Maersk/Seabase donates rescue craft
Maersk/Seabase has donated a fast rescue craft (FRC) davit launching system to the Marine Institute. This davit has an approximate value of $100,000 and will be installed at the Institute’s Southside Marine Base where it will be used to launch and retrieve MI’s fleet of fast rescue craft.

Fast Rescue Craft training is a requirement for offshore supply vessels that provide safety standby support to offshore oil and gas facilities. This training has become an essential element in providing support and assistance should an incident occur. It is one of the premiere safety training courses designed for the protection of workers in the challenging offshore environment.

Maersk/Seabase’s contribution to the Southside Marine Base will enhance the institute’s capability in meeting the ever-expanding needs of the marine transportation industry, specifically in the offshore sector, and will augment its qualifications to delivery of the Standards for Training and Certification of Watchkeepers (STCW ’95) approved FRC courses. This unit will allow the Marine Institute to simulate FRC launch and recovery as it would take place in the offshore environment. One of the most important components of delivering FRC coverage to offshore facilities is deployment and recovery.

Maersk Supply Service has eight Canadian flag supply vessels working east coast Canada, employing over 200 east coast Canadians. Recently seven of these vessels were working out of St. John’s supporting the Hibernia Oil Field, Terra Nova Oil Field and Petro-Canada’s deep water drilling program in the Flemish Pass.

Doors open at the Garden

Memorial’s Botanical Garden held its grand opening for the 2003 summer season on Saturday, June 7. With the admission charge of a non-perishable food item to be donated to the Community Food Sharing Association, garden staff collected about $4,000 in food donations. On hand during the opening were (L-R) Eg Walters, general manager of the Community Food Sharing Association, David Anthony, president and CEO of Anthony Insurance, which sponsored the opening, and Dr. Wilf Nichols, director of the Botanical Garden. The garden is located on Mount Scio Road. For more information, please contact the garden at 737-8590.

Scheduled power outage
There is a power outage scheduled for Saturday, July 19, from 9 a.m.-9 p.m. The buildings affected by this power outage are: Arts and Administration Building, Music Building, Physical Education and Athletics Building, Science Building, Mathematics Building, Facilities Management Building, Rothermere, Bowater, Doyle, Main Dining Hall.

This power outage is necessary for Facilities Management to identify the condition of major components in the 12,500 Volt and 4,160 Volt electrical distribution system prior to planned upgrades later this year. The Field House and Aquarena will not be affected and can be accessed through either main entrance or the pedway between buildings. Please note this power outage will also affect access to and from pedestrian tunnels in the affected buildings.

Inquiries can be directed to the Work Control Centre, Department of Facilities Management, at 7600. Facilities Management asks for your cooperation regarding this matter and apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Novartis vice-president visits university
The vice-president for medical affairs with Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada, Dr. Jean-Marie LeClerc, was in St. John’s June 17 for a full day of meeting with university officials, researchers and clinicians, as well as government officials.

Novartis’ contribution to Memorial includes sponsoring numerous clinical trials as well as establishing a new Professorship in Pediatric Genetics in the Faculty of Medicine in 1999. This position is held by Dr. Guang Sun, whose research is on obesity and genetics.

Dr. LeClerc is a pediatric oncologist who trained in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and practiced at St. Justine in Montreal, where he was head of oncology before leaving for industry. He has a distinguished research record and has held CIHR grants of several million dollars. At a luncheon meeting hosted by President Axel Meisen, Dr. LeClerc said his goal in moving from academia to industry is to increase the amount of funding for research. He said last year Novartis Canada invested $35 million in research and development and he would like to see that figure exceed $100 million by 2008.

Describing some of the many products developed and marketed by Novartis, and the process through which they are approved, Dr. LeClerc said he is proud to be part of a company based on science.