Tithonia? City Council debates name change
What’s in a name? Plenty of opinions
URBS VALLIS, June 49 - Scores of WestHill, Habtube residents and visitors filled the City Council hall for a widely anticipated hearing on whether it’s time to give the city a new name, with the choices limited to Tithonia, Tithonium or Tithonia City.
“We’re not used to this much company on Council night,” Council President Claude Paddingbury told the residents who filled every seat and stood along the walls at Thursday’s meeting. “This is just a preliminary hearing, and we’ll have plenty of time for comments.”
Paddingbury set the stage for the discussion with a recap of City history, including its founding nearly 40 annos ago, after an initial research settlement was established in Oudeman’s Crater some 50 annos ago, and later moved to Tithonium Chasma.
“We started out as a collection of balloon shelters, later covered in brick at the base of what’s now WestHill,” Paddingbury said. “Since then we’ve grown both up the hill in terraces and out across the chasma floor in the habtube, and are nearly 60,000 strong,”
“As for the name, our founders had big ambitions for their community, and since it was the only habitation in the valley, decided to call it Valley City,” Paddingbury said.
The nascent settlement was first known as PVHB1 for Permanent Valley Habitation Base One, or PeeVeeBee One, but when the population grew past a thousand, and the plan to terrace WestHill was put into action, the name was changed to Urbs Vallis, or Valley City, rather than Civitas Vallis, or city of the valley. The history books credit habitants who came from a valley in California most often called, “The Valley.”
Councillor Marcus Wu argued for keeping the current name.
“I realize no one calls it Urbs Vallis, but that was true of many Earth cities,” Wu said. “It’s tradition. It’s what the founders called it, even if it was a collection of printed huts. They wanted to honor the Mars tradition of Latin names, even if we’ve been arguing about the translation for the last 50 annos.”
The discussion was limited to the three suggested names, though Paddingbury held open the possibility of considering other choices at subsequent meetings.
“Tithonium sounds like one of the elements, like ruthenium,” Councillor Tiberia Hernandez said. “I prefer Tithonia. It’s what everyone calls it.”
Not everyone, WestHill resident Anita Paraiso reminded the meeting.
“We call our section WestHill and the rest the habtube or hab. Since the city started on WestHill, why don’t we call it that? We can call the hab Tin Can City, like everyone on WestHill,” Paraiso said, sparking laughter at the mention of Tin Can. She suggested if they liked Latin, they could call the City Occidens Collis or just Collis.
Long-time HabTube 1 resident Alphonsus Stephanus argued that there was little need to change the name as people could continue calling it whatever they like.
“Since Urbs Vallis only appears on official documents and vehicles, there doesn’t seem to be much need to make any changes,” said long-time HabTube 1 resident Alphonsus Stephanus, who was among the first generation of Martians. “We could save the time and resources on the signage. But I’m partial to Latin names, since that’s what my parents called me.”
Second generation Martian Belinda Patel simply stood and sang out “Tithonia, Tithonia,” in a lovely alto, and when the applause stopped, said, “See, it sounds better. You can’t sing Urbs like that.”
With that, the council decided to return to the issue in mid-July, assuring the crowd they would provide plenty of notice.
Searchers reach beacon deep in Xanthe Terra cavern
No word from missing crew, Marsquake?
ORSON WELLES, June 51 - Searchers have passed a relay beacon set by an overdue survey crew that entered a deep Shalbatana Vallis cavern about 30 sols ago, but have not yet made contact with the crew of six explorers, Survey Mars said Monday.
The relay beacon had been placed by the missing crew of six nearly half a kilometer below the surface in a large domed cavern that leads into two tube-like caverns, Survey Mars Chief Ian Kuyper said.
“Other tunnels feed into those, and it’s not clear which direction the survey tractor ultimately chose. They went in and out of each of them,” Kuyper said. “The search crew has to follow the tracks into each tunnel and that takes time. It’s a bit of a maze.”
The missing survey crew, led by experienced Chief Eustace Saint-Lazare, has not sent a distress signal since they entered the caverns June 20, Kuyper said.
Survey Mars has been coordinating with the Orson Welles Council on identifying survey equipment and crews that may be called in to aid in the search if necessary.
“That’s a precaution. The equipment is nearby, but tt’s not unusual for survey crews to go silent for a week or two,” Kuyper said. “They’re exploring.”
Separately, an independent Welles-based research and survey engineer said a moderate marsquake centered beneath the caverns occurred June 35, or 15 sols after the crew entered the underground complex.
While Survey Mars had not detected the quake, it said that was not definitive.
“It’s small enough that you might not even notice if the tractor was moving,’ the Welles engineer said, “but if you were right on top of it, it would get your attention,” the engineer said.
The 2.7 temblor was centered within the same areas of the caverns though it was not clear how close the missing crew may have been, the engineer said.
“Those caverns have been there literally for eons,” the engineer said, “but they’re not all stable. Just because they haven’t moved in the last hundred million years or so, doesn’t mean they won’t.”
Ius rejects call to halt Geryon expansion
Project needs no City support
IUS CHASMA, June 48 - The Ius Chasma council formally rejected City demands that they halt the Geryon Montes expansion project.
“They’re exceeding whatever authority they think they have,” Ius Councillor Seamus Mitsutomi said at Wednesday's meeting. “We clearly have the right to expand our habitable space in accordance with our projected needs. Our farms keep expanding. We have more people and they need places to live.
The expansion project, which includes farms and housing built into the north wall of Geryon Montes, requires no support whatsoever from the City, Mitsutomi said.
The Geryon Montes project would provide living space for up to 10,000 people in addition to the 45,000 already living here and more than adequate farming space to support them.
City Council President Claude Paddingbury repeated his previous statement that the City has jurisdiction over the entire Valles Marineris.
“If they do not stop, we will take all necessary action to ensure they do,” Paddingbury said.
City demands answers in Noctis rambler incident
Rambler didn’t learn to lope
LABYRINTHIA, June 42 - The Urbs Vallis Council is demanding that Noctis officials provide more detailed information and perform a rigorous investigation into the man found on the Labyrinth border near Areas Port, a Noctis official said.
“Our initial investigation strongly suggests that the man was victim of vigilantes who set him on foot more than 40km from any facilities,” City Councillor Karina Hermetta said Tuesday. She declined to provide further information.
A Noctis official said the local council was satisfied that the man, who it said had recently traveled to Noctis from the City and was working as a casual laborer, was solely responsible for the incident.
A long-time Noctis resident and surveyor, who declined to be identified said the man had been found in possession of four surface suits that belonged to other people.
“Spare surfsuits are the difference between life and death outside. The theft of four suits could have killed four people in an emergency, two of them children in this case,” the surveyor said. “We take that seriously in Noctis. We spend a lot of time outside. He got off lightly. And besides that, if he’d bothered to learn the Mars lope, he’d have made it to Ares Port.”
Contract Chaos - Farm Hand
URBS VALLIS, June 50 - The City Labor Council rejected a request for early contract termination by an agriculturist who said he’d been assigned duties more appropriate to a ‘farm hand” than a scientist.
Leopold Geblowen, an agricultural engineer whose contract ends in January 102, said he had been regularly assigned duties of a more menial than research or scientific nature since arriving in July 99.
“I understand agricultural involves soil, but I’m spending more of my time moving dirt than improving vegetable varieties which is my specialty,” Geblowen argued. “I could be adding a lot more value for the City.”
The council rejected the request, citing the “all other duties” clause in the standard transportation and labor contract.
- Mirihi Merced
Arrivals
It's close Private scout-class explorer Boudicca, captained by Candor Chasma-born Attracta O’Ceileachair, radios that she expects to reach the Mars Carousel by July 10. Her sister Electra O’Ceileachair, promises to reach the orbital first. The two explorers are returning from their 2-annos journey through asteroid belt first week of July.
Calendar
Coprates Tractor Swap opens Saturday July 4
Dust off your boots and get ready, the Corprates Chasma Tractor Swap begins Saturday, July 4, in the fair grounds under the Chandrasekar dome .
The swap features all the gear you might need, or crave, from the latest surface suits to drill bits, borers, power pods, environmental machinery and, of course, tractors.
A favorite event is the classic tractor parade, which is likely to kick up a lot of dust, with vehicles ranging from scout rovers to top line survey trucks.
The Swaps concludes with the finale of the famed Vandi robot rover rally, a 25 km race across the crater limited to remotely driven vehicles less than 2m in length.
And don't miss the song fest showcasing the best singers and musicians this side of Saturn. Dance fans can kick up their boots with line dances or enjoy the Raas and Garba dance and musical performances, featuring two ensembles.
"It's a chance to get together with old friends, meet new ones, enjoy the food and dancing, and just have a lot of fun," says Marcia Charettier, who says she's been running the show for aeons.
Mellas mulls water mining project
The Melas Chasma Council is expected to vote on a proposal Thursday July 9 to undertake a deep water mining project in the deepest part of the chasma and the planet. The project will involve drilling to ‘significant depths” in a basin with ancient lakebed sediments near the southern rim of the chasma.
Books our parents brought from home
The Tithonia Museum is hosting an exhibition of some of the many hundreds of paper books that immigrants to Mars brought on their 500 million km journey to their new home. A few donors will tell the stories that the books tell about their family journeys Saturday July 4 at noon. Bring the children. The exhibit runs through end-July. WestHill Terrace 12
Jezero! Adventure threedee of exploration on the shores of an ancient sea. Stage 3. Hab 1. Terrace 8 July 2-7, 18:00, 20:00, 22:00
Mozart Horn Concertos Marineris Hall. WestHill Terrace 4. Friday-Sunday 20:00, July 3-5
Geryon Pub Crawl. Home brews brewed at home. Geryon Agora. Saturday July 4 17:00,
City Social. Mix and mingle with new arrivals and old hands. Hab 2. Terrace 4, by Tithonia Gardens. Every Friday 17:00
- Merry Grace, lifestyle correspondent
The Chaos Courier helps you over the rough spots.
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AG ENGINEERS Hydroponics, aeroponics. Ex-contract only. IUS 278-71892
TUTORS. All subjects for all ages, part-time. Must travel. NOCTIS 260 10610
SPACE CAMP. Get ready for orbital work. 8 annos and up. ARES PORT 268 00910
RAAS / GARBA Dance performers for new troupe. COPRATES 295 45788
BALLROOM DANCING Let's Rumba! URBS 269 49144
MARTIAL ARTS. Conditioning and confidence. Weighted and natural. GERYON 278 71435
YOGA. Get the kinks out. IUS 278-43256
Next - Sunday 5 July 101 (Issue 05)
The header photo is the iconic mosaic of the Valles Marineris hemisphere of Mars from 2,500 km above the surface taken by the Viking Orbiter. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)
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Photomosaic: Viking Orbiter: NASA/JPL-Caltech