The first meeting of the new school year of the Charlotte Amalie High School Parent Teacher Students Association will be at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 18, in the Ruth E. Thomas Auditorium.
Parents and guardians are invited and encouraged to attend.

Sept. 12, 2001 – Mail and package delivery is another casualty in the terrorist attacks on the New York World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The Federal Aviation Administration has mandated that when commercial planes start flying again, they will not carry mail and packages.
Postmaster Louis A. Jackson said that the last first-class mail delivery arrived around 8:30 a.m. Sept. 11.
"We usually get three or four shipments each day," Jackson said.
First-class mail shipments will not resume until the mandate is lifted. However, Jackson said fourth-class mail — magazines, catalogues and parcel post packages — is continuing to arrive as usual via ship.
Those items are being delivered at the post office and by letter carriers.
Jackson said first-class, priority and express mail as well as packages will continue to be delivered between St. Thomas and St. John because they are shipped by barge. However, those items sent between St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix cannot be shipped because the planes are not flying.
"But we’re looking at the logistics to see if we can do this by boat," he said.
The Postal Service is exploring the feasibility of shipping first-class mail here by boat, but Jackson cautioned that it would not be a decision made locally.
He anticipated postal workers would work non-stop from now to Christmas to deal with the backup as well as the holiday rush once mail starts arriving by plane again.
Jackson said stores were already receiving shipments of goods planned for sale this winter when the airports closed.
St. John businesswoman Lonnie Willis said that Virgin Islanders are used to mail interruptions when hurricanes hit so this will not be a major catastrophe.

There will be an important meeting for all bands interested in participating in the 2002 Carnival Band-O-Rama at 6 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 17, at the Carnival Office on lower Kronprindsens Gade.
For additional information contact Margaret Moore, Music Committee Chairperson at 714-2088.

There will be a general meeting of the Virgin Islands Carnival Committee at 6 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 14, at the headquarters.
Make every effort to attend and on time.

There will be an important meeting for all bands interested in participating in the 2002 Carnival Band-O-Rama at 6 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 17, at the Carnival Committee Office on lower Kronprindsens Gade.
For additional information contact Margaret Moore, Music Committee Chairperson at 714-2088.

There will be a general meeting of the Virgin islands Carnival Committee at 6 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 14, at the headquarters.
Make every effort to attend.

The VIDAC will conduct a public forum on election reform from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m on Saturday, Sept. 15, at Windward Passage Hotel.
Wanda Mills will act as moderator of this important forum that will have on the panel Supervisor of Elections John Abramson; State Chair of the Democratic Party Attorney Arturo Watlington, Jr; President of the Caribbean Democratic Alliance Club Mr. Woodrow C. Green; Assistant Attorney General Delia Smith; former Senator Arnold Golden; Attorney Maxwell McIntosh and political scientists Paul Leary and Malik Sekou.

Sept. 12, 2001 – As residents across the territory watched the World Trade Center and Pentagon carnage unfold on television Tuesday, bomb threats on St. Thomas and St. John added to the concerns of local safety and security forces.
An employee at a Scotia Bank office on St. Thomas received a call at 1:12 p.m. Tuesday saying there was a bomb in the building, according to Deputy Police Chief Theodore Carty. Police evacuated the building but found no bomb, he said.
Calls to police and Scotia Bank to find out which branch received the call were not returned.
On St. John, students at Guy Benjamin School were evacuated after an employee received a bomb threat at 1:19 p.m. Again, police found no bomb.
Carty noted that making crank calls in a serious charge, particularly during a time of heightened security such as the current one. He asked residents to call 911 if they have any information on who may have placed the calls.

It is hard to communicate what I am feeling about the terrorist attacks and their aftermath because it still feels like a bad dream. The more details that come out about the "how" and "why" actually serve to further add to my disbelief.
I live blocks away from the White House and can walk to the Capitol. I chose this neighborhood to live close to my school and my job (off-hill advocacy). To think that some individuals see these locations as simply targets and have no regard for the people that live and work in and around these areas is inhuman.
The terrorists did not hit the World Trade Center or the Pentagon. They hit thousands of people, a few of whom I know intimately. They are my family, my friends from schools, and my colleagues. It is hard to believe someone you have never met can kill you so easily.
This morning [Wednesday], as we attempt to get on with our lives, our landscape is changed. On the path of my habitual 10-minute walk to work, there are Hummers, military police, firefighters and ambulances waiting to avert any possible future attack. They are there to protect us, but their presence serves as a reminder that it can happen again.
To the terrorists, we are no longer residents of these cities who live, work and enjoy our lives; we are strategic targets. How insane that someone can strip you of your humanity by virtue of your work address!
Today, I will again attempt to locate family and friends. To my knowledge, all communication has resumed in both D.C. and New York City. Yesterday, I tried to reach all my friends and family but had only marginal success. I made a particular effort to locate my friends in D.C.
Most of the people who live in the federal district are from all over the country and the world who came to work in the nation's capital. Few of them have family here, so close friends have to serve in that capacity. I have accounted for everyone I wanted to reach except for two individuals.
Although, it is the people of D.C. and N.Y.C. who felt the close impact of what happened on Sept. 11, 2001, it is all of us who have been affected. For those of us who live in this great nation, a sense of security will be hard to restore, even after we rebuild.

Editor's note: Kris Benjamin, a Washington, D.C., resident, is the daughter of Cheryl Thomas and Elmo Benjamin, both born and raised in the Virgin Islands. She attended the Dober and Sts. Peter and Paul Schools and later took classes at the University of the Virgin Islands; she returns to the territory as often as she can.
We welcome and encourage readers to keep the dialogue going by responding to Source commentary. Letters should be e-mailed with name and place of residence to source@viaccess.net.

Sept. 12, 2001 – Following are excerpts from statements issued Wednesday by V.I. public officials in response to the terrorist attacks on the U.S. mainland Tuesday.
Sen. Lorraine Berry:
An act of war has been perpetrated against our country and every one of us should be concerned where this unprecedented aggression will lead our nation.
This is one of the saddest days in our history. Our hearts, our minds should be occupied with a special prayer that our leaders be endowed with divine wisdom as they determine how best to respond to this act of war.
This is the first time [in the history of] the United States — outside of the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 — that an allegedly foreign nation has visited this type of aggression upon our soil.
We see how small this world is, making us really our brothers' keepers … This initial attack may be followed by many more. Whether we flood our churches or remain at home or at our workplace, these are times for prayer and for divine guidance.
Frank Savage, British Virgin Islands governor:
As neighbors with close family ties and kinship with the United States Virgin Islands, your grief is our grief and your sorrow is our sorrow. In the difficult days and weeks ahead, you can be assured of our prayers and support.
LaVerne E. Ragster, UVI senior vice president and provost, on behalf of UVI President Orville Kean:
The University of the Virgin Islands joins the nation and the world in mourning the many people who lost their lives or were injured in Tuesday's horrendous attacks. We extend our sympathy and our compassion to those who have lost friends and family members and to those who may not yet know the fate of their loved ones.
We as an institution are in agreement with President George W. Bush that the way to lessen the impact of such senseless violence is for us to continue with our normal activities. Toward that end, all classes on both campuses will continue as usual.
On the St. Thomas campus, we are asking that faculty, staff and students adhere to all parking restrictions imposed as a result of heightened security near the Cyril E. King Airport control tower.
In order to allow for an exchange of factual information and to promote the healing process that is necessary, assemblies will be held Thursday on both campuses. The St. Croix assembly will take place at noon in the cafetorium. The St. Thomas assembly will be at 1 p.m. in room B110 of the Business Administration Building.
Faculty members are asked to encourage students to attend the meetings and to invite them to take advantage of counseling services provided on both campuses. The university encourages its students, faculty and staff to view Tuesday's events with the level of seriousness and tolerance appropriate for a civilized society as we learn more in the days to come.