All the Kings Men, a tribute to the VI Calypso Kings past and present. Featured artists are: Louis Ible,jr.; Ras Regg, Mighty Pat, Whadablee, accompained by the Express Band out of St. Croix.

The Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra will open the Reichhold season. It is a co-production with the Birch Forum.

We spent $600,000 on another report, the recently uncovered CORE Report, to tell us what intelligent Virgin Islanders have said over and over again.
And we are paying another $500,000 to First Union to advise us on what we need to do to emerge from our fiscal crisis.
A recent report from our myriad financial advisors said business as usual will lead to a $2 billion debt and that we are technically bankrupt already.
Actually, the governor has said that over and over. Why do we keep paying people to advise us? Are we hoping for a different answer? The answer has always been the same, and Virgin Islanders have the answers.
In this publication alone we find two recent op-ed pieces that lay out the answer in detail— answers from Virgin Islanders. And though the detail may vary slightly, we know what we have to do. We need to manage our money better, downsize the government and convince federal officials we are sincere in our efforts so that they will forgive millions of dollars in loans.
What we want to know is when are we going to do it. Why do we continue to commission off-islanders to tell us what to do, and then not do it?
We would like to know, at the very least, how many people have been stopped for driving government vehicles without authorization. We would like to know when the governor is going to combine and delete useless boards and commissions. We would like to know when he is going to slash some of the paid holidays taken only by government workers to the detriment of government productivity.
Okay, we've made the hard decisions. Now when do we get the hard action? We say no more costly reports and expensive financial advice.
We want immediate, intelligent, firm enforcement.

It is early in the Pam Am games but the results are not encouraging for the V.I. Team.
The long jump results from Flora Hyacinth, short of her usual capabilities, left her in eighth place
in that event.
The three V.I. sailors in the Finn, Laser, and Mistral classes are hovering just above the bottom of their classes, four races into the eleven race Pan Am regatta.
One high point are the results for Chris Rice, who finished 5th among 30 shooters in the Free Pistol competition.
The other high point, off the field, was the team leadership of Flora Hyacinth and the exposure to international competition this event gives V.I. athletes said Dr. Cora Christian, part of the V.I. delegation at the games.
There are still events to be contested for the V.I. Team, including men's 110 meter hurtles, the women's 10,000 meter, all the equestrian events and more shooting and sailing.

Ian Beam of St. John, V.I. was given the award as top Caribbean sailor at the Optimist World Championships in Martinique last week.
Children from 8 to 15 years of age competed against one another in the eight foot Optimist prams for a total of 15 races over 6 days from July 16 -26. The young competitors came from Europe, Scandinavia, Africa, Asia, South America, South Pacific, North America, New Zealand and, of course, the Caribbean.
The Caribbean nations represented were the U.S.Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, St. Lucia, Bahamas, Bermuda, Barbados and Cuba.
Two hundred and twenty children represented 47 countries. Each country was allowed to send up to 5 children, so these were truly the best young sailors in the world.
The overall team winner for the 15 fleet races was Croatia. The overall individual winner was Mattia Pressich of Italy, for the second year in a row.
The rest of the U.S. Virgin Island team was comprised of Scott and Peter Stanton (twin brothers) from St. Croix, Angelo Raimondi of St. John and Cy Thompson of St. Thomas. They were selected through a qualification system of 12 races that were held in April.
The Virgin Island Team worked very hard both on the water and on land. The team came in 30th out of 47 teams, a major achievement for a group that has never before attended the World Championships.
The racing was very competitive. Over seventy of the small craft would start a once. Sailors could not afford to make any mistakes. A missed wind shift or poor start left no way to recover. Ian Beam pointed out that his experience in larger boats helped him.
Beam said, "I would sail on the course before the start of my race and find the favored side and that really helped me,"
"Our team has guys with good boat speed, but when you start with 70 other boats on the line, tactics and strategy are what made the difference for me," he continued. Beam is now fifteen years old and will "age out" of the Optimist class this fall when he turns sixteen.
The sailing talent was so good because only the top 5 from each country could attend. There are approximately 400,000 Optimist sailors in the world and only the best 220 could attend the Worlds. For example, approximately 2500 French children tried out to become one of the five from their country.
The Team Leader and Coach of the V.I. team was Verian Aguilar and she did a great job in organizing the team, getting them extra practice and coaching them within the limits allowed by the organizers.
Also there from the V.I. was Christine Thompson who was asked by the French Sailing Federation to act as Secretary General of the regatta. That meant that she was responsible for much of the coordination of the organization and she acted as liaison between the French organization and those who did not speak French. Her praises were being sung by everyone who came in contact with her.
Henry Menin of St. Thomas also attended the Optimist World Championships as Vice- Chairman of the 11 member International Jury.

Though there may be more important factors in passing legislation and winning elections, when it comes to college, senators in the 23rd Legislature range from part-time students to masters of public administration to doctors of law.
Of the 14 senators who provided information for this article, one has a doctorate in law, two have master's degrees in public administration, six others hold B.A.s, and three have associates' degrees.
Two others, who attended various institutions part-time, have yet to attain a degree.
Sen. Alicia "Chucky" Hansen did not provide her educational history for this article despite numerous requests over a period of several weeks. Hansen attended the Inter-American University in Puerto Rico and the University of the Virgin Islands but further details were not offered.
Whatever the level of their education, however, senators interviewed agreed having a degree does not mean being a better legislator, even though there are some advantages.
"You cannot conclusively say that having a degree lends itself to someone being an effective legislator," said Sen. Allie-Allison Petrus, who earned a master of science in public administration from Central Michigan University in 1989.
Petrus attended UVI from 1982-1983 and received a B.A. in psychology from Kean University in New Jersey in 1985.
A degree may help a person be "a more critical thinker," Petrus said.
Sen. Lorraine Berry, however, said having a degree was often "irrelevant" because senators, no matter what their educational background, do not make always the "right" decisions, but rather opt to make "political" ones.
Berry majored in business administration while attending UVI in the '70s but did not complete a degree.
What matters more than a degree, she said, is whether a senator understands the needs of his or her constituents, is well-read and has been exposed to a "little bit of everything." When it comes to financial analysis, for example, senators have technical staff to do the actual computing, Berry said.
The only doctorate in the Senate belongs to Sen. Judy Gomez, who obtained hers in law from Howard University in 1983. Gomez also attended UVI, but received a bachelor of science in elementary education from Morgan State University in 1977.
Like Sen. Petrus, Sen. Donald "Ducks" Cole has a master's in public administration, which he received from UVI. Cole earned a B.A. in social science from Kent State University in 1982.
Other graduates: Sen. Gregory Bennerson, B.S. in criminology from Florida State University, 1981; Sen. Adelbert M. "Bert" Bryan, an A.A. in police science and administration from College of the Virgin Islands in 1975 and a B.A. in social science from UVI in 1988; Sen. Violet Anne Golden, B.A. in business administration from Jacksonville University in 1981; Sen. Norman Jn. Baptiste, B.A. in Spanish and secondary education at the College of the Virgin Islands, 1976; Sen. David S. Jones, B.A. in history and political science from Mercy College; and Sen. Almando "Rocky" Liburd, B.A. in foreign languages from Inter-American University in Puerto Rico in 1974.
Golden pursued a master's degree in general administration at the University of Maryland and is now working toward a master's in education technology at UVI. Liburd also did graduate work in education at UVI, in 1985-86.
Sen. Roosevelt David received an associate's degree in accounting from UVI in 1992, and has since earned certificates from various banking programs, including a three-year program at the University of Texas.
Sen. George Goodwin got an A.A. in hotel management from the College of the Virgin Islands in 1968 and has also taken courses at Monmouth University and George Washington University.
Senate President Vargrave Richards attended the College of the Virgin Islands and Antioch University part-time from 1969-73.
Sen. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg, who received an associate's degree after attending several colleges, said a degree did not necessarily help a senator understand the desires of the community.
"An idea to serve the common good is not driven by whether or not you have a degree," Donastorg said. The "right" attitude, integrity and principles are more crucial, he said.
Donastorg studied business management part-time at Fullerton College and Mount St. Antonio College from 1982-83 and at the College of the Virgin Islands from 1983-87. He earned an A.A. in business from the University of Phoenix via Internet correspondence in 1998.
Attending college, he said, has helped him, "relate to the experiences of students."
Other senators said having attended or received a degree from UVI made them more sensitive to educational needs and other issues at the territory's only university. "I know a lot of students here who do not want to go to UVI, not only because it is in the V.I. but because it is a tough school," said Liburd.
The fact that UVI is his alma mater influences university-related legislation, he said, because he has seen the school's strengths and weaknesses first-hand.
"It has not developed into the kind of institution it ought to be," Liburd said. The university should provide more hospitality training and offer specialized courses for skills needed at Hess, or "any business or industry that comes in here," in order to create a labor pool, he suggested.
His experiences as a student seeking financial aid prompted him to develop legislation that is now law, Liburd said: all Virgin Islands high school valedictorians and salutatorians receive full four-year scholarships to UVI.
Almost all the senators said higher education was critical to the success of residents and the progress of the territory.
"At the level of the Senate, one has to have not only common sense, but also a degree of knowledge of the needs of the university in this community," Goodwin said.
Cole said a degree was not a "barometer for measuring success," but that it "exposes one to certain runnings of the government" and "enhances" a Senator's ability when it comes to complex decisions like assessing cost-benefit analysis, program evaluation and budget issues.
"One has to understand the priority of higher education and funding the institution to make sure that priority is carried forth," Cole said.
More important than a degree, however, are practical skills and insight, he said, quoting his grandmother: "Study-ation beats education."
Commissioner of Education Dr. Ruby Simmonds, a former senator, said having a degree helped her in her field and should also help senators.
"The job of a senator is not specialized — you have to be an expert in everything," Simmonds said. A liberal arts degree was perhaps one of the most valuable, she said, because "part of the process of getting a degree [in liberal arts] exposes you to decision-making, critical thinking, negotiating, debate and public speaking."
Liburd said although senators have technical staff to help analyze budgetary issues, they cannot compensate for education.
"The bottom line is that you have to make a decision," he said.

Dear St. Thomas Source,
Even though I moved away from St. Thomas two months ago, I take great interest in news from there, particularly in the current bill to make car insurance mandatory.
Sen. Judy Gomez was quoted in a July 22, 1999 article ("Revenue enhancement passed, car insurance mandatory") as saying that requiring liability coverage for all drivers would be a "disservice" to residents already overburdened by bills. She cited the eminent possibility of government cutbacks—and hence, unemployment—as her reasoning for her belief. While I am generally open-minded to other people's opinions, I would like to take this opportunity to say that Sen. Gomez is making a fool out of herself on this one.
In the year that I lived on St. Thomas, nearly everyone I met had a story to tell about being involved in a car accident without insurance.
Most were minor, some even humorous or self-inflicted, like my friend who forgot to set his parking brake and flattened a flagpole. While the nature of that incident probably would have prompted my friend to pay out of his own pocket for any damage to the vehicle—insurance or no insurance—what if there had been someone in the path of either the pole or the car? What if the car had knocked someone down, breaking the person's arm? I don't know if my friend was covered or not, but for the sake of example, let's say he was not carrying insurance at the time.
My friend would have likely had to pay out of pocket for an expensive emergency visit to the hospital for that person his car hit, plus what he would have had to pay the owner of the flagpole. It would have been even more expensive if the person had suffered a concussion, additional broken bones or internal injuries.
Or what if that person had been killed? Then what? And what if he couldn't come up with the damages owed to the person or the person's family? My friend probably would have faced a long, costly court process with some pretty serious charges and consequences.
Yes, it's morbid, and yes, I'm describing worst-case scenario. But there are too many what-ifs in life to gamble with.
There are dozens, perhaps even hundreds of residents in the territory who are currently on a monthly payment plan, indebted to another private citizen whose $12,000 car they totaled in an accident. Why pay $200 a month for several years when you can pay $300 to 500 for an entire year to keep yourself out of trouble? Obviously, insurance rates will be more or less expensive depending upon a number of factors that I won't go into. Regardless, I still think it is a wiser choice than to go without coverage entirely.
If protecting your car or protecting other citizens is not in your interest—as many islanders drive cars worth less than the cost of the insurance—look at it as simply protecting yourself. And not just from prosecution: Are you the one receiving those payments from the jerk who hit you a year and a half ago? Don't you wish you could have just gotten all that money at once and been done with it rather than remaining at that person's mercy for years, being reminded of that accident every single month when you get your check and every time you look at that front quarter panel on your Civic that you can't afford to get fixed yet?
I don't know about Sen. Gomez, but I can think of better ways to spend two years of my life. As a senator, maybe she can afford to pay for the damages inflicted by an uninsured motorist and wait leisurely for the reparations to come. Or maybe she can just borrow a government car until hers gets fixed. But like she indicated, most regular people don't have much extra money floating around, and in my opinion, it would be a disservice, to use her word, not to make liability insurance mandatory.
Holly Simpson
Chicago, IL
___________________________________________________

Fifty-one high school students have completed the Upward Bound Summer Residency Program at the University of the Virgin Islands.
The college preparatory program is open to low-income high school students or students who are potentially the first in their families to attend college.
During the school year, the upward bound students attend a weekly after school program that supplements their high school classes. The six-week summer residency program prepares the students for college with curriculum classes in the morning and tutorial and enrichment sessions in the afternoon. Students also take one college level course during the summer program.
The students get to experience life on campus by spending time in UVI's residence halls.
In this year's graduating class, there are 15 males, 36 females and 17 of students are from St. Croix.
TeVar Malone and Akia Henneman, 16-year-old Charlotte Amalie High School honor students, found their college level calculus course challenging and rewarding.
"It creates a challenge, using numbers and relating the formulas to everyday topics," Malone said in a statement released by UVI.
Henneman said the course taught her what to expect in college.
"It helped me prepare for next year — to have a head start," she said.
Parents also appreciated the program. Donna Andrews said her daughter Tiffany Grosvenor, 15, became more independent participating in Upward Bound.
"The hands-on experience just having the exposure to the dorms — it's the best thing that has happened to Tiffany this summer," Andrews said.
The program's open house and awards night banquet will be held at UVI on Thursday, July 29. The Open House, to be held at the Harvey Student Center, begins at 4 p.m. The awards banquet begins in the UVI cafeteria at 6:15 p.m.

A man was shot near the Friendly Bar in Savan early Monday morning.
Leslie Hyndman, 21, of Oswald Harris Court, was shot at least four times at around 12:40 a.m., police said. He was hit once in the right side of the chest, twice in the right arm and once in the right leg.
Hyndman was brought to Roy Schneider Hospital, where he remained in the intensive care unit Monday night, police said.
Police officials released a statement on the incident Monday but could not be reached for further comment.

Only emergency vehicles will be able to get gas in the coming days as the government's fuel supplier on St. Thomas has again cut off service for lack of payment.
Esso Virgin Islands made the decision to stop supplying gas to the government Monday due to a past due balance of $40,000 as of the end of June.
"I wouldn't call it anything major or anything out of order, but I have a private company to run. After I give 75 days of credit without interest, I have to be paid," said Carl Boisson, manager and vice president of Esso Virgin Islands. "My suppliers don't give me that much credit."
The government's total balance with Esso is $172,000, but only the $40,000 is currently past due, Boisson said.
Gas service was last cut off in December when Esso and other fuel companies stopped supplying fuel to the government motor pool. The motor pool has since closed and the government now issues credit-card-type "fleet cards" to its employees to buy gas for vehicles.
Government vehicles can use the card at Gottleib's Esso station in Contant and the Tutu Esso station. Esso tallies up the amount of gas purchased at the end of each month and the government then has 60 days to issue reimbursement, which ends up giving the government 75 days of credit, Boisson said.
Boisson said he had not been able to reach Finance Commissioner Bernice Turnbull or others in her department.
"I tried to contact the Comissioner last week and the week before and I haven't been lucky," he said. "I left messages in St. Thomas and St. Croix that I need to be paid."
A concern for the community prompted Esso's decision to continue supplying police and fire vehicles, VITRAN buses and ambulances, Boisson said.
"The fleet cards will enable us to keep the emergency vehicles running," he said. "We are a part of the community and even though we aren't getting paid, we don't want to cut off those important services."
Due to the Hurricane Supplication Day holiday, no one at Government House or Department of Finance officials could be reached for comment.
Boisson said this was the third or fourth time Esso has cut off the government in the two-and-a-half years he has been the manager.
"I'm in a position where I cannot go on," he said. "This is as long as I can hold on."