Journal 7/18/1975
P4 What They’ve Said/About the Bikinians — Again By Mary Browning. Power. The US, as a nation, has quite a lot of it. All of us, individually, have some in some circumstances and less in others. People separately and in groups use power with varying degrees of wisdom. But, one thing seems certain: The larger the group wielding the power, the greater are the chances of havoc resulting. In “The Bikinians: A Study In Forced Migration,” Robert Kiste explores the dimensions of the disorder created by the removal of the Bikini people from their atoll — a power play if ever there was one. And, further, he explores the hierarchies of power among the people themselves who were left to deal with the chaos. Mr. Kiste points out the irony of it all. The geographical isolation and large lagoon, important factors in the Bikinians’ preference for their own atoll, were the determining factors in Bikini being chosen as the bomb test site. Their removal “thrust them into the mainstream of events of the twentieth century.”
Journal 7/17/1992
P1 NTA goes digital: A difference you can hear As of Friday all satellite telephone circuits to Hawaii and the mainland United States were converted to a digital system that will eliminate noise and interference common in old analog circuits. “The calls are cleaner, it’s like talking to somebody next door,” said NTA acting general manager Tommy deBrum.
P11 Poultry project to double production by 1993 The chicken population of Majuro will increase dramatically in the next two weeks as the RMI Poultry Project of Laura takes delivery of 3,000 baby chicks being flown in from Hawaii.
P12 Coconut soap The coconut oil soap at Tobolar has launched its first step of distribution. The soaps being produced now are sent to the outer islands, according to soap factory management Billy Schutz. These products will hit the markets in Majuro next week.
P19 After delay, NTA working to get back on schedule Construction of the foundation for the new NTA headquarters building in Delap got underway in earnest late last month, with an early February 1993 deadline for completion and hook up of the new underground telephone system.
Journal 7/11/2003
P3 Hacker laid to rest President Kessai Note and Minister Wilfred Kendall were among attendees at the memorial service for Fr. Leonard Hacker, SJ, at Assumption that concluded with the internment of Fr. Hacker’s ashes in Assumption Church last Thursday. Fr. Tom Marciniak, who was Assumption parish’ priest from the mid-1980s to the early-1990s, was on hand for the event.
P3 Nine suicides in 2003 Two suicides last weekend in Majuro brings the total for the capital to five for 2003. Following the incident in which a young man assault his wife with a knife and then committed suicide early last Friday, another man committed suicide Saturday. Together with four completed suicides on Ebeye gives the RMI a total of nine this year to date. There have been 17 attempted suicides in both Majuro and Ebeye, the Ministry of Health reported.
P9 Mixing politics with rock on V7Eman This year’s election campaign should be extremely interesting, what with the entrance of V7Eman — Majuro’s newest FM station — producing some great and politically oriented commentary. For people used to V7AB’s “stay away from anything remotely controversial” style, V7Eman is refreshing. The station is proving both entertaining and informative with long-time government official (now retired) Fred Pedro making a late stage career move to becoming an afternoon deejay on the station.