The theme of this year’s Dollar Wise Week is, “Savings for kids and families.”
Saipan Mayor Juan B. Tudela emphasizes the importance of this theme: “Savings are an important building block of the foundation for the American Dream,” he said.
During Dollar Wise Week, Tudela and the people of Saipan will work with local banks and other financial institutions to encourage local families to help their children open savings accounts and learn from an early age the importance of saving money and making wise financial choices.
“Unbanked” parents — those without bank accounts — will also be invited to begin saving money in an account.
“Savings are essential to making many people’s hopes and dreams possible — owning a home, educating our children, and having stable families,” Tudela said.
To make the event more meaningful, the mayor’s office will hold a Dollar Wise Symposium on Saturday, Oct. 4, from 9 a.m. until 12 noon, in the Sabalo Market area in Susupe.
The United States Conference of Mayors Council for the New American City established the National Dollar Wise campaign.
Tudela and his fellow mayors recognize that financial illiteracy is a growing national problem that needs to be addressed and are working together to educate citizens on personal and household finances.
Tudela and the local community coalition are committed to providing a variety of personal finance seminars and events during Dollar Wise Week and throughout the year, with the goal of providing education aimed primarily at homebuyers/homeowners, the unbanked community, students, the elderly, retirees, and/or immigrants.
In 2005, Americans’ savings rates sank into the negative for the first time since the great depression.
The 0.5 percent savings rate means that Americans spent all their disposable income and dipped into past savings or increased their borrowing.
Recent studies reveal that for every $100 Americans bring home, they spend $100.20. In fact, the United States has the lowest personal savings rate of any major industrialized nation.
The most current investors in American cities are families and individuals.
“There is no better time than now for Saipan residents to take advantage of programs and activities geared toward financial management and prosperity,” said Tudela. “Improved financial literacy will result in a higher standard of living and more stable communities.”
Livestock opportunities workshop for local farmers
(NMC) — In a recent workshop hosted by Northern Marianas College’s Cooperative Research and Extension Service, farmers on Saipan were introduced to innovative farming methods as well as grant opportunities to overcome livestock challenges.
Led by Dr. Allan Sabaldica from the NMC-CREES Tinian office, the “Livestock Opportunities” workshop held on Saipan focused on introducing local farmers and ranchers to low maintenance, high output animal holdings.
Sabaldica illustrated some creative animal housing made from old school buses or scrap wood, and also introduced homemade animal feeders. It was stressed that ranchers came up with the idea to build these low-cost housing due to economic hardships in the CNMI which do not allow for more sophisticated devices.
At the same time, the ranchers were introduced to grants available from Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education for unique ideas to overcome challenges in farming and ranching in the CNMI.
Sabaldica invited the ranchers to submit grant proposals and offered technical advice and assistance in writing the grants.
According to its Web site, WSARE has funded 46 grant projects worth nearly $2.5 million in the last approval cycle.
Grants are available to farmers, ranchers, students, and researchers in rural areas.
Deadline for submission of proposals is Dec. 5, 2008.
Grant applications can be downloaded from http://wsare.usu.edu/news/pdf/WS4_2008_151347.pdf.
During the workshop, the ranchers pointed out that to be successful — even on a small scale — they would have to set up a cooperative that will help them lower prices for feeds through the ability to buy in bulk and to market their products.
There is demand for local meat and dairy products.
However, the ranchers pointed out the existence of a slaughterhouse and USDA meat inspectors which prevent them from building up a sustainable industry.
CNMI’s ranchers may otherwise be able to produce enough meat to supply the whole CNMI with their products.
There would even be enough left for export, especially to Guam where the population is expected to increase given the planned military build-up there.
Sabaldica noted that if the ranchers can set up their cooperative, NMC-CREES will be able to support them with marketing and promotion.
He said the CNMI had a healthy meat and dairy industry until the early 80s and once was one of the main exporters in the region.
For more information about the Livestock Improvement Program, interested ranchers and farmers can contact Sabaldica at the NMC-CREES Tinian site via phone at 433-2576 or e-mail [email protected].
The same workshop was conducted on Sept. 12 on Rota and another was planned yesterday on Tinian.
Pearl Hunt Palacios graduates from University of Utah
PEARL Hunt Palacios had recently graduated from University of Utah in June 2008 and obtained a bachelor of science degree in speech science, a media release stated.
She is currently residing in South Korea where she is teaching English as a second language.
Pearl is forever thankful and grateful for the CNMI Scholarship Office, SHEFA and her father Joaquin U. Palacios in giving her the full support to successfully complete her education.
She said she is following her father’s foot steps. Her father has a bachelor of science degree in criminal justice from the University of Guam.
She is a former CNMI national basketball player who represented her islands in the Micronesian Games playing the position of a point guard. The team took gold medal that year.
Pearl is the grand daughter of Esperanza Atalig Ulloa Palacios and the late Augustin Tudela Palacios.
She also wants to wish good luck to her uncle Chong Man Won in the upcoming election for U.S. Congress.
She said she has an obligation to fulfill which is to come back to the CNMI and contribute her time to do public service.
She said she is teaching in a foreign country to get hands-on experience and skills.
She intends to return to Saipan once the power situation becomes stable.
According to Pearl, she hopes to see the people of the CNMI united in one heart and accept each other’s differences and work together “because everyone is suffering and it is the only way to move forward.”
LISS remembers 9/11, troops
LISS — On Sept. 11 Ladera International students, faculty and staff took a moment of silence in remembering and honoring the tragic events of 9/11 on the school grounds.
The American flag at half mast, softly waved as everyone took a moment to remember the atrocities of 9-11 while honoring the nation’s military including those in action today and those who have lost their lives in fighting for freedom.
LISS’s fifth and sixth grade classes created a collage depicting “hope” with prayers, photos and poems.
Fifth grade teacher Janet Deal spoke on the behalf of the school about the remembrance of this day as well as the great sacrifices of the nation’s troops.
All individuals of the school who have active family members in the military or who have lost a family member was given a special moment of silence.
LISS would like say to all who have lost any members of your families in 9/11 or the military that our prayers and thoughts are with you.
Green flag on Saipan
(DEQ) — The Division of Environmental Quality has analyzed samples collected from Saipan’s east and south recreational beaches and storm water drainages as part of its regularly scheduled sampling.
None of the samples collected contained excessive concentrations of fecal indicator bacteria nor did they exceed the CNMI’s marine water quality standards.
DEQ assigns all of the sampled beach sites a green flag.
