Dear Source:
While I am glad to hear that there are Virgin Islands tourism ads running in east coast markets, I am still very perplexed at the absence of any advertising in large Midwest markets such as Chicago.
Jamaica, the Caymans, Aruba and the Bahamas are cleaning up with their non-stop media blitz in our area. You cannot watch TV for an hour without seeing commercials for these destinations. Where are the Virgin Islands?
I own a home on St. Croix that I rent to tourists, so I am very interested in promoting the Virgin Islands. There is nothing like a cold and windy Chicago winter to get people thinking about vacations on the beach. This is a HUGE potential market, so why is nothing being done here?
Why is Gov. Charles Turnbull dragging his heels on doing anything to get the tourism industry going again? The economy is desperate for a boost and tourism is the way to provide it. The apathy of the citizens of the Virgin Islands is matched only by the frustration of those of us who can only sit by and watch the whole thing fall apart from bad decisions and even worse management.
The great majority of people I talk to here don't even know where the Virgin Islands are and that they are a U.S. territory. We have so much to offer. It is a crime that we don't promote ourselves to potential visitors.
Sue Seibel
Chicago, IL

Thanks to the federal government, drivers on St. Croix will soon see – and feel – a few less potholes.
The Department of Public Works last week began a $2.4-million project aimed at making three of the island’s main roads a little less hostile. Aloy Neilsen, director of highway engineering, said work has started to pave Route 64, just east of the airport road continuing north to Queen Mary Highway; Queen Mary Highway from the Paradise intersection to Sunny Isle; and Queen Mary Highway north through Grove Place to near the old drive-in theater.
The work includes excavation, shoulder and ditch reconditioning, placement of aggregate-base hot asphalt concrete pavement, asphalt pavement milling and other work.
The project is estimated to cost $2.4 million and is scheduled to be finished in early June.
The last large-scale road work on St. Croix was in the fall of 1999, when Public Works repaved and rebuilt most of the pothole-filled Southshore Road. That project, also federally funded, cost $5.3 million and covered more than 16 miles of road on the Big Island. Much of the work was done to accommodate the opening of the new Divi Carina Bay Resort and Casino on the east end.

A Virgin Islander living on the mainland is seeking others – either living in the territory or abroad – to help take on an Olympic-sized challenge.
Kimberly Samuel is looking for female athletes interested in the sport of rowing, Olympic sport.
"My goal is to have an Olympic rowing team from the U.S. Virgin Islands in the 2004 summer games," Samuel said.
Anyone up for the challenge or just wants more information should call (301) 422-2094 or email Samuels at quelbe28@yahoo.com.

Kent Bradbury led the men from the start Saturday to win the 15th Annual Toast-To The Captain 8.4 mile Road Race, while Theresa Harper topped the women’s field.
Bradbury won in 52 minutes and 56 seconds; Leopold Fredericks was a close second in 53:49; Jabari Goodwin was third in 61:21; Gunnar Sanden, in a quick recovery after running two marathon in one month, was fourth in 62:08; Teddy Seymour, who the race celebrated, was fifth in 71:46; Warren Stansbury was sixth in 74:11; Lucke Fredericks was seventh in 79:36 and Ray Lutz was eighth in 80:40.
Harper, fine-tuning for her March marathon, was the first female and fourth overall in 62:08 and Jo Shim was second in 73:03.
The race honors Seymour, the first Black man to sail around the world alone. He started from Frederiksted on Feb. 24, 1986 and finished at the same spot on June 19, 1987. Awards and certificates were presented by Seymour following the race near his boat docked just a few feet from the finish line in historic Christiansted.
For more information on Teddy Seymour and his voyage, log on

Rough seas are being blamed for a boating incident where five persons on board an open 12-foot dinghy had to be rescued Saturday evening from the waters off Ram's Head on the southeastern tip of St. John.
Coast Guard spokesman Chief Steven Pothier said Sunday his agency was notified at 6:03 p.m. Saturday of the incident, which left the dinghy overturned and its five occupants in the water. He said everyone was reported safe by 10 p.m. "The National Park Service went out and grabbed the five persons when the call came in," Pothier said. He said the original call said the vessel was taking on water, but later it was determined it had capsized.
Pothier said he understood the vessel came in too close to the shoreline and "got caught up in a wave which flipped the dinghy." No one was seriously injured in the incident, Pothier said.
Reportedly, the park service responded after learning that neither vessels from the Planning and Natural Resources Department nor the Police Marine Unit were available.
The National Weather Service forecast office in San Juan said strong easterly winds and rough seas will continue to make for hazardous marine conditions across the local coastal waters through Tuesday. A small craft advisory is in effect for all the local Atlantic and Caribbean coastal waters.

As freshman Sen. Douglas Canton Jr. hastily ushers in a visitor with friendly greetings, he is automatically clearing off space in the tiny cubicle he shares with Sen. Emmett Hansen II.
"Make yourself comfortable," he says, putting his attaché on the desk to retrieve his other self, his laptop computer.
Canton is a slender 44-year-old, showing a bit of gray in his goatee and smartly clad in a colorful striped cotton shirt, tie, and black jeans, with the requisite beeper on the belt. There's a suit bag on the floor, and the desk is piled with papers, some of them apparently from Wednesday night's Finance Committee meeting.
As he dismisses the desktop computer -— "it moves at about five miles an hour" —- he opens his laptop, adorned with one of his red campaign bumper stickers.
Canton was St. Croix's biggest vote-getter in last November's election, a fact he takes very seriously. "I learned from the last election, where I finished eighth," he said. "I have a mandate, a constituency to serve."What's the secret of his success? "Well, I have to tell you a little history," Canton explains. "After the last election, I didn't stop my connection with the community. A lot of people make the mistake of disappearing into the sunset after losing an election. You've got to stay in touch."
Canton says he started his campaign in January of 2000, much to the objection of some naysayers who said it was way too early. "Some of them even took bets I'd never make it," he says. "I did my homework, and I didn't start late."
The senator says his concerns focused on the youth, the elderly and people with special needs "These people need attention," Canton says, and he became a spokesperson for that constituency.
Canton says he and fellow freshman Sen. Emmett Hansen II "came into our jobs with a new perspective. We aren't going to be beholden to the system," Canton said, "We've had enough exposure through traveling and observing other governments' operations, to know that things can be drastically different."
As if on cue, Hansen appears in Canton's office holding a large cardboard carton. "I'm going back to St. Croix now, and I've got a little space left in here," he says, "Do you want to put anything of yours in?"
Canton obliges, depositing his faithful laptop in the box for Hansen to carry home for him-a kind of statement of trust between the two junior lawmakers.
Canton chairs the Committee on Health and Hospitals, which has been allocated a $15,000 budget. "In the previous Legislature, even after a $1 million budget cut, the minimum for any committee was $84,000," he said.
He has gone to the public with a "Call to Action," detailed on his Web site, canton2k.com. "The community has expectations of me, and I have expectations of the community," he says. "I want my constituents to know what's going on, and I want them to step in and say that they have a stake in the community's health, too."
The Web site encourages the general public and individual groups to write their majority senators asking them to fund the committee at a realistic level to demonstrate their commitment to good health care in the territory.
The committee budget as is, Canton explains, could never cover all committee needs. His budget director alone is paid $30,000, and the committee researcher another $30,000.
"So far, I haven't touched a cent of the $15,000," he says, "Frankly, I'm paying from my personal allotment right now so the committee won't be hamstrung in the future. We are having to depend on volunteers and creative funding."
"If you want a committee to work, you're going to have to fund it, or it won't work and you are discredited," he says, adding, "You can see the political overtones here."
Speaking of politics, Canton was one of the nine senators who recently traveled to Washington, D.C,. for President George W. Bush's inauguration ceremonies, where he spent four days meeting with health officials. Canton spent $853 of his office's allotment on airfare, and the rest came from his own pocket.
The senator had no hotel expenses in Washington, D.C. as he stayed with his sister Denise S. Canton, a U.S. Public health Service captain and a participant in the many discussions Canton held in the office of Delegate to Congress Donna Christian Christensen in the four days following the inauguration ceremonies.
The discussions focused on health and economic initiatives and strategy for increasing and sustaining health care in the territory, health care planning with primary care associations, hospitals, clinics, pharmacies and public and private health care partnerships and strategies for obtaining federal grants
Participating in the discussions included: Peter Hebert, of Winton & Straun, the government's lobbying firm; Dr. Cephus Goldman, deputy director of the U.S. Division of Community and Migrant Health Bureau of Primary Health Care; Patricia A. Stroup, director, Division of Legislation, Health Resources and Services Administration; Joanne Lee, legislative analyst, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Legislation; and V.I. Senator Vargrave Richards.
He says the territory must have a comprehensive health plan. "A plan on a territorial level is the ultimate, but certain areas have to be treated first." "For instance," he says, "there's money coming down here for HIV/AIDS, and that money has to go to the clinics in a timely manner and be reported back to the feds."
"We can't let these monies be held in abeyance, as they traditionally are," he says. "However it is set up, the system must have some degree of autonomy from executive-branch manipulation."
Canton says he wants to do a "firsthand walk-through" of the hospitals, the clinics, and the nurses' and medical organizations. "Personally, I want to get out and talk to people and get educated from them, so I'll have a better feel for what's going on." Canton says he can learn more that way, rather than going to the top administrators.
He describes an incident when he took his father to the emergency room at the Governor Juan Luis Hospital on St. Croix. "They only had one wheelchair, and it had no foot rest; they can admit people, but they don't have enough beds."
He also looks forward to more autonomy, to hospital board governance.
"There has to be a certain amount of government representation, however the board should be at least 51 percent of people who utilize the services, bona fide clients and health professionals."
One of eight children of educator and former nurse Pauline Edith Vicars Canton, and former Senator Douglas E. Canton Sr., the senator says he didn't get any political aspirations from his father. What he did get from both parents, he says, was a good, solid education with an emphasis in community involvement. He says his law career-he earned his J.D. from Howard University Law School-has made it possible for him to understand legislation, and the enforcement of legislation.
Canton does an about-face, "Have I told you about 'Cbreeze?' It's my program for kids from 10 years up to learn computers." He has a computer lab in his home where for the last five years, he has taught classes.
"The kids have to be doing well in school," he says, "or they can't stay in the program. I have to be strict with them." Canton says the kids run his Web site, keeping it up to date.
One of the things the Cbreeze kids are keeping track of on the site is a V.I. Water and Power Authority rate increase survey Canton is conducting. "I want to see exactly how much rates have increased in comparison
to the cost of fuel," he says.
Canton has both a legal and computer background. For 10 years after returning home from college in the states, he served as the Legislature's assistant legal counsel on St. Croix, where he also brought his technical expertise to bear. He joined the Management Information System to apply his computer skills.
Looking at his watch, the senator reveals a Cruzan Lock bracelet, the insignia of a true Crucian.
"The bracelet was a gift," he says with a smile. "I wear it all the time, even though it's a little small." With that, and a big parting grin, he jumps up for a 2 p.m. appointment on Leona Bryant's Radio One talk show. Suddenly, he turns serious, "Remember me in your prayers," he says.

Recent tourism figures paint a contrasting picture of the industry in the V.I., with Bureau of Economic Research statistics showing a surge in visitors in 2000. But hoteliers insist that has not translated into more overnight stays and that the room tax hike approved by Gov. Charles W. Turnbull will be "devastating," costing them hundreds of thousands of dollars in the coming months.
According to the bureau, now part of the V.I. executive branch, air arrivals were up by 12.4 percent in 2000, while cruise-ship passenger arrivals grew by 26 percent.
But the St. Thomas-St. John Hotel Association said in a statement Friday that several hotels indicate business is slowing. Carter Donovan, Ritz-Carlton general manager, cited some shocking figures.
"At our recent regional meeting it was stated that new group and incentive business is down 51 percent, and transient business travel is down by 60 percent," she said. "Our customers are more value-conscious, and both companies and their employees are looking at every dollar being spent."
In its statement, the association said it had been unable to find out from different government agencies when the tax hike will go into effect. But if it takes effect anytime before June 1, the effects, the association said, will be "devastating."
Richard Doumeng, president of the St. Thomas-St. John Hotel Association, made a "conservative estimate" that the tax hike will cost members on the two islands about $100,000. St. Croix Hotel Association president Wendell Snider said this tourist season is already running behind last year's and the tax increase will only make things worse.
The increase in the room tax here, from 8 percent to 10 percent, makes it the highest such rate in the Caribbean apart from Mexico, according to the Caribbean Hotel Association. Only the Cayman Islands and Trinidad and Tobago have comparable room tax rates. By comparison, the British Virgin Islands' room tax is 7 percent.
V.I. government officials insist that if the number of visitors drops and tourism suffers, the culprit will be continued high airfares, not the room tax, which they estimate will now bring in about $3 million more annually for the Tourism Revolving Fund.
The jump in the room tax particularly rankled hoteliers because it was coupled with the governor's refusal to create a semi-autonomous tourism authority. Instead, Turnbull said he will create a tourism advisory board and name its members.
Turnbull said he vetoed the tourism authority because it would vest too much power in a community board without enough public-sector involvement. He also said eliminating the Tourism Department "overnight" was not prudent and called for more study.
"It's a crime. It's a tragedy. It's illogical," Snider said earlier this week. "The governor turned his back on the hotel industry."
On Tuesday, Senate Finance Committee Chairwoman Alicia "Chucky" Hansen vowed she would seek the 10 senatorial votes needed to override the governor's actions on tourism.

All Saints Cathedral School has launched an $11 million capital development campaign, and will debut its signature event Feb. 24 – a Mardi Gras Ball.
The Anglican school opened its doors in Charlotte Amalie on Garden Street, next to the cathedral, about 50 years ago. Beginning with the lower grades, it grew until it served students from kindergarten through senior year of high school. Its alumni include many of the territory's most prominent citizens.
All Saints now teaches 473 students and that's "more kids than they can handle" at the Garden Street facility, according to Catherine L. Mills, chairman of the Capital Development Committee.
Working with the Vestry of All Saints, the School Board, the Bishop's Office and others, the committee has set out to raise enough money to build a new school, while making improvements to the existing structure. Target date for the start of construction is the end of 2002.
"It's a united effort," Mills said. "There's so much work to do in a task this large that we need help from everyone."
Help is coming not only from groups within the church and school, but from the community at large. The Hartman family started things off by donating a 6 ½-acre plot of land in the Fort Mylner area near Tutu to be the site of a new school.
"The land is absolutely breathtaking in its beauty, its quietness," Mills said.
Already, she said, All Saints has received offers of design services from Jaredian Design Group and William Karr and Associates, survey work from Brian Associates, an access road from Island Roads and office space from Lockhart Caribbean.
The committee is looking for major grantors but also will sponsor three major fund-raisers per year, Mills said. It already held its first fund-raiser in December, a Karoke Night. The third event remains unannounced.
The upcoming Mardi Gras is meant to be the centerpiece in more ways than one. The sponsors hope it will become a highlight on the community's social calender after this introductory year.
The dinner-dance will be Feb. 24 at Wyndham Sugar Bay Resort. In keeping with the Mardi Gras theme, guests are encouraged to wear costumes and/or masks. P'Your Passion will entertain and dinner will be New Orleans style. Tickets are $100 and can be purchased at Draughting Shaft, Petite Pump Room, Sunrise Pharmacy in Red Hook and the All Saints school office.

Pianist Terrence Wilson, known as one of today's most gifted young instrumentalists, will perform at 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 14, at Tillett Gardens.
Wilson has appeared with major orchestras around the country, including Atlanta, San Francisco, Baltimore, Colorado and Houston. He has collaborated with conductors Yoel Levi, Andrew Litton, Marin Alsop, Neeme Jarvi and Christoph Eschenbach.
For ticket information call 775-1929, or tickets are on sale at the Tillett Gardens Art Gallery. Tickets can be purchased for concert seating in the garden, or a dinner and concert package is available.

Gov. Charles Turnbull on Friday nominated the former president of the St. Croix Federation of Teachers, Cecil Benjamin, as the next commissioner of Labor.
Along with heading the St. Croix teachers' union, Benjamin was the chief negotiator for both the St. Croix and St. Thomas AFT chapters. He will take over as acting commissioner from John Sheen, who has been in charge since Sonia Jacobs Dow stepped down as commissioner in October.
Dow resigned amid criticism from employees within Labor as well as Sen. Roosevelt David, the 23rd Legislature’s chairman of the Labor and Veterans Affairs Committee. The department’s management of workers' compensation and other divisions has been under scrutiny because of complaints from customers as well as from Labor employees.
Dow also was criticized by Sen. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg, among others, for the department’s failure to monitor employment practices at the Virgin Islands Telephone Corp.
Benjamin has a Bachelor of Science degree from Inter-American University and a Masters in Education from Temple University. He was born in Guyana and is married to Ferryneisa Benjamin. The couple has two children.