Reporter’s diary

Press, 30 April 1984, Page 2

Reporter’s diary

Crosswords THE CHAIRMAN of the Broadcasting Corporation of New Zealand, Mr lan Cross, showed that he is not a monosyllabic man when responding to a letter from the Public Service Association recently. The P.S.A. had expressed concern that a would-be competitor for a private television warrant allegedly had among its principals some senior executives of Television New Zealand, thereby raising the question of conflict of interest. Mr Cross replied: “I do appreciate your concern that we may be carrying in our corporate womb embryonic Oedipal offspring, but I do not think that we should involve ourselves in therapeutic abortion procedures at this stage of their supposed development. That, in itself, may be seen to be ‘scandalous,’ to use your term; and, in the event, prove to be an unnecessary operation.” Popular report THE REPORT of the Commission of Inquiry into the Broadcasting Corporation promises to be a bestseller for the Government Bookshop in Hereford Street. The shop received only 10 file copies of the report after its release last week. All were sold within an hour. “We will have more in next week. We have ordered plenty,” said a spokesperson for the shop. Copies of the report, which is less “dry” than a lot of the literature sold by the Government Bookshop, cost $4.05 each. Secretaries’ day WEDNESDAY, May 2, will be the special day for secretaries. International secre-

taries’ day” will be celebrated by the Christchurch group of the New Zealand Society of Executive Secretaries, with a dinner at which Sir Robertson Stewart will be guest speaker. “International secretaries’ day” is not a gimmick. It was proclaimed in 1952 by the then United States Secretary for Commerce, Charles Sawyer, to recognise “the American secretary, upon whose skills, loyalty, and efficiency the functions of business and government offices depend.” The aims of the society include “the promotion and development of the secretary’s image to a professional standard, and the elevation of secretarial standards by continuing education.” Those interested in becoming members of the society may write to: “Executive secretaries,” P.O. Box 19558, Christchurch. Longest day THE PARISH magazine of St Helen’s Church, Nottinghamshire, reports that during a particularly long and uneventful service, a small but clear voice was heard from the back of the church, asking: “Mummy, is it still Sunday?” Transport problem THE UNIVERSITY of Canterbury Drama Society wants to hire a van for about five days during the May holidays, in order to put on a children’s play, “The Wonderful Dr Whisker,” in libraries round Christchurch. The society will make nothing from the performances, which ap all

free. It cannot afford to hire a rental vehicle, but is prepared to pay the van’s petrol costs “and a bit more.” The play is from an unpublished story of Margaret Mahy’s, writer-in-resi-dence at the university this year. Living by the sword COLONEL Muammar Gadaffi, who has been much in the news recently, left only one statue standing in Tripoli after he swept away the remnants of Italian colonisation. The statue, that of Septimus Severus, apparently escaped the melting pot because Severus was the only African to become Emperor of Rome. If, as an English reporter has written, Colonel Gadaffi sees a parallel between his own career and that of the Emperor, he might do well to remember that although Severus went to Britain, invaded Scotland, and repaired Hadrian’s Wall, he did not survive the expedition. The reporter concludes that Britain might also be an unhealthy place for Colonel Gadaffi to visit at present. Charity journey ALLAN HOOPER, a multiple sclerosis sufferer, is on the homeward leg of his caravan journey from Kaitaia to Bluff and back to raise money to fight the disease and help sufferers. Mr Hooper, whose motorhauled “gypsy caravan” was on display at the Hornby Mall last Friday, has been on the road for 13 months. He has raised almost $17,000 so far, and hopes to make a lot more before he gets back to Kaitaia.