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(Photo:
Auckland Museum / Te Tumu) |
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NEW ZEALAND: New
Professor of Māori And Pacific Studies Announced
Source:
University of Otago
The University of Otago has appointed Dr Paul
Tapsell to its Chair in Māori Studies. Dr
Tapsell will also be the Dean of Te Tumu, the
School of Māori, Pacific and Indigenous Studies.
Dr Tapsell, who is currently in France, was
until recently the Tumuaki Māori (Māori
Director) of the Auckland Museum. Coming from
the well-known whanau who trace their descent
from the main tribes of Te Arawa, he has a
distinguished academic record.
After completing his BA in Anthropology at the
University of Auckland, he was the Curator of
the Rotorua Museum of Art and History from 1990
to 1994. He returned to the University of
Auckland, where he graduated MA with First Class
Honours in Anthropology, before completing a
Doctor of Philosophy degree at the University of
Oxford. He was then a Postdoctoral Fellow at the
Australian National University in Canberra.
Dr Tapsell has been a Marsden Grant recipient
and has many publications. In addition to his
museum work, he has been an Adjunct Senior
Lecturer in Anthropology at the University of
Auckland.
Otago Vice-Chancellor Professor David Skegg says
the University is delighted to have someone of
Dr Tapsell’s calibre heading Te Tumu. “The
University of Otago already has a strong base in
Maori Studies. Dr Tapsell was selected from a
field of excellent applicants and I am sure that
Te Tumu will flourish under his leadership.”
Dr Tapsell will take up his appointment on 1
February next year.
The advisory committee for the Chair’s
appointment also recommended the Acting Dean of
Te Tumu, Associate Professor Michael Reilly,
should be appointed to a Personal Chair in
Maori, Pacific and Indigenous Studies. Professor
Reilly joined the Otago staff in 1991 after
completing his PhD in Pacific Islands History at
the Australian National University. He is an
expert on Maori tribal history and the history
of other indigenous peoples of the Pacific.
Professor Reilly will continue to lead Te Tumu
for the remainder of 2008.
Photo Caption:
The University of Otago has appointed Dr Paul
Tapsell to its Chair in Māori Studies. Dr
Tapsell will also be the Dean of Te Tumu, the
School of Māori, Pacific and Indigenous Studies.
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(Photo:
SUNGO) |
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SAMOA: Building
capacity for Village Communities with
Independent Water Schemes
Source:
SUNGO Press Release
Samoa is undergoing comprehensive water sector
reforms supported strongly by the Government
under the European Union funding for five years,
ending in 2011. The project known as the Water
Sector Support Programme (WaSSP) main objective
is "to reduce poverty and hardship in Samoa by
ensuring community access to water of suitable
quality and appropriate quantities to meet all
reasonable health, environmental and economic
development needs".
The capacity building program for Independent
water schemes carried out by Samoa Umbrella for
Non Government Organisations (SUNGO), under the
funding of the European Union. A Training of
Trainers program will be conducted for local
communities relying on Independent Water Schemes
systems for water supply on the 19th - 23rd May
08. The training was developed in response to a
study completed in February 2008 which
identified constraining and successful factors
in the management of these schemes stated the
Coordinator for Independent Water Schemes
Larissa Toelupe. These factors will be addressed
under five modules as follows;
How communities work?
Communication
Financial Management
Water System maintenance
And Planning.
The six selected scheme of Salailua, Matautu,
Itu o Tane (Savaii), Laulii, Maasina, Sataoa and
Falelatai (Upolu) have well established water
committees solely responsible for the management
of schemes under the guidance and supervision of
the chief councils. There will be eleven (11)
participants from the water committees and women
communities from the main islands.
The principal priority shared amongst these
communities is the request for their intakes
upgraded and replacement of the main
distribution pipes. Study found that water bills
are insufficient to pay for repairs and
maintenance.
It is widely known that independent schemes are
managed with limited capacity and this training
will ensure responsible groups have had proper
training in the areas mentioned.
Photo Caption:
Independent Water Scheme
Officials. IWS Project Coordinator Larissa
Toelupe. Village consultations for Independent
Water Schemes.
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(Photo:
J. Kneubuhl) |
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AMERICAN SAMOA:
Administration and Faculty Collaborate on
Self-Study for WASC
Source:
ASCC Press Release
The Self-Study Committee at the American Samoa
Community College (ASCC), recently returned from
a two-day retreat, during which they had their
first opportunity to review in detail the first
complete draft of the ASCC Self-Study Report, a
document put together by approximately 45 of the
College’s faculty and staff, working as part of
individual Standards
Committees. Following the review by the
Self-Study Committee, the report will go to the
Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC),
who will make its own evaluation of the report
prior to sending a team from its subsidiary the
Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior
Colleges (ACCJC) to American Samoa this coming
October to conduct a comprehensive accreditation
review of ASCC.
“Accredited colleges undergo comprehensive
evaluations every six years,” explained ASCC
President Dr. Seth Galea’i, “and with our turn
coming up in October, this makes the work
currently underway by the Self Study Committee
crucial to our preparations for the ACCJC
visit.” Dr. Galea’i serves as Co-Chair of the
Self-Study Steering Committee, along with Dr.
Kathleen Kolhoff-Belle, the College’s
Accreditation Liaison Officer. Other members of
the committee include Dean of Academic Affairs
Dr. Irene Helsham, Assistant Dean of Academic
Affairs Mikaele Etuale, Dean of Student Services
Dr. Emilia Le’i, Teacher Education instructor
Rosevonne Pato, Tavita Elisara of CNR/Land
Grant, Samoan Studies Institute Director
Okenaisa Fauolo, Chief Information Officer Grace
Mareko, and Virginia Mailo-Filiga of the Office
of Institutional Effectiveness and Advancement.
The Self-Study Report focuses on how ASCC has
accomplished its goals in accordance with the
four major WASC Standards, specifically
Institutional Mission and Effectiveness; Student
Learning Programs and Services; Resources; and
Leadership and Governance. The ACCJC lists
specific
criteria for meeting each standard, and the
Self-Study Report in turn evaluates how ASCC
meets the criteria, and where necessary,
outlines plans for improvement. For this report,
the Self-Study Committee put special emphasis on
how, in recent years, ASCC has utilized an
ongoing
Institutional Program Review and a focus on
Student Learning Outcomes to improve teaching
and learning at the College.
For ASCC, the Self-Study process started in
April of 2007, when approximately 60 faculty and
staff participated in a workshop by ACCJC Vice
President Jack Pond, who outlined the process
for compiling the report and explained the
philosophical basis behind it. “Putting together
this report gives everyone at this institution,
from the administration to the faculty and
students, an opportunity to evaluate your own
strengths as well as areas where you need to
meet challenges,” Pond said at the time. “WASC
expects the report to reflect the views of
people at all levels of the institution, rather
than the administration alone.” Following the
workshop, the College President, Vice President
and Accreditation Liaison Officer named
Standards Committee Chairs and
Co-Chairs, and selected the initial faculty and
staff participants for each standard. These
Chairs and Co-Chairs in turn added additional
members from among the faculty, staff and
students of ASCC. Since last September, the
Self-Study Committee has met at least once a
month to
review progress and report on the work of
Standards Committees.
The Self-Study Committee will soon complete its
revisions of the current draft of the report,
and then send it to several groups for the next
round of review. These reviewers will include
the ASCC Curriculum Committee, the Board of
Higher Education, and a group made up of Student
Government Association members. The Self-Study
Committee will review the final draft once more
in early July, and in August they will send the
final report to WASC/ACCJC and the members of
Comprehensive Evaluation Team who will visit
ASCC in October.
Virginia Mailo-Filiga of the Office of
Institutional Advancement and Effectiveness says
that working on the Self-Study Committee has
given her an improved perspective on how ASCC
functions as a whole. “As with any public
institution of substantial size, sometimes the
people working in one part of the College know
their own area really well, but don’t
necessarily know how the whole system should
operate. Working on the Self-Study Committee has
helped me clarify the links between all the
different aspects of what we do at ASCC. I also
like the way the
procedure specified by WASC gives a voice to
colleagues from various parts of ASCC who we
usually don’t hear much from, and even to
students. When WASC designed this process, I
think they had the right.
Photo Caption:
ASCC faculty members (l-r)
Rosevonne Pato, Grace Mareko, Dr. Kathleen
Kolhoff and Okenaisa Fauolo prepare for a
session reviewing the College's
Self-Study Report for WASC.
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AROUND THE WORLD:
Greenpeace reduces Pacific plunder by Taiwanese
Longliners
Source:
Greenpeace Media Release
Pacific Ocean, Tuesday May 13, 2008: Over the
past three days activists on board Greenpeace
ship Esperanza have stopped one fishing vessel
from operating and confiscated two fishing
beacons from Taiwanese long liners in
international waters between Papua New Guinea
and the Federated States of Micronesia.
Greenpeace took action against overfishing by a
litany of Taiwanese longliners:
The Taiwanese fleet of six vessels included the
controversial Ho Tsai Fa 18 (1) that the
Esperanza met eleven days ago releasing sharks,
tuna, marlin and an endangered turtle from her
hooks. This week the Ho Tsai Fa 18 was prevented
from fishing for three days, knowing that
activists would again release marine life from
the hooks.
Activists were also given permission to go on
board two Taiwanese longliners. The Yu Jaan
Shyang had nine tonnes of tuna, sharks -
including sacks of fins and tails - and marlin.
Two longline beacons were also confiscated from
the Chin Yu Chun. Last night the Esperanza
peacefully escorted her out of the international
waters and the beacons returned. All boats
agreed to leave the international waters that
Greenpeace is defending as marine reserves. (2)
Greenpeace is concerned about the large amount
of fishing taking place by the Taiwanese fleet.
The organisation has sent a letter to the
Government of Taiwan urging it to immediately
call in all fishing vessels from pockets of
international waters between Pacific island
countries and support the need to protect them
as marine reserves. Last year Taiwan, Japan,
Korea and mainland China all blocked moves for
sustainable fishing by Pacific island countries
in the region.
"We are disturbed to see the six Taiwanese
longliners and the Ho Tsai Fa 18 again in this
area. Taiwan clearly does not care about
sustainable fishing and the future of the
Pacific Ocean," said Greenpeace campaigner Lagi
Toribau on board the Esperanza. "Greenpeace has
written to the Taiwanese Government and asked
them to instruct their fishing fleet to withdraw
from the Pacific Commons and support genuine
efforts for sustainable fishing including
creating marine reserves in these areas of
international waters," said Toribau.
All vessels are contributing to the decline of
tuna and sharks. At any one moment there are
3600 long-liners in the Pacific setting
thousands of kilometers of lines with literally
millions of hooks. This has had devastating
impacts on Pacific marine life including the
target species of tuna as well as sharks and
turtles. Scientists have warned for years that
bigeye and yellowfin tuna are suffering from
overfishing.
The Greenpeace ship, Esperanza, is in the
Pacific for the sixth week to defend the pockets
of international waters between Pacific Island
countries - the Pacific Commons - as marine
reserves from greedy fishing fleets.
The Pacific provides approximately 60 per cent
of the world's tuna and each year foreign
fishing fleets rake in over US$3 billion from
the sale of Pacific tuna to markets in Asia,
Europe and the USA. Pacific nations are being
ripped off only receiving 5-6 per cent of the
value of the catch
caught by foreign vessels in their national
waters. This is because of the unfair and
unsustainable agreements negotiated by foreign
companies and countries for access to fish for
tuna in their waters. Pacific island countries
do not receive any returns from the catch taken
in the Pacific
Commons.
In the last month Greenpeace has taken action
against overfishing by Korean, Taiwanese and US
boats. Activists also confiscated a fish
aggregation device (FAD) that intensifies
overfishing. On Friday activists disrupted an
intended transfer of catch between a tuna pirate
and a mothership, both from the Philippines.
Greenpeace advocates the creation of a network
of marine reserves, protecting 40 per cent of
the world's oceans, as the long term solution to
overfishing and the recovery of our
overexploited oceans.
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FIJI:
Coup immunity ‘must have conditions’
Source:
Islands Business News
Fiji’s deposed Opposition Leader Mick Beddoes
says any decision to grant immunity to coup
makers must be negotiated and accompanied by
strict conditions, reports Fiji Live.
Reacting to the former Vice President, Ratu Joni
Madraiwiwi’s suggestion that immunity be granted
to coup makers so that Fiji can find a solution
to its current crisis, Mr Beddoes said the
proposed conditions, if breached, should cause
the granted immunity to become null and void.
He said soldiers who participated in the act of
treason should then become automatically subject
to the full extent of the law, backdated to the
time of the offence.
“Otherwise, we will as we did with Mr (Sitiveni)
Rabuka, send out a signal to all future ‘coup
makers’ that it’s okay to commit treason
sometime in the future, because in the end,
you’ll get immunity, and despite your guilt, you
will not have to personally account for your
part in the deaths of innocent people, the grief
you caused their families, the loss of families
homes and incomes, and the hundreds of millions
of dollars loss that your actions have caused
Fiji and its people,” he said.
Mr Beddoes said in the beginning of coups, we
witness all the ‘tough talk’ and statements
about how coup makers believe in what they are
doing and how it’s right and just, and how it is
in the best interest of the people.
“Yet in the same breath, they want ‘immunity
from prosecution’, which for me really means
they don’t believe a single word they say or
action they take, which is why they need to hide
behind the protection of immunity from
prosecution,” he said.
“If anyone engaged in the act of treason
believes that what they are doing is right, why
do they need any protection?
“They should be committed enough to their cause
to stand up against the most rigorous
investigation and inquiry and know in their
hearts that they are right and stand tall and
face the consequences of your actions, just as
George Speight and others with him did for their
part in the 2000 coup.”
Mr Beddoes said immunity must be negotiated and
not given carte blanche.
He said whatever was decided for the 2006 coup
conspirators must be extended to George Speight
and his group.
“After all, why should one set of coup makers
get off scot free, while another gets punished?”
he said.
He said there was no difference between the
George Speight coup and the Bainimarama coup
because they were both acts of treason and as
destructive as each other.
“The only difference is, George never got
immunity, he faced the consequences of his
actions and is paying the price for his beliefs,
misguided though they are. He has been paying
the price for his actions,” he said.
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TAHITI: Tahiti paddler on top again
Source:
The Honolulu Advertiser
Piti is the Tahitian word for two, and Laughlin
made it two victories in a row in the Epic
Kayaks Moloka'i World Championships yesterday.
He completed the 32-mile course from Kaluako'i
Beach, Moloka'i, to Maunalua Bay, O'ahu, in 3
hours, 40 minutes, 26 seconds.
Light winds, small ocean swells, and a
sweltering sun contributed to a relatively slow
crossing of the Kaiwi Channel. It also
contributed to Laughlin's victory.
"The wind was fine, but it kind of dropped a
little bit at the end," said Laughlin, 38. "So
it was a bit hot, and it suited me very well, I
think. It's probably similar to what I'm used to
back home. That makes a difference in long
distance — be comfortable."
The Moloka'i event is considered the world
championship of long-distance ocean racing for
solo surfskis. Last year, Laughlin became the
first Tahitian competitor to win it.
"It's always good to win anywhere in the world,"
he said. "Especially this one. This is the
biggest one."
Last year's course covered a record 37 miles,
and Laughlin won by a convincing margin. It was
reverted to 32 miles this year, and the top four
finishers crossed within 2 minutes, 5 seconds of
each other.
Hank McGregor of South Africa placed runner-up
to Laughlin for a second consecutive year. His
time yesterday was 3:41:05.
Just like last year, McGregor was in the lead as
he approached East O'ahu.
"I was pretty much in front the whole way until
the last five (kilometers), and I hit sort of a
bad patch," McGregor said. "I was pretty far
north, maybe a bit too far. But that's the way
it goes. This is my second crossing, and to get
second (place) again is not so bad."
Tim Jacobs of Australia placed third in 3:41:44.
Nine-time former champion Dean Gardiner of
Australia finished fourth in 3:42:11.
South Africa's Oscar Chalupsky, who owns a
record 11 Moloka'i World Championships, placed
seventh in 3:49:11.
"It wasn't the big wind and swell everybody
wanted," Chalupsky said. "And I said before, if
it's a flat race, watch for Lewis again."
A record 133 paddlers participated in the race.
Laughlin said he trains for the Moloka'i race by
completing three-hour solo practices in Tahiti.
"I train by myself at home, I never train with
anybody," he said. "So when I'm alone, it
doesn't bother me."
From 1997 through 2006, Laughlin placed in the
top 10 of every Moloka'i World Championships. If
last year's victory was his breakthrough,
yesterday was his affirmation.
"I think I'm training less," he said. "But maybe
I am smarter."
Kailua's Stuart Gaessner placed 17th overall and
was the first finisher from Hawai'i with a time
of 4:07:30.
"Not bad for a 46-year-old," he said.
Gaessner said moderate swells in the middle of
the Kaiwi Channel provided rides of 50 to 100
yards, but the start and the finish featured
grueling conditions.
Mark Sandvold was second from Hawai'i in
4:10:24, and Steve Kelly was third in 4:13:13.
The last paddler from Hawai'i to win the
Moloka'i World Championships was Kalai Handley
in 1978.
"The international competition is unreal,"
Gaessner said. "Those guys are pros. Mark, Sean
(Monahan) and I are weekend warriors, so we do
the best we can."
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