people

Edgard Pisani, the man given the job by the French Govern ment of sorting out the New Caledonia problem on the spot, is surely sitting in one of the hottest seats in the Pacific today.

Mr Pisani is the delegate of the French Government, and is also acting as high commission er, his predecessor, Jacques Roynette, having returned to Paris after two years in this toughest of jobs.

Mr Pisani was given his appointment in late November.

Hammering out a solution to the intractable problems of the territory is a formidable task but he brings great experience to it.

Born in Tunis in 1918, Mr Pisani began his career in public life in the French Senate, to which he was elected in 1955 and 1959, and from which he resigned in 1961 when he was nominated as a Cabinet Minis ter. Mr Pisani was General de Gaulle’s minister for agriculture from August 1961 to January 1966. He was also appointed minister for equipment in the Pompidou Cabinet in January 1966, but resigned in April to protest against the govern ment’s domestic policies. Run ning on a socialist ticket, Mr Pisani was re-elected Senator for the department of Haute- Mame in the 1974 elections, and served on the Senate’s foreign affairs committee.

A representative of France in the European Parliament in 1977 and 1978, he was elected a deputy to that parliament in the first direct elections in 1979.

There he served as chairman of the economic and monetary affairs committee. On May 27, 1981 he was appointed com missioner of the European Community in charge of deve lopment.

He has written a number of books on political and econo mic subjects.

Monsignor Tomas Aguon Camacho was installed as the first bishop of the new diocese of the Northern Marianas in a ceremony on Saipan in January.

Monsignor Camacho’s prom otion was announced in November on Guam by Archbishop Felixberto C.

Flores. It was celebrated by the ringing of church bells all over Saipan. Camacho is the first priest from the Northern Marianas to attain the rank of bishop. He was previously pas tor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, largest Catho lic church in the Northern Marianas, which will be the headquarters of the new dio cese.

The decision to create the new diocese was made on November 8 by Pope John Paul II after more than a year of study by Vatican officials, and by the U.S. Catholic Con ference.

Governor Pedro P. Tenorio praised the appointment, saying he was proud and hon ored that a Saipan-born priest had attained such a high post within the Roman Catholic Church.

A nurse-evangelist and welfare worker, Sister Betty Slader of Suva, is the first Anglican woman in the Diocese of Polynesia to be ordained a deacon.

The ceremony and the accompanying service were conducted at Suva’s Cathedral of the Holy Trinity on Sunday, January 27.

Sister Slader, who is widely known for her work among the needy, is to go to Newcastle, Australia, early in February to attend St. John’s Theological

College and undergo three months training before she is ordained to the priesthood.

Keith Jackson begins work this month as Controller of Corpo rate Relations with the Austra lian Broadcasting Corporation

(Abc).

Keith has had a lengthy association with the Pacific Is lands, first in radio broadcasting in Papua New Guinea, and more recently as a lecturer in communications at the In ternational Training Institute at Mosman, Sydney. In the latter job he was able to take particu lar interest in the training and welfare of the many Pacific Islands students who took his course.

Keith’s work in his new job will involve him in dealings with major corporations, politicians and community organisations.

Part of his portfolio will be the ABC’s international relations, and Keith says he “hopes to improve the ABC’s bilateral relations, especially with the countries of the South Pacific.” - W. G. Coppell.

Dr Heather Booth was recently appointed population data utilisation specialist with the South Pacific Commission (SPC) to complement the staff of the project on technical assistance and training and cen sus, demography and popula tion statistics.

This project of the SPC and the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) serves the objective of provid ing the Pacific Island govern ments and administrations with population analysis and advice necessary for planning, admin istration and research.

Dr Booth will provide advis ory services to governments in the region in population data utilisation and in population and development issues; and analyse socio-economic aspects of existing censuses and other population data sources, and endeavor to raise awareness of the use of such data and analy sis among planners.

Dr Booth is a British citizen.

She graduated in statistics and

obtained an M.Sc. in social statistics. Her Ph.D. is in medi cal demography, obtained at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Barry Looms has been appointed information officer to the Papua New Guinea High Commission in Canberra, Aus tralia. He was formerly media officer with the Institute of Cri minology, Canberra, and will now be responsible for the high commission’s public relations program in Australia. lan Johnston, a New Zealand citizen, was recently appointed language teaching specialist (English) with the South Pacific Commission (SPC).

In this capacity Mr Johnston will advise on all matters con cerned with English-language teaching. He will assist SPC member countries, on request, with their primary/elementary level English language teaching programs, and in making more effective use of the SPC/Tate English Language Teaching Course at primary and element ary levels.

He will also complete the revision of the SPC/Tate course materials in the primary/ elementary language fields, and will be responsible for maintain ing a clearing-house and in formation service in relation to English-language teaching. At the request of SPC member countries, he will organise technical meetings, seminars and training courses concerned with ESL (English aa a second language) teaching.

Mr Johnston holds a Master of Arts (Honors) Degree from Otago University, and a Diplo ma of Education from Massey University, in New Zealand. In the field of teacher training, he has run many courses on ESL methodology for both trainee teachers and those in the field at primary and secondary levels. He has wide experience in the assessment of language achievement at all school levels and has worked in the Cook Islands, Singapore, New Zea land, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Edgard Pisani... one of the Pacific’s hottest seats.