New Administrator
Most of you will know by now that Nicole Edwards has left us. Nicole was the Institution’s Administrator for ten years. Over that period she built up a hugely useful knowledge of the IAP’s operations and became a good friend to many individual members. Nicole has moved on to a rather similar post in a local agricultural college; we miss her but wish her well.
On April 26th Jim Bates (the President) and Mike Ryan (the Director General) had the not too onerous task of interviewing six lady applicants, all of whom seemed keen to take on Nicole’s old job. Over 50 people had responded to a single advertisement, and at least a dozen of those who sent written applications appeared capable of doing the job. The ages of those interviewed ranged from 34 to 61,though listening to Jim’s jokes probably made them feel older.
The lady we have employed is Mrs. Jeanette Walsh. Jeanette brings a particularly useful range of skills to the job. Her past employers include banks and building societies but for the last ten years she has worked for a major housing trust, most recently as Customer Sales Manager. So Jeanette is used to dealing with customers and administration, and not just for big companies. She also does the books for her husband’s shop.
Jeanette enjoys foreign travel and keep-fit. She has a 7-year old son. We welcome her to the Institution, and hope that individual members will make themselves known to her.
Chris Grayshon-Pedley runs an Asthmatic Information and Resource Web site. He’s contacted us to ask if an IAP member might be prepared to write some code that would help him with a piece of research. Here, he sets the scene.
In the UK alone, around 1500 people die from asthma every year. Often, the cause is exposure to a trigger the sufferer knew nothing about. Other asthmatics just feel generally unwell when exposed to such triggers. Triggers can be almost anything – exposure to certain animals, a particular work pattern or eating a given food. The effects can be immediate or cumulative, but will probably be indicated by a drop in ‘peak flow’. This is a measurement of lung efficiency that asthmatics take, with other data, twice a day. Using this information, we can avoid anything associated with peak flow reduction and stick with things that have no effect or, indeed, cause an increase. I’ve already created an Excel spreadsheet that simplifies the recording of the data but I’d like to improve its usefulness by including a VB application that would collect data, show a graph of peak flow readings and produce some data analysis. I’d be delighted if someone out there is interested in getting involved!
You can contact Chris at chris@asthma-help.co.uk. His Web site is at www.asthma-help.co.uk
[Don’t forget to email eo@iap.org.uk with items of news about you or your company.]
