Journal 11/4/1983
P2 Among other things
Right now, in the midst of all the campaign rhetorics, all we hear about is bringing in more development, buying another airplane, opening up a consulate overseas. Which are good to have but do we really need to have all these now? Shouldn’t we attend first to our basic needs like better police, tougher laws, better schools and healthcare? …What does it say about a community or country or a society when its policemen, firemen (hey, do we have firemen?), health workers are among the lowest paid of its professionals. But hundreds of thousands of dollars can be find every year to buy airplanes. It says that, in our order of priorities, physical safety, good law enforcement, and the minds of our children come down the list. And it shows a sorry society in them making if priorities are not changed…and quickly. —Akio Heine.
P3 Three return from Head Start meeting
Retuning this week from Kansas City and San Francisco where they attended a Head Start conference are Health Start Executive Director Robert Kelen, Leikman Robert of Head Start, and Russell Edwards from the parent policy council of Head Start.
P6 Ujae airport dedicated
The new airstrip at Ujae was dedicated November 1, making Ujae the 20th municipality in the Marshall Islands to come within the reach of air transportation. A delegation of officials, headed by Minister of Internal Affairs Kessai Note, flew to Ujae to participate in the dedication ceremonies. Others included Speaker Atlan Anien, Amatlain Kabua and John Beavers of KMR who represented Col. John Banks, KMR Commander. Hundreds of Ujae people had arrived on the island earlier on the Micro Pilot to participate in the ceremony and the dedication of the new Ujae church. Irooj Michael Kabua was among those who went to Ujae on the Micro Pilot.
P11 Definitions
Two sample definitions of widely used words with an explanation of how they came from the original Marshallese: “High mokmok” — This term is used in English to refer to some of extremely high stature and importance, as in, “The let’s not go to that party, there will be noting my high mokmoks there.” This word implies that the party will be boring and probably uninteresting because the term ‘mokmok’ means starry and comes from the Marshallese for arrowroot. Starchy people have stiff necks, look very important all the time, and are generally boring. “Kirin” — This term was stolen by the people of Japan to name an alcoholic beverage they produce called Kirin Beer. Actually, is is the name of a common tree that abounds in the Marshalls. We suppose it is the root of the word that causes many people hereabouts, when they empty their can of Kirin, to throw them on the ground near the roots of the Kirin tree. Some westerners mistakenly claim that this is littering, but actually it is a traditional custom designed to grow beer. This is a good indication of the level of intelligence of the average beer drinker.
Journal 11/6/1992
P1 Continuing education for auditors
Staff from the RMI Auditor General’s Office spent last week in a specialized audit training program. They were Auditor General Jean Tonyokwe, and staff Atmita Jonathan, Nerty Moses, Judith Joran, Elizabeth Jack, Willa Johnson and Karen Johnson.
Journal 11/9/2012
P5 New BOH manager
Majuro Branch of Bank of Hawaii has a new manager, Bill Waldron, who hails most recently from a three-year stint with Bankoh at Princeville, Kauai, and previously from a 7-year career with Valley National Bank in Tucson, Arizona.