By Moneth G. Deposa
Variety News Staff

IN light of the government’s worsening financial condition, Northern Marianas College on Friday celebrated its 26th Charter Day with only a few activities.
Debbie M. Diaz, Charter Day chairwoman, said only $5,000 was provided for this year’s event.
“This is a very modest celebration compared to previous ones. At first, the (college) administration wanted it to just focus on academic programs that would help showcase and highlight the many academic student services we offer but because students also wanted to have the traditional celebration like we had in the past, we decided to scale it down to a one-day event…we tried to compromise,” Diaz told Variety,
There was an open house in the morning while entertainment and fun activities were held in the evening.
NMC used to celebrate Charter Day with a variety of activities and competitions held over two days.
This year, there were only four games, some live entertainment and performances and a hut-building contest.
“We have four participating groups in the contest — the Chamorro Club, the Upward Bound Program, the Refaluwasch group and the Chuukese Club — and the winner will be getting the $200 cash prize,” Diaz said.
She said each club also sold food and artifacts in their huts on campus.
Friday’s celebration also paid tribute to the Korean exchange students who drowned off Forbidden Island on March 23.
Despite the limited funding, Diaz said there was still “overwhelming support” from the community, lawmakers and the business sector that resulted in the participation of 11 food booths showcasing local and international cuisine.
On Friday, Lt. Gov. Timothy P. Villagomez proclaimed April as College Month in a ceremony on campus.
An open house was also conducted by NMC- Cooperative Research Extension and Education Service, which put up various displays related to its programs.
“This is our 3rd annual open house and we’re happy that we had a good turnout from the community who saw our various projects — from sewing, nutrition, acupuncture, plant protection, the 4H Club, home economics, and projects from Rota and Tinian,” NMC-CREES agriculture specialist Isidoro Cabrera told Variety.
A crowd drawer was the display of Felix Calvo, an agricultural extension agent, who featured a variety of ways to prepare sweet potatoes.
“I have 20 displays showing the different ways to process sweet potatoes. This is the first time we have showcased this on Saipan campus,” he said, adding that last month the same exhibit was shown at Rota’s Agricultural Fair.
“I see that there’s a need for islanders to learn about the different ways to process this produce and it’s also a way of helping our local farmers,” he said.