On my mind

There’s good news and bad news in response to my comment last week about access to the Commonwealth Register. The good news is that each month’s entire issue is now available on-line at http://www.cnmiago.gov.mp/. In fact the last three months’ issues are available online, along with a lot of other good information on the CNMI Attorney General’s newly revised web page. (Check out its consumer information, for example.)
The bad news is that one has to download the entire issue. There doesn’t seem to be a way to simply look at the table of contents to see what’s there, and then to download only certain items. But there’s hope that perhaps that will get fixed.

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Just as the initial Anatahan eruptions brought Dr. James Quick from the U.S. Geologic Survey out from Washington last year to explain the dynamics of volcanoes and describe the agency’s intentions to set up what might be called an early warning system to detect quakes in advance, increased Anatahan activity and December’s Sumatra earthquake and resulting disastrous tsunami have brought Quick out again, this time accompanied by Dr. Chris Waythomas to describe the dynamics of tsunamis and explain what modeling should be able to tell us about the likelihood of their occurring in the CNMI.

The presentation by the two, offered earlier this week, dispelled a lot of misinformation about tsunamis. For example, Waythomas, a specialist in tsunamis, said the deep trenches surrounding the CNMI are not necessarily protection, but rather would enable a tsunami heading this way to travel even faster. Quick made it clear that the Anatahan eruptions did not cause the recent series of earthquakes the CNMI has been experiencing—that it is earthquakes, rather, that can cause volcanic eruptions. He also noted that while Anatahan’s eruptions seem to be increasing in intensity, he did not expect a major eruption because the volcano has been releasing pressure with the smaller ongoing explosions.

Though tsunamis are more often caused by earthquakes than volcanic eruptions, Quick explained that earthquakes cannot be predicted, though volcanic eruptions—provided monitoring equipment is in place—can be. Earthquakes happen because there is no prior release of pressure—and therefore no detectable evidence—unlike the tremors and minor ventings that occur prior to a volcano’s erupting, which are detectable.

Worrisome as the information was about tsunamis and how they are formed, both men acknowledged that given the fact that there is little historic evidence of a tsunami reaching the CNMI, it is possible that there are geologic features that make the chances of one coming here less likely. A bathymetric study of the surrounding ocean floor would help identify such features; Quick was not optimistic, though, that funding for such a study would be available in the near future. Waythomas said that, nonetheless, much could be discerned through modeling based on available knowledge.

In their final report, the two expect to provide the CNMI with information that can be used to assist the CNMI in developing adequate precautions in case of such hazards. It is possible, they suggested, that precautionary measures would only be required for parts of the CNMI, and not for all areas of all three inhabited islands.

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The alert system presently in place—that the Emergency Management Office will call MCV and the radio stations, whether the threat be tsunami, earthquake, volcanic explosion—is OK, so long as the stations—and the listeners—have power, have access to the TV or radio. It’s my understanding that often police cars go out as well, and advise neighborhoods using car loudspeakers. But I’d like to suggest that it might be a good idea to have another type of back-up system as well—just in case.

It might not reach everyone, either, but using the church bells as a signal could also be used. There’d have to be an agreed-upon combination of chimes, so that bells giving an alarm could be distinguished from bells announcing church services. For example, two rings, and then a pause, and then two rings and a pause, repeated for several minutes, would mean a tsunami is coming. Three bells and a pause, repeated for several minutes, would mean it was an earthquake—one can’t predict their coming, but it would be reassuring to know that is what it was, rather than sonic boom, or an explosion somewhere—and that yes, other people felt it too, that it wasn’t your imagination. I know I would have felt reassured if I had had confirmation!

There is an alternative I’ve just discovered. There is a radio of sorts that is tuned only to the NOAA weather station, which broadcasts 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and gives warnings as well as nearly instantaneous confirmation of any natural hazard around the world. Safety First usually carries them, but has only one in stock just now.

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At the moment, there is what I would consider a disaster in the making underway here on Saipan—one, however, that could be avoided provided appropriate action is taken in time. Work is ongoing to survey the Talofofo area in preparation for putting up a paved road from the Bird Island lookout to the Kingfisher Golf Course. The area consists of prime agricultural land and much of it is densely forested, making it prime habitat for numerous birds as well as a much-needed green space.

It is being surveyed in preparation for rebuilding the bridges across the two ravines in the area and widening the road to 12 feet, with another 8 feet in shoulders. Not only will the work involved in doing so create sedimentation problems in the lagoon, and destroy native bird habitat, but once the road is complete, there will presumably be intensive incursions toward constructing a homestead, complete with power, water and sewer lines, and the accommodating development of strip malls and gas stations.

The area may not be pristine in the literal sense—there is little old forest remaining—but it is, nonetheless, relatively untouched. It would be far better to declare it a preserve, or a park and allow trails for eco-tourism, than to reduce it, too, to a treeless concrete plain.

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Another disaster of sorts that could be avoided if appropriate action is taken in a timely manner is the possibility, with four candidates running for governor this November, that the next governor will be elected with little more than a fourth of all the votes cast. A self-evident and simple solution would be to pass a law that would require a run-off between the two top candidates if neither one wins at least 51 percent of the vote. There is still time to pass such a law. And if the Legislature does not pass such a law, it could, in effect, condemn three-quarters of the electorate to non-representational government for the next four years.

One can see why the parties, separately, may not want a run-off. After all, it is much easier to win 26 percent of the vote than to win 51 percent. But it is patently unfair to everyone else, and will only make the term of the “minority” winner that much more difficult. It will also seriously tarnish the image of the CNMI, for it will label the CNMI as undemocratic—unwilling and unable to abide by the basic tenet of “majority rule”—which, after all, defines true democracy.

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Short takes:

What on earth possessed the Saipan Tribune’s reporter to quote CNMI’s newly-appointed goodwill ambassador to Korea as saying the CNMI was the “best place to make babies”? The Marianas Variety said Dr. Kim had only said the NMI was a great place for a honeymoon. Or was it that the Variety muted Kim’s words?

At least one can’t deny that the governor, who met Dr. Kim on a plane trip, isn’t an opportunist.

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Both the Tribune and the Variety failed in explaining just what was so onerous in the new federal tax law that is said to adversely affect the CNMI. Only the Pacific Daily News “got it” sufficiently to explain that what was at issue was the residency requirement. I must say I always did think it was somewhat of a scam that people had to show up in the CNMI for only a few days in December in order to be exempt from federal income tax for the entire year.

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The turn taken by the Variety in its series on the status of the islands’ Emergency Medical Services has sure taken a peculiar turn. After explaining at some length what EMS paramedics and technicians do for the CNMI and its people, two following articles in the series have focused on the personal habits of EMS staff. I find the focus totally inappropriate. Moreover, the photos depicting betel nut use and obesity are in bad taste—intrusive, and demeaning.

In the first place, if one wants to talk about betel nut chewing and being overweight, why pick on only one very small segment of the population—and on one that, by the paper’s own description, serves a critical function on island, and performs it very well? Many government workers chew. Chewing betel nut—and obesity—are endemic on island.

In the second place, if the paper wants to do investigative reporting, I can think of a lot of other areas that are far more deserving of its attention.

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And where, after all the brouhaha—about secrecy, the expense, the competition, that people watch the ads not the game—where are the reviews, the accounts of what did appear in the ads, during the mid-time show, at last week’s Super Bowl? I’ve seen not a word. Was it all that bad?

(The writer is a librarian by profession, and a long-term resident of the CNMI. To contact her, send e-mail to ruth.tighe@saipan.com.)