The Tribune

Cycling Club Bahamas. - Cycles Unlimited is now closed until August 25.

You are invited to join a 4.5-mile training run after the Saturday Morning Rides. Leave at 8am from Harbour Bay - to PI Golf Course & return. (30-45min)

Saturday, August 16 - 44th Annual Bernie Butler BASRA Swim Marathon- at Coral Beach, Freeport. http://basragrandbahama.com/events/

Saturday, August 23 - Summer sprint classic start/finish at Baha Mar Bld, travel along airport/JFK drive to Lyford Cay and return to finish covering 20-mile, categories I, II, male categories I, women Jr boys/girls, prizes and gifts. Race starts 6.35am. Contact Barron Musgrove on 425-1057 or email npcyclingassociation2013@gmail.com.

Saturday, September 13 - Give a Child a Ride, bike ride & race in Nassau, email: info@giveachildaride.com.

Sunday, September 20 - The Potcakeman Tri http://www.baarkbahamas.com/potcakeman-2014-triathlon/

2014 242 Colour Run Schedule: Nassau - September 28th, Freeport - November 2nd, Abaco - December 27th, Eleuthera - Soon. http://www.run242.com/242CR/nassau/

Saturday, November 1 - Conchman Tri-Taino Beach, Grand Bahama, https://www.facebook.com/conchmantriathlon

Sunday, November 9 - 8:30am, UWC Triathlon Bahamas, Clifton Heritage Park-Kids. Sprint & Olympic distances, http://www.uwctriathlon.com.

Sunday, November 23 - Bahamas Half Marathon & 10K, Individual & Relay 13.1 Miles Individual 10km, online Registration is now open. www.BahamasHalf.com.

Morning rides West - Wednesday and Friday, 4:45am, Goodman’s Bay, West Bay Street, 20-mile ride route: Headed east to Montague & return. One-hour duration. Cyclists capable of 14+mph welcome to join in anywhere along the route. Contact Shantell the day before to confirm your attendance: shorelinecargo@gmail.com

Afternoon rides West - Tuesdays and Thursdays, leaving 5:30pm sharp, parking lot next to Lyford Cay Gas Station. 18 or 24 miles depending if you do second loop. This is an advanced cyclist’s ride. The pace will range up to 20+mph.

Morning ride East - Tuesdays & Thursdays, leaving 5am sharp, start/end Seagrapes Shopping Centre (under the big sign), East Prince Charles Drive: 1-1.5-hour duration, all-level cyclists. Prince Charles Dr- Eastern Road-Shirley St-Church St-East Bay-Eastern Road- Prince Charles. Please have lights attached to your bike.

Weekend rides: Saturday - leaving 6am sharp from Harbour Bay Shopping Centre in front of First Caribbean Bank 30 miles headed West. In order to complete this ride, it is recommended that you have done some recent cycling. Leaving P/I Bridges optional at the beginning/end. The pace will range from 18–20+mph, 2-hour duration.

Sunday - leaving 6am sharp from Harbour Bay Shopping Centre in front of First Caribbean Bank 40-50 miles, headed east. This ride is not recommended if you have not cycled recently or first timers! P/I Bridges optional at the end. The pace will range from 18-20+mph, 3-3.5 hour duration (intermediate & advanced cyclists are invited to join in anywhere along the route).

Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity. - The Delta Epsilon Sigma Chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc (Sigma) and the Bahamas Reef Environment Educational Foundation have partnered to provide new opportunities for urban (inner city) youth to experience the natural world and promote interest in conservation and the marine sciences. The two organisations signed an historic memorandum of understanding in Nassau, Bahamas on August 1.

“Despite being an archipelagic nation our fraternity noted that there are scores of over-the-hill youth that have not experienced nature outside of the occasional ‘beaching’ on Sundays with family. This void has negatively impacted our appreciation of how our actions affect our marine and natural resources,” said Delta Epsilon Sigma chapter president Derek W Smith Jr. “We are excited to partner with BREEF with its rich 20-year history of marine research, education and conservation which makes it the ideal partner as we work to create meaningful connections between youth and the environment.

“We are working diligently through existing and new initiatives to enlighten the community on conservation of our environment. We are happy that Sigma’s motto, ‘Culture for Service, Service for Humanity’ fall is line with our mandate to educate the Bahamian public, policy-makers and other key stakeholders about ways our actions impacts our culture and way of life,” said BREEF executive director Casuarina McKinney-Lambert.

The multi-faceted partnership includes:

1) sponsorship of five inner city youth to attend the BREEF New Providence Sea Camp;

2) serve as mentors for the BREEF Eco-Schools Bahamas Programme with a focus on government schools;

3) incorporating a science element in the fraternity’s Sigma Beta Club;

4) promoting the pursuit of biological sciences careers through stewardship and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math);

5) engaging Sigma as a voice on conservation issues.

Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity was founded on January 9, 1914 at Howard University. The local chapter keeps the public updated on their scholastic and social action endeavors at https://www.facebook.com/pbs242.

Rotary Club of South East Nassau. - Dave Shannon Smith, former executive director of the Securities Commission of The Bahamas and now principal at dss financial and corporate services provider, addressed the Rotary Club of South East Nassau, on Wednesday, with a topic titled “Track-road to Corporate Governance”.

Mr Smith acknowledged that most of the Rotarians present had responsibility for organisational culture and in particular contributed to corporate governance or its architecture in their respective organisations.

With a primary focus on the critical relationship between management and the Board in setting the “tone at the top” which reverberates throughout the entire organisation, he skilfully highlighted the impact on an organisation’s ethos and by extension focus, efficiency and ultimately the bottom line.

He noted that unfortunately, all too often it is this relationship between the Management and the Board that is poorly structured, dysfunctional, regularly neglected and leads to the derailment of Board effectiveness and render many dysfunctional.

After addressing the pitfalls of time spent on trivia; short-term bias; lack of accountability and lack of role clarity between the Chairman and the CEO with relatable examples, the unusually hushed Rotarians were not left without recommendations.

Recommendations included board composition considerations and a paradigm shift from traditional governance to Policy Governance as espoused by John Carver along with requisite competencies for board members such as integrity in personal and business dealings; specific sector experience; objectivity about what is best for the organisation; and an independent mind coupled with inquisitiveness.

Smith is of the view that there is a need for enhanced focus on governance as evidenced by many of the reports of failings in the local dailies and particularly as regards quasi government organisations, public and publicly traded companies.