No one has asked me as yet what I want for the new millennium, but I secretly made a wish list anyway. After all, it's the season to part with the old and make new plans, wish lists and to dream about what we would like to see in the new millennium.
Well, here is my merry wish list of items for the Virgin Islands. It is my profound wish that the new millennium bestowed these modest gifts upon all our residents.
BUSINESS GROWTH AND PROSPERITY
An exciting era of unprecedented business growth with abundant opportunities for our graduates and skilled in the private sector.
Smart economic development policies that attract technology companies and long-term investments.
A truly diversified economy that embraces the new technologies.
Thriving aquaculture and hydroponics industries.
Employers that inspire productivity, satisfaction and happiness in the workplace.
That every resident enjoys the benefits of economic prosperity.
EDUCATION ADVANCEMENT AND REFORM
An era where our teachers and educators are valued, respected, encouraged and paid well to pursue their vocations with honor, dignity, and without outside instigation.
An era of ample resources to modernize our schools and to convert them into innovative centers of learning and human development and advancement.
Schools with Internet access and online classes for every student.
A St. Croix Educational Complex renamed and reinvented as the School of Commerce and Applied Technology with ample resources and the active participation of private industry – a pleasant place where students of all ages explore careers and gain confidence and tremendous pride in themselves.
Absence of illiteracy and an interconnected community of learners with a computer in every home.
That the University of the Virgin Islands expands and creates a model Business and Technological Institute that will benefit our present and future workforce.
A refreshing approach to education that helps our students to achieve the highest scores on national tests and qualify for the finest universities of the nation.
REINVENTED GOVERNMENT
A high-performance government driven by technology, commitment, ethics, and the highest ideals of democratic governance.
A lean government staffed with our finest, brightest and most dedicated public servants.
A vibrant and intelligent government that is business-friendly and customer driven.
A government of integrated and interconnected agencies that are efficient and resourceful.
A government lead by enlightened leaders and skilled administrators that make sound decisions based on knowledge.
A disciplined and fiscally solvent government.
RELIABLE AND MODERN INFRASTRUCTURE
World-class telecommunications, reliable electrical systems, paved roads, clean water systems, and modern conveniences.
A magnificent super-port adjacent to an expanded Henry E. Rohlsen International Airport directly linking us to the world's major metropolitan centers.
An upgraded and expanded St. Thomas harbor & waterfront.
Beautifully refurbished and rebuilt towns thriving with new life and economic activity.
A well-prepared & disaster proof community.
QUALITY AND AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE
Modern hospitals and health care facilities with the best of staffing, medicine and hi-tech equipment.
Healthier and longer life spans.
PRECIOUS ENVIRONMENT
Flowers, palm trees and beautiful landscaping everywhere.
Clean streets and beaches, and the absence of sewage, garbage and pollution in our shores and land.
An intelligent balance of nature and economic growth and development.
Extensive use of recycling technologies and products.
IMPROVED NEIGHBORHOODS AND HOUSING COMMUNITIES
Rebuilt and landscaped housing communities where there is safety and pride of living and ownership.
Pleasant and safe playgrounds for children and youth.
HAPPY, PEACEFUL AND CARING COMMUNITY
A friendly, safe and secure community – ideal to live and run a business.
Absence of crime, drugs, and all forms of violence, bigotry and degradation.
Mutual cooperation and respect for individual rights and differences.
Pleasant, honest and constructive dialogue on the airwaves.
GENUINE FUTURISTS, VISIONARIES AND STRATEGIC PLANNERS TO PLOT OUR FUTURE
People who can plan and create a bright future and not mere reenactments of a dead and painful past.
RENEWED FAITH AND RECONNECTION WITH OUR MAKER AND SPIRITUALITY
With God, there is always a bright and glorious future.
Carmelo Rivera, a business consultant, lives on St. Croix.

The St. Thoomas alumnae chapter of Delta Sigma Theta sorority will hold their Founders Day luncheon at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 6, at Palms Court Harbor View.
Hhonnorees will be Darlene Petty-Carty, Donna Farrington-Phillips, Michell Rhymer, and Dino Joseph.
Tickets are available from any member of the sorority or call 775-4683 for additional information.

Dr. Jose Ortega will give an informal talk on "Southern Spain's Moorish Jewish and Christian Heritage" at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 4, at the Virgin Islands Cultural Heritage Institute.
A native of Granada, Spain, Dr. Ortega is a professor of American Civilization at the University of Granada. He has published numerous books and lectured widely on Latin American and Peninsular literature, culture and history.
Spain's Moorish Heritage is of particular interest to the people of the Virgin Islands as many family names can be traced to Spain during the rule of the Moors.

Word of Faith Christian Center will celebrate Old Year's night with Bishop Keith A. Butler via satellite at 10 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 31.
Special musical guests will be Fred Hammond and Angela Christie.
for more information call 774-8617.

A 16-year-old boy died Tuesday afternoon after what police are calling an accidental shooting at the hands of a teenage friend.
Tomasito Ledesma, 16, was shot once in the head late Monday night as he and a group of friends were gathered in an abandoned building near Ludvig Harrigan Court, said Deputy Police Chief Novelle Francis. Police and emergency medical personnel responded to a shots-fired call just after midnight. When they arrived on the scene they found Ledesma alive. He was taken to Gov. Juan F. Luis Hospital but died at 2:15 p.m. Tuesday.
Francis said that one of the teenagers in the group had a handgun and while he was showing it off it discharged and struck Ledesma. The youth in question ran away from the scene and is being sought by police, Francis said.
Meanwhile, police are investigating the death of Anthony Frasier, 37, whose body was found early Sunday morning floating near the fish market pier in Frederiksted. Frasier, an inmate at Golden Grove Correctional Facility, was due back at the prison last Friday after finishing the day at his work-release job, Francis said.
Frasier was last seen in the Estate Profit and Frederiksted areas before his body was pulled out of the water. As of Wednesday, results of an autopsy to determine Frasier’s cause of death were unavailable.
Frasier was serving a three-year sentence for receiving and disposing of a stolen vehicle. He was to be released on Dec. 19, 2000.

Friends at home and far away rallied around Rick and Robin Gallup in the hills of Estate Carolina Wednesday as they prepared to honor the life of their 19-year-old son, Brook, who died in a single-vehicle accident early Monday morning.
Rick Gallup father recalled the events of the Christmas holidays preceding the tragedy — a bright and accomplished son come home from his first semester in college, a Sunday night family dinner, and a last glance at his parents from the doorway as he left the house to go off in search of some friends with whom to pass the time.
"Then I got every parent's nightmare, a call from the clinic at 3:30 in the morning," Rick Gallup said.
The time given on the death certificate was 3:15 a.m. Monday, not long after the call to police that a Suzuki jeep had flipped over on North Shore Road near Caneel Bay Resort.
As they began preparing material to go into a pamphlet for a memorial service set for Sunday, Jan. 2, at the Maho Bay Pavilion, Gallup said, he and his wife found themselves looking at the booklet done in memory of Ruby Rutnik, a 21-year-old St. Johnian and family friend who died in a car accident three years ago while attending school in Washington, D.C.
Like Rutnik, Gallup said, his child was an avid athlete — Ruby a hot-handed softball pitcher, Brook a nationally ranked snowboarder. "He was a serious snowboarder, ranked 16th in the country nationally," his father said.
As the Gallup family made the transition from their former home in Maine to St. John's Maho Bay Campground, young Brook took up boardsailing and went on to become a windsurfing instructor.
Taking up permanent residence on St. John was a natural progression for the family, Rick Gallup recalled. "My wife and I and Brooke had been coming on and off for 10 years, and we were working the summer program." This year all three family members had made some new career beginnings: Rick acquired a sailboat and starting a charter business, Robin began a private nursing service. Brook began his first year of studies at Sierra Nevada College in Lake Taho, Nev.
For a couple of years, Brook had been working part-time during season in the food and beverage division at Caneel Bay Resort — while still at home attending high school via a home- schooling program, and this month while on break from college. He had done a double shift at Caneel on Saturday, Christmas Day. Although the fatal car accident occurred near the resort, Gallup said, his son was off work Sunday night.
The memorial service for Brook is to take place at 2 p.m. Sunday in the place where the family's ties to St. John began — at Maho Bay Campground, where Maho manager Maggie Day remembered him as a "beautiful kid." Gallup said he hoped the service would focus on the rich, full life that his son lived, and not on its sudden end.
Some friends from the home schooling program Brooke had taken part in as a high school student faxed the family a copy of a poem he once wrote. As his father read the title, there was a catch in his voice: "Ode to the Memories of Childhood."

The V.I. Bankers Association has, once again, assured the public that the banks are fully prepared for Y2K.
In a release Wednesday, Robert Haines, president of the V.I. Bankers Association, said a Gallup Poll found that nine out of ten bank customers continue to express confidence in their bank's readiness.
In the shadow of the impending change to the Year 2000, banks have been at the center of concerns about computer glitches. A large part of the concern rests on fears there will be a run on banks by customers wanting to their access cash, fearing computer chaos when the date changes.
Haines, who is the local vice president for ScotiaBank, said the Gallup survey that is being sponsored by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, "shows that as we move toward the new year, consumers are extremely confident that banks are well prepared for Y2K."
In a release earlier this month Haines said, "All of the territory's banks, both large and small, are testing and re-testing their systems to be sure that it will be business as usual during the change to 2000. Next month, next year, and everyday, the safest place for your money is in the bank."
The Gallup survey results also indicate that the public remains confident that basic payment systems will work and that people will still have access to their money. Most people polled also said they thought that automatic teller machines would work, and credit card systems and electronic direct deposit systems would function normally.
Dean Adams, a member of the Bankers Association Community Relations Committee told Radio One News that the bankers have worked hard to assure that Y2K would be a non-event.
Adams also cautioned the public not to take too much cash out of the bank for the long holiday weekend and spend it all, leaving themselves short for repaying Christmas bills.
The Community Relations Committee has offered these tips for Virgin Islands bank customers.
They are:
1. Stay informed. Read the Y2K information your bank sends you.
2. If you don't already, keep your bank statements and records of your transactions, particularly the months just before the date change.
3. If you bank on-line, make sure your computer is Y2K compliant. Most computer and software manufacturers have extensive Websites on their products' readiness. Keep a back-up disk of your records.
4. Avoid scam artists who offer to "hold" your money through the date change. The safest place for your money is in the bank.
5. During the date change, take out only as much cash, as you would need for any long holiday weekend. If you feel you need more, your bank will be ready.

UVI, through its Virgin Islands University Affiliated Program, is offering an American Sign Language Interpreters Training course beginning January 12.
Registration is from 4 to 6 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 7 in Room T114 on the UVI campus.
Classes will be held Mondays and Fridays from 5:30 to 6:45 p.m.
Call Olga Santos at 693-1189 for further information.

The V.I. Bankers Association has, once again, assured the public that the banks are fully prepared for Y2K.
In a release Wednesday, Robert Haines, president of the V.I. Bankers Association, said a Gallup Poll found that nine out of 10 bank customers continue to express confidence in their bank's readiness.
In the shadow of the impending change to the Year 2000, banks have been at the center of concerns about computer glitches. A large part of the concern rests on fears there will be a run on banks by customers wanting access to their cash, fearing computer chaos when the date changes.
Haines, the local vice president for Scotiabank, said the Gallup survey that is being sponsored by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., "shows that as we move toward the new year, consumers are extremely confident that banks are well prepared for Y2K."
In a release earlier this month Haines said, "All of the territory's banks, both large and small, are testing and re-testing their systems to be sure that it will be business as usual during the change to 2000. Next month, next year, and every day, the safest place for your money is in the bank."
The Gallup survey results also indicate that the public remains confident that basic payment systems will work and that people will still have access to their money. Most people polled also said they thought that automatic teller machines would work, and credit card systems and electronic direct deposit systems would function normally.
Dean Adams, a member of the Bankers Association Community Relations Committee, told Radio One News that the bankers have worked hard to assure that Y2K would be a non-event.
Adams also cautioned the public not to take too much cash out of the bank for the long holiday weekend and then spend it all, leaving themselves short for repaying Christmas bills.
The Community Relations Committee has offered these tips for Virgin Islands bank customers.
They are:
1. Stay informed. Read the Y2K information your bank sends you.
2. If you don't already do so, keep your bank statements and records of your transactions, particularly the months just before the date change.
3. If you bank online, make sure your computer is Y2K compliant. Most computer and software manufacturers have extensive Websites on their products' readiness. Keep a backup disk of your records.
4. Avoid scam artists who offer to "hold" your money through the date change. The safest place for your money is in the bank.
5. During the date change, take out only as much cash, as you would need for any long holiday weekend. If you feel you need more, your bank will be ready.

UVI, through its Virgin Islands University Affiliated Program, is offering an American Sign Language Interpreters Training course beginning Jan. 12.
Classes will be held Mondays and Fridays from 5:30 to 6:45 p.m.
Registration will take place on Friday, Jan. 7, from 4 to 6 p.m. in Room T114.
Call Olga Santos at 693-1189 for further information.