Internationally acclaimed motivational trainer and consultant, Laura B. Lyons will address the regular weekly meet ing of Rotary II St. Thomas at 12 noon, Wednesday, Oct. 20 at Marriott's Frenchman's Reef's Windows on the Harbour dining room .
Lyons will speak on the topic of "Triumphing over the Odds – how to turn adversity into empowerment and find a purpose for what we're doing."
She will offer some pointed advice for understanding the barriers in our own lives and how to press on past obstacles to follow a vision, pursue a dream and win.
Lyons rose from modest beginnings in Birmingham, Alabama to become, among other things, the first woman Dean at University of California at Berkley.
She's spent time overseas, initially with the Peace Corps in Turkey, and currently with her own company, at its branch office in South Africa.
Clients at home and abroad include Shell Oil, Barclays Bank, Holiday Inn, American Express, the US Attorney's Office, Chase Manhattan Bank, the University of the Virgin Islands and Little Switzerland.
Lyons is founder and president of Career Dynamics International, a British Virgin Islands based human resources management firm dedicated to empowering people to create their own success.
In 1997, for the second time, Lyons was named USVI Woman of the Year by the Caribbean Executive Women's Network. Along with Oprah Winfrey, she has been named 'Legacy Messenger' by Ohio's Black Career Women and in1999 she was nominated for the Avon/Small Business Administration Women of Enterprise Award. Lyons is listed in the 1998 edition of 'Who's Who Among Black Americans'.
All Rotarians and their guests are invited to attend.
For more information contact Cathy O'Gara – 776-5702

Coral World, Dive World and a handful of other businesses in the Coki Point and Smith Bay area, are planning a unique triathlon aimed at getting the community actively involved in keeping the island clean.
The event originally slated for Saturday, Oct. 23 has been postponed until Nov. 20.
The race will involve swimming, running or walking, and collecting a bag full of litter.
"We wanted to come up with an activity that would be fun , appeal to people of all ages, and have a positive impact on the environment," said Jeanne Bowen, Diver World owner, who came up with the idea.
The race will begin on Coki Beach, where participants will enter the water and swim a short distance around a set of buoys and then back to shore. Participants will then run or walk one mile on one of two courses to the entrance of Point Pleasant Resort or to the foot of Cassie Hill. At these points they will receive garbage bags that must be filled with litter before reaching the finish line in the Coral World parking lot.
Participants will compete in both male and female categories, and in different age groups ranging from 14 years old and under to over 55 years old. Prizes will be awarded in every category and will include a weekend stay at Point Beach Resort, as well as valuable gifts from many participating businesses. "Everyone will be a winner," explains Allegra Kean of Coral World, "Upon registration each person will receive a free embroidered t-shirt commemorating the day, and will leave knowing they have done a service to the community," she says.
In addition, all participants will receive free snorkel gear rental or free admission to Coral World on the day of the race. The St. Thomas Beverage Company will supply the Virgin Islands' own J'ouvert water for the event.
Details about registration will be forthcoming as they become available.
Interested persons can get more information, by calling 775-1555 ext. 247.

Although I agree with your editorial I must say that you and the rest of the
media seem to be stuck on one subject, government corruption.
You and the other media companies along with particular sectors of the business community would love for everyone to think that the problem rest solely with the government.
The media constantly portraits the government as being business unfriendly
and wasteful. I am convinced that the image you have created will not change because it is not in the best interest of the economic interest you
represent.
This business unfriendly government continues to renew and give businesses very generous tax incentives. They continue to lease their property to the business community for rent that is way below the going market price. They intentionally do not fund position in the compliance department of the IDC. They continue to offer amnesties on tax payments to the business communities. They intentional under staff the VIBIR and hearing department of the Labor Department. They continue to approve all agreements the business community sends to the legislature.
How much more business friendly can they be and just who is benefitting from the wast?
I am willing to bet if the government gave 100% tax break to the business community that their response will be, this is not fair you should be paying us to do business here. Where is the exposé on individuals in the business community who have been taking advantage of the government?
IDC benefits 10/15/25 years why are you not reporting this? You cannot be corrupt by yourself.
Where is your reporting of the harassment Manos has been receiving from the
Historic Commission? Here is a local man not depending on the government
for a job and they are doing everything in their power to put him out of
business. What is the difference between Manos and The Greenhouse. Is the
Greenhouse not deck with a covering also?

Internet auction giant eBay is joining forces with St. John's Pine Peace School to help raise funds to complete the school's library and computer center.
"Realizing the need for businesses to get directly involved with the education of our children, e-Bay has adopted the school in order to attract attention to the library drive," Pine Peace development director Steve Walker says. Once completed, the facility will be open to the community surrounding the school, and Pine Peace will offer Internet classes along with basic library instruction, he said.
The auction will be held on eBay www.ebay.com from Monday, Oct. 18, through Thursday, Oct. 28. A number of hotels, resorts and private villa owners have donated one-week stays that will go to the highest bidders, wherever in the world they may be.
Any day the auction is up and running, interested parties can log on to the eBay site, where they will be directed to the Pine Peace School auction page. Once there, they will find the packages to bid on — from large resorts such as the Westin on St. John and the Wyndham Sugar Bay on St. Thomas, as well as a number of small but luxurious island villas. All proceeds from the auction will go directly to the school's library fund.
Pine Peace School is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, which means that the successful bidders on the room packages can claim a tax deduction for a portion of the donation.
For further information locally on the project, contact Walker by calling the Pine Peace office at 776-6495 or e-mailing to sog@viaccess.net. The school's web site is found at www.pinepeaceschool.k12.vi.

Internet auction giant eBay is joining forces with St. John's Pine Peace School to help raise funds to complete the school's library and computer center.
"Realizing the need for businesses to get directly involved with the education of our children, e-Bay has adopted the school in order to attract attention to the library drive," Pine Peace development director Steve Walker says. Once completed, the facility will be open to the community surrounding the school, and Pine Peace will offer Internet classes along with basic library instruction, he said.
The auction will be held on eBay www.ebay.com from Monday, Oct. 18, through Thursday, Oct. 28. A number of hotels, resorts and private villa owners have donated one-week stays that will go to the highest bidders, wherever in the world they may be.
Any day the auction is up and running, interested parties can log on to the eBay site, where they will be directed to the Pine Peace School auction page. Once there, they will find the packages to bid on — from large resorts such as the Westin on St. John and the Wyndham Sugar Bay on St. Thomas, as well as a number of small but luxurious island villas. All proceeds from the auction will go directly to the school's library fund.
Pine Peace School is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, which means that the successful bidders on the room packages can claim a tax deduction for a portion of the donation.
For further information locally on the project, contact Walker by calling the Pine Peace office at 776-6495 or e-mailing to sog@viaccess.net. The school's web site is found at www.pinepeaceschool.k12.vi.

Have you every wondered where all the wealth comes from? If you had to live alone, off the land, what standard of living could you hope to achieve? It might be nice for a few days, but in fact we do like food stores, radio, dental and medical services, and all the other things that being part of a society brings us. Nobody could know how to do all the things that give us this standard of living. But each of us has certain skills.
The way we all share those skills and exchange money for providing them is called the Economy. Not all economies are good. Germany was split into two halves following World War II, and each half was run with a different economic system. West Germany used capitalism. East Germany used Russian communism. After 40 years, the results were: Prosperity and optimism in the West, Poverty and pessimism in the East.
In the Virgin Islands, we have easy access to American-style capitalism, which appears to be a good basis for an economy. All of our laws are preprogrammed to guide us toward success in the American dream of "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness". We can and should pursue that dream with our own Caribbean flair.
Who understands the economy? It is so massive, the sum of millions of transactions every day. No one mind can grasp the economy in all its detail, not politicians, not even economists.
> Producing is Power
But that doesn't mean the individual is lost and powerless. The key to prosperity in our economic system is Producing. Simply producing something that another person wants, and accepting money for it, sets the economy on an upward path. Any object or service that is produced and traded willingly for money does the trick.
Both Employers and Employees in private industry know this from direct experience. They have discovered that business is the process of producing something that can be traded for money. They know that whenever they produce a product, be it a meal, a calypso song, an insurance policy, or a mango, they can trade it for money. That's business. And all the business taken together is the economy.
Those in private industry know about competition. If they produce good mangoes, or insurance for a fair price, they will succeed and perhaps flourish. if they produce poor mangoes or insurance, they will falter, until they respond and improve their product.
This process is noble. When you participate in it, you are not only putting bread on your table, you are energizing the whole economy.
An interesting side point is that the economy works best when a seller of a product charges the maximum amount that the buyer will willingly pay. In other words, profit is good and healthy. A seller may sell for less out of generosity, but it is not necessary to set the economy rolling.
Private Sector rules apply the Public Sector, too
Government workers produce products, too. They give out information, issue licenses, teach children, and safeguard the environment. In fact, they produce exactly those products destined for the public good that we as a people have collectively decided are so important that they cannot be produced naturally by private industry.
Until recently government workers have been remarkably insulated from competition, and any kind of pressure to produce. But the forces that act on private businesses act on the public sector as well; it just happens more slowly.
In part four we'll look at how the forces that energize economies might energize ours.

The Water And Power Authority recently raised its rates for electricity, citing an increase in the price of oil. What can the poor consumer do? A lot of little things that can make a big difference, says Victor Somme III, director of the V.I. Energy Office.
In the big picture, Somme says, the territory and its inhabitants should be taking greater advantage of the natural energy sources — sun, wind and sea — that surround the islands, to "maximize these elements for the production of alternative energy sources instead of fossil fuels."
But there are other, easier things that just about everybody, here and now, can do to cut back on the consumption of electricity — and reduce their electric bills. Somme cited these in a press release:
– Utilize sunlight instead of electric lights when possible.
– Turn off lights when they are not needed.
– Use motion sensors or timers to turn lights off and on.
– Use energy-saving outdoor floodlights.
– Use compact fluorescent, as opposed to traditional incandescent, light bulbs. (They are more expensive but last far longer and use less power so are definitely a better "deal.")
– Replace worn rubber gaskets around refrigerator doors.
– Put timers on water heaters.
Some other energy-saving options not mentioned in the press release are:
– Use a warm, rather than hot, water setting for washing laundry.
– Hang laundry to dry in the open air, rather than using a dryer.
– Utilize ceiling fans and natural ventilation whenever practical in place of air-conditioning.
– Clean or replace a/c unit filters each month.
– Cover louvered windows with plastic in rooms where air-conditioning is used.
– Run a/c units on the least-cold settings that are comfortable, and don’t turn the setting to "coldest" when starting up a unit (it won’t cool down the room any faster).
– Set refrigerators to a temperature of 38 to 42 degrees F. and freezers to 0 to 5 degrees (if they’re colder, they’re wasting electricity).
– Clean the condenser coils on the back or bottom of the fridge once a year or any time they are coated with dust.
– Keep fridges and freezers as well filled as possible, and open their doors as infrequently as possible.
– Put insulation jackets on water heater tanks.
– Drain about two quarts of water from the valve faucet at the bottom of a water tank every other month to prevent the accumulation of sediment.
(Most of these tips and many others can be found in two thin, easy-to-read books available at bookstores, 50 Simple Things You Can Do to Save the Earth and 50 Simple Things Kids Can Do to Save the Earth.)
Somme also offered these tips for consumers to cut down on the consumption of water in their homes:
– Use low-flow shower heads.
– Use aerators on kitchen and bathroom sink faucets.
– Fix leaks in pipes and plumbing fixtures promptly.

The Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority and the Caribbean Electric Utility Services will be hosting the Human Resources Management Conference on Tuesday, Oct. 27, and Wednesday, Oct. 28, at the Renaissance Grand Beach Resort.
Human Resources Managers and other interested persons are invited to attend the Conference. Registration information can be obtained from Mrs. Cassandra Dunn, 778-8755 or 773-2250 ex 4040.

Word of Faith Center is sponsoring a Harvest Festival from 4 to 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 30, at the Frenchtown Community Center. There will be food, fellowship, treats, and games.
It's free. No costumes, please.

Internet auction giant eBay is joining forces with St. John's Pine Peace School to help raise funds to complete the school's library and computer center.
"Realizing the need for businesses to get directly involved with the education of our children, e-Bay has adopted the school in order to attract attention to the library drive," Pine Peace development director Steve Walker says. Once completed, the facility will be open to the community surrounding the school, and Pine Peace will offer Internet classes along with basic library instruction, he said.
The auction will be held on eBay www.ebay.com from Monday, Oct. 18, through Thursday, Oct. 28. A number of hotels, resorts and private villa owners have donated one-week stays that will go to the highest bidders, wherever in the world they may be.
Any day the auction is up and running, interested parties can log on to the eBay site, where they will be directed to the Pine Peace School auction page. Once there, they will find the packages to bid on — from large resorts such as the Westin on St. John and the Wyndham Sugar Bay on St. Thomas, as well as a number of small but luxurious island villas. All proceeds from the auction will go directly to the school's library fund.
Pine Peace School is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, which means that the successful bidders on the room packages can claim a tax deduction for a portion of the donation.
For further information locally on the project, contact Walker by calling the Pine Peace office at 776-6495 or e-mailing to sog@viaccess.net. The school's web site is found at www.pinepeaceschool.k12.vi.