Lögberg-Heimskringla - 26.11.1999, Side 1

Week at a glance
Leif Eiriksson Day observed
lcelandic Consul J. M. Jonsson of
Seattle rasies day’s profile
Fifty years together
Harold and Rose Marie Johnson cele-
brate fiftieth wedding anniversary
Friday 26 November 1999 • Number 41 / Föstudagur 26. nóvember 1999 • Númer 41
Lögberg
Lögberg stofnaö 14. janúar 1888
Heimskringla stofnað 9. september 1886
Sameinuö 20. ágúst 1959
Heimskringla
The Icelandic Weekly
Registration no. 08000 Agreement no. 1402161 113th year /113. Árgangur “The oldest ethnic periodical still publishing in Canada”
News
Eimskip receives
recognition from
Equal Rights
Council
Left to right: Elín Líndal, spokesper-
son for the Equal Rights Council,
Páll Pétursson, Hörður Sigurgests-
son, president of Eimskip, and
Benedikt Sveinsson, CEO of
Eimskip. Phoio: Morgunhlaiiiá/Sverrir
Eimskip was awarded the 1999
recognition from the Equal Rights
Council for the company’s develop-
ment and position on equal rights. A
particular mention was made of the
company’s consistent effort in increas-
ing the role of women in positions of
management and responsibility.
In 1993 Eimskip Co. embarked on
the policy of emphasizing the role of
women in management positions with
in the company in Iceland. The pur-
pose was to widen the management
group and utilize the knowledge, edu
cation and experience women have.
Since then various methods have been
used in this regard. The company has
set goals for itself, which have been
made known through job advertise
ments, and kept close watch on results
in this area.
At the present, women are just
over 40% of the company’s directors
and department managers, or eight in
all, whereas there was only one woman
in 1994. Since 1996 women in man
agement positions have increased from
eight to eighteen. There has also been
an increase of women in traditional
male jobs at the Sunda harbour. As a
result tlte Equal Rights Council consid-
ers Eimskip to have reached notewor-
thy results in recent years.
News continues on page 5
Interview with David Arnason
Ken Howard
If dreams are what drive Canadian
Icelanders to new frontiers and
exceptional achievement, you will
want to keep tabs of what David
Arnason envisions for the near future;
you’ll likely share the excitement and
want to be part of the action.
The acting Head of the Department
of Icelandic—in this job for the next
two years—is concurrently Head of the
Department of English at the University
of Manitoba. Born and raised in Gimli,
and as a child, nurtured in Iceland cul-
ture and history in large part by his
grandfather, he dreams of things to be
done, and puts action plans in place to
achieve them.
Prior to his present appointment he
was asked by Dr. Raymond Currie, át
that time Dean of Arts, to negotiate a
protocol of agreement between the
University of Iceland. This agreement
now has been developed. Dr. Páll
Skúlason, rector of the University of
Iceland and Dr. Emöke Száthmary of
the University of Manitoba signed the
protocol in Winnipeg at the Icelandic
library 10:00 a.m. November 15.
The agreement provides for
1) exchange of two students per year;
2) possibility of exchange of professors;
3) exchange of publications by each
university; 4) a series of conferences,
every eighteen months, alternating
between Canada and Iceland. The fac-
ulties of Arts, Law, Engineering, and
Medicine are fully involved, but the
agreement is university-wide. The first
conference in the series is to take place
at the University of Manitoba in
October of 2000. Dr. Amason expects
that this agreement will provide for a
strong set of links between the countries
as well as the universities.
In an interview in his Fletcher
Argue Building oífice he explained that
the Icelandic Department can serve as
an important link between the two
countries, and also serve as a link
between people in North America who
are interested in their Icelandic her-
itage. “The scholarly links are very
important but I would like to see more
cultural links developed as well. This is
one of the reasons why we have to
actively develop the VIP [Valuing
Icelandic Presence] fundraising cam-
paign in order to have the money in
place to endow the chair. This will free
other funds that have to be used only for
teaching so that the department can now
provide stronger cultural programs, for
example, bring in writers, film makers,
artists, and broaden the base of what the
department does.”
Dr. Arnason thought that the
department has been very good at
reaching young people with real interest
in Icelandic, not only those with
Icelandic backgrounds but also those
with other backgrounds who are fasci-
nated by the idea of Icelandic culture.
Similarly the department has been fair-
ly good in reaching older people who
have developed significant interests in
the Icelandic community. But there is a
large group of Icelandic Canadians who
have real interest in their backgrounds
and culture but are not now attending
university and coming out to the aca-
demic offerings. He is confident the
department will be able to reach them,
provide the programs that will interest
them, and help sustain this as a centre.
Expanding on the concept, he sees a
new Icelandic library as a centre for
community-related activities, providing
a board room where meetings can be
held, and events other than the borrow-
ing of books can take place. The
Please see Arnason on page 4
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