32 OPINION
FRIDAY MAY 13 2016
Touch wood it will
be just another day
BEWARE of black cats, make sure no mirrors are broken
and whatever you do, don’t walk under a ladder.
Today, Friday the 13th, is considered an unlucky day in
Western superstition.
According to research, millions of people around the
world are affected by a fear of this day, making it the most
dreaded date on the calendar in history.
Some people are so paralysed by fear that they avoid
their normal routines in doing business, taking flights or
even getting out of bed.
In the US, it has been estimated that $800 to $900 million is lost in business on this day, while a British study
concluded there was a “significant level of traffic-related
incidences on Friday the 13th as opposed to a random
day”.
Though people are aware of this superstition in Alice
Springs, local residents know better than to let the date
get the better of them.
Locals’ day-to-day lives will continue as normal today
in the Red Centre, businesses will carry on trading as
usual and there will be no chaos on the roads.
Many of the superstitions mentioned above stem from
the same human trait that causes us to believe in monsters and ghosts – when our brains can’t explain something, we make stuff up.
A 2010 study found that superstitions can sometimes
work because believing in something can improve performance on a task.
So whether you choose to buy in to the myth or not, it
should be viewed as just another day in the Territory.
Knock on wood, everything will be just fine.
Quote of the Day
“We are upgrading the
security system to make
sure that both prisoners
and Territorians are
kept safer.”
CORRECTIONAL SERVICES
MINISTER JOHN ELFERINK
ON THE $2.2M UPGRADE
TO THE ALICE SPRINGS
CORRECTIONAL CENTRE
Wishful volunteers
THIS National Volunteer
Week (9-15 May) on behalf of
Make-A-Wish Australia I’d
like to thank all our Alice
Springs volunteers.
Since 1985, Make-A-Wish
Australia volunteers, who hail
from 57 branches, have helped
make more than 8000 wishes
come true for very sick children and teenagers.
The wishes are not fleeting
gifts but rather carefully crafted experiences designed to create a sense of future and hope.
Parents often tell us that the
wish was the turning point
during their child’s treatment.
None of this great work
would be possible without our
amazing volunteers.
Our 16 volunteers in the NT
meet with the children to help
unlock their deeply held wish,
support families through the
wish journey and plan activities in the lead up to the wish.
Our volunteers also allow
us to grant more wishes by
raising much-needed funds.
A great example of our volunteers’ selfless work is their
involvement in the wish of
five-year-old Scarlett, who is
living with a rare heart condition and wished to “see a unicorn fly through the sky and
taste its rainbow horn”.
After 17 home visits of anticipation and tracking the uni-
l
e
t
t
e
r
s
@a
l
i
c
e
a
d
v
o
c
a
t
e
.
c
o
m.
a
u
corn’s migration path from the
North Pole to Australia, a team
of volunteers helped Scarlett’s
wish come true last month.
Every day, six families in
Australia receive the devastating news that their child has a
life-threatening condition.
That’s 2000 children a year
in need of a vital wish; four
times the number of families
we are currently able to reach.
As an organisation funded
solely by donations we rely on
our volunteers and support of
the community. Our volunteers believe in our goal to ensure each child and teenager
living with a life-threatening
illness experiences the healing
power of a wish.
So to our volunteers, we say
thank you. You make it possible for wishes to come true.
Gerard Menses
CEO
Make-A-Wish Australia
Positive energy
GOOD news in your recent
column from Glenn Marshall
that the RePower Alice
Springs push has formed, with
vision to energise the Alice.
Momentum seems to be
building to demand an Alice
that’s world-class in managing
its energy, including renewables, water management, desert smart building design,
stepped up recycling and electric transport.
A little Googling finds that a
lot of the heavy lifting has
already been done.
Note, for instance, the detailed “RoadMap to a desertSMART Town 2013-18 … a
Vision for a Sustainable Resilient Alice Springs”.
This document was sponsored by ASTC and NT Government, among others, and
produced by the Desert Know-
ledge Australia and desertSMART COOLmob in 2012-14.
It envisions a desert smart
Alice by 2018 and even better, a
desert very smart Alice by
2033. Sadly, a drive around
town strongly suggests this
document and its vision still lie
in someone’s bottom drawer,
especially with respect to desert smart public and residential
building design and transport.
Is the RoadMap being implemented on the quiet?
Doubtful, but if so, who by
and why quietly? Or has the
Alice been dodging a chance to
take charge of her own future?
Do the planning laws help
or hinder our pursuing excellent relevant vision? If so, let’s
get them changed.
What have our pollies got to
say about our Darwin centred
planning overlords? I’m sure
the RePower push will be
aware of the desertSMART
document and the turningplans-into-action hurdles the
Alice has to keep jumping.
Recently it was commented
that it’s a pity we missed out on
the nuke waste dump because
it could have drawn tourists.
Well, I’d rather see the
world beat a path to our door
to see the Alice’s world-class,
low carbon, people friendly,
desert smart energy management strategies in action.
Michael Tyrrell
East Side
Do you have any Friday the 13th superstition?
$20kg
“I don’t think I usually
notice if it’s Friday the 13th,
but maybe I’ll try and make
it weird.”
“No I don’t. It’s just another
day for me.”
“I got married on the 13th,
so I try to block that out.
But I don’t bake or sew or
cut, or do anything creative
on Fridays.”
“It’s always in the back of
my mind but I try not to
believe it. Regardless of
numbers, life goes on.“
BERT JAMIESON
BRODIE RAYNER
ELSIE BRANDSO
JANE HAWEA
FOR vegetables in some
remote NT
communities.
95
ONE-ON-ONE meetings scheduled at
the Australian Tourism Exchange fourday event for travel agents being
attended by Alice Springs interests.
5000
PEOPLE expected to attend the
2016 Skills, Employment and
Careers Expo in Alice Springs
from August 8-9.
CAVE01Z01MA - V1