A meeting for vendors and craft persons who specialize in locally produced merchandise and are interested in participating in the Transfer Day Trade Fair will be held at 3 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 28 at the Office of the Administrator, at the old Department of Law complex facing Government Hill and Hotel 1829.
Transfer Day 2001 is Saturday, March 31 and local planned activities include a ceremony on the grounds of the Legislature's Capitol Building, followed by music and performances in Emancipation Garden. A Danish-U.S. trade fair will be organized on Main Street, which will be closed to vehicles that day.
The theme for Transfer Day is "Bridging the Gap Between Generations." Public and private school bands and many youth groups will perform.
For more information call 774-0001, ext. 4342.

The Friends of the Virgin Islands National Park will host a seminar, "Traditional West Indian Cooking," from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, March 17 at the historical Annaberg Plantation, St. John.
Park ranger Denise Georges will show how to prepare Seafood Calalloo using traditional techniques. This dish is customarily prepared on New Year's Eve to ensure strength and health throughout the new year.
The seminar fee is $25, payable in advance and the class size will be limited to 12 people.
Participants will meet at the Annaberg Planatation cookhouse.
Each year the Friends of the Park offers a series of seminars, beginning in December and running through May. The seminars are intended to educate and inform visitors to St. John, as well as island residents, about the natural resources of this unique area. Seminar leaders are acknowledged experts in their respective fields and all proceeds go to support park programs.
Reservations must be made in advance. To sign up or find out more about the seminars call the Friends office at (340) 779-4940. After the reservation is made check or credit card information must be received within two weeks but not less than one week prior to the class.

The Friends of the Virgin Islands Parks will host a Seiben-Mollendahl Botany Hike from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, March 31 beginning at the Park Visitor's Center.
This long hike into a little-visited part of St. John is surprisingly easy, with few steep climbs. Excellent examples of moist and dry native forests are interspersed with a number of seldom-seen ruins of both the plantation era and the 20th century.
Guide Eleanor Gibney will take the group to visit the most recent land addition to the Park. Purchased by the Friends in 2000, this is one of several important small inholdings in this remote section of the island.
Participants are asked to bring their lunch, sunscreen, and a hat. The seminar fee is $30 and is limited to 20 people.
Each year the Friends of the Park offers a series of seminars, beginning in December and running through May.
These seminars are intended to educate and inform visitors to St. John, as well as island residents,about the natural and cultural resources of this unique area. Seminar leaders are acknowledged experts in their respective fields and all proceeds go to support park programs.
Reservations must be made in advance. To sign up or find out more about the seminars call the Friends office at (340) 779-4940. After the reservation is made check or credit card information must be received within two weeks but not less than one week prior to the class.

It's a far cry and three decades since Sen. Roosevelt David was doing Elvis Presley impersonations in his native Nevis, but he says that's how he got his start in politics. Sort of.
In high school, the third-term senator says, at the age of about 16, he got together with some other students and organized talent shows for the school and the community. "We wrote our own plays," he recalls, pausing to remove his glasses. "Actually, I did an Elvis Presley imitation," he admits, putting the specs back on and becoming more senatorial.
"Maybe I was always in politics but didn't know it," he reflects. "I always wanted to know what was happening around me. After Nevis, I organized other groups when I moved to St. John."
David made that move when he was 20 years old, after the death of his mother and on the advice of his older brother John, who helped him get a job at the local drugstore, the V.I. Apothecary, which he eventually bought. But that came years later.
Soon after settling on St. John, he took part in forming the Pioneers Benevolent Society, a group which raised money for scholarships, recognized local people for their contributions to the community, bought toys at Christmas, and had fun at a big picnic at Thanksgiving. "At the time," David says, "I didn't view that effort as politics. I didn't have a clue."
David is serious about his lawmaking job and about the community getting a fair shake economically. He credits this perspective to his banking background, which started inauspiciously one day on St. John through the efforts of Valentino McBean.
One day McBean walked into the drugstore "and invited me out to lunch," David remembers. "I'd never seen him before … I didn't know a thing about banking – I was planning to become a pharmacist."
McBean, it turned out, had other plans. He had heard of David through friends and decided the bright young man could go far in the banking industry. His hunch proved right, and David went on to have a 20-year career in banking, earning several accounting and banking certificates. He and McBean, now president of Banco Popular de Puerto Rico's regional operations, remain close friends.
Addressing an under-represented constituency
Before making his first, and successful, run for the legislature, David served as Gov. Roy L. Schneider's special assistant for business affairs. In that post, he says, he came across some eye-opening situations that prompted him to run for a Senate seat.
"I recognized a cross-section of the community that I didn't think was well represented. I saw Eastern Caribbean people and grass-roots people I believed to be trampled, so I decided to do something about that."
David had been involved earlier been in the St. Thomas Association of Caribbean Organizations. "At the time, I couldn't understand why so many candidates with excellent qualities for senators, but not born here, weren't getting elected," he says. "A lot of naturalized people just didn't realize how powerful their vote was."
A secretary comes in with a friendly greeting, bringing David interview material. "We have a short staff now, but they are very, very good," the now-minority bloc senator says. Suggesting the admiration is mutual, a Valentine balloon and fuzzy toy, presents from his staff, are prominently displayed in the office, which has a lived-in look with lots of plants and family photographs.
David the family man, as opposed to David the politician, has been married for 30 years to the former Ileta Penn of Tortola, with whom he has two children, Lisa and Roosevelt Jr. His wife runs the family-owned St. John Drug Center in Cruz Bay, Roosevelt Jr. runs the family rental-car business on St. John, and Lisa is finishing college on the U.S. mainland.
In August of 1999, David the politician announced his intention to cut his staff back to a four-day week and to reduce his own salary in response to the government's financial squeeze. He did cut some of the staff to part-time, he says, but his request to the Finance Department to reduce his salary was ignored. Last month, when Sen. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg said publicly that he wished to take a pay cut, Senate President Almando "Rocky" Liburd responded that it would be illegal.
For David as a minority senator, reducing his staff in the 24th Legislature to four involved terminating his former chief of staff, Tom Dunn. It was an action he didn't want to take, David says, but in terms of funds he had no choice.
Leading the way to ‘creative financing'
One of David's greatest sources of pride is having spearheaded efforts in the 23rd Legislature for the territory to access multi-millions of dollars in federal GARVEE (grant anticipation revenue vehicle) bonds. It's "creative financing" at its best, he says. The bond funds should be available sometime in March, he says, and will provide $75 million and not cost the V.I. government a dime. The bonds are leveraged by the territory's annual allocation of $12.7 million in federal highway funds.
For three decades, David notes, he has "recognized the need for St. John's Enighed Pond project. Now, this year, we will see it begin." Bond money will go to fund a Red Hook Dock terminal, the Christiansted bypass and Mon Bijou projects, and road work throughout the territory – all of which have been awaiting funding for years. All that's required is "federal monitoring to make sure it gets done," David says.
David also takes pride in having co-sponsored the V.I. Economic Summit of 1999, along with Sens. Lorraine Berry and David Jones. About 150 proposals that emerged from that gathering found their way into the administration's Five Year Operating and Strategic Financial Plan. "It was a lot of hard work," David says, adding that he is "encouraged by the governor's recent appointment of Nathan Simmonds to manage the plan. I know it will go ahead."
He considers the Financial Accountability Act, which he co-sponsored, another high point in his career. "The act created an attrition program called Two for One which mandates the executive branch to fill only 50 percent of the positions left vacant by retirees," he notes. "It has saved the government $33 million in payroll over one year."
While not a member of the Senate majority, David, was appointed to majority Sen. Adelbert Bryan's Committee on Economic Development, Agriculture and Consumer Protection. "To his credit," David says, "Bryan recognized I could make a contribution."
However, he was not pleased by Bryan's Feb. 16 press conference called to discuss the hiring by Bryan and Sen. Alicia "Chucky" Hansen of radio talk-show host Mario Moorhead. "I have no respect for that press conference," David states, "It was a smokescreen."
High hopes for micro-credit business loans
Leaning across his desk, David informs his interviewer: "I have a major, major announcement for small business people. I have gotten a commitment from a world-class institution to come up with the funds for small loans to help small businesses – what we call micro-credit."
The loans, he says, "will be for people who have a good banking proposal and would like to get into business but simply don't have the capital." With "a commitment to work it out with an institution here," he says, "I'm working with the administration to get the Government Development Bank up and running, because this would be the ideal vehicle from which loans could be originated and generated. If not, we would have to use a commercial bank."
The Government Development Bank is foundering at the moment, he says: "It was designed to help small local business through public funds, but it isn't pro
perly structured; it doesn't have a full complement of board members."
Under his micro-credit plan, the agency would make loans of $25,000 to $150,000 without all the red tape and paperwork normally required. "As a banker, I was always frustrated by the paperwork and the collateral expected," he says. With low interest rates, "We want to be able to help business people who are hanging on by a hair." He says he will announce the plan publicly as soon as details are finalized with officers of the lending institution.
David has an upbeat attitude about being a part of the Senate minority this term, after previously having been in the majority. "The issue at hand is what determines how the vote goes," he says. "I think the community is becoming more aware of what's taking place. The minority has an aggressive agenda that surrounds economic development; even though we don't have the number of votes to get legislation passed, we are going to be reaching out to the community to make sure its influence is felt in the Senate."

It's a far cry and three decades since Sen. Roosevelt David was doing Elvis Presley impersonations in his native Nevis, but he says that's how he got his start in politics. Sort of.
In high school, the third-term senator says, at the age of about 16, he got together with some other students and organized talent shows for the school and the community. "We wrote our own plays," he recalls, pausing to remove his glasses. "Actually, I did an Elvis Presley imitation," he admits, putting the specs back on and becoming more senatorial.
"Maybe I was always in politics but didn't know it," he reflects. "I always wanted to know what was happening around me. After Nevis, I organized other groups when I moved to St. John."
David made that move when he was 20 years old, after the death of his mother and on the advice of his older brother John, who helped him get a job at the local drugstore, the V.I. Apothecary, which he eventually bought. But that came years later.
Soon after settling on St. John, he took part in forming the Pioneers Benevolent Society, a group which raised money for scholarships, recognized local people for their contributions to the community, bought toys at Christmas, and had fun at a big picnic at Thanksgiving. "At the time," David says, "I didn't view that effort as politics. I didn't have a clue."
David is serious about his lawmaking job and about the community getting a fair shake economically. He credits this perspective to his banking background, which started inauspiciously one day on St. John through the efforts of Valentino McBean.
One day McBean walked into the drugstore "and invited me out to lunch," David remembers. "I'd never seen him before … I didn't know a thing about banking – I was planning to become a pharmacist."
McBean, it turned out, had other plans. He had heard of David through friends and decided the bright young man could go far in the banking industry. His hunch proved right, and David went on to have a 20-year career in banking, earning several accounting and banking certificates. He and McBean, now president of Banco Popular de Puerto Rico's regional operations, remain close friends.
Addressing an under-represented constituency
Before making his first, and successful, run for the legislature, David served as Gov. Roy L. Schneider's special assistant for business affairs. In that post, he says, he came across some eye-opening situations that prompted him to run for a Senate seat.
"I recognized a cross-section of the community that I didn't think was well represented. I saw Eastern Caribbean people and grass-roots people I believed to be trampled, so I decided to do something about that."
David had been involved earlier been in the St. Thomas Association of Caribbean Organizations. "At the time, I couldn't understand why so many candidates with excellent qualities for senators, but not born here, weren't getting elected," he says. "A lot of naturalized people just didn't realize how powerful their vote was."
A secretary comes in with a friendly greeting, bringing David interview material. "We have a short staff now, but they are very, very good," the now-minority bloc senator says. Suggesting the admiration is mutual, a Valentine balloon and fuzzy toy, presents from his staff, are prominently displayed in the office, which has a lived-in look with lots of plants and family photographs.
Davis the family man, as opposed to David the politician, has been married for 30 years to the former Ileta Penn of Tortola, with whom he has two children, Lisa and Roosevelt Jr. His wife runs the family-owned St. John Drug Center in Cruz Bay, Roosevelt Jr. runs the family rental-car business on St. John, and Lisa is finishing college on the U.S. mainland.
In August of 1999, David the politician announced his intention to cut his staff back to a four-day week and to reduce his own salary in response to the government's financial squeeze. He did cut some of the staff to part-time, he says, but his request to the Finance Department to reduce his salary was ignored. Last month, when Sen. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg said publicly that he wished to take a pay cut, Senate President Almando "Rocky" Liburd responded that it would be illegal.
For David as a minority senator, reducing his staff in the 24th Legislature to four involved terminating his former chief of staff, Tom Dunn. It was an action he didn't want to take, David says, but in terms of funds he had no choice.
Leading the way to ‘creative financing'
One of David's greatest sources of pride is having spearheaded efforts in the 23rd Legislature for the territory to access multi-millions of dollars in federal GARVEE (grant anticipation revenue vehicle) bonds. It's "creative financing" at its best, he says. The bond funds should be available sometime in March, he says, and will provide $75 million and not cost the V.I. government a dime. The bonds are leveraged by the territory's annual allocation of $12.7 million in federal highway funds.
For three decades, David notes, he has "recognized the need for St. John's Enighed Pond project. Now, this year, we will see it begin." Bond money will go to fund a Red Hook Dock terminal, the Christiansted bypass and Mon Bijou projects, and road work throughout the territory – all of which have been awaiting funding for years. All that's required is "federal monitoring to make sure it gets done," David says.
David also takes pride in having co-sponsored the V.I. Economic Summit of 1999, along with Sens. Lorraine Berry and David Jones. About 150 proposals that emerged from that gathering found their way into the administration's Five Year Operating and Strategic Financial Plan. "It was a lot of hard work," David says, adding that he is "encouraged by the governor's recent appointment of Nathan Simmonds to manage the plan. I know it will go ahead."
He considers the Financial Accountability Act, which he co-sponsored, another high point in his career. "The act created an attrition program called Two for One which mandates the executive branch to fill only 50 percent of the positions left vacant by retirees," he notes. "It has saved the government $33 million in payroll over one year."
While not a member of the Senate majority, David, was appointed to majority Sen. Adelbert Bryan's Committee on Economic Development, Agriculture and Consumer Protection. "To his credit," David says, "Bryan recognized I could make a contribution."
However, he was not pleased by Bryan's Feb. 16 press conference called to discuss the hiring by Bryan and Sen. Alicia "Chucky" Hansen of radio talk-show host Mario Moorhead. "I have no respect for that press conference," David states, "It was a smokescreen."
High hopes for micro-credit business loans
Leaning across his desk, David informs his interviewer: "I have a major, major announcement for small business people. I have gotten a commitment from a world-class institution to come up with the funds for small loans to help small businesses – what we call micro-credit."
The loans, he says, "will be for people who have a good banking proposal and would like to get into business but simply don't have the capital." With "a commitment to work it out with an institution here," he says, "I'm working with the administration to get the Government Development Bank up and running, because this would be the ideal vehicle from which loans could be originated and generated. If not, we would have to use a commercial bank."
The Government Development Bank is foundering at the moment, he says: "It was designed to help small local business through public funds, but it isn't pro
perly structured; it doesn't have a full complement of board members."
Under his micro-credit plan, the agency would make loans of $25,000 to $150,000 without all the red tape and paperwork normally required. "As a banker, I was always frustrated by the paperwork and the collateral expected," he says. With low interest rates, "We want to be able to help business people who are hanging on by a hair." He says he will announce the plan publicly as soon as details are finalized with officers of the lending institution.
David has an upbeat attitude about being a part of the Senate minority this term, after previously having been in the majority. "The issue at hand is what determines how the vote goes," he says. "I think the community is becoming more aware of what's taking place. The minority has an aggressive agenda that surrounds economic development; even though we don't have the number of votes to get legislation passed, we are going to be reaching out to the community to make sure its influence is felt in the Senate."

In what was a physical game at the University of the Virgin Islands Sports and Fitness Center Saturday afternoon. the UVI Buccaneers beat up on the University of Puerto Rico, Carolina, winning 79-68.
The Bucs took control of the offence early in the contest. They outscored their opponents by seven points in each of the first two quarters for a 14-point lead at half time.
The Bucs shot 39 percent from the field and 53 percent in free throws. Meanwhile, their defense once again was up to the task, holding UPR, Carolina to just under 19 percent from the field. However, UPR, Carolina shot a outstanding 69 percent in free throws.
In the third quarter the physical play came to a unfortunate climax. With 1:38 remaining in the quarter UPR, Carolina's Roberto Cameron and UVI's Dashell Freeman and Kevin Abbott were all ejected for fighting. The altercation caused a 5-10 minute interruption in the game as the officials had to get the game back under control.
The third and fourth quarters were closer in the point differentials. UPR, Carolina outscored the Bucs in both of the quarters but by only two and one points respectively. UVI basically cruised to a 11 point victory.
The Bucs were led offensively by John St. Luce, who had double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Freeman was on his way to attaining consecutive double-double performances until he was ejected with 13 points and eight rebounds. For UPR, Carolina, Rubin Andujar and Jose Quinonez each had 12 points.
The Bucs improved their conference record to 3-0 and overall record to 6-3. The Bucs will face University of Puerto Rico, Utuado campus team at 8 p.m. Saturday.

In the second weekly poll conducted by the Source, voters expressed, by nearly 10 to one, their desire to see majority and minority senators get the same allotments.
Of the 342 votes cast, 302 were in favor of all 15 senators getting the same amount of money.
As of publication Senate President Almando "Rocky" Liburd had not released the exact figures on the Senate budget, though reports in January had him allotting minority bloc senators $100,000 to run their offices, compared to "$200,000-plus" for majority bloc senators — a 100 percent-plus increase. Of the 302 votes in the Source poll, only three — or 1 percent — were cast in favor of majority bloc senators getting a 100 percent increase over minority bloc senators.
Liburd in January justified the disparate allotments by saying the $100,000 for minority senators was only $70,000 less than minority senators in the 23rd Legislature received. However, Sens. Lorraine Berry and Roosevelt David said Liburd's numbers were misleading. The $170,000 allotted to minority senators in the 23rd Legislature was only for staffing. They received another $20,000 for operating expenses, widening the difference between what minority senators got in the two legislatures to $90,000.
Thirty-one votes were cast in favor of majority bloc senators getting a 25 percent increase over minority senators; six favored a 50 percent increase.
This is not intended to be a scientific poll. But as a rough gauge of how Source readers feel about issues confronting the territory, we think you will find the results interesting and worth considering — and we hope you will vote in this week's and future polls.
Poll question: Should all senators get the same allotment? If not, what should be the additional amount for majority senators?
1. Yes, they should all get the same amount.
STT(235) STX (62) STJ (5); Total (302), 88.3 percent of all respondents.
2. Majority senators should get 25 percent more.
STT (22) STX (9) STJ (0), Total (31), 9.03 percent of all respondents.
3. Majority senators should get 50 percent more.
STT (5) STX (1) STJ (0),Total (6) 1. 75 percent of all respondents.
4. Majority senators should get 100 percent more.
STT (1) STX (2) STJ (0), Total (3) .87 percent of all respondents.

The Government Employees' Retirement System invites members over 30 years of age to participate in a Pre-retirement Workshop at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 28, at the GERS Conference Room, 3005, Orange Grove, St. Croix.
Learn about your benefits: Social Security, legal rights, health insurance coverage, and much more.
For additional information or to pre-register call Mrs. Ann Forbes-Samuel at 773-5480. Seating is limited so register early. Pre-registration deadline is Tuesday, Feb. 27.

The Government Employees' System invites members over 30 years of age to participate in a Pre-retirement workshop at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 28, in the GERS Conference Room, 3005, Orange Grove, St. Croix.
Learn about your benefits: Social Security, legal rights, health insurance coverage, and much more.
For additional information or to pre-regiter call Mrs. Ann Forbes-Samuel at 773-5480. Seating is limited so register early. Pre-registration deadline is Tuesday, Feb. 27.

Teachers at two St. Croix schools staged job actions Friday to protest the Turnbull administration’s move to delay negotiated pay raises.
About 80 percent of the teachers at Elena Christian Junior High School signed out sick, while teachers at Pearl B. Larsen Elementary School staged a sit-in. Additionally, those teachers taking the job actions declined to attend Black History Month events being held at the schools.
The protests came in response to a Government House announcement earlier this week that teachers’ checks with retroactive payment included will be distributed on April 19, May 17 and May 31. That schedule, however, runs counter to the agreement made between the territory’s two chapters of the American Federation of Teachers and the administration. Under the contract, payments were to be made 30 days after ratification, which occurred at the end of December.
The administration’s chief negotiator, Karen Andrews, said she and other government officials had met on Feb. 7 with St. Thomas-St. John AFT President Glen Smith to discuss the change, but St. Croix AFT President Tyrone Molyneaux said he wasn’t aware of the new pay schedule.
Because of the lack of input from the St. Croix chapter on the pay plan, the teachers at Elena Christian and Pearl B. Larsen said the government had reneged on the contract. All the while, said Janice Rohlsen, a teacher and AFT building representative at Larsen Elementary, teachers have been keeping up their end of the bargain by being in class.
"I think we’ve been disrespected so long," Rohlsen said. "And we continue to be disrespected."
Molyneaux said the protests at the two schools were not organized by the AFT, which must give notice of any job action to the government in advance.
"I’m unaware of an organized job action taken by members of Local 1826," he said. "But I can understand and sympathize with the teachers."
The wage agreement approved by union members in December after an 18-day strike was virtually the same as one rejected in October. But in the approved version, the government upped the amount of money provided to union members in exchange for forfeiting rights to negotiate salary increases for the five previous school years.
As for the new pay schedule, Molyneaux said the government should have to pay some sort of penalty for failing to live up to its agreement.
"The government should have proposed the change and the AFT could have negotiated it," he said.
The St. Croix AFT chapter will hold a general membership meeting Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at the Educational Complex.