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The Ascension Island Newspaper |
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The Ascension Island Newspaper |
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Some
of the large crowd and happy faces getting shot of their disposable income
at ADF 2001 (Ascension Day Fair to the uninitiated) Punters examining the goods for auction. |
All the Fun of the Fair
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Dear Friends,
ADF 2001
THANK YOU
to everyone who came to the planning meetings and got it together
to everyone who worked so hard in all the preparation
to everyone who gave so generously for the auction, stalls, refreshments etc
to everyone who ran the stalls and served the refreshments
to everyone who worked late into the night at the Disco
to everyone who turned up on Sunday morning to clear it all up!!
to the Two Boats Club Committee for use of the premises
a special mention to Delphia and her staff for their tireless energy and patience
and to Johnny our Auctioneer who extracts money as expertly as he extracts teeth!!
and to Raxa who is still counting the money, and the staff at the Bank who have
to sort it out
and to EVERYONE WHO CAME AND SUPPORTED ADF 2001
The list of individuals who made it all possible would go on and on, but I
hope to write my personal "Thank You" letters over the next few days.
Details of the money raised will be published as soon as possible, but it takes
time.
One of the shortest verses of scripture in the Bible has just three words; "And
be thankful."
It is one of my favourite texts, for we have so much to be thankful for.
By supporting the ADF you are in a sense thanking God that the Church is still
here on the Island; you enable it to keep running. Thanking Him that you have
a priest to take the services and share with you those special occasions, some
joyful like Baptisms when we thank God for new life, or Weddings when we thank
Him for having found someone to love and to love us. In our memorial services
too we thank God for the lives of those we have known and all they have meant
to us.
So thank you for supporting the Church so that it may support you.
Next Sunday is Whit Sunday when we celebrate God's sending of his Holy Spirit,
comforter and guide, to his people. Not just to Jesus' disciples after he had
left them but to all who believe on His name. Another reason to be thankful.
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God Bless you and keep you, Fr Keith & Ginny. |
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CONGRATULATIONS
TO JOANNE PETERS WINNER OF THE £1'000 GRAND DRAW THANKS TO ALL WHO SUPPORTED THE ADF BY BUYING TICKETS OVER THE PAST 10 WEEKS AND ALL WHO HELPED BY SELLING THEM |
| MARK MACFEE SETS THE RECORD STRAIGHT ON GROWING CABLE &
WIRELESS BUSINESS ON THINLY POPULATED REMOTE TERRITORIES
By J. Brock (SARTMA) (Edited to reduce no. of words by Geoff Jones) A press conference with Mr. Mark MacFee, Executive Vice President Northern and Atlantic Islands for Cable & Wireless plc took place at the Malvina House Hotel. Mr. MacFee has come to the Falklands and will ultimately travel to Ascension to see how those businesses are growing. What's the purpose of your visit to the Islands this time? So, what impressions have you had so far? What can we expect with the internet link [in the Falklands]? Cable & Wireless stocks have been on a roller-coaster ride recently
and this has affected related businesses in Japan, the United States and
elsewhere. What stock market fluctuations do affect South Atlantic Businesses
and why? Last year Cable & Wireless had problems with call-back companies.
This seems to subsided … It this going to effect the price of phone calls? And with the increased internet facilities will there be an industry
price rise? |
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ASCENSION ISLAND COMMERCIAL SERVICES
As you will know, from the 'Islander', I have been appointed to take charge of AICS. As part of my preparation for this position I have just made a brief visit to the island in order to catch up with what has been happening since I left here 18 months ago. After seeing many of the people closely involved with the forthcoming changes I was able to define my starting position regarding the privatisation of the various AICS businesses. I plan to return to Ascension early in June to set up office and begin the work. I will be seeking the views of as many residents as possible and I am hopeful that some will wish to be involved in the purchase of some of the business units. As a continuing part of the exercise I plan to visit St Helena in July and will also visit the Falkland Islands. There are very real opportunities here for Ascension residents to play leading roles in the development of the private sector and every encouragement will be given to those people ready to face the challenges. Shortly after coming back I propose holding a meeting with all those staff directly involved and I will be looking for, and acting on, any positive views and ideas expressed. At all times during the process those people directly affected will be consulted and will be kept informed of progress. I have really enjoyed this short visit and it has been good to see you all again. I very much look forward to returning in June and getting on with the job. There is a tight deadline as AICS in its present form will exist only until 31 March 2002. There is much to do and not much time to do it so I look forward to the co-operation, assistance and advice I know you will give me. See you soon, after the office has been set up and things have started to move I will update you on progress through 'The Islander'. John Cavana |
 By the Headteacher - Mrs Betty Joshua |
SCHOOL PAGE |
 www.ais.co.ac/school/ |
Work ExperienceFor the period 23rd April to the 11th May 2001 year ten students were experiencing the 'working world' with the various companies/organisations on the island.
The school would like to publicly thank those involved and look forward to their support during the next work experience session.
Companies/Organisations taking part this year were:
Merlin AIWSA AIG
CSR SERCO TURNER
C&WYear ten students have written very briefly about their experiences during this time.
Week 1 Merlin (TX)
First I was given a safety tour of where I should and should not enter and where all the fire exits were. I then had to do a wave change on one of the transmitters. This involved changing the coils in the pen stage, the coupling and the final stage. There are six senders (transmitters). They go from S 301-S 306. After the coils had been changed, I had to do the settings and the frequency change. I suspended some schedules and resumed them. I did this throughout the week as well as learning, doing and seeing different things every day.
Week 2 Cable & Wireless
During my time here I worked in 2 different sections. They were Customer Services and Finance. I also spent some time in the Operators Room. In Customer Services I filled in application forms, at reception I served some customers, collected traffic form ringmaster and did stock check of phone cards. In Finance I priced and prepared dockets, did a stock of stationery issues and did outstanding accounts and a lot of other different things.
Week 3 CSR
I spent my time at CSR working in 3 different parts. My first two days I spent in the commissary where I typed up and designed menus, entered daily food issues and served customers. Amongst this I did a lot of other things. I then went to work in Admin where I had to book flights to and from Ascension and I also did the mail run. I spent my last day at Fire Security where I did the Aircraft Activity Log as well as going out to flight line.
During these three weeks, I gained a lot of valuable experience.
By Chantelle HenryDuring my time at MERLIN communications powerhouse I worked at the plant yard with Mr Lionel (Bo) Thomas. During this time I fixed different types of machines, one machine I fixed was the pump to the Waste Oil Boiler, this was a greasy job. Another job was to change all six filters connected to the Oil Boiler. An experience that I did enjoy was working down at the Welfare area where we cleaned one of the salt-water pumps. The pump was made up of four large shafts with a motor on the top. Working at the station was a great experience, which I enjoyed.
My second week was at TURNERS GCMS; there I worked with Mr Stuart Grey as a mason. There I did different types of building I built a manhole for some piping works, which was more difficult than it seems, I built a step and another manhole for a water metre. This experience was very enjoyable.
The last week was at the SERCO fire department; there I experienced the work of a fireman and the ability to keep fit. During this time I did several different things like emptied the foam tank on the truck and did the day-to-day tasks.
By Daryl SimFor the first week of my work experience I was at the Logistics support unit at the US Base. I worked both with staff at Warehouse one and staff at shipping receiving. The supervisor at these places was Mr John Imler. Whilst there I was shown how the Supply workers offloaded cargo from the C17 aircraft. I ordered supplies over the Internet. I was shown how to deal with customers. I ran and filed D1 and AIS (Ascension.Inventory.System) on the computer.
My second week was spent at Cable and Wireless the first day was at the Earthstaion the second was at the Ariane station and I had four days at the Main Office. At the Ariane station I helped to track a passing satellite. At the Main office I was told about the switch where all phone calls around the island come into. I installed a customer on the exchange, I went to the airhead to replace a card phone that had broken down and I tested a phone at Comfortless Cove. I also installed people on the Internet.
By Mark Francis
My first week I spent at AIWSA at the carpenter shop where I worked along side Mr Nicky Herne. Whilst there I helped to fit up kitchen cabinets, paint doors, fix fly screens and also worked the M.O.D ship for two days.
My Second week I went to Turners to work as an Electrician, I worked with Mr Donny George. The things that I did were test fire alarms and emergency lights, put elements in washing machines, check over the generators and put two new bulbs in the lights at the football field.
My last week I spent at the motorpool at the US Base. Whilst there I changed tyres, took oil to waste farm, checked over Piggy's dump truck and cleaned floors with floor stripper.
By Olly O' DeanDuring my three weeks work experience I made a choice to work in three different areas. The US Base, Government and Cable and wireless. My first week was at the US Base were I experienced what it is like to work in various offices. During the week I dealt with Money, typing logs, work orders, letters, spread sheets, answering the telephone, etc. I also spent two nights at the Snack Bar and the gift Shop.
My second week at the Government office was split in to three different offices, Administrator's office, Post office and the Police office. In the various offices I dealt with Letters, Faxes, Filing, stamping, Cancelling first day covers, over bagging mail, sorting mail, renewing drivers licences, permits for people entering the island etc. I also went to the Air Head to see what happens at the immigration desk.
My third week of experience was at Cable and Wireless office where I worked in the different sections. Here I dealt with the Internet, E-Mailing, letters, Money, Phone Cards, people's cheques, answering the telephone etc.
All three weeks were thoroughly enjoyed and very much appreciated. I feel that I have gained many skills that will help me in the near future.
By ReneeDuring my first week of Work Experience I went to the Commissary Office and the BX. The first two days I spent at the Commissary working alongside Senior Staff Clerk Miss Deborah Stevens. During my time there I did all round office work. This included IOCD Report, Serve paying customers, the Daily breakout, taking food orders, updating the sign in sheets, type up menus and ALCS Timing Programme. During my time at the BX with Tina Thomas I got familiar with the process of using the barcode scanner and the computer. On the Second week I went to Government. This included the Admin Office, Police office where I renewed driving licenses with Freda Yon and also spent time with the actual Police Officers and then the Post office where a lot of stamps were involved. Then during the last week I went to the base clinic with Debbie where I found out my own blood group and did my Complete Blood Count and to the hospital where I attended a First aid course and observed when outpatients arrived.
By Sara Thomas
Betty Joshua
Headteacher
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THE ROCK PEOPLE ARE HERE
If you have been out and about during the past week, you may have noticed a disturbing development. Holes, the size of 10p coins, have been appearing in some of the island's rocks. Is it an infestation of the dreaded South Atlantic rock worms? No the holes can be attributed to rock sampling by American Geologists. You might also have noticed one of Accommodation Services 'Smiley Face' cars parked just off one of your roads and 2 - 3 people climbing around on the nearby rocks. Professor Mike Valentine and senior geology student Andrew Caruthers, from the University of Puget Sound in Washington State, are visiting your fair island to collect pieces of many of the lava flows here. This is our first visit to Ascension Island, but we were aided in our first week's efforts by Dr M. Lee Allison who spent some time here in 1987 and 1988 working with the U.S. Air Force. Alas Lee had to return to his real job, directing the Kansas State Geological Survey, and he left on Saturday's flight to Brize Norton RAF base. He had a wonderful time here visiting some of his favorite Ascension Island attractions, including Saturday's ADF 2001. We will miss him but will carry on. The purpose of our work on Ascension Island is to study how Earth's magnetic field has changed over the past one and one half million years. When lavas erupt and cool down, they become weakly magnetised to the Earth's magnetic field. By looking at rocks from different ages here on Ascension Island, we hope to see how they record changes in he magnetic field. This, in turn, helps us better understand how the magnetic field is created inside the earth. We also hope to find evidence of the last time, 780'000 years ago, that the magnetic field was opposite to it's present direction! Wouldn't that play nasty tricks on your compass? We'll be here until 14th June; Give us a wave if you see us. Mike Valentine |
Eddie Fowler alias Eddie Soul THIS IS YOUR LIFE
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| Likes Fish, Curry, Chillies, Baccardi & 7, Football, Music, Fishing,
Eric Clapton, Rock & Roll.
What is the best thing that you have experienced? - Going on holiday to England and Jersey, it was a real eye opener for me. What would you say was your worst experience? - A car crash in 1980 when I was 21. I hit a power pole up near the base and had to have operations and metal pins in both my arms. I was in hospital for 3 months and shipped (no planes around in those days) to Frenchey Hospital, Bristol, UK for 7 weeks to have skin grafts - I expect he has quit a bit of magnetism about him now! We can also reveal that he was the reason all those years ago that the base was without power for the night…… What would you say is your best characteristic? - Ummmm Eddie can
not answer.. He's a friendly and happy person remarks Nat, I think
we can all agree on this one. Is there a person you admire the most? - Hank Marvin he has given me a great deal of inspiration with my music. How did you get your nickname? - My mates gave it to me in my younger days when I used to live in the barracks. Eddie came to Ascension as a young lad at the tender age of 10. He went to the Klinker Hall School and has seen the building of Two Boats School, which he also attended. (Apparently he was a good boy at school) Eddie went to school with the likes of Patrick Robinson, Custard, Joyce Benjamin and Eddie Robinson. He learnt to swim in the Turtle Ponds and used to play footy barefoot, of course those were the days when your one pair of shoes was kept for Sunday best! After leaving school, few jobs were available and Eddie cleaned windows and cars for pocket money. From the age of 18 to date Eddie has worked in the AIS Shop. He started as a handyman and proceeded to the slaughterhouse, he then trained as a butcher and that is how you will find him now. Asked if he had any children - Eddie responded "No, not as far as I know") Eddie met the love of his life Natalie in November 1990 (here we sense some quibbling over the exact date). Keep an eye on your Islander for more "This Is Your Life" interviews with local celebrities - you never know it could be you! |
LETTERS| From the Editors:-
Phillip Stevens & Tony Jenkins
Dear All, For next week's edition especially, could all ads and notices be sent in by Monday 6.00pm lastest, as Ian will be editing on Monday night due to operational social commitments on Tuesday. Congratulations to everyone involved in the planning, organising, building, stall holding, clearing up, accounting, and everyone else not covered by the above for another successful ADF. Congratulations go to Chris George for winning the, "who goes on the Front Page of the Islander lottery". But seriously folks well done to Joanne Peters who won the £1000 raffle. Phil & Ton
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PEN PALS
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| Letters
to the Editor can be sent to editors@the-islander.org.ac |
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Turtle Watchers and Hatchers
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Monitoring Frigatebirds on Ascension
Frigatebirds can be seen soaring majestically over the tropical oceans throughout the world, but the Ascension Frigatebird is a species only found on this island. They are a common sight along the coasts throughout the island, but if you want to see their breeding colony at Boatswain Bird Island you have to undertake a two-hour sea journey or a hair-raising walk. This was not always the case: just 200 years ago mariners logs and bone remains tell us they nested throughout the coastal plains of the island, alongside boobies, noddies and terns. It must have been an amazing sight, and a stark contrast to the lifeless lava fields before us today. We can blame Felix and his friends for this catastrophe. Cats were introduced to control rats in the early 1800s, but I'm sure we can all understand their preference for tasty chicken dinners over scaly-tailed vermin. They munched their way through most seabirds over the next couple of decades, and caused the extinction of the flightless Ascension Rail. The Ascension Frigatebird would have followed suit, but a lifeline was thrown to them in the form of Boatswain Bird Island. This cat-free island provided a safe nesting place right through to the present day, although the limited nesting space imposes severe constraints on the population size. RSPB have received funding from the Foreign Office to restore seabird colonies to their former glory by removing feral cats. This will create a super-abundance of nest sites and predicted increases in the range and population size of seabirds. Jim Stevenson of RSPBs International Department will be visiting the island in June and will undoubtedly write an article providing a broader overview of the project. Meantime, a team from the Research Department are on the island starting the census of Frigatebirds on BBI. This will allow us to examine population trends once cats are removed. The first problem with counting breeding Frigates on BBI is actually getting to them. It's a two hour sea journey from Georgetown, and once there you have to get up a vertical twelve foot high landing stage and then traverse along narrow crumbly ledges to attain the summit plateau where the birds breed. This is potentially very dangerous, so the team includes a professional climber, who is ensuring the route to the top is safe for the biologists to use. The route is protected by a rope secured to the rock with 3ft lengths of thick angle iron, which are perhaps excessive as anchors but we always find large lumps of metal provide great psychological reassurance. We attach ourselves to this with climbing harnesses and cams, wear a helmet at all times and keep radio contact with the boat and mainland, all of which we don't appear in the obituary section of next weeks Islander. Although the route has been made safer, it's still dangerous for anyone to visit the island without proper equipment and training so don't be tempted. Besides, landing on Boatswain Bird Island is strictly controlled and requires permission from the Administrator. Counting frigatebirds at first sounds easy. "One-two-three" is the advice we often receive from local wags to get us started on the right track. If only it were that simple. Frigatebirds breed all year round, although there is a quiet period in Spring and a busy one in Autumn. So during any one count, bird one has finished breeding and left the island, bird two is there to be counted and bird three is thinking of starting a month or two later, so you get massive under-estimates. Instead, counts of eggs have to be conducted all year every 50 days for a whole year. This gap allows those eggs counted previously to hatch into chicks and so avoids counting any eggs twice. The first count last week found 238 eggs on the island. Each subsequent count between now and May 2002 will be added to these to give a cumulative total of eggs for the year. A lot can happen in fifty days on Boatswain Bird Island: frigates fight for the available nesting space and so loss of eggs and small chicks is common. Only 15% of the eggs laid result in a fledged chick. To avoid underestimates of nesting numbers, we have to correct the egg censuses to account for nests that are both laid and lost during the 50 days between censuses. We've marked ten 100m2 study plots on BBI to examine the pattern of laying between censuses and the survival rates of nests. From this data we can estimate the number of nesting attempts we miss between our censuses. It gets even more complicated than this, because the saying "if you fail, try again", has made it into the frigatebird phrase book. If their eggs get broken or chicks get eaten, they will lay again a month or so later elsewhere in the colony. This will result in us double counting birds and overestimating the population size. To get around this we've used hair bleach to mark birds breeding in the study plots to allow them to be picked out from the crowd if they fail and relay, so don't be surprised if you see a few peroxide blonde frigates knocking around. We also use identify chips that are implanted under the skin and are read with an aerial to allow identification of individual birds. This allows the number of birds that relay to be estimated so we can deduct double counts of birds from the egg counts. Once all these hoops have been jumped through we can finally work out the population size and work out how many frigatebirds are breeding on BBI. In ten years time we can repeat the whole census on BBI and by that time they will hopefully be breeding on the mainland as well. If you want to learn more about the Frigatebirds on Ascension or the restoration programme, you can find us in the Georgetown Guest House up until 5th June, or e-mail Norman.Ratcliffe@rspb.org.uk after that. Norman Ratcliffe, Fiona Roberts and Tony Loxton |
Hash number:854
26th May 01
Hash Hare: Frank-n-Furter
Hash Hounds: Skipper, A-Drain, Rat Boy, Human Mattress, Fido,
Thunder Thighs, Colgate, Lauro, Twin Peaks, Fred, Graeme, Sally and Corrine.
The obvious place to meet, TBC, as most of us were there already enjoying
the days celebrations, some so much that they couldn't drag themselves away
to join us (you know who you are). Two poor chaps were dragged away from the
bar to go for a little stroll, did they get a shock, naughty boy Colgate.
3 Bars and 5 O's declared, off we went across the cattle grid (did anyone remember to inform the vet about the sheep!) and of course up towards sisters. UP, up and nearly away the wind was so strong, well at least some of us little ones were. Various little resters along the way and a nasty back arrow from Mr F. With the group finally congregated, right to the very top and wow was it going to be something going down? So down and the only way to go was fast, 1 hour up and 60 seconds down. Fantastic adrenaline flow was received by most. Poor Sally commented that she thought her boyfriend back home was going to be the sole owner of their apartment and a wonderful comment by Fido "It's moments like this that makes life worth living" which was followed by "and of course the birth of your first born".
When you are running (Corrine) with fellow hashers behind you (Rat Boy) don't stop without signalling to do your shoelace up. O check and breather TBC in sight and lots of loose rocks and boulders found A-Drain skipping so lightly over the loose ones it was mentioned that maybe he could have been a ballerina in a past life. All dashed back to well-deserved drinks and in time for the auction. Everyone finished very dirty and sweaty, a good sign, great hash FnF.
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