Articles Search

Radio Australia PACIFIC BEAT Melbourne, Australia

December 4, 2002

Samaoan-born, New Zealand-based hip hop artist King Kapisi raps from a Polynesian point of view -- setting his music apart from the American variety.

King Kapisi has won a fistful of awards and thousands of extra fans in New Zealand, after the release of his critically acclaimed debut album ‘Savage Thoughts.’ The long-waited album came after King Kapisi spent a decade honing his skills in the nightclubs of New Zealand and supporting major international artists at home and abroad.

Clement Paligaru, from Radio Australia’s Pacific Beat’s program, spoke to King Kapisi about what inspires his music.

Hip hop finds its roots in the rhythms of the reggae music of the 1970’s. While it has wide appeal, the hip hop rapping style is most commonly identified with urban youth, particularly young black American men.

King Kapisi says his music has a connection to the music of the black...

MAJURO, Marshall Islands (December 21, 2001 – Marshall Islands Journal)---Where do the Marshall Island graduates of nursing end up working?

"The majority of Marshallese students enrolled in nursing at the College of the Marshall Islands (CMI) do stay or return to the RMI to commence work after graduation," said CMI nursing program head Rosina Korean.

The recent visit of a team from the Japan International Cooperation Agency that is looking at a new hospital project for Majuro met with Korean to discuss the nursing needs of a new facility.

Hospital administrator Sandy Alfred confirmed that if the new facility is built it will require a substantially increased number of nurses to operate it, which will be a challenge given that the hospital is currently short of nursing staff.

The first year of study is a pre-nursing course, which is then followed by two years studying the college credit level nursing course. On completion of this the student receives an...

ADMINISTRATOR ALFRED

MAJURO, Marshall Islands (December 21, 2001 – Marshall Islands Journal)---As far as academic training that has immediate job application, nursing is at the top of the list, given the ongoing shortage of nursing staff at Majuro and Ebeye hospitals.

"We have a big shortage in the nursing department," Hospital Administrator Sandy Alfred told the Journal. "We're desperate for nurses."

Because of the small number of Marshallese graduates from the CMI nursing program, Majuro Hospital is actively recruiting nurses from the Federated States of Micronesia who are graduating from CMI, he said. The main hurdle to recruiting non-Marshallese nursing staff is the hospital's lack of housing, he indicated.

Alfred said that the hospital would like to hire trained Marshallese nurses for many obvious reasons, not the least of which is that it saves money for the hospital.

Currently, however, the hospital continues to rely heavily on nurses from...

By Danielle Knight

WASHINGTON, D. C. (January 5, 2002 – Asia Times/Inter Press Service)--For over a decade, Papua New Guinea's Ok Tedi mine has been the subject of environmental complaints. In the latest development, its Australian-majority owner is finally pulling out -- but not without generating fresh controversy.

Watchdog groups and activists assert that Melbourne-based Broken Hill Properties (BHP) Billiton is avoiding responsibility for years of dumping toxic waste in nearby rivers, among other environmental offenses. Mine executives counter that the company is merely seeking to shield itself from liability arising from any future incidents.

BHP Billiton is in the final stages of selling its 52 percent stake in Ok Tedi, located in the mountains 18 kilometers (about 11 miles) east of the Indonesia-Papua New Guinea border. Papua New Guinea Sustainable Development Program, a newly created Singapore-based company, is the buyer. The Papua New Guinea government...