IN spite of loud criticism to thecontrary, the National Unionof Public Workers continues tofight for the rights of publicservants in this country.

General Secretary DennisClarke therefore is urging thepublic not to lose faith in suchentities.

Nevertheless, he expressed

his disappointment withgovernment’s decision to moveforward with theretrenchment process in spiteof the proposals put forwardby the union to put a halt tothis.

Clarke noted that only oneround of negotiations hadtaken place on these and

disclosed that the union wouldbe pushing for a meeting withthe Civil Service Ministrysoon.

“We need to rise up and getback to the table and show ourrelevance. We conceded overthe past four years and nowwe are disappointed; theemployer must now act in good

faith because we have gottennothing for those four yearsexcept for a broken promise.Prices are rising and with nosalary increases since 2009,we must guard against beingforced below the poverty line,”Clarke stated.

FIGHTING on Page 2

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IN another four months,five primary schools acrossthe island should beoutfitted with photovoltaicsystems which are expectedto reduce their energy billsby 10 to 30 per cent, andcould equate to as much as$500 in savings each month.

Word of this has come fromofficials of the Division ofEnergy andTelecommunications in thePrime Minister’s Office,following a signing ceremony

at the Division’s Country Roadoffice yesterday morningbetween the Government ofJapan and the Association ofPublic Primary SchoolPrincipals, for the provision ofa grant of approximatelyUS$121 000 for the supply anderection of solar photovoltaic(PV) systems.

Acting Permanent Secretarywithin the Division of Energyand Telecommunications, JehuWiltshire, said that a contractwas recently awarded to Solar

Energy InnovationsIncorporated for the supply anderection of solar PV systems at10 Government-owned schools– five primary and fivesecondary. He explained duringthe signing ceremony that thefunds being provided by theGovernment of Japan, throughits Grant Assistance for Grass-roots Human Security Project,will reduce the money thatGovernment to will have spendto execute the project.

“Schools, hospitals, non-

governmental organisationsand contractors can now applyfor grants and in this regard aproposal was submitted by theAssociation of Public PrimarySchool Principals for theexecution of a solar electricityproject… [and] TheGovernment of Barbados ishappy to partner with theAssociation of Public PrimarySchool Principals in thisundertaking,” he said.

SOLAR on Page 6

SOLAR SCHOOLS

(from left) Vice President of the Association of Public Primary School Principals, Sandra Small-Thompson and JapaneseAmbassador to CARICOM, His Excellency Yoshimasa Tezuka sign the agreements, as Acting Permanent Secretary within theDivision of Energy and Telecommunications, Jehu Wiltshire and Acting Chief Education Officer, David Clement look on.

NUPW still fighting, says Clarke

BarbadosDavis Cup

team ready for

El Salvador

Three charitiesbenefit in a big way

PM Gonsalvesto speak

at reparationsforum in NY

Page 10

Page 4

Page 24

2 • Saturday March 29, 2014 The Barbados Advocate

PRIME MINISTERFreundel Stuart isurging laid off publicworkers to make full

use of the retrainingprocesses being madeavailable for them.

“Those who are now

temporarily withoutwork must be encouragedto use all of the availablefacilities at their disposal:

the NIS support; the re-training fund of $10 mil-lion; and counselling andfinancial advice provided

by various agencies, es-pecially advice to helpthem to retool, regroupand re-learn! TheGovernment appreciatesthe NUPW’s support forits members and looksforward to the active pro-motion of the use of theretraining fund,” he ad-vised.

Speaking at Thursdaynight’s official openingceremony of the 70thAnnual GeneralConference of theNational Union of PublicWorkers, he also spoke onthe importance of personsrecognising their rolewithin the public sector.

“All public workers –indeed all workers – musthave an interest in, andtake an active part in therestructuring of our econ-omy and society, each inhis or her own way. TheNUPW has a vital role inhelping to provide thepublic education of work-

ers, and to inspire the engagement that is sonecessary at this time inour history,” he added.

Stuart stressed that atthis time of relentlesschange, it was vital thateach public worker –whether a clerical officer,permanent secretary, fi-nancial controller, maidor gardener, or the holderof any other post – valuehis or her job, noting thatonly productivity can sus-tain a job including thefacilitation of foreign in-vestment.

“For the investor ortourist is impacted by allaspects of his or her en-vironment as well as bythose persons who workdirectly in the industryconcerned. Public sectorreform must become a living thing and we needthe support of the NUPWand the other unions forthis to be so,” he contin-ued. (JMB)

STRENGTHENING thelocal metrology mecha-nism and introducingmetrology into the schoolsystem are two of theprojects that theBarbados NationalStandards Institute(BNSI) will be workingon.

This is according toActing Deputy Directorof the BNSI, HaydnRhynd, who spoke to themedia after the NationalMetrology Institute’s(NMI) Metrology UserRelations Workshop re-cently at the SavannahHotel.

He said that there areable to meet some of therequirements, but insome cases, some of theservices that Barbadianbusinesses would requiremay have to be soughtoverseas, which maycause issues for manu-facturers who depend onproper calibration serv-ices.

“Manufacturers areconcerned with two mainthings. One, time andtwo, costs so we are look-ing to procure serviceswhere the cost is meantto be affordable and ofcourse, they want theirservices done in time. Ifwe do not have our infra-structure developed incountry, what happens isthat our manufacturingwould have to outsourceout of country the serv-

ices for metrology and ofcourse that is timely.”

However, this can pres-ent some issues with re-gards to time and cost, sothey want to strengthentheir in-house systems.

“You know, it may takequite some time to getthat service done and ofcourse, the logistics withthe cost would be morethan if you could do it incountry, so we are seeingthe benefits of really having systems here inBarbados strengthened – as least the basic sys-tems – where people canrely on the local, qualityinfrastructure to haveyour metrology needsmet.”

Another initiative thatthey would like to do is to ensure that the youthare educated in this dis-cipline. Rhynd said thatit is important for stu-dents from the primarylevel right up to the ter-tiary level to learn aboutmetrology and the ex-perts have informedthem how they can in-troduce metrology intothe curriculum.

He said that they havehad a few success storiesover the last four yearsand in this second phase,they were given the op-portunity to introduceconcepts of metrologyinto the education cur-riculum and they are inthe process of beginning

to implement those ideas.They have also

strengthened the rela-tionships between theNMI of Barbados andthose further afield withtheir Caribbean andLatin American counter-parts, both of which en-hance the local represen-tatives’ ability to commu-

nicate with their regula-tors; satisfy the needs of businesses for groupcalibrations, proficiencytesting and inter-com-parisons, even outside ofthis island, and they arenow looking forward toanother phase of theNMI Metrology UserRelations Project. (PJT)

REMOVING tradeunions from theBarbadian landscape will destroy the socialfabric it stands on.

President of theNational Union of PublicWorkers (NUPW),WalterMaloney, expressed thisview as he delivered remarks at the organi-sation’s 70th AnnualGeneral Conference onThursday evening at theDalkeith Headquarters.

“All gains made overthe last 70 years will be pushed back or completely wiped out.Pensions, collective bar-gaining, leave (vacationor sick), all of which areconsidered too generous;privatisation, not a newmantra, but an attemptto make it palatable tothe working class and thepitting of workers in thepublic sector againstworkers in the privatesector are just some of thetactics being employed,”he stated.

Nevertheless, hestressed that along withother like-minded unions,the NUPW would con-tinue to standfast in theface of this onslaught.

“We will be resolute inour convictions and re-silient in our motives of

representing the best in-terest of public servantsin this country,” he said.

Maloney noted thatthis was a challengingtime for trade unions, de-scribing criticisms as a“relentless assault” fromvarious sectors.

“We were not doinganything to stop layoffsthey claimed.We broughta 10-point set of propos-als, well thought out,costed and here I mustapplaud those youngworkers who were notpermanent employees forcoming up with some of those proposals. Wesought to give the em-ployer a set of proposalsthat reflected the need toraise revenue and also toreduce expenditure.

“What did the naysay-ers say? They were notfar-reaching enough; al-beit this organisation isthe only organisationthat placed on the table a set of alternatives, not-withstanding MinisterEstwick’s alternative,” hestated.

Maloney, therefore,urged the younger gener-ation of trade unionists of their role in ensuringthat workers’ rights wereprotected in this new en-vironment. (JMB)

Maloney defendstrade unions

Take advantage of retraining services

Acting Deputy Director of the Barbados NationalStandards Institute (BNSI), Haydn Rhynd.

FIGHTING from Page 1

He outlined that theNUPW had been fightingfor a salary increase forthe entire public servicesince 2010,but was turneddown by Government,which outlined that itwould have to lay off work-

ers to meet this demand.The last salary increase

was in 2009.“The Union then formu-

lated a set of non-wageproposals that would haveprovided some form ofbenefits to the publicworkers. The major com-ponents of our proposals

asked that pensions bemade a right; that accessbe given to a portion ofone’s gratuity beforereaching the age of retire-ment after having servedfor 20 years. The purposeof this facility was to allowthe worker to draw downon that lump sum for pur-

poses of housing and edu-cation. We proposed thatvesting be reduced from10 years to five years,” heoutlined.

He was addressing theopening ceremony of the70th Annual GeneralConference of the NUPWon Thursday night. (JMB)

‘Non-wage proposals wouldhave benefited public workers’

Two metrologyprojects beingundertaken

Saturday March 29, 2014 • 3The Barbados Advocate

THE Minister re-sponsible for WaterResource Manage-ment in Barbados hasidentified at leastthree elements thatexist that underminethe capacity of theBarbados WaterAuthority (BWA) togenerate and opti-mise its revenue.

Minister ofAgriculture, Food,Fisheries and WaterResource Management,Dr. David Estwick, re-cently cited these ele-ments, as he noted thatthe BWA will soon havethe capacity, through an Inter-AmericanDevelopment Bank ICTprogramme, to addressthese inefficiencies as in-ternal works continue atthe Authority to ensureincreased efficiency andproduction.

“Those elements areleaking mains, the sec-ond element really re-lates to a large numberof stopped water metersaround the country andthen the third elementreally is inefficiencies,and we believe that withmanagement having thenew access to the ICT in-frastructures that IDBwould put in place, thatwe would be able to dealwith (these),” MinisterEstwick recently ac-knowledged.

To address the issue of leaking mains,Minister Estwick notedthat there are going tobe some mains layingprogrammes, which willcome on stream shortly.

“So there are going to be two mains layingprogrammes. The mainone is being done underthe IDB. I don’t recalltotal length of kilome-tres of mains to be laid,but it is going to be significant,” Estwicksaid.

He also noted that theIonics projects, designedto create three newwater mains, has alsojust started and mainswill be laid from theBelle to Bussa site,from Brittons Hill toProvidence and fromFort George to Searles.

“These are very largemains and that wouldassist us in helping tobring new customers tothe Barbados WaterAuthority and also tomove water more effi-ciently to the easternand southeastern por-tion of the country,” hesaid.

Part of the IDB mainslaying programme mayvery well relate to deal-ing more with some ofthe northern sides of thecountry, Estwick also revealed.

(RSM)

FUND-RAISING initia-tives such as the Love,Poetry and Song concert,organised by the BarbadosGovernment InformationService (BGIS),are criticalto the survival of the HIVFood Bank.

This assertion wasmade by Manager of theHIV Food Bank, StaciaWhittaker, recently,during a brief ceremonyduring which proceeds ofmore than $27 000 and 12barrels of food and per-

sonal care items were donated to the non-profitorganisation.

Two barrels were alsogiven to the BPW SafeHouse for Victims ofDomestic Violence andCrisis Centre. The Love,Poetry and Song fund-raising concert was heldon Saturday, February 15,at Ilaro Court.

“I want to give a bigthank you to the BGIS forstaging the Love, Poetryand Song concert once

again. Initiatives likethese are greatly appreci-ated because the Ministryof Health is not able tosustain the food bank onits own. So we encouragecommunities, other gov-ernment departments,and the private sector to help us by getting involved with our food assistance programme,”Ms. Whittaker said.

She added: “We are as-sisting persons who areHIV positive who are notable to manage their nu-tritional care on their own,because of unemployment,underemployment or be-cause they may be dealingwith the complicationsfrom the disease itself.

“Therefore, initiativeslike Love,Poetry and Songhelp us to provide the foodassistance and itemsneeded to prepare ham-pers, which we distributemonthly to our clients atthe food bank.”

Acting ChiefInformation Officer of theBGIS, Sharon Lynch, saidassisting the HIV FoodBank was a big part of herdepartment’s communityoutreach operations.

Ms. Lynch explainedthat the Internal HIVCommittee of the BGISwas responsible for edu-

cating staff and the publicabout HIV and AIDS. Shenoted that Love, Poetryand Song formed a part ofthe committee’s sensitisa-tion campaign and was afund-raising mechanismfor the food bank.

Noting that edutain-ment was an effectivecommunication tool, shesaid: “We recognise thatpersons, even from an ed-ucational point of view,aresometimes not necessar-ily reached via the tradi-tional mass media.That iswhy we produce the Love,Poetry and Song concert.Not only is it a greatsource of entertainmentand a way to promoteBarbadian entertainers,it is also a way of sharingmessages about stigmaand discrimination as wellas HIV and AIDS…”

Acknowledging that thedonation made to the HIVFood Bank was less thanthat donated in 2013, shesaid:“Yes, this year is a lit-tle bit less, [but] we shouldreally be proud becausewe are in a recession.”

Ms. Lynch thanked thesponsors of Love, Poetryand Song as well as theentertainers, the patronsand everyone who do-nated before and after the event.

By Marsha Gittens

HISTORIAN, Dr.Henderson Carter, hasmade the suggestion thatefforts to reduce Barbados’dependence on foreign imports must be part ofthe national objective ofthe island for the next 30 years.

According to him, doingthis will see the nationsave money, among otherthings.

“That will give us betterfood security and that willhelp us in time of war. Ihave shown throughoutthe lecture that at variouspoints in 1776, 1863, we

were under pressure andof course in the 1930s dur-ing the World War,we wereunder pressure because ofthat dependence on for-eign goods and God knowswhen another war willcome, we must be able toeat. If we do not put somemechanisms in place, wewill be in trouble.”

Dr. Carter was at thetime delivering a lectureon the topic, “Land Use in Historical Perspective:How and Why an ExportStaple Dominated”.Through his presentation,he dealt with the 300-yearperiod in Barbadian his-tory from 1660 to about

1960 in which sugar dom-inated all other crops andhe sought to give reasonswhy it dominated and theimpact of its dominance.

One of the points hemade in the lecture wasthat sugar created wealthfor a few and led to an al-most chronic dependenceon foreign imports.

Meantime, respondingto a question posed, hepointed out that a majorfocus has to be placed onthe importance of the rumindustry of Barbados tothe economy.

“I don’t think that werecognise as a people howimportant that industry is

and I think we ought tostrengthen it. I think weought to be in a position tostrengthen that in termsof our production and evenour imports of molassesand of course our market-ing of the product.”

During an interview onthe sidelines of the event,he added that the localsugar industry “ought tobe reformed”,noting that itshould be used “in such away that we get ethanolfrom it”. He also said weought to reconsider a previously suggestedCommission with regardsto producing refined sug-ars.

Love, Poetry and Song raised over $27 000 and 12 barrels of food and personal care items, which were do-nated to the HIV Food Bank. From left to right: Marketing Officer, Ronny Yearwood; Acting Chief InformationOfficer of BGIS, Sharon Lynch; and Chairman of the Internal HIV Committee of BGIS, Lisa Bayley, presentingthe cheque to Manager of the HIV Food Bank, Stacia Whittaker, and Nurse Manager of the LadymeadeReference Unit, Eleanor Blackett.

Inefficienciesat WaterAuthority tobe addressed

Focus on improving food security

BGIS concert proceeds donated to food bank

4• Saturday March 29, 2014 The Barbados Advocate

By Kerri Gooding

THREE charities have beenthe beneficiaries of BDS$10000 each to conduct theirwork in Barbados.

The donation of funds to-talling BDS$30 000 came fromthe Canadian entity – ChanceryReinsurance Limited.

Receiving funds were theDiabetes Association ofBarbados (DAB), the BarbadosCancer Society and theBarbados InternationalBusiness Association (BIBA)Charity.

Wednesday, the presentationswere made at the CGE office inSt. Lawrence, which isChancery’s physical presence inBarbados, and each recipientshared to what end they will usethe funds.

Expressing her gratitude,

President of the BarbadosCancer Society, Dr. DorothyCooke-Johnson said, “You tookon through CGE an unusual re-quest. We didn’t just ask for acertain amount; we asked for acertain amount to make it intomore, and we have made it [the$10 000] into $49’500.”

She said this attained amountis just $500 short of their initialgoal of $50 000 to purchase adedicated prostate ultrasoundmachine. This ultrasound sheexplained, would enable theQueen Elizabeth Hospital toperform guided prostate biop-sies, because at present theHospital is without this pieceequipment, “which is absolutelyessential to get exactness andprecision.”

She however said that subse-quently the price has increasedto $60 000 unfortunately,but she

thanked the donors for helpingthem to achieve five-sixths of theamount, because “it is a suretythat we will be able to get it.”

Graciously, the President ofthe DAB, Noreen Merritt saidthat the donation will help ex-pand and extend their educa-tional programmes to better fa-cilitate prevention.

She said, “The problem is,there is a great percentage ofpersons in the island who havediabetes who do not know.Thereis also pre-diabetes, which is theprecursor where you have in-sulin-resistance, a precursor todeveloping diabetes, and if wecould capture those in thatbracket and make them do whatwe call lifestyle changes, lifestyleintervention, the majority ofthem will not develop diabetesand so this is part of our preven-tion programme.”

Therefore, she urged that theobjective is “…not only the pre-vention of developing complica-tions [caused by diabetes] butprevention of developing dia-betes as well.”

While the BIBA Charity asrepresented by Trustee ChairLisl Lewis said that her organi-sation with its focus on publichealth care in Barbados,will usethe $10 000 in their 2014 goal ofaiding the Winston ScottPolyclinic.

Lewis said, “they are in direneed of some crucial equipment,the largest being a walk-incooler which will allow them tostore the central vaccinations forthe island in a coherent and co-hesive consistent way.” And shestated that the cooler would be avast improvement on what isbeing done right now.

Overall, Lewis said that theCharity is targeting $140 000there, and while thankingChancery for their timely contri-bution, she was pleased to dis-close,“we are about two-thirds ofthe way through.”

Chair Trustee with BIBA Charity Lisl Lewis accepts the dona-tion from the President of Chancery Reinsurance Limited,Jim Gormley.

On behalf of the Barbados Cancer Society, President DorothyCooke-Johnson (left) accepted the contribution made byChancery Reinsurance Limited, presented by President JimGormley.

THE current economic climatehas limited the number of activ-ities the St. Michael SouthConstituency Council was ableto undertake in the last eighteenmonths.

Nevertheless Chairman JerryIshmael has assured that coun-cil remains committed to gettingthings done in the surroundingcommunities.

“The activities of the Councilare well poised to reignite thecommunity spirit that is so im-portant in creating a vibrantand caring society,”he told mem-bers at a Town Hall meetingheld over the weekend at theGraydon Sealy Secondary.

Outlining a plethora of activi-ties that were undertaken since

2010, he revealed that the coun-cil focused on urging residents toadopt a healthy lifestyle, to learnmore about substance abuse,disaster preparedness as well asa range of activities in its seniorsprogramme.

“The Council during the pe-riod under review also assisteda number of families with backto school vouchers to outfit theirchildren for the new school yearand also offered training and selfdevelopment programmes.Focus was also placed on de-bushing/clean-up of communi-ties as well as minor infrastruc-tural programmes, which as-sisted persons affected by pas-sage of Tropical Storm Tomas.”

He highlighted a packed se-ries of planned events plannedfor the way forward in the St.Michael South constituency.These include a series of train-ing programmes in the areas of:Leather Craft, Basketry, Nailtechnology, Cake and PastryMaking, Jewellery, SoftFurnishings to name a few.

“Through this initiative oftraining and retraining resi-dents will be encouraged to takeadvantage of these opportuni-ties.”

Additionally he revealed thatthe Council will host CommunityMeetings/Discussions in variousCommunities in theConstituency which will also

provide another avenue to hearthe concerns of the residents andalso to address current issues

“The Council will embark on aCleanup Programme through-out the Constituency. This willbe done in association with theresidents, the SanitationAuthority and theEnvironmental HealthDepartment and otherStakeholders,”

Ishmael also noted that resi-dents will also be encouraged tobeautify their surroundingswith the assistance of theCouncil and other partners.

The Council will carry out aCommunity Survey in order toassess the needs of the residentsand also to build a data base of

resources in the communitywhich will provide a list of arti-sans, carpenters, masons, elec-tricians, dressmakers, trainingneeds etc. This information willalso be available to residents,the chairman noted.

He noted that the sterling con-tribution of residents who haveassisted in the development ofthe Constituency and by exten-sion Barbados will be recognizedduring an awards ceremony.“This Ceremony will recognizethe constituents for their contri-butions in the areas of sportsand community developmentand will recognize outstandingperformances in academia at theprimary, secondary and univer-sity levels,” he said. (JH)

Three charities benefit ina big way from donations

The cheque on behalf of the Diabetes Association of Barbadoswas accepted from President, Chancery Reinsurance Limited,Jim Gormley (centre), by Volunteer Florence Bissette-Goddard(left) and President Noreen Merritt.

St. Michael South constituency forced to limit activities; still continues to help

WHILE Barbados doeshave some capabilitieswhen it comes to metrol-ogy, it would be beneficialif this island could ac-quire the necessaryequipment and technol-ogy so that we could meetour own metrology needs.

This is the belief ofActing Deputy Director ofthe Barbados NationalStandards Institute(BNSI), Haydn Rhyndwho spoke to the mediaafter the NationalMetrology Institute’s(NMI) – Metrology UserRelations Workshop re-cently at the SavannahHotel.

“There is a basicmetrology need thatevery country reallyneeds to satisfy and thatis the key industries –there is the constructionindustry, there is a lot oftalk about medicaltourism where laborato-ries would like to ap-proach the aspect of notjust satisfying your clini-cal needs, but you arepitching it to visitorswhere you have outstand-ing medical resources in

Barbados.”However, in order for

this island to capitalisefinancially on these in-dustries, the develop-ment of metrology wouldbe essential.

“And for that to hap-pen, metrology is actuallythe underpinning philos-ophy where you have tohave accredited laborato-ries and what that meansis that all of the equipment in your med-ical laboratories has to becalibrated. If you don’thave that capability in-country, you need to findout who does and makesure that it happens inorder to support your sec-tors.”

Rhynd said that thosesectors that contribute tothe development of aprosperous country de-pend on metrology andthis is why he is hopingthat the proposed labora-tory would come onstream soon.

“So all of the sectorsthat support a successfuleconomy rely on metrol-ogy and precise measure-ments and precise testingbecause your precision

lends to your accuracy.Without being able todemonstrate your accu-racy, then you lose yourcredibility so metrologyreally supports all of ourkey sectors. So yes, thereis a basic capacity that weneed to satisfy. I am hop-ing that the promise ofthe completion of theBarbados NationalStandards Institute labo-ratory would be fulfilledand fulfilled soon becausethat projects a lot of theseareas where we need tobuild our metrology sys-tem.”

He said that they havehad a few challenges inthis regard but they arehoping to overcome thesechallenges via a projectbetween the BarbadosGovernment and the Inter-AmericanDevelopment Bank(IDB).

“We have had an exist-ing national standardslaboratory from 1973 andthe metrology lab was apart of that system. Asignificant upgrade hasbeen taken through themobilisation project.Our project is four and a

half – maybe more thanthat – years in the mak-ing. This is a joint projectbetween the Governmentof Barbados and the IDBand we are approachingthe end of that initialphase of the project.So we are hoping thatthere is a plan for continuity, where we canthen realise the laborato-ries in order to supportour businesses to be com-petitive and to be viableand to have that international recogni-tion.”

Saturday March 29, 2014 • 5The Barbados Advocate

POLICE have arrestedand charged the follow-ing persons jointly for theoffence of AggravatedBurglary.

This offence occurredat Winning Streak Inc.situated at the corner ofMarhill Street and St. Michael’s Row,

Bridgetown St. Michaelabout 7.30 a.m. on March24, 2014

They are:Joshua Dale Medford,

27 years of Lot 3,#56 Kensington Lodge,St. Michael.

Denmar McCarthySaffrey, 28 years of Smith

Corner, SargeantsVillage, Christ Church.

Lance Ryan Padmore,31 years of FairfieldCross Road, Black Rock,St. Michael

They appeared at theDistrict ‘A’ MagistratesCourt yesterday.

THERE is the viewthat there is still scopeto change the policyarticulated byGovernment that willsee students at theCave Hill Campus pay-ing tuition fees in thecoming academic year.

Word of this fromPresident of the GuildDamani Parris who expressed a degree of optimism thatGovernment can stillmake adjustments to thefee which he says couldhave a disastrous impacton the campus.

“Nothing is ever writtenin stone. In a democraticsociety, a situation can always be addressed because democracy al-ways leaves options openand if Barbados is still ademocratic society...then Iam sure something can bedone.”

“It entails the responseof the government to thepeople and it entails theunderstanding of the government of what itspolicies are doing andadapting its policies to beas gentle as possible whenpain must be experi-enced.”

Notwithstanding,Parrisrevealed that legal basisfor injunctions are beingexplored and protest ac-tion is also being consid-ered.“We cannot exist in asituation where we as astudent body as facingsuch a drastic change inpolicy, which in all essenceis a breach of our legiti-mate expectations at thisstage, and the studentbody collective does not doanything about it.”

“Especially at a stagewhere negotiations haveappeared to have brokendown and where thePrime Minister and

Cabinet have seemed tomove themselves from thetable and discussions haveceased on the alternativemeasures,” he said.

He said that there doesnot appear to be a struc-tured approach from thegovernment in terms ofaddressing the issue of fi-nancing, revealing that anumber of students haveexpressed difficulty in se-curing loans to pursuetheir studies.

“The minimum cost fora full time student willnow be $6 675, that is al-most $7 000 to come upwith in a few shortmonths, in an economiccrisis, in the middle of adire recession, at a timewhen persons’ savingshave already been eroded.This is just the realities ofour economy and ulti-mately a tremendousnumber of persons areunder pressure.”

“If the policy does notarticulate a policy as tohow the most vulnerablein society are actuallygoing toe able to affordthese fees, if it fails to ac-commodate the 51 percentof part time students wehave on campus who stillhave other families, rais-ing children, mortgages,light bills and water billsto worry about, if the pol-icy fails to address thosepersons, I worry abouthow those policies can beimplemented at the UWIwhere immediately it dis-regards more than halfthe population.”

“This suggests to me thepolicy has not yet beencultivated and curtailed tosuit the persons who thepolicy is supposed to mostaffect. Until that time, theGuild of Students willhave to represent the stu-dent body,” he said. (JH)

AS she spoke on the for-eign policy direction the is-land would be taking overthe next few years,Minister of Foreign Affairsand Foreign TradeSenator Maxine Mccleanoutlined that it was timeto take diplomatic tieswith other countries to an-other level.

Pointing to this island’srelations with severalAfrican countries, the min-ister outlined, “We havenot taken those diplomaticties where they can betaken and I can tell youthat as part of that reviewwe have been exploringthe strategies by which todo that.”

“Given our constraints, Ican tell you that the rec-ommendations that wouldmost likely be made is thatwe look at organizing asound network of non-res-idential ambassadorshipswhere from my perspec-tive, we would have clearwork programmes as tohow we engage Nigeria,we would have clear work

programmes as to how weengage South Africa. I re-cently in one of my cour-tesy calls with the ambas-sador to Zambia talkedabout how we could en-gage that country.

“We have reached out toa number of other coun-tries, some of them havereached out to us, whohave not already set upthese relations and it ismy intention to have acourtesy call virtually inmy office with the ambas-sador of Nigeria, who isposted in Trinidad tospeak very specifically ofways in which we canwork closely in building onour strengths in trainingand education, ourstrengths in public sectorsystems and so on andthat is very critical,” theminister stated.

She said that any lookinto where the world’s de-velopment was takingplace would reveal that interms of natural resourcesand large presence of theyounger population., Asia

and Africa were two majorcontinents where this wasthe case.

“We have made a con-scious effort to addressingthese issues,” Mcclean

noted, adding that therewas also to be a review ofcoverage relating to SouthAmerica for the assigna-tion of non-residential am-bassadorships. (JMB)

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign TradeSenator Maxine Mcclean

Policy not setin stone

Mcclean: Timeto engage morecountries – says optimistic Guild President

Development of metrology important

Three charged foraggravated burglary atWinning Streak Inc.

AN agreement signedbetween theGovernment of Japanand the Association ofPublic Primary SchoolPrincipals, is believed tohave the potential toprovide opportunitiesfor enhancing andrevolutionising thisisland’s scientific andcreative landscape.

The agreement providesthe Association with agrant to the tune of US$121,000,to be used amongother things, to retrofit fiveprimary schools with solarphotovoltaic systems, andprovide training forteachers and students alike

about photovoltaictechnology.

Vice President of theAssociation of PublicPrimary School Principals,Sandra Small-Thompson,while noting that themajority of students avoidsubjects which arescientific in nature,explained that the trainingaspect of the programmecould help to change thatreality. She made thecomments while speakingat the signing ceremony ofthe agreement at theDivision of Energy andTelecommunicationsyesterday morning.

Small-Thompson said it

also provides theopportunity to live sciencein schools,transforming thecurrent classrooms fromplaces of minimalinteraction to venues ofexploration andexperimentation. She saidthis is in keeping with thestrategies that have beenpromoted by the Ministryof Education andcommunicated through theCurriculum 2000 Reformdocument.Additionally,thePrincipal said thedevelopment of newinnovative technologiesusing solar energy andother renewable resourceswill generate a new

entrepreneurship fieldproviding an avenue for jobcreation.

Thanking the JapaneseGovernment for providingfinancing for the project,through the Assistance forGrass-Roots HumanSecurity ProjectsProgramme, Small-Thompson said theAssociation sees thefunding of the programmeas a step, as a move in apositive direction, sinceeducation and thedevelopment of a country

are inextricably linked.“…Therefore the future

success of our nationweighs heavily on thedevelopment of our schoolcommunity. The school,especially the primaryschool, is the nurturingground for future growthin Barbados. At this stageof development, we seek tobuild on creative mindsthat we have and aim topromote innovativethinking,” she said.

She said the project isalso important given the

diminishing quantities offossil fuels, the increasingexpense associated withsuch fuels and the damagethey can inflict on theenvironment.

“…It is essential that amore secure, cleanerenergy source is utilised.Thus with its component ofpublic awareness, thisproject has the capacity tocatapult the thinking of oursociety into making moreenvironmentally friendlydecisions in their everydaylives,” she stated. (JRT)

SOLAR from Page 1

PS Wiltshire’s com-ments came as he indi-cated that Government isin the process of execut-ing an “ambitious” solarelectricity programmewith the view to erectingsolar electricity systemson a number ofGovernment-ownedbuildings, includingschools.

“Indeed, we are seekingto have such systemserected on all of the pri-mary schools, on all of theschools in Barbados; sothis would just be thefirst phase of the execu-tion of this programme.We are very happy thatthe Association of PublicPrimary SchoolPrincipals has facilitatedthis undertaking in termsof submitting this pro-

posal, and indeed we seeit of significant benefit interms of rolling out thesolar electricity pro-gramme throughout thecountry,” he said.

Meanwhile, accordingto Horace Archer, SeniorTechnical Officer in theDivision, each school willbe outfitted with 2.5 kilo-watt PV system and eachwill feature batterybackup power as well,given that the schoolshave the dual function ofemergency shelters.

Archer said ReynoldsWeeks Primary is ex-pected to see the highestsavings, in the region of30 per cent.

“The project also has atraining and publicawareness component in-volving project stakehold-ers, the teachers and thestudents of the schools. In

fact, over 3 400 studentswill benefit from directexposure to photovoltaictechnology and hopefullydevelop a broad under-standing of energy issues.The science teachers willreceive some level oftraining in the area, so asto impart their knowl-edge onto the students ofthe schools,” he added.

The schools to benefitfrom the grant are AllSaints Primary School,Reynold Weekes PrimarySchool, George LammingPrimary, Christ ChurchGirls’ School and St.Alban’s Primary. Thegrant from the JapaneseGovernment will cover 65per cent of the project costfor the schools and the re-maining amount will becovered by theGovernment of Barbados.(JRT)

Agreement brings scientific opportunities

6 • Saturday March 29, 2014 The Barbados Advocate

IN the fight against allchronic non-communicablediseases, two factors are ofgrave importance –nutrition and physicalactivity.

This point was stressedby the President of theDiabetes Association ofBarbados, Noreen Merrittrecently.

She said, “What hasbeen discovered with thechronic non-communicablediseases is that nutritionand activity affect all ofthem. So we don’t onlyconcentrate on diabetesmanagement per se, it’sliving healthier.”

Advocating for a shiftaway from our verysedentary lifestyles at

present, she admonished,“We look and Barbados hasso many centenarians andwhen you talk to them,they ate everything, butthey moved, and this iswhat we lack in this world.We don’t move.”

So she posited that morehas to be done.

She lamented that “mostorganisations, we doprovide the information”but, as a Facilitator of theMap Training Programmeconducted at theAssociation,she noted thatthough the maps are agood tool, it had to becoupled with moreguidance.

Therefore, the DiabetesAssociation of Barbados

revamped the programmeto include lectures prior tothe map sessions “and wefound that works a lotbetter.”

In addition, speaking tonutrition and diet, shestated, “I found that thereare a lot of persons who donot understand therelationship between whatthey are eating and theirblood-sugars and theiractivity.”

“So this is why we haveput in more of the nutritioninto our programme. Theyeven go on a supermarketfield trip to learn to readlabels because a lot ofpeople do not understandwhat a portion-size is,” sheadded. (KG)

Nutrition and activity crucial

By Kerri Gooding

YET another associationon island is pushing themessage of prevention overcure.

Taking this approach toois the Diabetes Associationof Barbados, which ishoping to empowerBarbadians to takeresponsibility for theirhealth on an individualbasis.

Acknowledging thatthere is “anywhere from 12per cent to 17.5 per cent”ofpersons with diabetesrecorded in Barbados,President of the DiabetesAssociation of Barbados(DAB) Noreen Merrittlamented,“The problem is,there is a great percentageof persons in the islandwho have diabetes who donot know.”

In addition, she noted,“There is also pre-diabetes,

which is the precursor,where you have insulin-resistance, a precursor todeveloping diabetes.”

And volunteer FlorenceBissette-Goddard added aswell, “There are a lot ofteenagers now that aresort of obese and they’regravitating towards pre-diabetes. So we also wantto look at that as well -letting our teenagers knowthe right approach towardstheir eating and theirphysical activity.”

Therefore, Merritturged, “If we can capturethose in that bracket andmake them do what we calllifestyle changes, lifestyleintervention, a majority ofthem will not developdiabetes.And so this is partof our whole preventionprogramme, not onlyprevention of developingcomplications, butprevention of developing

diabetes as well.”However, she insisted

that denial by persons isone of the biggestchallenges they are facing.

She cried, “we havepeople with this ostrichmentality. They areburying their heads in thesand. They do not want totake responsibility for theirindividual health care;because at the end of theday, each individual isresponsible for their healthcare. No healthcareprofessional isresponsible.”

Therefore theAssociation has pledged touse the funds in the sum of$10 000 received fromdonor ChanceryReinsurance Limited lastweek, to expand theireducational programmeand extend the reach andimpact of their educationalprogrammes.

‘Prevention, prevention!’

Island wide solar campaign

Vice President of the Association of Public Primary School Principals, SandraSmall-Thompson (left) and Japanese Ambassador to CARICOM, His ExcellencyYoshimasa Tezuka shake hands on the deal.

Saturday March 29, 2014 • 7The Barbados Advocate

By Kerri Gooding

THE Health Day initiativein place at the St. Paul’sPrimary School has grownand evolved into a HealthExpo which will continueinto the future.

This decision has been takenas a step towards addressinghealth and wellness in a moreholistic manner and it has takenthe event away from being asolely school-based activity,according to the PrincipalSandra Small-Thompson.

In its inaugural year, theHealth Expo saw parents andmembers of the communitypermitted to be educated andtested along with staff membersand students.

Speaking to the BarbadosAdvocate on Wednesday,Small-Thompson said, “We have beenhaving a one day activity forsometime now, primarilyencouraging the children towalk etcetera, but the thrust forgetting the parents involved, wethought that we would extendand expand it to a Healthy Expo,where parents can come in, theycan have their breasts checked[and more], and it’s sort ofholistic.”

On the day, participants in theday’s activities browsed displaybooths showcasing vitamins andminerals. They were educatedby the Vector ControlUnit/Ministry of Environment,NISE Barbados, dentists,nutritionists and nurses whoconducted health checksincluding blood pressure,cholesterol and blood-glucosetests.

The Principal urged thattesting was included because,“we recognise that Barbados isbeing plagued by a lot of non-communicable diseases:diabetes,hypertension, etcetera.So we are encouraging parentsand teachers to look at theirblood pressure, look at theirsugar levels, etcetera, so thatthey can be more involved intheir lives and lifestyles and [weare] trying to encourage themnot to be a statistic in terms ofhealth and wellness.”

Pleased with the response anddelighted to see parents andvisitors taking part, Small-Thompson also said in terms ofthe students, the Health Expoallowed them to practically seethe theory within thecurriculum in place, and theywere informed in a different wayas well.

She said, “One of the reasonswe are having this in the school,part of the school’s curriculuminvolves healthy eating, whatfoods are good for you, whatfoods you should avoid, so thistoo will help them to heightentheir awareness.”

And she asserted that it isbeneficial to students beyondthe present curriculum inprimary school: “[It’s] Not justfor making decisions now, butfrom here right throughsecondary school, tertiary level,they will continue to make wisedecisions about their eating.”

Healthy Expo beneficial, establishes new pillars

Students were educated about vitamins and minerals from specialists in the pharmaceutical field.

Good oral hygiene was displayed, demonstrated and taught to the students of St. Paul’s Primaryas part of their Health Expo 2014.

FOOD is both a cultural and asocial activity.

This is according to BarbadianAuthor and retired Professor,George Lamming who delivereda lecture recently on “TheCulture of Agriculture” which ispart of a series of lectures underthe theme, “Big-Grain Rice andBeyond: Feeding BarbadosYesterday and Today” hosted bythe Barbados Museum andHistorical Society (BMHS) atthe Queen’s Park Steel Shed.

He said from a cultural point

of view, more and more personsare starting to eat foreign basedfoods where things like Kellogg’shave become the tradition insome Barbadian households.Therefore, the issue thenbecomes “how do you de-colonizefoods.”

When it comes to dinner, ourfood habits haven’t changedmuch over the 2000 years or so,as back then persons ate “avegetable with a savoury” and inthis day and age, they also eat a“vegetable with a savoury.”

Then there were certain foodssuch as cou cou where youneeded to have either a meat orfish to accompany it.

As for the social aspect, hesaid that what you ate, whereyou ate it and whom you ate itwith said a lot about you. Hestated that if you ate in a group,it signified that you tended to bemore “relaxed” than theindividual who ate alone who“was likely to be dealing withsome kind of issue.”

The social aspect of eating also

played out in schools such as“Queen’s College,” where youcould tell who was friends whowhom based on where theychose to eat their lunch andthese groups were usuallyspread out across the area. Inaddition, these groups wereusually defined by the“complexion of one’s skin,” saidLamming.

Eating certain foods also hadits social significance, he said.For example, in the 17thcentury, sugar was only eaten

by the upper classes but by the18th century sugar hadexploded in popularity so muchthat “even the poor were eatingsugar.”

Therefore,“everybody wantedsugar and it ceased from beinga luxury and became a dailycommodity.”

He stated that it is not knownwhy the sudden rise in eatingsugar arose, but what is knownis that sugar was and still isincluded in almost every mealthat people eat. (PJT)

Eating food a cultural, social activity

WHEN we looked at the ailments of the health caresystem earlier this week, we examined the variousways in which more financial resources could be foundto fund the operations of the health care system,particularly the main hospital.However,we remainedcognizant of the importance of promoting healthierlifestyles, focusing on preventative care in an effort toavoid the significant expenses of curative care.

During the Estimates debate, several Members ofParliament indicated that the crux of the problem wasa lack of individual responsibility. One senatormaintained that there has not been sufficient emphasison prevention and that efforts should increase toengage persons in improving their health.Yet anothercontended that citizens have a responsibility to dotheir part to reduce the national health care bill,notingthat the majority of the Drug Service’s budget went topurchasing medications for diabetes and hypertension– two preventable conditions.

Meanwhile, one suggestion from the Lower Housewas that food producers be mandated to carry labelswith health warnings and nutritional content.Anotherwas that food products with high sugar and saltcontent, as well as fast food, should attract highertaxes, as pertains with cigarettes.

However, the last policy may not be that easy toenforce or even to implement.A few years ago,the thenMayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg, soughtto ban the sale of soda and other sugary drinks over16 ounces in food establishments, as a move tocounteract the growing trend of obesity and diabetes.Many opposed the move, accusing his administrationof venturing too far into the realm of personal freedomsand trying to create a “nanny state”. Chief among hisdetractors, not surprisingly, were the beveragemanufacturers and affected business houses. Theyargued that the proposed law targeted them unfairly.

We anticipate that any move by the Barbadiangovernment to tax food producers based on healthreasons, would meet with similar opposition. In fact,it would place the authorities in quite a bind.Many ofthe locally made products – which government officialsand interest groups are working so hard to encourageBarbadians to buy – fall in the category of alcohol,confectionery and baked goods.So on the one hand youhave persons encouraging the public to buy local andboost the manufacturing sector; and on the other, themanufacturers are being penalised due to the natureof their product. Quite the dilemma indeed.

Perhaps a more palatable approach would be toprovide positive reinforcement by way of incentives formanufacturers and establishments that produce andsell healthy food options. Additionally, there must bea greater indication that those in authority are leadingby example.This extends to the business class as well.The simple act of insisting on a wider selection ofhealthy options at company functions, for example,cango a long way in setting the right tone.

Finally, there is no better way to encourage a healthylifestyle than to inculcate good habits from as youngan age as possible. That is why reports of a dearth inthe nutritional value of the meals provided by theSchool Meals Department are quite disappointing,especially since they have the benefit of guidance fromthe National Nutrition Centre. In the past, the Centrehas done some educational outreach initiatives,usuallyduring National Nutrition Week in June.However,wewould hope that nutrition would become a topic thatis disseminated throughout the community via schools,polyclinics, churches and civil society groups, as is thecase with other important social issues such asHIV/AIDS, domestic violence, etc.

Most persons make food choices to satisfy hunger,and not necessarily with nutrition in mind, but it istime for this to change.

Editorial

Searching for solutions

By Nigel Wallace

I RECENTLY readthrough an article inwhich Deputy ChiefEducation Officer, DavidClement, wascommenting on themeaning of literacy. Goingbeyond the basicunderstanding of readingand writing, Clement isquoted as stating, “...literacy indeed alsoembraces skills ofanalysing, predicting,drawing conclusions,creating and organising...all of which aids in goodcomprehension.”

With that definingcomment in mind, can wecontinue to boast our near100 per cent literacy rate?

I honestly don’t know,but if it is the case thatwe continue to have atruly literate society thenthe future of this nation,regardless of universityfees and tertiary levelenrollment, should be abright one. Why is that?Because in my experience(as small as that might be)I don’t think the subjectmatter itself that hasbeen taught was asimportant to individualsuccess as was the abilityto learn and grow whenthe degree was attainedand then forgotten.

Here’s a fun fact. Everysingle person that Irespect for their businessacumen or personalsuccess, I respect based on

their literacy. Withoutstraining my brain, I can’tthink of anyone whodidn’t saddle up andcompete in a race with anundetermined finish lineand excel based on theirability to evolve and learnon their own steam.Certainly their educationand individual degrees (ifthey had one at all) wereimportant, but moreimportant was theirability to learndynamically. Moreimportant was theirability to troubleshoot andmost important was theirability to believe inthemselves and take achance. That self-belief isimpossible withoutliteracy.

Times have changed.Even Barbados’ oldestnewspaper is online,where many of you arereading me this week.And guess what? In 10years time, everything weknow now will beunrecognizeable given thepace of our technologicalevolution.

So let’s get to the base ofthis and start consideringthe sort of people we wantin this country. Let’s startthinking about theirliteracy and the standardof that literacy. Are wetraining people to read,write and regurgitate? Toform a cog in a machine ofautomatons who existonly to take and carry outinstructions? Or are we

training them tounderstand that theydon’t necessarily need ateacher or manager toproblem-solve effectively?That, Heaven forbid, theycan work in a companyand make it better ontheir own steam. That,Heaven forbid, withenough time, they canmove up and on andeither accept promotion orthe reality that theirprofessional life can beconducted on their steam,their own innovation,their own literacy.

Given my own course inlife I can tell you thatinstruction is relevant,particularly during yourteenage years. However,once you have achieved alevel of competence in trueliteracy, having otherpeople tell you what tothink is the number onereason for boring and“uninnovative” thinking. Ican also tell you that theyoung people who I stillhave the pleasure ofinteracting with – andthese are the youngpeople who want to dosomething with their lives– are the first ones toproblem-solve withoutguidance. In some casesI’ve even begun to offerassistance and advice,which was well receivedand then followed withthe wonderful experienceof being schooled in whatthey themselves hadresearched using the

power of the world wideweb.

One of my favouriteyoung people, in fact,makes me smile everytime I ask him a technicalquestion regarding aproject we might beworking on and he simplylaughs and says,“YouTube B!”.Yes, he callsme “B”, and yes, he usesYouTube for problem-solving, personal growthand education... not justmusic and entertainment.Shocking... I know.

It’s a beautiful time.Theolder generation has hadthe power of knowledgefurther wrestled fromthem. What once took along and harrowing tripand experience in a dustylibrary has been digitizedand released into theworld as text, audio andvideo. We learn with theclick of a mouse, but wemust always rememberthat this learning can onlytake place with trueliteracy as the focal pointof early study.

Don’t just look at wordsand see phonetics. Don’tjust write at the mostbasic level of carrying on atext conversation, whichinvolves you picking upsome milk on the wayhome. Comprehend, inferand question andcontinue to improve theliteracy that is the onething that truly provides asolid foundation for futuresuccess.

THE video, recorded on aniPhone, lasts less thaneight minutes. Themessage is simple: We’rebrothers despite ourdifferences.

Yet, religious leaders saythis informal greetingfrom Pope Francis hasreset relations between theRoman Catholic Churchand one of its fiercestcompetitors around theworld, Pentecostals.

Recorded by a clergyfriend Francis had invitedto Rome, the message wasdirected to the spirit-filledChristians whose popularmovements have fordecades been drainingparishioners from theCatholic Church,especially in LatinAmerica.

Catholics oftencompared Pentecostalgroups to cults andaccused them of overlyaggressive, unethicalproselytizing.But Francis,saying he was speakingfrom the heart, said in thevideo made in January heyearned for an end to theirseparation and invitedthem to pray with him forunity.

“Come on, we arebrothers. Let’s give eachother a spiritual hug andlet God complete the workthat he has begun,” thepope said.

The video has gone viralover the last month amongPentecostals and theCatholic leaders who workwith them. While otherpopes have sought to build

ties with Pentecostals,none before Francis had sobroadly or directly reachedout in friendship.

Norberto Saracco, aPentecostal leader andseminary rector fromBuenos Aires who workedwith Francis before hebecame pope, said in anemail that the video had“advanced relations withPentecostals more than 42years of Catholic-Pentecostal dialogue.”Cecil M. Robeck, whorepresents Pentecostals inhigh-level discussions withother churches, includingCatholics and Anglicans,said the response from hisfriends and colleagues “hasbeen remarkable.”

“It’s going everywhere.I’ve probably sent it out to

50 people or more,” saidRobeck, a professor atFuller TheologicalSeminary in Pasadena,Calif. “They keep writingback and saying, ‘we haveto spread this.’”

Pentecostalism, whichincludes establisheddenominations as well asindependent churches, isconsidered the world’sfastest-growing faithtradition. Among themovement’s ranks arecharismatics – members ofmainstream Christianchurches deeplyinfluenced by Pentecostalspirituality, includingcharismatic Catholics,whohave had their ownstruggle for recognition bylocal bishops and theVatican.

Pope starts new era with Pentecostals

Literacy‘For the cause that lacks assistance, ’Gainst the wrongs that need resistance, For the future in the distance, And the good that I can do’

8 • Saturday March 29, 2014 The Barbados Advocate

Telephone: 467-2000 News Fax: 434-1000E-mail Address: news@barbadosadvocate.comWebsite: www.barbadosadvocate.com

Managing Editor: Yajaira ArchibaldExecutive Editor: Gillian MarshallGeneral Manager: Sandra ClarkeAssistant Managing Director: Sean Eteen Publisher: Anthony T. Bryan

News Editor: Dorian BryanBusiness Editor: Jewel BrathwaiteSports Editor: Corey GreavesHello! Editor: Nigel Wallace

PORT OF SPAIN,Trinidad – A 41-year-oldTrinidad and Tobago na-tional is due to reappear incourt on April 23 after hewas denied bail on a chargeof escaping lawful custodyin the neighbouringCaribbean island of StVincent and theGrenadines.

Police said thatDesmond Parvy, who ap-peared before ChiefMagistrate Marcia Ayers-Caesar in the Port of SpainMagistrates’ Eighth Court,escaped lawful custody inSt Vincent and theGrenadines between May2013 and March 2014.

He had been sentencedto nine years at hard

labour for trafficking mar-ijuana in 2011.

Parvy was arrested in apolice exercise in SangreGrande, south of here, onTuesday night and after

background tracings weredone on him, it was discov-ered that he had warrantsto be extradited for that of-fence in St Vincent.

He was also wanted here

on a similar drug traffick-ing matter and will reap-pear in the Sangre Grandecourt on April 1 and beforethe Chief Magistrate onApril 23

ST.JOHN’S, Antigua –Antigua Labour Party(ALP) supportersmarched outside thePrime Minister’sOffice yesterday toforce general elec-tions.

The crowd grew signif-icantly after the 7:30amstart. Among those pick-eting the PM’s office wereparty chairman Paul“Chet” Greene and can-didate SamanthaMarshall.

The action comes oneweek after the ALPleader issued a challengeto Prime MinisterBaldwin Spencer to callthe election of face addi-tional pressure.

Prime MinisterBaldwin Spencer says hewon’t call the electionwith two cases; theboundaries and registra-

tion cases awaiting judg-ment from the court.

Thursday nightSpencer dismissed thepicket outside his officecalling it a “pappy show.”

The opposition partysaid the picket is the firstin a series of political ac-tivities aimed at pressur-ing the ruling party intofacing the electorate.

But Spencer told UPPsupporters that the partyis free to hold their picketin a democratic Antiguaand Barbuda.

“Now I understandthat they would be pick-eting the PrimeMinister’s office…but letme just tell you we are ina free and democratic so-ciety, so if they want tomake a pappy show ofthemselves they have thefreedom so to so,” PrimeMinister Spencer said.

Saturday March 29, 2014 • 9The Barbados Advocate

The crowd grew significantly after the 7:30am star yesterday.

London: 09°C CLEARBoston: 11°C OVERCAST/RAINMontreal: 03°C OVERCAST/RAINToronto: 07°C CLOUDYNew York: 09°C OVERCASTMiami: 26°C CLOUDY

High: 2:40 am& 3:01 pm

Low: 8:46 am& 9:05 pm

Partly cloudy to cloudy and breezywith some scattered showers.

Yesterday: 0.1 mmFor the month: 33.9 mmFor the year: 147.5 mm

Max: 29.1 °CMin: 23.7 °C

6:10 pm5:57 am

PORT-OF-SPAIN,Trinidad – Police shot andkilled four people in sepa-rate incidents as theyclamped down on crimi-nal activities across theoil-rich twin island repub-lic.

The killings havebrought to 11, the num-ber of people shot andkilled by police during se-curity operations inTrinidad and Tobago.

Police have identifiedthose killed as 18-year-old

Anthony Hospedales, 23-year-old SatrohanRamdhanie, JeremyClunis, 23, and 25-year-old Gilbert Brown.

In the first incident po-lice in the CentralDivision shot and killedHospedales andRamdhanie during ashootout after they hadheld up a taxi and robbedthe driver and passengersof cash, cell phones andthe vehicle for a totalamount of TT$137,700

(One TT dollar = US$o.16cents).

Police said they havealso recovered a gun andfour rounds of ammuni-tion. One police officerwas shot and injured dur-ing the shootout.

In the other incident,Clunis and Brown werealso killed by lawmen dur-ing a shootout on a streetin Morvant, east of Port-of-Spain.

Police said they hadgone to a house to execute

a search warrant for armsand ammunition whenthey were fired upon.

A gun battle ensuedand the two men werefound suffering from gun-shot wounds. They werepronounced dead at thehospital.

Police said they have re-covered a mini Uzi sub-machine gun.

Earlier this week, thetwo men had appeared incourt on gun-relatedcharges.

TOBAGO will see an in-crease in British Airwaysflights from London,Gatwick from one to twoper week effective October2014. Diane Corrie, com-mercial manager,Caribbean BritishAirways, said the increasewas in response to“heightened demand inleisure travel from the UKto Tobago.”

Noting that Tobago was“growing in popularity asa vacation destination forEuropean tourists”,Corriesaid: “British Airways iscontinuously reviewing itsschedules to stay abreastof demand and to be re-

sponsive to the needs ofits customers.”

She added “BritishAirways is committed toproviding the best possi-ble services to and fromTrinidad and Tobago andthe other ten Caribbeangateways we fly to –Kingston, Nassau, GrandCayman, Providenciales,Barbados,Antigua, PuntaCana, St. Kitts, Grenada,St. Lucia.” The increase inflights to Tobago comes onthe heels of other ex-panded schedulesCaribbean-wide includingBarbados, Kingston, St.Lucia, Grenada, Antigua,Punta Cana.

Oppositionsupporterscall on PM tohold elections

Trinidad police kill four in separate incidents British Airwaysincreases flights to Tobago

Escapee from St Vincent prison captured in T&T

THE Bustamante Hospitalfor Children in Jamaicahas received a US$117,176grant from theGovernment of Japan topurchase vital equipment,which will significantlyboost health care deliveryat the institution.

The funds, providedunder Japan’s GrantAssistance for Grass-Rootsand Human SecurityProjects, through theJapanese Embassy inJamaica,will be used to ac-quire 23 pieces of equip-ment which has identifiedas urgent.

Japandonates tochildren’shospital in JA

MEXICO CITY – Women’srights advocates sought in-ternational help Thursdayin ending what they call apattern of poor indigenousMexican women beingturned away from hospi-tals while in labour, forc-ing them to give birth onlawns, patios or parkinglots.

Activists working in vil-lages in southern Mexicosay they have documentedat least 20 recent cases ofwomen giving birth out-side hospitals whose staffclaimed there was no room.Photos and video of someincidents posted on socialmedia sites have promptedoutrage in Mexico andaround the world.

Mexican health officialshave said the cases are iso-lated and unavoidable dueto overcrowding and lim-ited resources at somerural health centers. Butwomen’s advocates ap-pealed to the Inter-American Commission onHuman Rights onThursday, saying they be-lieve there is a systemicproblem of prejudice andcallousness toward indige-nous women in theMexican public health sys-tem.

“These are not isolated

cases. We have a pattern.We are not talking aboutone woman. There aremany and nothing is beingdone to solve the problem,”said Regina Tames, direc-tor of the ReproductiveChoice Information Group,a non-governmental or-ganization based in MexicoCity.

Pablo Kuri Morales,deputy health secretary forpreventive care, said mostof the births in Mexico’shealth system occur with-out problems but he ac-knowledged that hundredsof women here still dieevery year during or im-mediately after they givebirth, giving the country amaternal death rate morethan three times that inthe U.S.“This is somethingthe government of Mexicois worried about. Ourstand now is to reject, dis-approve and fight with allour strength any form ofviolence against women,”Kuri Morales said.

The problem garnerednational attention lastyear when a photo showeda 29-year-old woman ofMazatec ethnicity squat-ting in pain immediatelyafter giving birth inOctober on the lawn out-side the Rural HealthCenter of the village of SanFelipe Jalapa de Diaz.Thewoman, Irma Lopez, andher son, Sabino Salvador,survived with no healthproblems, but the pictureupset many Mexicanswhen it was widely sharedon Twitter and Facebookand shown on the frontpages of some nationaldailies.

News about the outdoorbirth prompted two otherwomen to go public withtheir own harrowing talesof having their babies bornoutside the same center.Less than a week later,au-thorities fired the directorof another hospital after avideo showing a womangiving birth in a waitingroom was posted onYouTube.

Earlier this month,President Enrique PenaNieto urged hospitals notto refuse care to women inlabour.

10 • Saturday March 29, 2014 The Barbados Advocate

In this Feb. 12, 2014 photo, Irma Lopez, and her son,Sabino Salvador walk in front of her house in SanFelipe Jalapa de Diaz, Mexico. Irma’s plight garnerednational attention last year when a photo showedthe 29-year-old woman of Mazatec ethnicity squat-ting in pain immediately after giving birth in Octoberon the lawn outside the Rural Health Center of thevillage of San Felipe Jalapa de Diaz

The one year old (being held by father) and hisfour old sister who died after being allegedly fedwith poison by their mother (right).

MONTEVIDEO,Uruguay – Uruguay’sdrug czar says every legalmarijuana plant in thecountry will be registeredand tracked using radiofrequency tags and genetic markers to makesure what’s grown there

stays there.Julio Calzada has de-

scribed the plans forUruguay’s government-run marijuana market inan interview with TheAssociated Press. Hesays the rules will bepublished next month

and the first government-grown plants won’t beready until the end of theyear. He says it will takethat long to harvest ge-netically identical potfrom cloned plants whose product can beidentified as legal by

the authorities.Uruguay also will use

radio-frequency tags totrack plants and products. Calzada saysthe government alreadyuses the same technology in the beef industry.

NEW YORK, UnitedStates – Chairman ofthe CaribbeanCommunity (CARI-COM) grouping, PrimeMinister Dr. RalphGonsalves of St.Vincent and theGrenadines will ad-dress an internationalforum in reparations inthe United States nextmonth.

Gonsalves will deliverthe feature address at theApril 19 forum titled“Revitalizing theReparations Movement,”organized by the NewYork-based Institute of theBlack World 21st Century

(IBW).IBW described

Gonsalves as “one of theleading voices in theAmericas demanding thatthe former European colo-nial powers pay repara-tions to Caribbean andSouth American countriesfor centuries of African en-slavement,native genocideand colonial exploitation”.

The forum will be held incollaboration with theCenter for Inner CityStudies and the SamuelDeWitt ProctorConference.

IBW said among thespecially invited guestswill be Detroit’s congress-

man John Conyers, Sr.,dean of the USCongressional BlackCaucus, and sponsor ofHR-40, the ReparationsStudy Bill and LouisFarrakhan, leader of theNation of Islam.

“A primary goal of theforum is to revitalize thereparations movement inthe USA by revisiting theDurban Resolution on theTrans-Atlantic SlaveTrade, presenting an up-date on HR-40 and exam-ining the status ofCARICOM’s reparationsinitiative,” IBW said.

“We are delighted andhonored to have Prime

Minister Gonsalveskeynote this critical forumon reparations,a subject offundamental historicaljustice that is near anddear to the hearts of Blackpeople around the world,”said IBW?s president Dr.Ron Daniels.

Director of Chicago’sInner City Studies, Dr.Conrad Worrill, said “ourancestors will be pleasedthat the reparations move-ment is being re-energizedfrom the Caribbean is-lands.

“In demanding repara-tions, CARICOM is vindi-cating the vestiges of theTrans-Atlantic slave

trade,” he added.CARICOM leaders at

their inter-sessional sum-mit in St, Vincent and theGrenadinesearlier thismonth discussed the repa-ration issue and hope tohave a meeting withEuropean leaders in June.

The leaders unani-mously adopted a 10-pointplan that would seek a formal apology for slavery;debt cancellation from for-mer colonizers, such asBritain,France,Spain andthe Netherlands;and repa-ration payments to repairthe persisting “psychologi-cal trauma” from the daysof plantation slavery.

GEORGETOWN,Guyana– Police in the SouthAmerican country ofGuyana say they have is-sued an arrest warrant fora 21-year-old mother afterher two young childrenwere fatally poisoned.

Police said yesterdaythat the woman is underguard while being treated

at a hospital in the capitalof Georgetown for swal-lowing a poisonous sub-stance. She has not yetbeen charged.

Authorities said thechildren died Thursday inthe rural village ofMahaicony southeast ofGeorgetown. They were 1and 4 years old.

CARICOM chairman to deliverfeature address at reparations forum

Activists: Mexican womengiving birth in street

Uruguay to track pot by genetic markers

Guyana police detainwoman afterchildren poisoned

A COURT in Venezuelahas rejected a bail applica-tion by one of the opposi-tion leaders, LeopoldoLopez, who was arrestedmore than a month ago.

He is being held in a mil-itary prison outside thecapital, Caracas.

The government accusesMr Lopez of fuelling vio-lent protests that have leftat least 37 people deadsince the beginning ofFebruary.

Mr Lopez denies thecharges. His lawyers havesaid he should remain freewhile the investigationproceeds.An outspokencritic of the government,Mr Lopez was chargedwith inciting violence andthe destruction of property.

His arrest was orderedshortly after the first massprotests in Caracas, on 12February.

Three people were shot

dead at the end of rivalmarches. Two were anti-government protesters andone was a government sup-porter.

Mr Lopez went into hid-ing for nearly a week, buthanded himself in duringan opposition marchthrough the streets of thecapital on 18 February.

“I present myself to anunjust judiciary.They wantto jail Venezuelans whowant peaceful, democraticchange,” he said.

An appeals court inCaracas has now rejectedhis bail application and re-newed the charges.Thirty-seven people havebeen killed since the un-rest began,said prosecutorLuisa Ortega Diaz. Morethan 500 people have beeninjured.

The victims are fromboth sides of the politicaldivide.

The government is alsolooking into numerousclaims of human rightsabuses in detention, for

which several officials arecurrently being investi-gated, says the BBC’sVladimir Hernandez.

MIAMI – The UnitedStates Coast Guardsays 41 Cuban mi-grants have been res-cued by the CarnivalEcstasy cruise ship inthe Florida Straits.

On Wednesday, theCoast Guard announcedthat crew membersaboard the 855-footCarnival Ecstasy locatedthe “grossly overloadedvessel” at 7 p.m. onTuesday.

“The vessel was unsea-worthy, was taking onwater, and did not haveany life saving or naviga-tion equipment on board,”the Coast Guard said in astatement.

“The migrants werepulled to safety by crewmembers aboard theEcstasy and were trans-ferred to a Coast Guardcutter patrolling in thearea,” it added.

According to CaptainTodd Lutes of the USCoast Guard,“these 41 in-dividuals are very luckyto be alive.”

There were no reportsof injuries following anevaluation by the medicalpersonnel aboard theEcstasy.

Late last week, theCoast Guard repatriated21 Cuban migrants toBahia de Cabañas,Cuba.

Saturday March 29, 2014 • 11The Barbados Advocate

According to Captain Todd Lutes of the US Coast Guard, “these 41 individuals are very lucky to bealive.”

Opposition leader, Leopoldo Lopez

SAO PAULO – Brazilianprosecutors are seekingthe arrest of 13 foreign ex-ecutives from three inter-national companies al-legedly involved in a cartelto raise prices for the con-struction and upkeep ofsubway and train systemsin Sao Paulo.

The press office of theSao Paulo StateProsecutor’s Office saidyesterday that none of the13 executives are in Brazil,

and if necessary the fed-eral police will ask the in-ternational police agency,Interpol, for help.

Eleven of the 13 work forSiemens of Germany, onefor Bombardier of Canadaand another for SouthKorea’s Hyundai Rotem.

Siemens would only sayin a statement that itwants a “full investigationof the irregularities com-mitted.”

Neither Bombardier nor

Hyundai Rotem had im-mediate comment.

Earlier this week,prose-cutors charged 30 execu-tives in the cartel forma-tion case. It was not imme-diately clear if the arrestof the remaining 17 execu-tives will be sought.

Besides Siemens,Bombardier and HyundaiRotem, the list includedCAF of Spain, Mitsui ofJapan and Alstom ofFrance.

The prosecutor’s officecharged in a statementthat the companies en-gaged in price fixing andsaid those that won bidsthen contracted the losingcompanies to provide serv-ices. Five contacts signedbetween 1998 and 2008 arebeing investigated.

Judges must decide ifthey will accept thecharges and try the execu-tives, who included bothBrazilians and foreigners.

GEORGETOWN, Guyana– Cuba has asked theCaribbean Community(Caricom) countries to pro-vide strong support for itsexclusion from the “spuri-ous list of state sponsors ofterrorism” that is drawnup annually by the UnitedStates.

Newly appointed CubanPlenipotentiaryRepresentative to theGuyana-based Caricom,Julio Cesar GonzalezMarchante, said thatHavana expected the 15-member grouping to bevociferous as it has been incondemning the decades-old trade embargo placedby Washington against theSpanish-speakingCaribbean country.

“Our country is sure wecan expect the same strongsupport to demand to beexcluded from the spuri-ous list of state sponsors ofterrorism yearly presentedby the State Departmentof the United States.

“The arbitrary inclusionof Cuba in this listing is in-tended to justify the block-ade against Cuba and it istime to change this failedand hostile policy that hascaused much damage andunnecessary suffering toour people,” the diplomatsaid.

He said Havana wasfully appreciative of theCaribbean for the “strongand consistent rejection of

the economic, commercialand financial blockadeagainst Cuba and its traditional support for theresolution on the subjectpresents our country eachyear to the United NationsGeneral Assembly”.

Earlier, CaricomSecretary General IrwinLa Rocque renewed a callfor Washington to end theembargo.

“Caricom knows well thevalue of unity on the inter-national front, given thatco-ordination of foreignpolicy is one of the pillars ofour integration movement.We have, as a bloc, joinedwith like-minded states toboth advance and protectour interests and supportcauses and initiatives ofpriority concern to us.

“This is why we haveconsistently supportedUnited Nations resolu-tions aimed at ending theUS embargo on Cuba andwill continue to do so,” LaRocque said.

Washington imposed thetrade and economic em-bargo against Havana in1960, two years after theformer president FidelCastro overthrew theBatista regime.

The embargo is enforcedmainly with six statutesand the United States hasconsistently voted at theUnited Nations againstthe removal of the em-bargo.

Forty-one Cubanmigrants rescuedby cruise ship

Venezuelan oppositionleader Leopoldo Lopezdenied bail

Cuba seeks Caricom’ssupport for removalfrom US list ofterrorist nations

Prosecutors seek arrests in price-fixing scheme

12 • Saturday March 29, 2014 The Barbados Advocate

PRETORIA, South Afri-ca – The trial of OscarPistorius, accused ofkilling his former girl-friend Reeva Steen-kamp, was postponeduntil April 7 becauseone of two assessorswas hospitalised.

The assessors will helpthe judge decide the ver-dict. South Africa does nothave jury trials.

Pistorius killed Steen-kamp on Valentine’s Daylast year. Of that, there isno doubt.

But was it murder?One of South Africa’s

toughest prosecutors,Gerrie Nel,has been fight-ing for most of this monthto prove it was.

Yesterday, one of thecountry’s shrewdest de-fence lawyers,Barry Roux,was scheduled to beginconvincing a judge that itwasn’t.

Now he will have towait.

Did the Olympic sprint-

er know his girlfriend wasbehind the door in thebathroom of his housewhen he fired four hollow-point bullets through it inthe middle of the night?

And if he did not – if hethought she was a burglar,as he insists – did he act asa reasonable person wouldhave?

Critical testimony willcome from the only livingperson who was in thehouse at the time, the“Blade Runner” himself.

Pistorius was expectedto take the stand for thefirst time yesterday to givehis side of a story he’s beentelling for more than ayear.

He woke up in the mid-dle of the night, went tohis balcony to bring in afan – or two fans, in hismost recent version –heard his bathroom win-dow opening, took his gun,went to the bathroom andfired through the doorwhen he heard a noise in

the toilet.“It was pitch dark in the

bedroom, and I thoughtReeva was in bed,” he tes-tified when he applied forbail in the days after thekilling.

In that version of thestory, Pistorius empha-sised that he “felt a senseof terror” when he heardthe noise, that he “felt ex-tremely vulnerable” be-cause he was not wearinghis prosthetic legs, andthat he “has been a victimof violence and of burgla-ries before”.

And, he said, “We weredeeply in love and I couldnot be happier.”

If Judge ThokozileMatilda Masipa believesthat story, Pistorius couldbe acquitted of murder.She could find him guiltyof the lesser charge of cul-pable homicide – similarto what would be calledmanslaughter in theUnited States – or findhim not guilty at all.

Oscar Pistorius trialpostponed due toillness of assessor

THE federal governmentwill officially recogniseabout 300 same-sex cou-ples in Michigan who wedbefore such marriageswere put on hold by thecourts, Atty. Gen. Eric H.Holder Jr. announced yes-terday.

Last Friday, US DistrictJudge Bernard Friedmanstruck down Michigan’sgay marriage ban but re-fused to issue the stay.That allowed about 300couples to marry onSaturday before the 6thUS Circuit Court ofAppeals in Cincinnati or-dered a temporary haltthe same day by issuingan emergency stay. Theappeals court on Tuesdaythen made the stay per-manent, pending a reviewof the case.

That left the 300 cou-ples who married in alegal limbo. MichiganGov. Rick Snyder calledthe marriages legal, butsaid the state wouldn’trecognise them.

Holder’s move yester-

day means that the cou-ples will be treated asmarried for federal pur-poses. For example, theycan jointly file federaltaxes, get spousal SocialSecurity benefits andseek legal immigrationstatus for a partner.

“I have determined thatthe same-sex marriagesperformed last Saturdayin Michigan will be recog-nised by the federal gov-ernment,” Holder said ina prepared statement.“These families will be el-igible for all relevant fed-eral benefits on the sameterms as other same-sexmarriages.”

Removing uncertaintyHolder said Michigan

couples should not haveto go through a period ofuncertainty about theirstatus while the legalityof same-sex marriage inMichigan is being decidedby a higher court.

The attorney generaltook a similar action inUtah where more than 1

000 same-sex couplesmarried before the USSupreme Court issued astay blocking a federalcourt ruling allowingsame-sex marriage inthat conservative state.

In his statement,Holder again backedsame-sex marriage,which has gained steamafter the U. SupremeCourt last year struckdown portions of the fed-eral Defence of MarriageAct. That action has ledto a spate of lawsuits inabout a dozen states seek-ing to topple bans onsame-sex marriage.

“Last June’s decision bythe Supreme Court inUnited States v. Windsorwas a victory for equalprotection under the lawand a historic step towardequality for all Americanfamilies,” Holder stated.

He continued, “TheDepartment of Justicecontinues to work with itsfederal partners to imple-ment this decision acrossthe government. And we

will remain steadfast inour commitment to realis-ing our country’s found-ing ideals of equality, op-portunity, and justice forall.”

Seventeen states and

the District of Columbiaallow same-sex marriage.Since December, bans ongay marriage also havebeen overturned by courtsin Utah, Oklahoma,Kentucky and Virginia,

but those cases are onhold while they are underappeal.

It is expected that theissue will eventuallywork its way up to the USSupreme Court.

US will recognise 300 same-sex couples who married in Michigan

This woman participates in a pro-gay marriage rally held by the UnitarianUniversalist Church of Flint, Michigan, on Wednesday.

Pistorius fired four shots. Three hit Steenkamp: one in the hip, one in the armand one in the head. The shot to the head probably killed her almost instantly.

Saturday March 29, 2014 • 13The Barbados Advocate

US PRESIDENT Ba-rack Obama has urgedRussia to “move backits troops” on Ukraine’sborder and lower ten-sions.

Russia is believed tohave massed a force of sev-eral thousand troops closeto Ukraine’s eastern fron-tier.

Obama said that it may“be an effort to intimidateUkraine, or it may be that[Russia has] additionalplans”.

Meanwhile, a Russiansecurity official has saidintelligence measures arebeing stepped up tocounter Western threats toMoscow’s influence.

Russia annexed theCrimea peninsula fromUkraine after voters in theregion backed the move ina March 16 referendum.But both actions were con-demned as illegal onThursday by the UNGeneral Assembly.

Fears are growing thatother parts of Ukrainewith large ethnic Russianpopulations could also beof interest to Moscow.

‘US hysteria’Federal Security Service

(FSB) deputy headAlexander Malevany said

Russia was facing “a sharpincrease in externalthreats to the state”.

“The lawful desire of thepeoples of Crimea andeastern Ukrainian regionsis causing hysteria in theUnited States and its al-lies,”he was quoted as say-ing by Interfax.

Malevany said Moscowwas taking “offensive in-telligence measures” tocounter Western efforts to“weaken Russian influ-ence in a region that is ofvital importance”.

Russian PresidentVladimir Putin told mili-tary personnel gathered atthe Kremlin yesterdaythat recent events inCrimea were “a serioustest” for the Russian mili-tary.

He said the professional-ism of the Russian mili-tary “helped ensure peace-ful conditions” for theCrimea referendum.

Defence Minister SergeiShoigu told Putin that allUkrainian service person-nel loyal to Kiev had leftCrimea.

Russian news agenciesreported that Moscowwould hand Kiev any mil-itary equipment left inCrimea by Ukrainianunits that had left the

peninsula.

‘Huge build-up’Nato Secretary-General

Anders Fogh Rasmussensaid the organisation wasextremely worried about a“huge military build-up”

on Ukraine’s borders.He said Nato had plans

in place to ensure effectivedefence and protection for

all its members, includingthe three Baltic states –Estonia, Latvia andLithuania.

Obama: Russia must pull back troopsfrom Ukraine border

NATO picked former Nor-wegian Prime MinisterJens Stoltenberg as itsnext civilian leader, as thewestern military allianceconfronts a more assertiveRussia and winds downthe war in Afghanistan.

Stoltenberg, 55, will be-come the North AtlanticTreaty Organisation’s13th secretary general andfirst Norwegian to hold thepost, representatives of the28 allies decided yesterdayin Brussels. He will takeover from Anders FoghRasmussen of Denmark inOctober for a term of fouryears.

Stoltenberg, a trainedeconomist,who at the startof his political career cam-paigned for Norway to exitthe US-led alliance, wasprime minister from 2000to 2001, and again from2005,until losing electionslast year.

Yesterday he denouncedRussia’s annexation ofUkraine’s southern Cri-mea region, while sayingthe alliance isn’t out to an-tagonise the Kremlin.

“What we have seen inUkraine just reminds usof how important NATOis,” Stoltenberg told re-porters in Oslo. “The ideaof NATO’s collective de-fence is becoming evenmore important when wesee how Russia is usingforce to change borders inEurope.”

Founded in 1949 to re-sist the Soviet Union, thetrans-Atlantic alliancereinvented itself as a po-liceman of the Balkansduring the Yugoslav warsof the 1990s. It went fur-ther afield, to Afghanistan,after the 2001 terrorist at-tacks on the US.

NATO’s drawdown fromAfghanistan, possibly en-tailing a complete pulloutby the end of the year, alsocoincides with declines inEuropean defence spend-ing and the paring of thePentagon budget after in-creases for the Iraq andAfghan wars.

Crimea annexationThe alliance has repeat-

edly condemned Russian

President Vladimir Putin’sseizure of Crimea, andstepped up its militarypresence in eastern Euro-pean countries that joinedthe alliance after a half-century under Soviet dom-ination.

“Recent events inUkraine have underlinedthat, even once we com-plete our mission in Af-ghanistan, there will benew challenges to respondto,” UK Prime MinisterDavid Cameron said in astatement. He said Stol-tenberg will bring a“wealth of experience” tothe job.

Norway shares a 196-kilometre (122-mile) bor-der with Russia, leading toa relationship with theKremlin that is at timesco-operative,at times com-petitive.

In 2010,Stoltenberg set-tled a territorial disputewith Russia over access togas and oil deposits in theBarents Sea and ArcticOcean. The two sidesagreed on a demarcationof the seabed and pledged

to develop energy depositsin the border area jointly.

Oil riches“A strong NATO is also

needed for a dialogue withRussia,” Stoltenberg said.“Norway has a long experi-ence of dialogue withRussia.”

Oil has made Norwayone of Europe’s richestcountries. Stoltenbergtapped oil revenues toshield the country fromthe recessions that grippedEurope after the outbreakof the financial crisis in2008.

At the same time, Stol-tenberg helped put inplace fiscal rules that limitthe government to using amaximum of 4 per cent ofNorway’s $850 billion sov-ereign wealth fund to padbudgets.

The son of a Norwegianforeign minister, Stolt-enberg studied economicsat the University of Oslo.He and his wife IngridSchulerud have two chil-dren, son Axel and daugh-ter Anne Catharina.

NATO taps Norway’s Stoltenbergto deal with Russia, Afghans

CONGRESS has de-layed a vote on a billthat provides aid toUkraine and imposessanctions on Russiauntil at least Tuesday.

The US House ofRepresentatives metbriefly yesterday with-out approving the meas-ure. Lawmakers will notmeet again until middayTuesday.

Earlier, the Houseagreed to accept theSenate version of legis-lation that givesUkraine US$1 billion inloan guarantees. It im-poses further sanctionson Russia for its annex-ation of Crimea.

Lawmakers in theHouse and Senate had

overwhelmingly ap-proved separate meas-ures on Thursday.

The Senate lateradded language to itslegislation that includesUS$10 million in fund-ing for broadcasting tar-geting the region. Theprovision was already inthe House bill.

On Thursday, SenateDemocratic LeaderHarry Reid said the billthat gives aid toUkraine and penalisesMoscow is a “realitycheck for RussianPresident VladimirPutin” .

He said the US wouldnot stand by “idly,” whileRussia played the roleof “schoolyard bully”.

US House delaysfinal vote onUkraine Aid Bill

Russia’s Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu (right) says all Ukrainian military loyal to Kiev have left Crimea.

14 • Saturday March 29, 2014 The Barbados Advocate

PRESIDENT BarackObama, making hisfirst visit to SaudiArabia since 2009, metwith King Abdullahyesterday for twohours of talks thataides said would focuson Middle East peace,Iran and ways tostrengthen moderateSyrian rebels.

The elderly king, accom-panied by a number ofsenior princes, had whatappeared to be an oxygentube connected to his noseat the start of his meet-ing at his desert farm atRawdat Khuraim north-east of the capital Riyadh,witnesses said.

The king and Obama,there with US Secretaryof State John Kerry andNational Security AdviserSusan Rice, made no pub-lic statements.

But in the run up to thevisit, officials had saidObama would aim to per-suade the monarch thatSaudi concerns thatWashington was slowlydisengaging from theMiddle East and no longerlistening to its old allywere unfounded.

Last year senior Saudiofficials warned of a“major shift” away fromWashington after bitterdisagreements about itsresponse to the “Arabspring” uprisings, and pol-icy towards Iran andSyria, where Riyadhwants more Americansupport for rebels.

Overwhelmingly SunniMuslim Saudi Arabia isbacking the insurgents in

their battle to oust SyrianPresident Bashar al-Assad, who is supportedby Riyadh’s rival, Shi’itepower Iran.

US Deputy National Se-curity Adviser BenRhodes said co-ordinationwith the kingdom onSyria policy, particularlyregarding providing assis-tance to the Syrian rebels,had improved.

“That’s part of the rea-son why I think our rela-tionship with the Saudisis in a stronger placetoday than it was in the

fall (autumn) when wehad some tactical differ-ences about our Syria pol-icy,” he told reporters onAir Force One.

Rhodes added that oneof the main topics Obamaand Abdullah would dis-cuss would be how to em-power the moderate oppo-sition to counter Assadand isolate extremistgroups.

One area where Riyadhhas long differed fromWashington is in Obama’sreluctance to supplyrebels with surface-to-air

missiles, sometimesknown as MANPADS.

Aid to SyriaThe Washington Post

reported yesterday thatthe US was ready to in-crease covert aid to Syrianrebels under a new planwhich included trainingefforts by the CIA, andwas considering supply-ing MANPADS.

The White House hasnot closed the door to thepossibility of such a movein the future, but an offi-cial said its position had

not changed.Obama has shown him-

self wary of being drawninto another conflict in theMuslim world, after work-ing hard to end or reduceAmerican military in-volvement in Iraq andAfghanistan.

While Saudi Arabia, theworld’s largest oil ex-porter, supplies less petro-leum to the United Statesthan in the past, safe-guarding its energy out-put remains important toWashington, as does itsco-operation in combating

al Qaeda.The Saudis also want

more reassurance onAmerican intentions re-garding talks over Iran’snuclear programme,which might eventuallylead to a deal that endssanctions on Tehran in ex-change for concessions onits atomic facilities.

Riyadh fears such adeal could come at the ex-pense of Sunni Arabs inthe Middle East, some ofwhom fear that Shi’iteIran will take advantageof any reduction in inter-national pressure tospread its influence bysupporting co-religionists.

An editorial in the semi-official al-Riyadh newspa-per said yesterday Obamadid not know Iran as wellas the Saudis, and couldnot “convince us that Iranwill be peaceful”.

“Our security comesfirst and no one can arguewith us about it,” it con-cluded.

Rhodes said Washing-ton would not ignore Sau-di concerns about Iranianaction in the Middle Eastwhile it pursued a deal onTehran’s nuclear pro-gramme.

“We’ll be making clearthat even as we are pursu-ing the nuclear agree-ment with the Iranians,our concern about otherIranian behaviour in theregion, its support forAssad, its support forHezbollah, its destabilis-ing actions in Yemen andthe Gulf, that those con-cerns remain constant,”he said.

Obama, Saudi king discuss Syrianrebels, Iran, Gulf security

THE search for the miss-ing Malaysia Airlinesplane was shifted 700miles to the northeasttoday and almost immedi-ately five of the searchplanes spotted and pho-tographed objects floatingin the water.

What the planes spot-ted was described by theAustralian MaritimeSafety Authority, which isco-ordinating the interna-tional dragnet, as “multi-ple objects of variouscolours”.

“Photographic imageryof the objects was cap-tured and will be assessedovernight. The objectscannot be verified or dis-

counted as being fromMH370 until they are re-located and recovered byships,” AMSA said in astatement.

A Chinese ship assist-ing with the search forflight MH370 was di-rected to the area in thehopes that it can locateand recover the objectstoday.

‘New credible lead’While search planes

and satellites have beenspotting possible debrisfor the past week, shipsin the area have yet tofind them in the vast ex-panse of rough seas in thesouthern portion of

Indian Ocean, to deter-mine if they are from themissing jetliner that van-ished on March 8.

The discoveries camehours after officials saidthey had shifted thesearch area yet againafter a “new credible lead”New information fromMalaysian officials led tothe change,Australian of-ficials said. The newsearch area is about 1 150miles west of Perth.

Ten planes were di-verted to the new site andfive of the planes reportedspotting objects, officialssaid.

The shift marked an-other setback in the

three-week search, whichwas bolstered in previousdays by satellite imagesshowing possible debris.

Further analysis ofradar data indicated theplane was travellingfaster than previously es-timated, resulting in itburning more fuel andshortening the distance itcould have travelledsouth into the IndianOcean, officials said.

AMSA GeneralDirector John Young de-fended previous search ef-forts in the southernIndian Ocean.

“This actually happensto us all the time,” he saidof the re-focused search.

“New information willemerge out of sequencewith the investigation it-self.”

Search area wideningThree weeks of weather

and currents have addeddifficulty to the search,Young said.

“There will be a signifi-cant amount of randomdispersion of objects, sothe search area steadilygets bigger with time,”Young said.

At Malaysia’s dailypress briefing, ActingTransport MinisterHishammuddin Husseinsaid the search was al-tered after Inmarsat, a

British satellite firm, re-fined data from one of itssatellites and pieced to-gether radar informationand aircraft performanceassumptions.

“Because of ocean drift,this new search areacould still be consistentwith the potential objectsidentified by varioussatellite images over thepast week,” Hisham-muddin said, readingfrom a prepared state-ment.

“With each step, we getcloser to understandingMH370’s flight path.”

The jetliner was carry-ing 239 people when itdisappeared.

Malaysia Airlines search shifted again and quickly spots objects

US Secretary of State John Kerry (L) and US President Barack Obama are greeted upon their arrival inMarine One for a meeting with Saudi King Abdullah at Rawdat al-Khraim (Desert Camp) near Riyadh in SaudiArabia, on March 28, 2014.

Saturday March 29, 2014 • 15The Barbados Advocate

A TALIBAN attack ona guest house in Kabulhas come to an endwith police killing thelast gunman inside,Afghan militarysources have stated.

At least four peoplewere trapped inside theguest house during the at-tack, officials say.

Afghan special forceswere rushed in to fight theattackers, police said.

Fighting continued formuch of yesterday and theAFP agency reported thata girl was killed.

Security has been tightin the Afghan capital, oneweek ahead of the presi-dential election.

Kabul police chiefMohammad Zahir saidthat there were four at-tackers, including one whodetonated explosives inhis vehicle, allowing theothers to get inside theguest house.

It was unclear howmany people were trappedin the guest house, whichis run by US-based NGORoots of Peace.

Roots of Peace countrymanager Hajji Moham-mad Sharif Osmani toldsaid that four people wereinside the building duringthe attacks, as the resthad all escaped.

But officials also saidthey had been told by aman rescued from thebuilding that six others

were inside.A number of foreigners

were among those movedout of nearby residentialbuildings.

There are several guesthouses in the same streetas the one attacked yes-terday, as well as cam-paign offices for severalpresidential candidates.

The Taliban yesterdayput out a statement say-ing they had carried outthe attack.

Witnesses describedhow the initial explosion

shattered windows.Mohammed Sadi, a resi-dent in the area, told APnews agency that the forceof the blast rattled build-ings several blocks away.

“At the beginning a pow-erful explosion happened,which also broke the win-dows of our house,” hesaid. “Then gunfirestarted and the policeblocked all the roads.”

Afghan special forcessurrounded the area, offi-cials said, and televisionfootage showed military

convoys headed towardsthe district.

The attack is the latestin the run-up to the vote tochoose a successor toPresident Hamid Karzainext Saturday.

Three days ago, theTaliban launched a gunand bomb attack on an of-fice of the Afghan electioncommission in Kabul.

Another attack a weekago left nine people deadwhen gunmen broke intoan upmarket hotel inKabul.

Taliban attack on Kabul guesthouse ‘brought to an end’

HUNDREDS of support-ers of ousted Egyptianpresident MohammedMorsi took to the streetsyesterday to protest thedecision by the country’sformer military chief torun in upcoming presiden-tial elections, sparkingscattered clashes thatclaimed four lives.

The former militarychief Abdel-Fattah el-Sissiled the ouster of Morsi inJuly, after millions joineddemonstrations demand-ing he step down. El-Sissiresigned from the militaryand made his much-antic-ipated announcementlaunching his presidentialcampaign Wednesday. Heis widely expected to win.

Yesterday’s rallies tookplace in several cities, in-cluding areas in andaround the capital ofCairo and in the northerncity of Alexandria. De-monstrators attempted toblock a main road withburning tires in Cairo thatleads to the famed Gizapyramids, and studentsfrom the Islamic univer-sity of Al-Azhar threwrocks and Molotov cock-tails at security forces.

Among those killed wasa female journalist namedMayada Ashraf ,who diedwhile covering clashes inthe eastern Cairo districtof Ain Shams.

A 39-year-old protesternamed Mohammed, whowas at the scene, saidAshraf was steps awayfrom him which she wasshot in the head by secu-rity forces using live am-munition.

He gave only his firstname out of fear of retri-bution.

But an Interior Minis-try spokesman, HaniAbdel-Latif, blamed theMuslim Brotherhood foryesterday’s killings. Hesaid that armed protest-ers opened fire randomly,killing three, and stabbeda Christian woman todeath.

Ashraf works for theprivately owned daily El-Dustor newspaper. It re-ported online that it hadurged authorities to haltgunfire in the area to giveambulances a chance to

retrieve the body of theslain journalist.

A second news portalthat Ashraf contributedto, Masr al-Arabiya, orArab Egypt, posted avideo purportedly show-ing the journalist with herheadscarf soaked in bloodas she was being carriedaway over a protester’sshoulder.

In November, the samejournalist told the pri-vately owned ONTV net-work that she was at-tacked by protesters whilecovering Islamist stu-dents’ demonstrations.

Dozens arrestedAuthorities arrested

dozens of supporters of theformer Islamist presidentMorsi at protests in Cairo,Giza, Mansoura andMinya yesterday, accord-ing to security officials.

Dozens of el-Sissi’s sup-porters also rallied inAlexandria and Cairo yes-terday, waving Egyptianflags and raising postersbearing his picture.

In his first interview fol-lowing his resignation,published yesterday in theEgyptian al-Watan andKuwaiti al-Rai papers, el-Sissi said that he knowsthere’s a huge responsibil-ity ahead for him. He saidhe would offer “a practicalplan that could be imple-mented in reality on theshort term”.

“The people bore a lotthe past few years and it’stime to harvest the fruit oftwo revolutions,” he said.

Supporters of Morsi andhis group, the MuslimBrotherhood, said Thurs-day they will continueprotests against whatthey called el-Sissi’s “re-public of fear”.

In the Suez Canal city ofPort Said, security offi-cials said two unidentifiedassailants on a motorcy-cle torched a stand builtby locals supporting el-Sissi that was being usedto distribute campaignmaterials.

All of the security offi-cials except Abdel-Latifspoke on the condition ofanonymity because theywere not authorised totalk to the media.

Egypt protestsafter El-Sissiannouncescandidacy

Afghan special forces and police surrounded the area, which is close to parliament.

It is unclear how many have been killed or injured in the attack

16 • Saturday March 29, 2014 The Barbados Advocate

WASHINGTON – Giant pandaseat plenty of veggies, but appar-ently they like dessert, too.

Scientists studying the endan-gered black-and-white bearssaid on Thursday that whilepandas almost exclusively eatbamboo, which contains onlytiny amounts of sugars, theyshowed a strong preference fornatural sweeteners in an exper-iment.

The researchers also exam-ined panda DNA and found amatch to the same "sweet recep-tor" gene that humans possessthat underpins their ability totaste sugars.

Sweeter foods like fruit mayhave been part of the naturaldiet of pandas before human ac-tivities helped drive the animalsinto their current mountainoushabitat where those foods arescarce, the researchers said.

"We are a bit surprised.However,given the anecdotal ev-idence that they like apples,sweet potato and so on in captiv-ity, we are not completely sur-

prised," added Monell molecu-lar biologist Peihua Jiang, an-other of the researchers.

Pandas, the rarest species ofbear, reside primarily in bam-boo forests high in the moun-tains of western China.Understanding what type offood pandas prefer may help de-termine what nutrients can beused to supplement bamboo intheir diet as part of efforts toconserve them, Jiang said.

The study was conducted aspart of long-term researchaimed at understanding howtaste preferences and diet selec-tion are affected by taste recep-tor genes.

The researchers wondered ifpandas were able to taste sweetstuff because while pandas areplant eaters, their ancestorswere meat-eaters. Many strictcarnivores have lost their sweet-tasting receptor gene, calledTas1r2,and show no preferencesfor sweet-tasting compounds.

For instance, their previous re-search showed that any type of

cat, from house cats to tigers,cannot taste sweets and, thus,donot like them.

Their experiments involvedeight giant pandas at theShaanxi Wild Animal Rescueand Research Center in China.The youngest was 3 years oldand the oldest was 22.

The bears were given twobowls of liquid and permitted todrink for five minutes. One wasfilled with plain water.The othercontained water mixed with oneof six natural sugars: fructose,galactose, glucose, lactose, malt-ose and sucrose.

The pandas liked all the sugarsolutions better than plainwater, especially fructose andsucrose. "They often emptied thebowl containing sugary solu-tion," Jiang said.

The researchers then did thesame tests with five artificialsweeteners,but the pandas werefar less interested in those.

Pandas previously lived inlowland areas, but human activ-ities like agriculture, forest de-

struction and development ex-iled them to their current moun-tain terrain.

"We cannot travel back in timeto understand what animals atebefore their habitats were dis-turbed by mankind. But we canlook at their DNA and theirtaste preferences and make in-ferences about their ancient

diet," Reed said."Giant pandas' ancient diet

may have included more foodsthan just bamboo – perhapsfruits, hence the sweet tooth. Itmay be that bamboo is an every-day food for giant pandas, butwhen sweeter foods are avail-able they go for them," Reedadded.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark –Global warming must not beforgotten, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon saidWednesday after visitingGreenland to get an up-close look at the conse-quences of climate prob-lems.

“You can’t argue with nature.We need to act now,” Ban said inUummannaq, a town of 1 200people north of the Arctic Circle.“The problem doesn’t go awayby being silent.”

Ban spoke after meeting withresidents and taking a dogsledride under deep blue skies out-side Uummannaq, the first oftwo towns in Greenland he willvisit to prepare for a climatesummit in New York inSeptember.

For the sled ride, Ban, his wifeand his hosts – GreenlandPremier Aleqa Hammond andDanish Prime Minister HelleThorning-Schmidt – wore tradi-tional sealskin outfit to keepwarm as temperatures reached

-24 degree Celsius (11.2 degreesFahrenheit).

Local lawmaker SakioFleischer said Ban was visiting“to see the effects of climatechange.” Fleischer said the fjordnear the town only freezes forfour months a year now insteadof six months like it used to.

Ban is also scheduled to see aglacier carrying ice fromGreenland’s ice sheet, which sci-entists say has been losing massover the past two decades,adding to the rise in sea levels.

SAO PAULO – Brazilian sugarand ethanol milling groupGrupo Virgolino de Oliveirastarted harvesting cane earlythis season on concerns that ElNiño rains may slow fieldworklater in the year, a director saidon Friday.

GVO is one of the largest ofthe 28 sugar and ethanol pro-ducing groups that make upCopersucar, which on Thursdaysaid it would form a 50-50 jointventure with U.S.-based Cargillto form the world’s No. 1 sugartrader.

“We’re already crushing, get-ting a jump on El Niño,” GVODirector Carmem AparecidaRuete de Oliveira said.

Recent climate modelsshowed El Niño might causenew problems for Brazil ’sdrought-damaged sugarcanecrop if the weather phenome-non materializes later this year.

Oliveira said GVO’s fourmills had started limited har-vesting in the second half ofMarch and would slowly stepup crushing in the comingweeks.

He declined to comment onthe joint venture with Cargill.

Despite the expected drop incane output in Brazil’s maincenter-south crop due to the

January-February drought, thesugar and ethanol industry stillexpects a fairly large harvestof 570 million to 595 milliontons, according to market esti-mates.

Last season, mills crushed acrop of 596 million tons.

When weather is particularlyrainy during Brazil’s April-October dry season, mills canlose critical days needed to har-vest and process the entire canecrop. This causes mature caneto be left in the field until nextseason, reducing sugar andethanol output and raisingcosts for mills.

“We need to hope for a dryseason,” said Oliveira.

GVO initially expected toharvest 12.2 million tons ofcane this year before droughttook a toll on the group’s crop.It now expects a crush of nearly11 million tons.

Oliveira said some mills inthe same region where his com-pany operates were reportingcrop losses of 15 percent.

“We are seeing losses becausemany mills with financial prob-lems have not been able to treattheir cane fields right and areleaving older cane fields” toolong without replanting them,he said.

Brazil’s GVO startssugarcane harvestearly, cites El Niño

Bamboo-munching giantpanda also has a sweet tooth

UN chief on Greenlandclimate change visit

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, center, and Greenland's Environment Minister Kim Kielsen,right, T in Ilulissat in Greenland.

Giant Panda mother Bai Yun eats bamboo at the San Diego Zoo

Saturday March 29, 2014 • 17The Barbados Advocate

WE’VE all been there:Youwake up at the crack ofdawn to make a flight,only to have it canceledminutes before your de-parture. You’re suddenlystuck there, like somedope who’s been stood upfor a date, eatingCinnabon by yourself.

A young startup namedAirHelp might just helpyou exact a little revengefor all those times. Ithelps streamline theclaims process (yes,there’s a claims process),so you can be reimbursedfor the money you’re enti-tled to when somethinggoes wrong with yourflight.

The idea for the com-pany came when one ofthe co-founders, HenrikZillmer, was attemptingto fly out of Singapore.His flight was delayedseveral hours. The air-

line’s help desk was use-less. He was stuck therewith a lot of time on hishands and just starteddoing research.

Zillmer foundthat, under European leg-islation, you can claim upto $800 if your flight is de-layed for more than threehours. He took this infor-mation to his co-founderNicolas Michaelsen, andthey eventually discov-ered that around 26 mil-lion passengers are eligi-ble for this type of com-pensation each year. Evenmore shocking: Only 2percent actually file aclaim for what they’reowed. In other words, air-lines are hoarding about$16 billion of unclaimedmoney each year.

According toMichaelsen, however, it’sharder to get them to payup than you might think.

“We tried the claimsprocess ourselves andfound that it was a mazeof documents and endlessphone calls,” Michaelsentold Yahoo Tech. “It wasso time-consuming, andthere was a high likeli-hood of being rejected.”

He and Zillmer wantedto close the gap betweenwhat legislation said peo-ple were owed and theability for passengers toactually collect thatmoney. They set out tostreamline the processusing data they collected.

“Essentially, we tookthe law and put it intocode,” Michaelsen said.

That law, in case you’rewondering, is as follows:Under an 11-year-oldEuropean law, you canclaim money for flightsdelayed more than threehours. Under legislationfrom the U.S. Department

of Transportation passedin 2011, you can claim upto $1,300 if you’re invol-untarily bumped from aflight that’s oversold. Youcan submit claims thatare up to three years old.

AirHelp’s website helpsyou determine if you’re el-igible for compensation byasking a few basic detailsabout your flight: the

date, destination, ticketnumber, and circum-stances. Pass all the pre-liminary requirements,and it’ll take care of thegrunt work for you. If youend up being awardedsome money, it’ll collectone-fourth of that sum aspayment. If your claim isrejected, there’s nocharge.

Since it launched inMay 2013, AirHelp hashelped about 15,000 pas-sengers get their moneyback. So maybe youshould visit itswebsite next time you’rewaiting around in an air-port. Or bored at home.Who knows? You could bemissing out on a largechunk of cash.

Flight delayed for hours? Make your airline pay

FACEBOOK an-nounced Tuesday af-ternoon that it will ac-quire Oculus, a manu-facturer of the antici-pated virtual realityheadset Oculus Rift.This marks Facebook’ssecond major pur-chase of the year, fol-lowing its blockbuster$19 billion deal for so-cial messaging appWhatsApp.

“Mobile is the platformof today, and now we’realso getting ready for theplatforms of tomorrow,”Facebook founder andCEO Mark Zuckerbergsaid in a statement.“Oculus has the chance tocreate the most social plat-form ever, and change theway we work, play, andcommunicate.”

Oculus makes the Riftgaming headset, a 3Dheadpiece you strap overyour eyes and connect to acomputer to immerseyourself in a game.Though it is available onlyto developers, the Rift haswon rave reviews fromcritics and early adopters.A consumer version is ex-pected later this year.

What does everybody’sfavorite Internet overlordplan to do with its newtoys? According to a

newswire report, Facebookwill expand usage of thevirtual reality headsetspast gaming, into realmsof communication, enter-tainment, and education.

Zuckerberg hinted thatthe headsets may also beanother way to expandFacebook’s reach via mo-bile devices.

Does this mean we’ll

soon get to live out our life-long dream of experienc-ing family vacations viavirtual reality without ac-tually having to attend?Fingers crossed.

FACEBOOK is givingmore details about its ef-fort to connect remoteparts of the world to theInternet – and it involvesdrones, lasers, and satel-lites.

CEO Mark Zuckerbergsaid Thursday thatFacebook is hiring “keymembers of the team”from Ascenta, a UK com-pany whose founders cre-ated early versions of theworld’s longest-flyingsolar powered drone.

Zuckerberg also un-veiled the FacebookConnectivity Lab. The op-eration will employ theAscenta hires as well ashires from NASA’s JetPropulsion Lab and AmesResearch Center.

The lab’s goal is to bol-ster Internet.org, theFacebook-led project thataims to connect the morethan 70 percent of theworld’s 7 billion peoplewho are not yet online.

The announcementcomes days after Facebookannounced a $2 billiondeal to buy virtual realitystartup Oculus.

Zuckerberg has saidthat access connectivity isnot the main obstacle to

getting the world online.He noted at the MobileWorld Congress wirelessshow in Barcelona, Spain,last month that more than80 percent of the world’spopulation live in areaswith 2G or 3G wireless ac-cess. More important, hesaid, is giving people areason to connect: basic fi-nancial services, access tohealth care information,and educational materi-als.

Facebook’s acquisitionof a company called Onavolast fall also fits withInternet.org’s vision.Onavo develops data com-pression technology,whichhelps applications runmore efficiently.This is es-pecially important in de-veloping countries, wherepeople have Internet ac-cess at much slowerspeeds.

Google, which is not apart of the Internet.org ef-fort, launched a similarundertaking earlier thisyear with the goal of get-ting everyone on earth on-line. Called Project Loon,the effort launchedInternet-beaming anten-nas aloft on giant heliumballoons.

Facebook buying virtualreality company Oculus for$2 Billion

Facebook willprovide internetwith dronesand lasers

Fan in awe of the Oculus Rift gaming headset.

How AirHelp aids your claims process.

18 • Saturday March 29, 2014 The Barbados Advocate

REX

MORGAN

PHANTOM

PROS

AND

CONS

ZITS

MARY

WORTH

MOTHER

GOOSE

CCBBCC TTVV CCHHAANNNNEELL 884:00 TELE-CLASSIFIEDS7:24 SIGN ON CBC TV ID7:27 THE NATIONAL

ANTHEM7:29 PROGRAMME

SCHEDULE7:30 SESAME STREET8:30 TOM & JERRY

TALES9:00 WIZARD’S TALES10:00 GROWING UP

CREEPIE10:30 BARNIE11:00 A DIFFERENT

WORLD11:30 ZORRO12:00 T P PARKED12:27 DOUBLE DRAW12:30 HOME SHOPPING1:00 DAYS OF OUR

LIVES4:00 HOME SHOPPING5:00 STRICTLY LATIN6:00 NIFCA6:52 DOUBLE DRAW6:55 PROGRAMME

SCHEDULE7:00 CBC EVENING

NEWS7:30 EYE ON THE ARTS8:00 MEGA SIX8:02 TYLER PERRY’S

HOUSE OF PAYNE8:30 Q TV9:00 DOUBLE DRAW9:03 Q TV CONT’D9:30 ON STAGE10:30 LAW AND ORDER11:30 MOVIE: THIRD WISH1:05 TELE-CLASSIFIEDS

HOROSCOPESBY HOLIDAY

ARIES (March 21-April 19) - You’ll help some-one you don’t know well, and because you are sowell matched to the task, this will feel as natural toyou as your right hand helping to wash your lefthand. TAURUS (April 20-May 20) - The worst kind ofnews to spread is the sort you do not have firsthandknowledge of. This will rule out about 90 per centof what you hear today, but you’ll find much betterthings to talk about.GEMINI (May 21-June 21) - You’ll be more sen-sitive than usual to the ridiculousness of the world.Instead of forcing yourself to tolerate it, allow your-self the retreat of home, solitude and doing exactlyas you please. CANCER (June 22-July 22) - It’s said that a littleknowledge is a dangerous thing. You will minimisethe danger by seeking to learn all that you can andrefusing to share or act on that knowledge untilyou’ve gone deeper. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) - Dare to expect more fromyour underlings, children and students. Do you havea system to keep them accountable to those expec-tations? If not, this is the perfect time to create one. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) - You want to giveyour love to someone, and this person will acceptyour gift as long as you seem to also love all of thepeople and pets he or she is attached to. You mightthink of this as a package deal. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) - Doubting whether youare qualified to speak on a subject, you may chooseto ask questions and listen instead. You eventuallywill get the chance to express yourself, and whenyou do, you’ll command the right kind of attention. SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21) - The bad deals, rot-ten events and difficult relationships of the pastweren’t for naught. This afternoon you’ll do some-thing useful with what you’ve learned. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) - You are an ex-plorer, and so you understand well that the worlddoesn’t begin and end with your own experience ofit. Your open mind keeps you forging ever forwardthrough the weekend. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) - Your spirit hasa mission that you are not fully aware of, and yetwhen you follow your feelings, you’ll be pulled to-ward the very thing that will best fulfill it. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) - You’ll do sometype of trimming. From hair to hedges, relation-ships to personal property, the rules of cutting are thesame: Measure three times, cut once. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) - Someone who hasbeen distant from you will now seek to get back intoyour world. Note that being seen as an equal is im-portant to this person, so choose your approachcarefully.

Saturday March 29, 2014 • 19The Barbados Advocate

SKIDMORE Collegewhich is located inSaratoga Springs, NewYork is going to offer aclass on Miley Cyrus thissummer. The course willbe called “The Sociology ofMiley Cyrus: Race, Class,Gender and Media” andwill centre on the twerk-ing singer. Some topicswhich will be discussed in-clude gender, race, class,fame and power.

“Unfortunately, the waywe talk about female popstars and female bodies,class matters, gender mat-ters, sexuality and sexualperformance matters, but

race matters a lot [too]and the way we talk aboutwhite pop stars is quitedifferent than how we talkabout the bodies of womenof colour,” ProfessorCarolyn Chernoff said ofthe class, as reported byABC News. “[Cyrus] com-plicates representations ofthe female body in popculture in some ways thatare good, bad, and ugly.”

The Saratogian news-paper additionally re-ported that there wouldbe no twerking during thecourse. “Sorry, dudes, butthis is sociology. Learn totwerk on your own time,”

Chernoff was quoted assaying.

The “Wrecking Ball”singer is currently on her“Bangerz” tour. She wasmost recently seen enjoy-ing some Japanese foodwith Emma Roberts onWednesday, March 26 inStudio City, Calif.A sourcereported that the twosome“came in around 7 P.M.and sat outside on thepatio”.

The source added thatthe stars were “with twoother girlfriends andstayed for a few hours” be-fore leaving the restau-rant.

SAMUEL L. Jacksonsays he got news from di-rector Brad Bird that hewill be brought back for“The Incredibles 2”.

The actor is expectedto reprise his role asFrozone in the sequel.“Every time I run intoBrad, he always tells meFrozone is part of what’sgoing on, so I have to be-lieve that,” he told re-porters.

“I guess they could beThe Incredibles withoutFrozone,” said the NickFury of Marvel movies,“but I think Frozonewould be a wonderful,wonderful addition towhat’s already there.”

Aside from looking for-ward to voicing the char-acter who has the abilityto manipulate watermolecules in the air andfreeze them, Jacksonalso cannot wait to seethe transformation ofbaby Jack-Jack Parr.“I’m just excited to seewhat Jack-Jack turnedinto,” he said.

The sequel to 2004’s“The Incredibles” wasannounced by Disney’s

CEO Bob Iger earlierthis month during ashareholder meeting inPortland, Ore.

The original moviewhich centred on a fam-ily of superheroes wassupported by Craig T.Nelson, Holly Hunter,Spencer Fox, and SarahVowell as the voice cast.It was a commercial andcritical success, collect-ing over US$631 millionworldwide and pocketingvarious coveted awardsincluding two Oscars.The film is planned for a3D re-release along with“Ratatouille”.

Jackson will nextreprise his role asS.H.I.E.L.D. Agent in theupcoming “CaptainAmerica: The WinterSoldier” due April 4 inthe U.S. and then appearin “Avengers: Age ofUltron” in a reducedrole.

Bird, meanwhile, isfinishing the MouseHouse’s live action“Tomorrowland”, star-ring George Clooney,which is slated for a May22, 2015 release.

AFTER announcingpartnership with aJapanese fashion brandearlier this month,Pharrell Williams con-firmed that he is collab-orating with Adidas. The“Happy” singer’s longterm partnership withthe company was an-nounced on Thursday,March 27 via a state-ment and a YouTubeclip.

“Working with a brandlike Adidas is such an in-credible opportunity,”Williams said. “From theclassic track suit togrowing up in Virginiawearing Stan Smiths

[sneakers], Adidas hasbeen a staple in my life.Their pieces are time-less. This is an excitingpartnership for both meand Bionic Yarn.”Williams’ Bionic Yarn re-cycles plastic into wear-able materials.

“I am truly thrilled towork with Pharrell ,”Dirk Schonberger, globalcreative director forAdidas Sport Style,added. “He is a pop cul-ture icon that never failsto inspire, not justthrough his musical tal-ent and craft, butthrough his many otherinterests. He is the per-

fect fit for the multifac-eted company that isAdidas.” Products fromthe duo’s collaborationare set to debut in sum-mer.

Earlier this month, theGrammy-winning pro-ducer announced that heworked with Comme deGarcons for a unisex fra-grance called “Girl”. “Iam so honoured to beworking with Commedes Garcons and cherishthe education that I’veexperienced in this col-laboration,” Williamssaid in a statement. Thefragrance will be avail-able in September.

CAMERAS are ex-pected to start rollingon “Magic Mike 2” thisfall.

Joe Manganiello re-vealsed the start date toCollider during a presstour for his new movie“Sabotage”, stating:“Yeah,it’s gonna happen this fall.I think they’re going to an-nounce it soon.

“It’s crazy. I didn’t think

that would be my firstfranchise. I never thoughtthat would ever be the di-rection of my career. Butwith that being said, it’sjust proof that I don’tknow best, all the time. Itwas the most fun I’ve everhad, and I can’t wait to getback in and mix it up withthose guys.”

Channing Tatum is in-volved in the script writ-

ing. “It will be a road-tripmovie, and it will essen-tially be the movie thateveryone thought the firstone was going to be: crazyand fun and less slice-of-life and less drama,” heonce said.

“The first one, we had tomake not so cheesy andcampy; this one we aregoing to swing for thefences.”

The first film releasedin 2012 was loosely basedon Tatum’s experience as ateen male stripper. Itstarred such hunks asAlex Pettyfer, MatthewMcConaughey, andMatthew Bomer, in addi-tion to Tatum andManganiello. It baggedUS$167 million world-wide against a budget ofonly US$7 million.

Joe Manganiello on‘Magic Mike 2’: It’sgonna happen this fall

Samuel L.Jacksonexpecting toreturn for ‘TheIncredibles 2’

Pharrell Williams announcescollaboration with Adidas

College to offer a class on Miley Cyrus

A scene from the movie “Magic Mike” which was released in 2012.

20 • Saturday March 29, 2014 The Barbados Advocate

Bridge

Dear Jane, I have afriend who is 20years old and she

could possibly be preg-nant. The guy responsi-ble for this has been inher life for over twoyears, but he has alwaysbeen involved with an-other female.

Though she knew this,she still stuck aroundbecause she said sheloves him. Sadlyenough, she believesthat this guy caresabout her and is readyto put arrangements inplace to ensure both sheand the child are wellcared for, and in all hon-esty, I really don’t wantto burst her bubble be-cause I know he won’tstick around.

He has been lying toher for many years, andI know that bringing achild into the situationwon’t change much.Matter of a fact, I thinkhe will distance himselffrom her.

To add to herdilemma, her parentsare extremely strict andif she is actually preg-nant, they might possi-bly ask her to leave

their home. She has saidnumerous times shedoes not care about herfamily because she willbe taken care of other-wise, but to be frank,she’s just being naive.Jane, I am really con-fused as to what to doright now... I just wantto shake her, tell hereverything that’s on mymind and snap her backto reality.

RD

DEAR RD, the onlything you need to doat this moment is be afriend to this younglady. I know you haveyour opinions to

share, but if you werein her situationwould you wantsomebody to ap-proach you and statethat you are beingnaive? Trust me,some things are bestleft unsaid and attimes it’s not whatyou say, but the wayit comes over. Thoughyou may be truthfulwith her, in her mindyou’re just going tocome across as notbeing understanding.

Wait until an offi-

cial status is given onher pregnancy beforeyou air your views.

If it is a false alarmthen you can adviseher to cut all tieswith this guy becauseyou think he is badnews. Until then, biteyour tongue, be sup-portive and show herthat you aren’t goinganywhere. Knowingshe has someone shecan truly trust andrely on is very crucialat a time like this.

JANE

My friendis too naive

Need Advice? Write to AskJane

c/o Advocate Publishers 2000 Inc Fontabelle St. Michael

askjane@barbadosadvocate.com

Saturday March 29, 2014 • 21The Barbados Advocate

SPORTSSPORTS

CHAMPS AGAIN fromBack Page

The Lester VaughanSchool’s Rivaldo Leacockobliterated the record inthe Under-17 Boys’ 400-metre hurdles, setting anew personal best time of51.38 seconds and mak-ing the gruelling eventlook like a stroll inQueen’s Park. The oldrecord of 53.29 secondswas set in 2010 by LodgeSchool’s TramaineMaloney. FrederickSmith’s Rico Hurley wassecond in 56.55 seconds,while Rashad Phillips ofSt. Leonard’s Boys’ wasthird in 56.65 seconds.

Leacock has had a busy2014 BSSAC and alsowon the Under-17 Boys’800 metres, 400 metresand 110-metre hurdles. Inaddition, he ran an excel-lent third leg to help bringhome the silver medal forLester Vaughan in theBoys’ 4x400 metre Relay.

It was, therefore, nosurprise when it was announced that he wasthe Victor Ludorum.

Springer Memorial’sTristan Evelyn andShonita Brome ofAlexandra School sharedthe Victrix Ludorum titleafter they both ended thechampionships with 40

points.Evelyn showed she

meant business in the 200metres when she first seta new meet record in thesemi-finals. Evelyn ran24.35 seconds in the semi-finals and returned laterin the day to run evenfaster in the final, win-ning in 24.13 seconds,a CARIFTA qualifyingtime. Tiana Bowen ofLester Vaughan was second in 24.67 seconds,while Danae Gill of LodgeSchool was third in 24.94seconds. The old recordwas 24.50 seconds set by Lodge School’s MaraWeekes in 2007.

Brome added yet an-other gold medal to hercollection when she wonthe Under-15 Girls’ 400metres yesterday. Bromewon the event in 57.41seconds, erasing TianaBowen’s 2012 time of57.62 seconds. RosetteHoyte of SpringerMemorial just could notkeep pace and finishedsecond in 59.21 seconds,with Graydon Sealy’sShade Carrington third in60.79 seconds.

Sada Williams ofColeridge and Parry set the track ablaze in the Under-20 Girls’ 200-metre dash to win in a siz-zling 23.61 seconds. This

is a new personal besttime for Williams and sur-passes the qualifyingmarks for CARIFTA, CACJuniors and WorldJuniors. The St. MichaelSchool duo of LeahBannister and AyannaMorgan finished secondand third in 24.54 secondsand 25.27 seconds respec-tively.

Levi Cadogan com-pleted the sprint doublein fine style yesterday,adding the Under-20Boys’ 200 metres title tothe 100 metres he won on Thursday. Cadoganslammed the field to winin 20.97 seconds, withLodge School’s Kyle

Farrell second in 21.49seconds and Logan Jonesof St. Michael third in21.85 seconds. NicholasDeshong’s 2011 record of20.80 seconds survives foranother year.

Combermere School’sAshley Lowe can layclaim to the title as thefastest Under-15 schoolgirl on the island after sheeasily won the 100 metresyesterday. Lowe had anexcellent start and wenton to win in 12.27 sec-onds, with Lodge School’sAkayla Morris second in12.54 seconds. XhaneGreenidge of St. Michaelwas third in 12.60 sec-onds. Lowe had also won

the 200 metres onThursday in 24.65 sec-onds.

Tramaine Smith washis usual dominant self in the Under-15 Boys’Division, winning twogold medals and a silver.Smith’s first gold medalof the day came in the300-metre hurdles, whichhe won in 39.16 seconds.He was chased all the way to the line by LesterVaughan’s Hasani Lowe,who was second in 39.66seconds, while NathanFergusson ofCombermere was third in 40.65 seconds. Smith,after overcoming a slowstart, also won the 100

metres in 11.33 seconds.Combermere School’sMatthew Clarke had tosettle for second best in11.44 seconds, whileAntoni Hoyte-Small ofQueen’s College was thirdin 11.58 seconds.

Smith’s only blight ofthe day, if one can call it that, came in the 400metres when he was upstaged by Queen’sCollege’s Hoyte-Small.Hoyte-Small won in 51.20 seconds whileSmith, visibly tired fromthe 300-metre hurdlesearlier in the day, was second in 52.16 seconds.Combermere’s Fergussonwas third in 54.64 sec-onds.

The final points andresults from the finalday are as follows:

DIVISIONALCHAMPIONS

Under-13 Girls:Deadra Deane-Mason,Parkinson MemorialSecondary

Under-13 Boys: AjaniHaddock, Queen’s College

Under-15 Girls:Shonita Brome,Alexandra School

Under-15 Boys:Tramaine Smith, LodgeSchool

Under-17 Girls:Tristan Evelyn, SpringerMemorial Secondary

Under-17 Boys:Rivaldo Leacock, LesterVaughan School

Under-20 Girls: SadaWilliams, Coleridge andParry School

Under-20 Boys:Michael Nicholls, LesterVaughan; Ackeem Rowe,Queen’s College; TreHinds, Queen’s College

Rivaldo Leacockearns VictorLudorum title

Queen’s College Boys had something to shout about as they easily defended their title after racking up 313 points, beating out LesterVaughan which had to settle for second place.

The contingent from Lester Vaughan did their school proud, coming fifth in the Girls and second in the Boys’competition. Here, they stand behind a banner bearing a tribute to their late Principal Diana Wilson.

22 • Saturday March 29, 2014 The Barbados Advocate

Points Standings

Girls1. Springer Memorial Secondary – 3482. St. Michael School – 2483. Harrison College – 170.504. Christ Church Foundation School – 1605. Lester Vaughan School – 1556. The Lodge School – 1477. Combermere School – 1258. Queen’s College – 1159. Alexandra School – 8910. Graydon Sealy Secondary – 6311. St. George Secondary – 55.5012. Parkinson Memorial Secondary – 5413. Coleridge and Parry Secondary – 4614. Grantley Adams Memorial Secondary – 4315. Ellerslie Secondary – 4016. Alleyne School – 3717. Frederick Smith Secondary – 3118. Daryll Jordan Secondary – 3019. Deighton Griffith Secondary – 1520. Princess Margaret Secondary – 521. Barbados Independent Schools – 2

Boys1. Queen’s College – 3132. Lester Vaughan School – 2783. The Lodge School – 2374. St. Michael School – 1755. Combermere School – 1666. St. Leonard’s Boys’ Secondary – 150.507. Coleridge and Parry School – 1248. Harrison College – 1009. Christ Church Foundation School – 9810. Grantley Adams Memorial Secondary – 8911. St. George Secondary – 6712. Deighton Griffith Secondary – 6613. Alleyne School – 6514. Frederick Smith Secondary – 3815. Alexandra School – 3316. Graydon Sealy Secondary – 2417. Parkinson Memorial Secondary – 1918. Princess Margaret Secondary – 1119. Daryll Jordan Secondary – 7.5020. Ellerslie Secondary School – 4

Under-17 Girls’ Discus Throw1. Ricandrea Beckles, Frederick Smith – 31.57metres2. Hanisha Hoyte, Springer Memorial – 28.68metres3. Joy Squires, Lester Vaughan – 27.01 me-tres

Under-17 Boys’ Shot Putt1. Triston Gibbons, Coleridge and Parry –14.93 metres2. Justin Yearwood-Adams, Foundation –13.12 metres3. Seth Edwards, Queen’s College – 12.85metres

Under-15 Boys’ Long Jump (Record)1. Andre Callender, Deighton Griffith – 6.39metres2. Antonio Farrell, Lester Vaughan – 6.14 me-tres3. Zachary Moore, Alexandra – 5.83 metres

Under-20 Girls’ High Jump1. Ashantia Phillips, Graydon Sealy – 1.69metres2. Ayanna Morgan, St. Michael – 1.55 metres3. Demisha King, Springer Memorial – 1.50metres

Under-20 Boys’ Triple Jump1. Antoine Lawrence, St. Leonard’s Boys’ –14.15 metres2. Lauren Mars, Lodge – 14.07 metres3. Ackeem Rowe, Queen’s College – 13.83metres

Under-13 Girls’ 100 Metre Dash (Record)1. Jaliyah Denny, Foundation – 12.702. Leilani Haddock, Lester Vaughan – 12.963. Ashley Jordan, Springer Memorial – 12.52

Under-13 Boys’ 100 Metre Dash1. Ajani Haddock, Queen’s College – 12.692. Darion Clarke, St. Michael – 13.003. Surav Frederick, Lester Vaughan – 13.10

Under-15 Girls’ 100 Metre Dash1. Ashley Lowe, Combermere – 12.272. Akayla Morris, Lodge – 12.543. Xhane Greenidge, St. Michael – 12.60

Under-15 Boys’ 100 Metre Dash1. Tramaine Smith, Lodge – 11.332. Matthew Clarke, Combermere – 11.443. Antoni Hoyte-Small, Queen’s College –11.58

Under-17 Girls’ 200 Metre Dash (Record)1. Tristan Evelyn, Springer Memorial – 24.132. Tiana Bowen, Lester Vaughan – 24.673. Danae Gill, Lodge School – 24.94

Under-17 Boys’ 200 Metre Dash1. Kentoine Browne, Deighton Griffith – 21.762. Jaquone Hoyte, St. Leonard’s Boys’ – 22.093. Josiah Atkins, Foundation – 22.11

Under-20 Girls’ 200 Metre Dash (Record)1. Sada Williams, Coleridge and Parry – 23.612. Leah Bannister, St. Michael – 24.543. Ayanna Morgan, St. Michael – 25.27

Under-20 Boys’ 200 Metre Dash

1. Levi Cadogan, St. Michael – 20.972. Kyle Farrell, Lodge – 21.493. Logan Jones, St. Michael – 21.85

Under-13 Girls’ 400 Metre Dash1. Dedra Deane-Mason, Parkinson Memorial– 61.062. Rishaunna Padmore, Foundation – 63.733. Shontee Broomes, Deighton Griffith –65.39

Under-13 Boys’ 400 Metre Dash1. Samual Alkins, Queen’s College – 61.832. Lashon Bispham, Grantley Adams – 62.163. Thierry Jordan, Alexandra – 62.44

Under-15 Girls’ 400 Metre Run (Record)1. Shonita Brome, Alexandra – 57.412. Rosette Hoyte, Springer Memorial – 59.213. Shade Carrington, Graydon Sealy – 60.79

Under-15 Boys’ 400 Metre Run1. Antoni Hoyte-Small, Queen’s College –51.202. Tramaine Smith, Lodge School – 52.163. Nathan Fergusson, Combermere – 54.64

Under-17 Girls’ 800 Metre Run1. Anya Williams, St. George – 2:24.742. Akilah Blackman, Graydon Sealy – 2:24.753. Tiana Bowen, Lester Vaughan – 2:26.72

Under-18 Boys’ 800 Metre Run1. Rivaldo Leacock, Lester Vaughan – 2:00.082. Jonathan Jones, Coleridge and Parry –2:02.053. Rio Williams, Foundation – 2:05.41

Under-20 Girls’ 800 Metre Run1. Akelia Knight, Combermere – 2:17.722. Elizabeth Williams, Grantley Adams –2:24.303. Aisha Bowen, Harrison College – 2:29.07

Under-20 Boys’ 800 Metre Run1. Tre Hinds, Queen’s College – 1:55.622. Romario Marshall, Grantley Adams –1:55.923. Wade Garner, Lodge – 1:56.15

Junior Girls’ 1500 Metre Run1. Ashley Weekes, Lodge School – 5:22.872. Drew-Ann Clarke, Springer Memorial –5:22.903. Jaiden Clarke, Springer Memorial – 5:30.11

Junior Boys’ 1500 Metre Run1. Roneldo Rock, Grantley Adams – 4:51.362. Nathan Thornhill, Harrison College –4:53.143. Luke Hinkson, St. George – 5:01.35

Under-15 Girls’ 200 Metre Hurdles1. Akayla Morris, Lodge – 28.922. Rhea Hoyte, St. Michael – 29.273. Rosette Hoyte, Springer Memorial – 30.03

Under-15 Boys’ 300 Metre Hurdles1. Tramaine Smith, Lodge – 39.162. Hasani Lowe, Lester Vaughan – 39.663. Nathan Fergusson, Combermere – 40.65

Under-17 Girls’ 300 Metre Hurdles1. Jaria Hoyte, St. Michael – 44.532. Allana Ince, Queen’s College – 47.103. Tanya Edey, Foundation – 48.63

Under-17 Boys’ 400 Metre Hurdles (Record)1. Rivaldo Leacock, Lester Vaughan – 51.382. Rico Hurley, Frederick Smith – 52.373. Akeim Griffith, St. Michael – 53.65

Under-20 Girls’ 400 Metre Hurdles1. Sada Williams, Coleridge and Parry – 64.882. Aisha Bowen, Harrison College – 64.933. Akila Forde, Harrison College – 67.02

Under-20 Boys’ 400 Metre Hurdles1. Michael Nicholls, Lester Vaughan – 52.332. Stephen Griffith, Lester Vaughan – 52.373. Akeim David, St. Michael – 53.65

Under-13 Girls’ 4x100 Metre Relay1. Christ Church Foundation – 53.222. Springer Memorial – 54.323. Queen’s College – 55.88

Under-13 Boys’ 4x100 Metre Relay1. Queen’s College – 52.022. Christ Church Foundation – 53.483. Alexandra School – 54.26

Under-15 Girls’ 4x100 Metre Relay1. St. Michael School – 50.862. Lodge School – 51.343. Alexandra School – 51.51

Under-15 Boys’ 4x100 Metre Relay1. Combermere School – 46.292. Lester Vaughan School – 46.783. The Lodge School – 47.64

Open Girls’ 4x400 Metre Relay1. Combermere School – 4:03.682. Christ Church Foundation School – 4:12.403. Parkinson Memorial Secondary School –4:15.69

Open Boys’ 4x400 Metre Relay1. Lodge School – 3:19.622. Lester Vaughan School – 3:19.793. St. Michael School – 3:23.86

Powerade BSSAC 2014 Day Five Results

Levi Cadogan from The St. Michael School checks out his winning time as he passes the finishline in the Under 20 Boys’ 200 m.

The Under 20 Boys’ 4x4 relay team from The Lodge School (from left) Darian Alleyne, AkeemMcCollin, Warren Forde and Wade Garner emerged winners yesterday.

The title of Victrix Ludorum was shared betweenSpringer Memorial’s Tristan Evelyn (right) andShonita Brome of Alexandra School.

Leah Barker from the St. Michael Schoolran away with baton in the final leg of theOpen Girl’s 4x4 relay.

Saturday March 29, 2014 •23The Barbados Advocate

WITH 15 wins under theirbelt and 11 on the trot,Springer Memorial are sitting pretty as they enjoythe bragging rights of beingthe winningest team in thehistory of the PoweradeBarbados SecondarySchools’ Athletics Cham-pionships.

Running away with 348points in the 2014 edition, theremust be some secret to the for-mula for their consistency.

With their clear victory sealedfrom early on, a confident coachJulie Phillips spoke to TheBarbados Advocate half-waythrough the day about the win,as there was no doubt theGovernment Hill girls would betaking yet another title.

Stating that it was always agreat feeling to win, Phillipswent on to say that they em-ployed a simple system and itworked for them.

“We lose and we gain some butwe depend mainly on the onesthat have been there and donethat before to help motivate thenew ones coming in and to teachthem the rudiments of our pro-gramme at Springer Memorial,”

she said.Noting that the cycle kept

things rolling for them in theschool, Phillips also added thatprospects for the future kepttheir system alive.

“It isn’t as easy as it looks, butin the end we teach the girlsabout perseverance, believing inself. And then we also add theaspect of scholarships out there

so they have that added incen-tive not only to want to do wellfor themselves, but so that theycan possibly go on to get scholar-ships if scouts are around be-cause they can start at a juniorcollege before they go on if theycan’t get a full four-year. It hasits moments and we try to meshthe academics with the sportingtalent,” she said.

With the knowledge that someof the team’s athletes would bemoving on and being unsure ofwhat will happen at the end ofthe school year, Phillips statedthat what she did know was thatthe younger ones on the way upwould have the same kind of mo-tivation the ones on the way outhad.

“What I can say is that all our

former athletes like Akela(Jones) and Sade-Mariah(Greenidge) are constantly incontact with members of theteam and every now-and-againthey will send a little message tothem that would sometimes beread in prayers. That kind of motivation is always there,” sherevealed.

(MP)

Phillips pleased with number 15

A YEAR in the middle did noth-ing to keep Queen’s College fromcomfortably defending their title as Boys’ champion in thePowerade Barbados SecondarySchools’ AthleticChampionships.

Ending the day on 313 points,the Husband’s lads closed up 2014 after leading all the way through the five-day meet.

Speaking to The BarbadosAdvocate yesterday at theNational Stadium after theirwin,Tanya Oxley, who is part ofthe coaching team which in-cludes Bryan Holder, RorySidaway and Ryan Holford,stated that it was good to takeaway the title for a secondstraight year.

“It feels really great and Ithink that this was one of thebest teams we have had in termsof the wins and the eagerness towant to succeed and want to dowell.

“We had one or two personsin every single event and wemade sure that we could max-imise the amount of points wecould get out of one event,” shesaid.

Noting that missing out onlast year did nothing to affectthe team adversely, Oxley saidthat the strategy for the finalsincluded staying ahead of LesterVaughan, their closest rivals.

“The tactics for the last two dayswas to get in the top four in thesemi-finals… And because wehad an over 30-point difference

between us and LesterVaughan, we wanted to makesure that our boys stayed there.So as long as we had two boys in

every event, and we were aheadof Lester Vaughan, we knew wewould get it,” she said. Sheadded that the main game plan

was making the most of theirjuniors. “We realised from veryearly that they didn’t have anyjuniors and the nucleus of ourteam was in the junior depart-ment. We have Under-13 boysand Under-15 boys who did wellfor us while Lester Vaughan wasnot as strong.”

At the end of this year QC willbe losing quite a few big namesin both the track and on thefield, but Oxley said that theyshould be in good stead for de-fence of the title next year.

“The good thing about that isthat we have some boys in theUnder-17’s who are stepping upto the Under-20 division andthey will be good.”

Of her fellow coaches, Oxleystated that the collaborationwas one that was necessary forthe dynamic of the team.

“We all have to come togetherbecause there is so much to dowith a team of 120 athletes. Wereally had to put in a lot of workand make sure everybody hadwhat they needed – getting foodand uniforms and tweaking andorganising events. We really had to sit and decide which ath-letes we would put in whichevents so that we could get themaximum points out of them be-cause we had athletes that couldhave done six events comfort-ably and score points,” shenoted. (MP)

Queen’s College coaches on top of the situation

Under-13 Boy’s 4x1 relay winners, Queen’s College’s Ajani Haddock, Samual Alkins, JustinRobinson and Daquan Alleyne.

Three members of Springer Memorial’s victorious team show off the school’s trophies.Coach Julie Phillips

24 • Saturday March 29, 2014 The Barbados Advocate

By Petra Gooding

THE Barbados DavisCup team will try tocreate history nextweekend when theyface El Salvador in thesecond round of theirGroup II AmericasDavis Cup Tie fromApril 4-6 at the NationalTennis Centre in Wildey.

This is only the secondtime that Barbados havemade it to the second roundof Group II and the lasttime around the team wasbeaten. Should they winthe tie, it will mark the firsttime that Barbados hasmade it to the final roundof Americas Group II.

Barbados will face anuphill task against ElSalvador, as the SouthAmerican team has beatenthem on three previousoccasions. HoweverBarbados’ Kevin Yarde isconfident that his team canhold their own, just likethey did in Februaryagainst the much higherranked team from Chile.

Yarde told theBarbados Advocate thatthose previous times theywere beaten were away

from home and at altitude.He says that they know theEl Salvadoran team verywell and stand a goodchance of beating them onhome turf.

“We know these playersand we know what theyare going to come with.Butour biggest challengewould be Haydn Lewisdealing with MarceloAravalo. He lost toMarcello in 2011 at theGuadalajara Games on ahard court, but then againthat was also at highaltitude.We know what heis going to come with and Ithink that if Haydn playswell, plays his strongestgame he will come out ontop. I think that match onFriday is going to be a keymatch,” said Yarde.

The Barbados team alsoincludes Darian King,Haydn Lewis, SeanonWilliams and RussellMoseley. El Salvador willbe led by Team CaptainRoberto Salazar and alsoincludes Marcelo Arevalo,Rafael Arevalo, SalvadorAndres Bolanos and JuanDiego Telles.

Yarde noted that Kingrecently returned home

after playing six weeks oftournaments and they,with the exception ofLewis, have all beenpracticing hard. Lewis hasbeen in Florida gettingmatch ready and isexpected home thisweekend.

Darian King told the

Barbados Advocate thathe is very confidentheading into nextweekend’s tie,especially ashe has played in a lot oftournaments in recenttimes.

“I was winningtournaments, getting intothe semi-finals and

quarter-finals and that isreally individual stuff. ButI think I perform a lotbetter with my home fansbehind me and that isreally about Davis Cup.Welost three consecutivetimes.Now finally getting achance to play at home atsea level, the conditions

would be normal for us. Ithink that we have a verygood chance of making it tothe final,” said King.

Barbados advanced tothe second round afterdefeating Chile in the firstround, while El Salvadorbooked its spot afterdefeating Paraguay.

ALL three Barbadianchess players won theirfirst round games at the2014 Sub-Zonal chesstournament, currentlybeing played at theAmbassador hotel inTrinidad and Tobago.

The first victory wasrecorded by currentnational champion FIDEmaster OrlandoHusbands who wasted notime in defeating MikelMartin of Trinidad.Orlando was aggressivefrom the opening andeventually his superiorattack overwhelmedMartin.

Next top junior FIDEmaster Yu Tien Poon, alsoquickly wrapped upKeelan Hunte also ofTrinidad. Playing theblack pieces, Poon built uphis attack and eventuallycrashed through Hunte’sdefences to garner victory.

Last to record victorywas FIDE master DelilseWarner who had a toughgame against CarlosRodrigues of Venezuela,but was able to push homethe slight advantage heheld throughout most ofthe game.

The top rated playerswon most of their gamesbut there were somenoteable upsets, such asthe number four seed,Ariel Marichal ofVenezuela going down toJoseph Gill of Trinidadalong with veteranTrinidad player FrankSears drawing withJamaican FIDE masterShane Matthews.

With 56 players from 9countries, the Sub-zonalwill be a hard fought and

bruising affair as playersnot only seek to gaincoveted titles and prizemonies, but also to gainone of the four places upfor grabs to the 2014 Zonaltournament, the next tieron the road to the WorldChampionship chess cycle.

Unfortunately for theBajans, Poon will battleWarner in the secondround. Husbands will faceformer national Trinidadchampion YogendranathRamsingh.

Barbados ready for El Salvador

Bajans impress at Sub-zonalChess tournament

The Barbados Davis Cup Team; (from left) Darian King, Captain Kevin Yarde, Seanon Williams and RussellMoseley. Missing is Haydn Lewis who will arrive home this weekend.

Yu Tien Poon preparing for battle at the 2014 sub-zonal chess tournament.

THINGS are getting tightat the top as theBarbados FootballAssociation’s DigicelPremier League heats up.Now four games into thisyear’s competition,Mackeson Brittons Hilland Pride of Gall Hill arein a close battle at the topof the standings as bothsides are now on 12points each.

Gall Hill picked uptheir latest points onThursday night to end upin second place afterhanding down a defeat tothe Barbados DefenceForce Sports Programme.Playing at Empire, GallHill fed the defendingchampions a two-nil loss,their second this seasonand the most they haveever been held to sincebeing bumped up to thePremier League. RecoBaptiste (30th) andJabarry Chandler (83rd)were responsible for thegoals.

Also playing on thenight in the latter of thetwo games, Weymouth

Wales had their way withMagnum Dayrell’s Roadto pick up their fourthwin in six games. Theynow stand in third place,also on 12 points after thesix-one win. Carl Josephwas good for a hat-trickon the night and beat thekeeper in the 32th, 42thand 66th minutes whileKemar Headley had two(45th and 55th) andShane Clarke had one inthe 57th. Damien Parrishit the lone goal home forDayrell’s Road in the 51stminute.

BDF’s loss have themin fourth on three winsand two losses in theircampaign thus far andare hoping to recoup andregroup to move up fromnine points. Silver Sandsare next in line on sixpoints from an even splitof two wins and twolosses in their fourgames. Clayton’s KolaTonic Notre Dame werelooking good after givingthe soldiers their firstloss of the season earlyon. However, they have

been unable to make anymagic since and are onlyon four points, havingdrawn one and losing theother three of theirgames.

Pinelands,Pharmaceuticals PlusCosmos and Dayrell’sRoad are all also on fourpoints and the teams areseventh, eighth and ninthrespectively. Pinelandsand Cosmos both have awin and a loss form fivegames while Dayrell’sRoad are sporting thesame from six games.Paradise are last on theladder and have onlythree points form a winin their four games.

The action continuestomorrow at the NationalStadium with a triple-header that kicks off from4:00 PM. The strugglingParadise and BDF playthe first game, the Damesand Cosmos follow at 6:00PM while there will be atop-of-the-table clashbetween Brittons Hilland Gall Hill at 8:00 PM.(MP)

Two at top of PremierLeague standings

MIAMI – SerenaWilliams and Li Na sweptpast familiar foes at theSony Open on Thursday,setting up an excitingshowdown for the Miamihardcourt crown betweenthe world’s top rankedplayers.

World number oneWilliams continued herutter domination of MariaSharapova with a 6-4 6-3win over the fourth-seeded Russian, whilesecond-ranked Li won arematch of her AustralianOpen final, beatingDominika Cibulkova 7-52-6 6-3 to maintain herperfect record against theSlovakian.

A six-time Miamichampion, the American’svictory ran her winningstreak against Sharapovato 15 matches, a stunningrun that stretches back to2004.

Li’s mastery overCibulkova may not spanas many years but is noless complete, the Chineseveteran sweeping allseven of their meetingsover a decade-long span.

Three of those winshave come this year, withAsia’s first grand slamsingles championdefeating the Slovakian instraight sets at

Melbourne Park, in threesets at Indian Wells twoweeks ago and now atMiami.

“Good challenge. Thelast time I played her(Williams) was in the(WTA Tour)Championships so it hasbeen four months and thistime we really can seehow I have improved,” Litold reporters as shelooked ahead to the final.

“I am really happy I canplay her again. Everyonewill be confident if theycome to the final. I thinkfor sure it will be a toughmatch.”

The 10th seededCibulkova had lookedready to deny tennis fansa marquee final betweenthe best two players in theworld when she stormedback to take the secondset and opened the thirdwith a break to forge a 3-1 lead.

However, Li kept hercomposure and swept thenext five games to cap anenthralling fightback andher spot in the final.

Sharapova andWilliams, who have bothachieved a career grandslam and held the numberone ranking, wereexpected to develop intoone of the great rivalries

in women’s tennis.But it has not quite

worked out that way withWilliams winning 16 ofthe 18 meetings betweenthe pair.

Incredible championIn Sharapova’s 16

losses, the Russian hasonly managed to take twosets off the 17-timesgrand slam winner.

“Despite my resultsagainst her, I still lookforward to playing againsther because you learn somuch from that type oflevel which she produces,”Sharapova said. “There isno reason for me to haveany pressure because ofmy results against her.

“She’s an incrediblechampion. That’s thereason she’s at the top.

“She’s accomplished alot, her tennis speaks foritself and I have nothingto lose out there againsther.”

Proving there is noplace like home,Williams,who lives an hour’s drivefrom the Tennis Center atCrandon Park, has wonthe Miami event morethan any othertournament, her six titlesbeating the five U.S.Open, Australian Openand Wimbledon grand

slam wins she hasamassed over the years.

A five-time runner-upin Miami, Sharapova hadher chances to end thedrought by grabbing anearly break in both setsbut could not turn theadvantage into a win.

The fourth seed steppedonto a blustery centercourt looking focused anddetermined and wasrewarded with the firstbreak to go up 4-1.

But Williams was soonback in control breakingSharapova twice as sheswept through the nextfive games to take theopening set.

Sharapova also openedthe second set with anearly break to go 2-0, butagain the 32-year-oldAmerican was ready,answering right back witha break of her own.

The Russian held servejust once more beforeWilliams moved into highgear, tearing through thelast four games andputting an exclamationpoint on the contest byclosing out the matchwith another break whenSharapova slammed aforehand return into thenet.

“I didn’t think I wouldbe sitting here the way I

was playing in thebeginning of the week, soI’m excited to still be inthe tournament,”Williams said.

“I definitely feel betterthan what I did in my first

couple of matches but Ialso feel there is a big gapfor me to play even betterand to be more consistentand get to the level that Iwas playing at a little bitlast year.”

Williams, Li set up enticing Miami showdown

Saturday March 29, 2014 • 25The Barbados Advocate

DHAKA, Bangladesh –Darren Sammycelebrated a superbmatch-winning knockon Friday eveningsaying “it feels good”as he led West Indiesto a superb victoryagainst Australia intheir ICC World T20match at Sher-e-Bangla NationalStadium.

With 12 to win in thefinal over from JamesFaulker, the skipperblasted two massive sixesto end on 34 not out off 13balls – the highest scoreof his T20 Internationalcareer.

He piloted the worldchamps to 179-4 off 19.4overs – their highest runchase in a T20International. The totalsurpassed the 170 theymade when they beat thesame opponents at theOval in London in the2009 ICC World T20event.

Sammy came to thecrease with the askingrate at 14 runs per overand added an unbrokenfifth wicket stand of 49

with Dwayne Bravo – whohit a vital 27 not out off 12balls with two sixes andtwo fours. Earlier ChrisGayle was his best with53 off 35 balls to provide astrong start.

The result was the WestIndies’ second win in arow. They will facePakistan in an all-important match onTuesday in a bid to reachthe semi-finals.

“I didn’t care who it wasbowling, we just knew wehad to get 12 runs but itmakes you feel even betterwhen it is the guy whowas talking a lot beforethe game,” Sammy said.

“He bowled some verygood yorkers but I stayedlow and I got under theball, which was what Iwanted. It is just a goodfeeling. We needed a win,it was a crucial match forboth teams. We held ournerve under pressurebetter than them and weare very happy with theresult.”

He continued: “WestIndies acted today. It feelsvery good to come home. Itwas not an easy win. We

fought for it.That win willdefinitely lift us and thepeople back home in theCaribbean.

“We felt if we took thegame to them and appliedpressure we could get offto a good start.That’s whyfrom the first over, Gaylewent after the bowling.That’s the kind ofpressure we are talking.Like I said before,we don’ttalk of the cricket. Cricketis played out there in themiddle. That’s what wewere focussing on.”

Sammy was at the helmback in 2012 when theWest Indies beat SriLanka to win the title. Hesaid the focus was onretaining the trophy.

“We didn’t turn upagainst India (in the firstmatch) but after that, wehave played well.We havenot peaked as yet but weare winning games.Hopefully we could peakeven better later on in thetournament and win thegames that we have to,and come out and achieveour goal which we lefthome to do, which is todefend the title.”

Sammy says “I didn’t care who was bowling”

WEST INDIESTwenty20 stars DwayneBravo and Dwayne Smithhave had theirparticipation in thelucrative Indian PremierLeague thrown intodoubt, after the SupremeCourt said it wouldconsider banning theChennai Super Kingsfrom the 2014 edition.

The Court said it wouldissue an interim order,which would also seeRajasthan Royalsexcluded from takingpart in the glitzy April 16to June 1 showpiecetournament.

Trinidadian all-rounder Kevin Cooperplays for the Royals.

Both franchises are at

the centre of an illegalbetting and match-fixinginvestigation, which nowthreatens to disrupt theupcoming tournament.

Bravo, a big-hittingmiddle order batsmanand a wily medium pacer,has been a key part of theSuper Kings set up since2011.

Smith, an aggressiveopener, signed with theSuper Kings for the firsttime this year, after acouple of seasons withMumbai Indians.

Both players, neither ofwhom are involved in theinvestigation, arecurrently with the WestIndies in Bangladesh aspart of the Twenty20World Cup.

Doubt over Bravo,Smith as courtponders ban

Sammy celebrates a superb match.

HOUSTON – ThePhiladelphia 76ers tiedthe NBA record withtheir 26th straight lossThursday night, asJames Harden’s triple-double led the HoustonRockets to a 120-98 vic-tory.

Harden had 26 points,10 rebounds and 10 as-

sists in three quarters forhis second career triple-double as Houston pickedup its fifth straight victory.

The 76ers (15-57) stuckaround early before a bigsecond-quarter run al-lowed the Rockets to pullaway and roll to the win.

Philadelphia matchedthe 2010-11 Cleveland

Cavaliers for the NBA’sworst skid and can set therecord at home againstDetroit on Saturday.

James Anderson led theSixers with 30 points andmade six 3-pointers.

TRAIL BLAZERS 100,HAWKS 85

LaMarcus Aldridge had25 points and 16 reboundsin his return from a backinjury, and Portland beatAtlanta to end a three-game losing streak.

Damian Lillard added21 points for the TrailBlazers, who had lostseven of 10 and were indanger of falling out of thefifth spot in the WesternConference playoff stand-ings.

The Hawks have lostfive straight. They lead the Knicks by only 1 1/2games in the race for theeighth and final playoffspot in the EasternConference.

Jeff Teague, who wasscoreless in Wednesday

night’s loss at Minnesota,led the Hawks with 22points. Lou Williams had16 points, including 13 inthe final period whenAtlanta closed the deficitto six points.

BUCKS 108, LAKERS105

Brandon Knight scored30 points,Ramon Sessionsadded 22 and Milwaukeebeat Los Angeles to breakan eight-game losingstreak.

The Bucks swept theseason series with theLakers for the first timesince 2006-07. Knightscored a career-high 37points in Milwaukee’s 94-79 victory on December 31in the other meeting.

Khris Middleton added14 points for theMilwaukee, which won foronly the 14th time thisseason.

Jordan Hill had 28points and 16 rebounds for the Lakers, while NickYoung added 17 points.

26 • Saturday March 29, 2014 The Barbados Advocate

THE NBA’s playoff pic-ture has started to comeinto focus and there is pre-cious little time for thefew teams clinging to slimhopes of joining the post-season party.

Twelve of the 16 playoffberths are still technicallyup for grabs but with theregular season ending onApril 16 that leaves manyteams all but mathemati-cally eliminated from con-tention.

The EasternConference’s IndianaPacers and Miami Heat

have officially securedtheir playoff berths whilethe San Antonio Spursand Oklahoma CityThunder have punchedtheir tickets in theWestern Conference.

While that leaves six re-maining playoff spots ineach conference, there areenough near certainties todrastically reduce the ac-tual number of availableplayoff berths.

While not mathemati-cally assured of makingthe playoffs, the East’sToronto Raptors, Chicago

Bulls, Brooklyn Nets,Washington Wizards andCharlotte Bobcats all appear to have built bigenough cushions.

The East’s OrlandoMagic, Philadelphia 76ersand Milwaukee Bucks areall mathematically elimi-nated from the postsea-son.

That leaves the AtlantaHawks, New York Knicks,Cleveland Cavaliers,Detroit Pistons andBoston Celtics, battlingfor the eighth and finalspot in the East.

Atlanta is clinging tothe eighth playoff seed,2-1/2 games ahead of New York, but has lostfive straight heading intoSaturday’s game versusWashington.

Both Atlanta and NewYork have 10 games re-maining but the Knicks,8-2 in their last 10, stillmust play nine teams thatare currently above themin the standings while theHawks play five teamswith better records.

In the West, the LosAngeles Clippers and

Houston Rockets have yetto qualify for the postsea-son but they are both atleast seven games aheadof the ninth-seeded DallasMavericks, which ex-cludes the Clippers andRockets from talk of beingon the playoff bubble.

The West’s DenverNuggets, New OrleansPelicans, SacramentoKings, Los Angels Lakersand Utah Jazz have allbeen eliminated fromplayoff contention.

That leaves the fifth-seed Portland Trail

Blazers, sixth-seedGolden State Warriors,seventh-seed MemphisGrizzlies and eighth-seedPhoenix Suns hangingonto the final playoffberths.

The Mavericks are onthe outside looking in but only one-half gameback of Phoenix. TheMinnesota Timberwolves,while still technicallyalive in the playoff race,are seven games back ofthe final spot and havebeen out of the picture forsome time.

HOUSTON ROCKETSpoint guard PatrickBeverley could be lost forthe rest of the season witha torn meniscus in hisright knee, league sourcestold Yahoo Sports.

Beverley, 25, will get asecond opinion on the injury soon, sources said,and then it’ll be deter-mined whether there’spossibly a rehabilitationprocess that could expe-dite his return before theend of the NBA playoffs,sources said.

Beverley, averaging 9.9points, 3.6 rebounds and2.7 assists this season,hurt the knee in Houston’s

120-98 victory overPhiladelphia on Thursdaynight.

The loss of Beverley willbe difficult for the Rocketsto overcome,especially be-cause of their need for himto defend the top pointsguard in the WesternConference playoffs.Jeremy Lin can step intothe starting line-up andprovide offence for theRockets, but he bringsnowhere near Beverley’slevel of toughness and defence.

The Rockets are 49-22and holding onto thefourth seed in the WesternConference playoff race.

NEW YORK – The NBAis quickly taking some ofthat money the BrooklynNets are giving to JorgeGutierrez.

Gutierrez was fined $15 000 by the league onFriday for excessive con-tact on a foul, shortly afterthe Nets signed the rookiepoint guard to a multi-year contract.

Gutierrez was nearingthe end of his second 10-day contract when hefouled centre Cody Zeller

on Wednesday inBrooklyn’s 116-111 over-time loss in Charlotte.The NBA determinedthat Gutierrez made ex-cessive contact above theshoulders on the foul, forwhich he was given a fla-grant 2 and automaticallyejected.

Gutierrez is averaging3.4 points, 1.6 reboundsand 1.4 assists in fivegames. Financial terms ofhis contract were not dis-closed.

Houston Rockets’ James Harden (13) shoots overPhiladelphia 76ers’ James Anderson (9).

Atlanta Hawks’ Jeff Teague (0) shoots the layuparound Portland Trail Blazers’ Robin Lopez (42) inthe first half of their NBA basketball game.

Rockets point guardPatrick Beverley couldbe lost for the season

Crunch time for teams making late push for NBA playoffs

Gutierrez gets new dealfrom Nets, fine from NBA

NBA roundup: Sixerslose 26th straight

Saturday March 29, 2014 • 27The Barbados Advocate

LAS Vegas - MannyPacquiao is taking extramotivation from tauntsby unbeaten Tim Bradleythat the Filipino boxingicon has lost the hungerand killer instinct heonce displayed with greatpassion.

“The more he says that,the more he inspires meto show the hunger andkiller instinct he’s talk-ing about,” Pacquiao saidTuesday. “It’s good for mebut not for him I think.”

Pacquiao, 55-5 withtwo drawn and 38 knock-outs, will fight Bradley,31-0 with 12 knockouts,for the American’s WorldBoxing Organisation wel-terweight title in LasVegas on April 12.

The fight will be a re-match of a controversialBradley victory by splitdecision in June of 2012in which all three judgesscored the fight 115-113,two of them for Bradleyin what was seen as arobbery from Pacquaio.

“You don’t get mad. It’spart of life,” said FreddieRoach, Pacquaio’strainer.

“Revenge is great.That’s what we have achance to do here. Ifeverything goes right wewill knock this guy out.”

Bradley has noted howPacquiao has not stoppeda foe since Miguel Cottoin 2009 and has not wona fight inside 12 roundssince dropping RickyHatton nearly five yearsago, helping rekindle thefires inside the 35-year-old Asian southpaw.

“I’m not angry or dis-

appointed at what he toldme. I’m happy he told methat,” Pacquiao said. “Itinspired me to trainharder and focus on thefight. It will benefit me.

“I have not lost thehunger. Sometimes weknock the guy out andsometimes not.”

Pacquiao said he seesno more need for a knock-out than usual even afterthe controversial loss toBradley in their firstmeeting.

“We’re not focusing onthe knockout,” Pacquiaosaid. “The focus is onbeing more aggressive,throwing more punches.If that outcome comes,it’s fine. I just want toprove that I can have thekiller instinct.”

‘we’ll be able to stophim’

Roach says Pacquiaorelaxed late in the priorfight after dominatingearly rounds, he thought,on the judges’ scorecards.This time, there will beno coasting as the 12-round fight goes on.

“It was so easy for himin the early rounds,”Roach said. “In the laterrounds he wasn’t throw-ing combinations. He wasthrowing single punchesbecause he had done sowell in the earlierrounds.

“We need to be a littlemore aggressive in thisfight. I think if we fightat an aggressive pace inthis fight I think we willbe able to stop him some-where along the way.Whatever Bradley bringsto the table we’ll be

ready.”But, Roach cautions,

that does not mean seek-ing a knockout to ap-pease taunts by Bradleyand forget strategy andplanning.

“We don’t go into fightslooking for knockouts. Ifthey come they come,”Roach said. “We’re plan-ning to beat him everyround. If you try to knockthe guy out you will bewaiting all night.”

Pacquiao said he doesnot feel angry at thejudges from the firstfight.

“No one is perfect inthis world. Sometimesthey make mistakes,”said Pacquiao. “I wasn’tbothered after that fightwhen I went home. Thereaction of the peoplewas not negative. It waspositive. They thought Iwon the fight.

“I’m not thinking aboutthe judges. What I wantto do is focus on the ringabout the strategy andtechniques that we workon in the gym.”

Pacquiao also said thathis US and Filipino taxissues and political lifewould not be distrac-tions.

“There’s nothing I haveto worry about,” saidPacquiao of tax casesagainst him. “I didn’thide anything. I’m notworried about that.”

As for his role as a law-maker in the Philippines,Pacquiao said, “Politics isreally about the nation,the small people. Youcannot compare politicsto boxing."

LOS ANGELES -England’s Amir Khanhas no qualms aboutmoving up in weight totake on US southpawLuis Collazo on May 3,saying Wednesday hisswitch to welterweightwas overdue.

“It was never easy forme to make 140,” Khan, aformer light welterweightworld champion said ofthe 140-pound (63.5 kg)light welterweight limit.

“When you cut downand kill yourself by cut-ting down to that 140 divi-sion, it used to make mereally weak and I couldn’thold the energy,” Khansaid. “The power wasn’tthere. I used to walk intothe fights feeling veryweak.”

Khan spoke on a confer-ence call to promote thenon-title Collazo clash,which is on the undercardof unbeaten AmericanFloyd Mayweather’smatchup with Argentina’sMarcos Maidana.

Khan admitted that itwas perhaps “surprising”that he’s fighting on theMayweather undercard,but refused to be drawninto further criticising theAmerican – who dangled apossible fight in front ofKhan before opting forMaidana.

"That was a disappoint-ment, but, like I said, itwas a mental thing and Igot over it,” said Khan,who had blastedMayweather on socialmedia immediately afterMayweather announcedhis decision in February.

“Luis Collazo is going to

give 100 percent in there,so all of my focus is on thatfight now,” Khan said.

Khan, 28-3 with 19knockouts, has not foughtsince last April 27 andskipped a plannedDecember bout with USsouthpaw DevonAlexander for theInternational BoxingFederation title in antici-pation of a big-moneyshowdown withMayweather.

Instead, it will be thelongest layoff of his career,just over a year, before heclimbs into the ring withCollazo, who is 35-5 with18 knockouts – including asecond-round knockout ofVictor Ortiz in January.

Khan said he doesn’t ex-pect any ring rust, sincehe used much of his timeoff to train. He said thatunder the guidance oftrainer Virgil Hunter hehad improved some of hisfundamentals.

“I’m learning a lot aboutbeing patient and about

picking the right shots atthe right time,” he said.“I’ve always been an excit-ing fighter, and I thinkthat’s always going to bethere. But we’re workingon new things, like mak-ing sure that my handsare in the right position.”

And, Khan said, theextra training time hasgiven him a chance toadapt to life in the 147-pound welterweightranks, a move he had con-templated as far back as2011, in the wake of hisvictory over Zab Judah forthe International BoxingFederation and WorldBoxing Association lightwelterweight belts.

“I really believe that Iwill be a better fighter at147,” he said. “I’ll keep allof my energy and havemore power in my shots.

“When we spar, I feel somuch stronger. I’m basi-cally at my naturalweight. I think this weightis going to be perfect forme."

Khan relishing rise towelterweight

Pacquiao more motivatedafter Bradley’s taunts

Amir Khan

LAKELAND, Florida –This is one number putup by Miguel Cabrerathat is not subject todebate.

The Triple Crownwinner agreed Friday tothe richest contract inAmerican sports, a $292million, 10-year dealwith the Detroit Tigers.

''I want to finish mycareer here. I haveworked hard to getbetter, and Detroit is likea house for me,'' Cabrerasaid.

Cabrera has won thelast two AL MVP awards,both times beating outAngels phenom MikeTrout in votes that set offheated disputes in thebaseball world.

Those in Cabrera'scorner claimed hisfearsome hitting statsand triple-digit RBIswere worthy. Thosetouting Trout argued hewas a better all-aroundplayer and pointed to thevalue of his WAR,sabermetric for winsabove replacement.

Tigers generalmanager DaveDombrowski andmanager Brad Ausmusstood by Cabrera,flanking him for theannouncement at theTigers' spring trainingcomplex.

''He's on track to be oneof the greatest players inthe history of baseball,''Dombrowski said. ''He'sdone a lot for the teamand a lot for Detroit.''

Cabrera was due $44million over the final twoyears of his $152.3million, eight-yearcontract. The newagreement incorporatesthat money and adds$248 million over thefollowing eight years.

Cabrera turns 31 nextmonth and has helpedthe Tigers win threestraight AL Centralchampionships. A sluggerwith power to all fieldsand still very much inhis prime, he is amongseven players to hit atleast .320 with 365homers and 1,260 RBIs,joining Babe Ruth,Jimmie Foxx, TedWilliams, Lou Gehrig,Albert Pujols and StanMusial, according toSTATS.

''Good for him,'' TampaBay manager JoeMaddon said. ''He playsin another stratosphere.''

The deal came shortlybefore opening day inDetroit, on Mondayagainst Kansas City atComerica Park, and soonafter Cy Young Awardwinner Max Scherzerturned down the team'slong-term contractproposal.

The Tigers are againamong the favorites to gofar this season. Cabrerawon a World Series ringwith the Marlins as a 20-year-old rookie and istrying to bring a title toMotown for the first timein three decades.

Cabrera will make$43,195 per plateappearance under thedeal, based on his yearlyaverage of 676 plateappearances during sixseasons with the Tigers.That's higher than theaverage U.S. yearly wageof $42,498 in 2012,according to the SocialSecurity Administration.

The contract alsoincludes $30 millionoptions for 2024 and2025 that would becomeguaranteed if Cabrerafinishes among the top10 in MVP voting in theprevious season.

Cabrera's new deal willraise his career MLBearnings to $413.2million, including the$1.8 million signingbonus he got as a 16-year-old with Florida in1999 when Dombrowskioversaw the move by theMarlins. Cabrera wasacquired by Detroit in aDecember 2007 trade.

ARSENE WENGER hasreaffirmed hiscommitment to Arsenalin the wake of one of themost testing weeks of histenure and is hopefulthat long-serving rightback Bacary Sagna willfollow suit.

The Gunners managerappeared to concededefeat in the title racefollowing the midweekdraw against Swanseawhich represented afurther setback followingon from the painful 6-0drubbing at Chelsea lastweekend.

But Wenger insists heis has no desire to breakhis word, hinting he willremain in the job havingagreed a new deal inprinciple.

"My commitment is notquestionable," he toldreporters. "I have givenmy word and I alwaysrespect my word."

Wenger is alsooptimistic that Sagna,who is out of contract in

the summer but has beenoffered a new deal, willalso extend his stay atthe club.

"He has an offer, he hasnot come back to us yet,"he said. "I'm confident hewill stay, yes, but we'llaccept his decision, nomatter what his decisionwill be we will accept itand go on with it."

When pressed on thefullback's future, Wengeralso moved to quashspeculation suggestingthat Manchester Cityhas offered him a deal,claiming that any suchapproach would beagainst the rules.

"That cannot be rightbecause it is illegal,” hesaid.

Such is his desire tokeep Sagna, Wengerhinted that he couldoverlook the fact that theplayer is 31. In the past,he has been reticent tooffer long-term deals tosenior players but, whenasked if age could be asticking point, he replied:"Not for the defendersnecessarily, no.

“It's a general law inour club, yes, but it's nota stupid law. We look atindividual cases and weadapt it to individuals."

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28 • Saturday March 29, 2014 The Barbados Advocate

Wenger confirmsintention to stay andhopes Sagna follows suit

Tigers’ Cabreragets record$292 million,10-year deal

Saturday March 29, 2014 • 29The Barbados Advocate

30 • Saturday March 29, 2014 The Barbados Advocate

SEPANG, Malaysia -Heavy Tire degradationcaused by the searingSepang temperatureshas limited Mercedes’advantage over theirFormula One rivals atthe Malaysian GrandPrix, according to cham-pionship leader NicoRosberg.

Rosberg was stil lquickest in practice butonly 0.2 seconds sepa-rated the top six at theSepang circuit on Fridaywhere track tempera-tures peaked at over 50Celsius causing havoc tothe tires and leading to anumber of uncharacter-istic spins.

Hamilton, who wasquickest in the openingsession, spun in both 90minute runs and com-pared the circuit to “driv-ing on marbles", whilethe normally unflap-pable Fernando Alonsoalso had trouble control-ling his Ferrari.

Rosberg said the teamhad been taken by sur-prise at how much thetires had suffered on thedemanding circuit,where heavy breakingareas and long straightsplayed their part in hisbest time of one minute,39.909 seconds.

“It was a decent day,tough conditions outthere really, very, veryhot and tough for the car,tough for the tires even,we never expected somuch Tire degradation,”the Australian Grand

Prix winner told re-porters.

“Its just massivedegradation out therewhich is a big challenge.”

Rosberg had saunteredto a 25 second win in theopening race inMelbourne two weeksago and although he wasagain quickest inMalaysia practice, thedifference was a mere0.035 seconds overFerrari ’s KimiRaikkonen.

DIFFERENTSTRATEGIES

Asked if the amount ofwear on the tires couldlead to a different racein Sepang on Sunday,the German said thefield had been helped bythe degradation issuesbut he still expected aclose fight with his teammate for a key pole.

"For sure there will belots of different strate-gies and with the Tireanything can happen,”he said.

“It will always be close,just need to try and stayahead.

“Being on pole as im-portant as it was, justgetting that clean startaway from the front is al-ways a big advantage atthe beginning of therace.”

By contrast,Melbourne pole-sitterHamilton said the Tiretroubles had not come asa surprise to him.

In a guarded discus-sion with reporters, the

2008 world championsaid he was more focusedon getting his car aroundall 56 laps of Sunday’srace having been forcedto quit after only threeat Albert Park.

“Its the same everytime I come here, its tobe expected. Its took hotfor the tires, they are notworking very well inthese conditions,” he toldreporters.

“Even though we havegot the hard Tire, thetires do not feel great butthat’s the same foreveryone.”

Hamilton was fourthquickest overall onFriday with world cham-pion Sebastian Vettelahead of him after com-pleting 30 laps, despiteconcerns about a faultyfuel sensor and requir-ing a new electronicpower supply for theweekend.

Alonso was fifth andhis former team mateFelipe Massa was sixthfor Williams.

“I never do (look atFriday’s times), it’s goodthat everyone is close,what matters is whathappens tomorrow,”Hamilton said, gratefulthat his repaired enginefrom Melbourne made itthrough unscathed.

“It saves us perhapsthe grid penalty furtheralong the way, so it’sgood, I’m glad that I hadthat less mileage on theengine so I hopefully Ican push it a bit more."

PRAYAD Marksaengand Kim Hyung-sungsparked a mini revivalwith a convincing victoryin Friday’s foursomes asAsia reduced Europe’slead to four points in theinaugural EurAsia Cupin Kuala Lumpur.

After Asia were white-washed 5-0 on Thursday,Thai Marksaeng andSouth Korea’s Kim beatthe Danish pairing ofThomas Bjorn andThorbjorn Olesen 4 & 3,while Anirban Lahiriand Siddikur Rahmanedged Joost Luiten andVictor Dubuisson one up.

Europe’s only win ofthe day came when

Graeme McDowell andJamie Donaldson ralliedto beat GaganjeetBhullar and NicholasFung 2 & 1 in the finalmatch.

With points shared inthe two remaining con-tests, Europe will take a 7-3 lead into thefinal day with 10 more singles to be playedin the Ryder Cup-stylebiennial event,co-sanctioned by theEuropean and Asiantours.

The first team to reach10 1/2 points will becrowned champions.

After a disastrousopening day, Asia dug in

and at one stage led infour of the five matchesand were level in theother.

However, Europe cap-tain Miguel AngelJimenez sunk two eaglesbefore setting up teammate Pablo Larrazabalwith a superb approachto the 18th hole for abirdie to snatch a halfpoint against Thai duoThongchai Jaidee andKiradech Aphibarnrat.

Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano and StephenGallacher also halvedtheir match againstJapanese pair KoumeiOda and HidetoTanihara.

SEPANG, Malaysia – Anew promising nose boxfailed to lift the concernsof McLaren’s JensonButton that his teamcould struggle to matchthe pace of the Mercedesat the notoriously quickMalaysian Grand Prix onSunday.

The Briton was fourthfastest in Friday’s open-ing session but was downin eighth in the second 90-minute run, with teammate Kevin Magnussenfifth and then 12th as firstLewis Hamilton and thenNico Rosberg set the pacefor Mercedes.

"We’re finding it toughout there today especiallyin the heat,” Button toldreporters behind theMcLaren garage wheretrack temperaturespeaked at more than 50Celsius.

“We’re not as strong aswe’d like to be in high-speed corners and, whenyou have downforce is-sues, they’re further am-plified by the hot weather.

“So our long runs weretricky in terms of both tiredegradation and outrightpace,” said Button.

“The upgrades webrought here seem to begiving us something sothat’s encouraging butthere’s a lot of work still tobe done.”

Button, who finishedthird in the season-openerin Melbourne two weeksago behind race winnerRosberg, said the teamwould need to keep work-ing on their downforce is-sues throughout the sea-son in order to start chal-lenging for victories.

The first of those wasthe new nose box andMcLaren racing directorEric Boullier was pleasedwith its introduction, say-ing he was confident engi-neers would work to fixthe issues they encoun-tered in the second run.

"This morning’s sessionwas an important one forus because it gave us thefirst opportunity to carryout on-track correlation ofour new nose box,” hesaid.

COMPETITIVETIMES

“Initial impressionswere positive. BothJenson and Kevin wereimmediately able to putin competitive lap timesthis morning and bothguys also reported thatour car felt good.

“This afternoon was alittle trickier.The changeswe’d introduced betweenthe two sessions didn’tmake the improvementswe’d been hoping for.”

Magnussen’s car cameto a halt in the morning

session before beingpushed back to the garageand the 21-year-old thencomplained on the radioduring the afternoon runthat the car was over-steering.

The Danish rookie, whofinished second on hisdebut in Australia a fort-night ago, said he hadlearnt a lot from the expe-rience of driving in thetesting Malaysian condi-tions ahead of Saturday’squalifying session.

“I’ve never driven a carin these sorts of tempera-tures,” he explained.

“The track tempera-tures are so hot here thatthe tires are really suffer-ing but it’s the same foreveryone so we need to tryand get on top of thingsbefore tomorrow’s ses-sions.

“I’m going to try and setthe car up in order to pro-tect the rears,” saidMagnussen.

“There’s always some-thing you can improveand we’ve currently got alot to think about and alot of data to sift throughtonight.

“For me, overheatingthe rears is my biggestproblem, the tires are be-having very differentlyfrom how they did inAustralia so that’ll be myfocus."

BERLIN – FormerOlympic skiing cham-pion Jean-Claude Killy,who oversaw prepara-tions for the SochiGames and was anInternational OlympicCommittee member fortwo decades, bowed outon Friday.

Frenchman Killy, bestknown for winning threegold medals at the 1968Grenoble Olympics, hadbeen an IOC membersince 1995.

The 70-year-old, whoalso won the world ski-ing championships threetimes between 1966 and1968, told French mediahe needed to move on athis age, especially afterseven years of preparingfor the 2014 Sochi Gamesin Russia.

“On behalf of the entireOlympic movement I

would like to express oursincere thanks and greatappreciation for Jean-Claude’s outstandingachievements through-out his Olympic career,”IOC President Thomas

Bach said in a statement.“Having already been

a sporting legend as anathlete, he later dedi-cated himself to the IOC,its values and ideals -also with great success."

McLaren nose to theground to find more pace

Asia fight back but still trailEurope in EurAsia Cup

Tire trouble hindersMercedes advantage

Former skiing championKilly resigns from IOC

Jean-Claude Killy

Saturday March 29, 2014 • 31The Barbados Advocate

MANCHESTER,England – UnhappyManchester United fanswill hope manager DavidMoyes keeps his head upagainst Aston Villa atOld Trafford onSaturday so he can seethe banner they plan tofly overhead calling forhis dismissal.

Newspapers reportedon Friday that a sup-porter group had raised840 pounds ($1 400) topay for a light aircraft totrail a banner proclaim-ing ‘Wrong One; Moyesout’ around the groundas teams emerge fromthe tunnel before kick-off.

The BBC reported arequest for donationshad been met “almost in-stantly".

The words refer to an-other banner displayedinside Old Trafford sincethe manager arrived atthe start of the seasonproclaiming Moyes to be‘The Chosen One’ as AlexFerguson’s selected suc-cessor.

That banner has had

stewards placed behindit to keep fans away fromit.

Not all supporters ap-prove of the overheadgesture, however.

“I can understandtheir feelings but it isnot the way I would do it ,” UnitedSupporters’ Trust vice-chairman Ian Stirlingtold BBC radio.

“He was the ‘ChosenOne’ and we had Sir AlexFerguson on the pitch atOld Trafford telling thefans to get behind him.The ‘Chosen One’ bannershould not have stayedlonger than the Chelseagame at the start of theseason.

“We now have a ridicu-lous situation wherestewards are guardingit.”

United, championslast season beforeFerguson retired, arenow seventh in the tableand look unlikely toqualify for Europe un-less they cause a majorupset and win theChampions League.

NORTHWESTERNUniversity football play-ers who tentatively wonthe right to unionize aredigging in for a lengthylegal and political battlewith the Illinois schoolthat could reshape themultimillion-dollarsports business U.S. col-leges have built aroundunpaid amateur players.

As politicians and col-lege sports officials warnthat the athletes’ pushto be paid as universityemployees - rather thanbe compensated throughscholarships alone -could lead to calamity atmany schools, the issuehas begun to shift toWashington.

That is where the five-member National LaborRelations Board (NLRB)will considerNorthwestern’s bid to re-verse a regional NLRBdirector ’s ruling on

Wednesday in favor ofthe players. The regionaldirector, Peter Sung Ohr,rejected Northwestern’scontention that its foot-ball players are amateurathletes, and grantedthe players the right tounionize as school em-ployees.

A date for theWashington appealshearing has not beenset. In the meantime,Northwestern hasvowed to explore “all ofits legal options” to re-verse Ohr’s ruling.

“Our student-athletesare not employees, butstudents,” said AlanCubbage, spokesman forthe private universityjust north of Chicago onLake Michigan.

In Washington,Republican SenatorLamar Alexander, a for-mer president of theUniversity of Tennessee,

expressed a similar sen-timent. “This is an ab-surd decision that willdestroy intercollegiateathletics as we know it,”Alexander said.

There has been agrowing national debateabout whether to payU.S. college athletes,particularly at big-timefootball programs suchas Northwestern. Teamstypically earn millions ofdollars each seasonthrough television con-tracts, ticket sales andmerchandising.

For years, athleteshave complained aboutreceiving no compensa-tion beyond their schol-arships at a time whenthe business of majorcollege sports hasboomed, with hundredsof millions of dollars intelevision contractsleading the way.

The National

Collegiate AthleticAssociation (NCAA)oversees sports pro-grams for about 420 000college athletes and reported $872 mil-lion in revenue in 2012.It is not a party to theNLRB proceedings,which pitsNorthwestern againstits football players, butthe NCAA has madeclear that it stands withthe university in opposing efforts tounionize and pay collegeathletes.

Moody’s, a top U.S.credit rating agency,said in a statement onThursday that Ohr’s rul-ing was the latest in a series of challengesto college sports’ “pre-vailing business modelof uncompensated ath-letes.”

Universities could faceincreased costs if stu-

dents are granted pro-fessional status, Moody’sanalyst DennisGephardt wrote. “Achange in the compensa-tion model for athleteswould ultimately precip-itate a major retooling ofcol lege sports pro-grams,” he said in the re-port.

Some schools mightadopt rules requiringplayers to be amateurs,Gephardt said,adding that a recent proposal to pay players astipend was voted down by NCAA schools that could not af-ford it.

“Over the last threeyears, our member col-leges and universitieshave worked to re-evalu-ate the current rules,”NCAA Chief LegalOfficer Donald Remysaid in a statement.

“While improvements

need to be made,we do not need to com-pletely throw away asystem that has helpedliterally mill ions of students over the pastdecade alone attend col-lege.”

Northwestern footballplayers say they plan to help build a na-tionwide union of collegeathletes.

Kain Colter, a quarter-back for Northwestern,teamed up with RamogiHuma, a formerUniversity of California-Los Angeles player, toform a union they callthe College AthletesPlayers Association.

"So proud of my team-mates, Ramogi, lawyersand supporters aroundthe nation! This is aHUGE win for ALL col-lege athletes!” Colterposted on his Twitter ac-count Wednesday.

LONDON – Chelsea’sPremier League title ri-vals Manchester Cityand Liverpool enjoy abig advantage at thebusiness end of the sea-son because they arenot involved in theChampions League,manager JoseMourinho said.

Leaders Chelsea haveseven Premier Leaguegames left, compared tonine for 2012 championsCity, but face Paris StGermain in theChampions League quar-ter-finals with the first legin Paris on Wednesday.

“We have the most diffi-cult (run in) because weplay Champions League -they don’t.We have to playmatches with two andthree days in between,”Mourinho told reporterson Friday ahead ofSaturday’s trip acrossLondon to face CrystalPalace (1500).

“We have to change ourfocus from the PremierLeague to the ChampionsLeague... play two bigmatches (against PSG).

"We have no time to pre-pare for matches like (Cityand Liverpool) they have.It’s an advantage that Cityhas now, an advantagethat Liverpool have hadsince the beginning of theseason.”

Chelsea start the week-end programme a point

ahead of Liverpool, whohost Tottenham onSunday (1600) and threeahead of City, who areaway at fourth-placedArsenal on Saturdayevening (1730).

Mourinho saidLiverpool, who they playat Anfield on April 27, hadenjoyed the “perfect sea-son” to emerge again astitle aspirants.

“When you have six daysa week to prepare, to trainsix days a week to train,maybe twice a day... youhave conditions to improvethat nobody has,” he said.

“You can see clearly thatsome of their players arenot paying the conse-

quences of (fatigue) accu-mulation. You see fresh-ness. The season for themis the perfect season to dowhat they are doing.”

The Portuguese reiter-ated that Chelsea were ina false position at the sum-mit.

“I do not lead thePremier League - I’ve saidthis for a long, long time.

“It’s fake. When youhave matches in hand youcan lead but the situationis fake. It only matterswhen everybody has thesame number of matches.”

Striker Samuel Eto’owill miss the Palace gameand is a big doubt for theaway leg against PSG

after suffering a ham-string injury in the 6-0drubbing of Arsenal lastweekend.

Defender Ashley Cole re-mains sidelined while mid-fielder Ramires is sus-pended.

Mourinho expects rele-gation battlers Palace topose a “difficult” test atSelhurst Park but believeshis side have been “playingwell for a long long time".

“The team is getting re-sults that make the fansvery very happy.We are ina good moment, enjoyingthe situation. We want toplay Champions League,to play against the bestteams...we are fine."

U.S. college athletes to unionize face long battle

Sky’s the limitfor protestingManchesterUnited fans

Chelsea at a disadvantage intitle race, says Mourinho

Jose Mourinho

Printed and published by Advocate Publishers (2000) Inc. Fontabelle, St. Michael. Telephone 467-2000, Fax 434-2020/434-1000

Saturday March 29, 2014

By Petra Gooding

THE others tried their best but theyjust didn’t have what it took to de-throne Springer Memorial andQueen’s College when the 2014Powerade Barbados Secondary

Schools’ Athletics Championshipsconcluded yesterday at the NationalStadium.

Springer Memorial notched its 11thstraight title yesterday after amassing348 points. The St. Michael School fin-ished second with 248 points, Harrison

College was third with 170.50 points,fourth was Christ Church Foundationwith 160 points, while Lester VaughanSchool was fifth with 155 points.

In the Boys’ division Queen’s Collegeeasily defended its title after racking up313 points. Lester Vaughan School tried

hard but had to settle for second best with278 points, while the Lodge School wasthird with 237 points. St. Michael Schoolended in fourth position with 175 pointswhile Combermere was fifth with 166points.

CHAMPS AGAIN on Page 23

QC, SPRINGER DO IT AGAIN

Doubt over Bravo,Smith as court ponders

Super Kings ban

Page 25

Springer Memorial showed their dominance at the 2014 Powerade Barbados Secondary Schools’ Athletics Championships yesterday at the National Stadium, retaining their title with 348 points.