registration process to representatives from a community college in St. Lucia.

The Sir Arthur Lewis Community College representatives' major mission was to learn how the college had managed to significantly improve its information systems environment while dramatically reducing the systems' cost.

And the visit was also expected to offer an opportunity for Beverley Josie, the registrar from the St. Lucian college, to meet with Bermuda College registrar Sandy Crick to discuss the local registration process.

Bermuda College has implemented "thin client computing'' this year in a move which has taken the institution from an individualised PC (personal computer) environment to a centralised system where each user has access to Windows 2000, Lotus Notes for e-mail and group calendaring and standardised programs.

Authorised individuals also have remote access to the College's internal systems.

The college's director of information systems, Nick Faries, said adopting the new environment had reduced costs by about 50 percent while improving performance, reliability and usability.

He added: "The amount of time IT (information technology) staff spend performing maintenance and delivering help desk requests has been reduced from 75 percent to approximately 40 percent.

"This has also eliminated our need to outsource help desk support.'' Morton upbeat Continued from page 31 Nevertheless, Morton remained confident of his side's ability to adjust and fill the holes.

"Yes, it showed up a little bit,'' said Morton, who has installed Kofi Dill in the role of marking centre-back. "He is a miss because, one, he's been there from day one and knows what is required from our concept and what we're trying to achieve.

"But David's resting up and it's still up to the players on the field to get the job done.'' And Morton will get a chance to rectify matters with the St. John's Road club on Saturday, when the two meet in the first round of the Dudley Eve at BAA Field, having been drawn against each other for the nightcap. The first match will feature Devonshire Colts and PHC.

Bermuda remain outside the top 150 of the world's best soccer-playing nations.

The Island comes in at 153 in the latest monthly rankings issued by world soccer's governing body, FIFA.

Bermuda is sandwiched between Dominica in 152 and the Maldives in 154.

The latest standings do represent a yearly upturn in form for the Island.

This time last year Bermuda was ranked 163rd in the world.