks roll over from December 31, 1999, 2359 hours, to January 1, 2000, 0000 hours, some software applications will search for Year 1900 versus Year 2000. As Mr Fred Kenney, Deputy Station Manager, adequately summed up the potential, "In short, all such software will become chaotic to the extent that any of its decisions depend on reading a time word. This has obvious potential to affect almost everything in our lives… communications, transportation, commerce, finances, and health care. Traffic lights, power plants, air traffic control, and navigation systems…you name it, may turn topsy-turvy without a software fix or replacement."
None of the so-called experts agree on the total impact of the Y2K bug, but all of us must be prepared for the consequences. On the US Base, our instrumentation (radars, telemetry, communications, timing circuitry) is being tested by CSR engineers from Patrick Air Force Base. However, most of the other systems to include our power plant, desalinization plant, waste water treatment plant, fire alarm systems, and desktop computers with all of their applications must be covered by an installation contingency plan. Therefore, we recently met to begin drafting our contingency plan.
I have elected to include in this article some of our discussions and issues not to cause panic, but hopefully stimulate more discussions. In being good island stewards, I feel it is incumbent upon us to expose the entire island to where we may stand on the Y2K issue.
Currently, we feel our power plant, desalinization plant, and waste water treatment plants will not be affected by the Y2K bug. We have talked to the associated manufacturers; however, we continue to carry out these discussions. If our power plant fails, we have 37 dedicated portable generators for our critical systems and 11 non-committed portable generators that would be marshaled to our facilities as we determine priorities. If the desalinization plant would fail, we would rely on our water supply (1.9 million US gallons) and bottled water. Water conservation measures would be immediately instituted, and if all fails, we would evacuate non-essential personnel. If our waste water treatment plant should fail, we would switch back to our septic system. We will attempt to top off our fuel area at Catherine Point from the Maersk just prior to the Y2K.
As far as food, we feel we have a six-month supply for personnel on the installation at any time should air and ship traffic unexpectantly cease. Unfortunately, perishables would be quickly exhausted; however, we have a substantial stock of semi- and non-perishable food. The Volcano Club snack bar would probably be shut down in a contingency, and we hope to receive larger than normal stocks of food by plane and ship just prior to the Y2K. We will also stock up on items such as charcoal and the like for a worst case scenario.
We do not think our air traffic services will be affected except we would have to interface with outside agencies (i.e. flight plan filing, etc.) that may be affected. We are still researching what will occur with our fire alarm systems. Fortunately, it appears all of our vehicles will be functional, but we continue to research some issues in this realm.
Lastly, we plan to stock up on some consumables, earmark them for Y2K, and store them either in a centralized warehouse or disperse them to the place of use. Such items would include portable generator spare parts, batteries, candles, and the like.
In conclusion, this article is not written to provoke anxiety; however, we must be prepared should we experience consequences from the Y2K bug. If you have concerns, thoughts, or questions, please contact myself at extension 2200 or Mr Fred Kenney at extension 2202.
Major Jeff Lowdermilk
ASCENSION ISLAND MANAGEMENT GROUP
The 47th AIMG meeting, attended by the senior managers of organisations operating on Ascension, took place on 3 December. Matters discussed included the following:
Advisory Forum. Next meeting Tuesday 8th December. The Administrator reported on the lively meeting which took place 27th October. He yet again stressed the importance of the Forum and said that he had taken up the matter of non-representation by RAF contractors with the authorities in London. Sqn Ldr Hayward responded that he had several times asked his contractors whether their staff wish to be represented on the Forum - and there were no takers. He had subsequently asked the contractors to confirm in writing that their staff are not interested. Similarly, as regards US contractors' representation, the Administrator will raised the matter with General Starbuck when he visited Ascension later this month.
Conservation Management Plan: A meeting of the UK Dependent Territories Forum had taken place in London on 24th November. But no report had yet reached the Administrator. He expressed surprise that a subject which had earlier been given such high priority by the environmentalists now seemed less urgent..
Exercise Turtle Heritage: The Administrator had that morning authorised the expenditure of £3,500 to make good work by the Royal Engineers on the museum's archives building.
Island Postal Services: The Postmistress and Base "Postie" are discussing ways of improving the postal service. Health & Safety at the Pierhead: The new arrangements have been implemented. The meeting consensus was that the pier operations are now safer and more efficient.
Pierhead wash-down pump: A suitable submersible pump would cost in the range of £5,000 CIF. AIS did not have the money. So, in an attempt to keep the Tartar Steps and path to the fish-filleting table free of blood and gore, the Administrator will ask all fisherfolk to swill away blood etc from the area - not just that part of the pier adjacent to the table.
Chapel of Rest: Everyone present supported the concept of a Chapel to be sited near the old C&W power house, just across from St Mary's. It would comprise a chill-container (kindly donated by Maersk Shipping) surrounded by walls with a tiled roof. Mourners would have an aesthetically more suitable place to be near the deceased. But there are bureaucratic difficulties in raising the necessary funds (AIS estimate about £14,000). In the event the Administrator and AIS will provide money with the remaining users providing labour, plant and materials. The AIS Works & Services Manager has been appointed Project Manager. It is hoped the work can start soon
No-go areas: The map showing all danger areas (from RF radiation, physical dangers etc) has been passed to the RAF who will arrange printing. The Administrator thanked the RAF for their help.
Road signs: AIS have budgeted for more road signs. The Station Commander agreed that in addition, RAF could assist by making some. The RAF were again thanked for this offer.
Exercise Red Bird: held on 30 November. It tested the US/UK's ability to cope with aircraft accidents. It was a success and lots of useful lessons were learned. In future such exercises will be held every six months or so.
Bookings on RMS: all passengers wishing to travel to St Helena before Christmas have now secured berths. The Administrator reminded all users that they should register any concerns about lack of berths with Mr Siraut (SHG Chief Economist) who is working on the RMS re-scheduling study.
Citizenship: the Administrator drew the meeting's attention to an exchange of correspondence between Lord Iveagh and a Home Office Minister about citizenship for Saints. There is no further news about the expected UK White Paper on Overseas Territories.
Governor's visit: Unfortunately Mr and Mrs Smallman are not able to visit Ascension in March 1999.
Shop: The AIS Senior Manager, AIS Business Manager and the NAAFI shop manager met the Shop Committee on 20 November to explain the new arrangements (see report in "The Islander" of 26 November).
"Black Box" activities on Ascension: the Island Customer Board meeting on 2 December decided that commercial organisations/quangos/research institutions etc wishing to leave equipment here (eg to measure radiation, tides, earth's gravity etc) should be charged to do so. The purse-holders felt the present arrangement where they effectively subsidise such work (by providing the basic infrastructure permitting the black boxes to operate) is no longer tenable.
Employers liability:
(a) medical: concern was expressed about who is liable for medical costs in the unfortunate event of illness or accident to locally employed family members, and
(b) on marriage: which organisation should be responsible for medical, housing, allowances etc when two single staff members from different organisations marry.The Group agreed to consider these points at length and discuss at the next meeting.
Exiles Club: Earlier in the day the Administrator had authorised an expenditure of £12,650 to repair the Club's roof, guttering and to redecorate the building's exterior.
Administrator's visit to St Helena: the Administrator de-briefed the meeting on his visit from 5-7 November.
MP's visits: on 13 and 18 November an all-party delegation of six MP's transited the island. Then on 1 and 5 December the Mr Doug Henderson MP (Minister for the Armed Forces) and Ms Gillian Merron MP (his PPS) passed through. On each occasion the opportunity was taken to lobby for full British citizenship for Saints and to brief the visitors about Ascension.
Visit by FCO official: Mr Bill Dickson, Head of the South Atlantic Section of the FCO's Overseas Territories Department, will visit on 21-22 December. He hopes to call on all organisations.
RAF Airbridge flight bookings: The RAF Station Commander reported that, with immediate effect, all bookings made from the UK or South Africa must be via Messrs Curnow's who will charge a booking fee. However all bookings made direct at the airhead will be at the old rates.
AIS cheque facility: AIS will now issue cheques to the general public, charging a commission of 1.25%
C&W: re-branding is to standardise C&W's livery throughout the world is almost complete.
School's Internet: the classrooms are now inter-connected into the Internet. The BBC, C&W and CSO were all thanked for making this possible.
Optician's visit: Mr Burton's next visit will be in February.
The next AIMG meeting will be on Thursday 4 February 1999. If anybody has any matters they would like to be discussed, please contact their senior mangers or Mrs Coleman in my office.
R C Huxley, Administrator's Office, Georgetown (Tel: 6311)
4 December 1998
SCHOOL PAGE - From the Headteacher: Mrs Betty Joshua.
I thought It appropriate this week to round up our last School Page by showing our appreciation for things that have come our way during this last term. So here we go ......
And as you read our page the School Christmas production will be in progress over Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Here again an event such as this is not possible without the help of people. So a special thank you to David peters for setting up and allowing us the use of his sound system, to Darren Henry for running the video, to the donors of prizes for the lucky draw, to the various clubs and Accommodation Services for the loan of tables and chairs, to our parents and friends for their backstage support (you know who you are) to Eric George for his time and help with the music and of course, to our appreciative audiences who attended on the nights. And finally to our staff and pupils without whose input and to-operative efforts, the show would not have been possible. Thank you all.
Betty Joshua.
The Anagram server at http://www.wordsmith.org/anagram/ is good for instant gratification. Simply put a phrase or name into the form and it returns some interesting results:
| Administrator..........................A
Mad Triton, Sir Roger Huxley..........................He Err Ugly Ox Ascension Island Services.......Nonsensical Crises Advise |
Tony Green..............Energy
- Not Adrian Hayward......Handy Air Award Royal Air Force.......Airy Oral Force |
No offence meant - Panic then Ran!
The Caledonians
The gathering of the Caledonians on Sunday included a new category of member - Jocklings. To mark this even, discussion centred on the birthday of the Dandy comic on 4th December 1937. The Dandy was a colleague and fore-runner of the Beano. The comics were produced by the famous Scottish publishing company DC Thomson and many of the cartoons were produced by the equally famous Dudley D Watkins (comic artist). Desperate Dan and Lord Snooty characters featured amongst his inventions. Other characters of the comics included "the Wee Fella" (now Dennis the Menace), and also Minnie the Minx - who celebrates her 45th Birthday this month.
On a separate issue, the story of the (near) battle march of the Scots into London on 6th December 1745 shows that they were assisted by approx. 200 Mancunians. This was to set a very unlikely alliance between Scottish football and Manchester United.
The fare was zwiebelkase toasten and tunnocks. The wines were irnbru and toddies.
The next meeting is due 14th December. For further information on the Caledonians, contact Graham Biggar, ext. 6212.
* Dont Forget! *Anyone wishing to send seasons greetings to islanders via the Islander should ensure that the editor's receive your e-mail messages no later than Friday 18 December 1998. E-mail editors@the-islander.org.ac |
Last
updated: 11/12/98 |
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