The St. Thomas/St. John Historic Preservation Commission will hold its monthly meeting in the State Historic Preservation Office at #17 Kongens Gade.
For more information contact the Historic Preservation Office at 776-8605.
SAN JUAN SHOW: 'A MILESTONE IN V.I. ART HISTORY'
Nov. 3, 2002 – More than a dozen crates filled with Virgin Islands artwork were airlifted over to Puerto Rico a week ago in the company of St. John artist Janet Cook-Rutnik for hanging in the Museo de las Americas, the city-block size multi-gallery complex that is the heart of the art district in Old San Juan.
The show, called VIA Colectiva, will open Tuesday evening as part of the Noche de las Galerías festivities and will hang through Jan. 12, 2003.
"Galleries Night" is a recurring event the first Tuesday evening of each month from September through May. It "attracts thousands of visitors to Old San Juan who come out to see the many new exhibitions opening on this special night, at the museum and the many galleries up and down the cobblestone streets of the old city," Cook-Rutnik said.
Tuesday, she noted, is election day in the Virgin Islands but not in Puerto Rico.
Hanging a show is always challenging, Cook-Rutnik says, but the Museo has its particular challenges for someone accustomed to the art venues of the Virgin Islands. "The galleries are huge, and it's awesome at first," she said.
"It is really thrilling, though, to see the work laid out so majestically," she said. "Nowhere in the V.I. do we have this kind of exhibition space. Each piece is given its proper due, with lots of breathing space."
Cook-Rutnik, whose solo show at the Museo three years ago became the impetus for bringing VIA Colectiva about, was joined by St. Thomas artists Edney Freeman and Mace McDowell in unpacking and hanging the show, a process that took three days of physically demanding work.
One of Freeman's reasons for going to San Juan last week was to install his three large abstract ceramic and wood "shields" that reference African totems. The longtime Charlotte Amalie High School art teacher "was an incredible help" on the V.I. end, as well, Cook-Rutnik said. "He got the crates made and took time and care to make sure that the work was properly wrapped and packed for shipping."
And McDowell "showed up Monday morning with her paintings and was a great help uncrating work and moving stuff around," Cook-Rutnik said. "There was so much big work — wooden crates more than 6 feet tall to open and move — but it worked out."
While the show consists mostly of paintings, the low-relief hung art includes Cook-Rutnik's assemblage "goddesses" as well as Freeman's shields. Among the two-dimensional works, one of the largest pieces is 6-by-5 feet, a painting by Maria Henle titled "Amazonas II." There also are large-scale architectural paintings by Jeri Hillis, early abstract works by Aquannette Chinnery and Roy Lawaetz's "Triangular Modular" paintings inspired by Taino zemi stones. (See "Old San Juan museum to show 20 V.I. artists' work".)
It helped that curator Marlene Hernandez "is very experienced and has a good eye and good ideas. She was a great help," Cook-Rutnik said. But the VIA show was just one of four installations in progress last week, so Hernandez, museum director Maria Angela Villela Lopez and their staff had their hands full, too. On Thursday, there will be a big 10-year anniversary celebration at the museum, concluding the observance of the quincentennial of the first voyage of Christopher Columbus.
Thousands of art appreciators come out for Noche de las Galerías, taking in the four opening receptions at the Museum of the Americas and others at many of the smaller galleries within strolling distance.
The VIA show will not be the only exposure the territory will get Tuesday evening and in the days to come. Donald Laurent Dahlke, a longtime St. Croix resident who still spends time in the islands painting each year, will be opening a solo show at one of the other Museo galleries.
That two of the four Museo shows are of Virgin Islands art "represents an incredible milestone in Virgin Islands art history," Cook-Rutnik says.
Cook-Rutnik's own solo exhibition three years ago, the first by a Virgin Islands artist in a major museum in Puerto Rico, took place in the same 4,000-square-foot gallery, Sala Tres (Salon No. 3), where the VIA show is installed now.
Tuesday's elections in the V.I. notwithstanding, most of the VIA artists are expected to be on hand for Noche de las Galerías. St. Croix artist Roy Lawaetz will be coming from the Dominican Republic, where he now lives.
The exhibiting contemporary artists are Chinnery, Denise Christopher-Smith, Susan Edwards, Freeman, Mitch Gibbs, McDowell and Erik Pedersen of St. Thomas; LaVaughn Belle, Danica David, Henle, Hillis, Gerville Larsen, Lawaetz, Marjorie Robbins and Catherine Roche of St. Croix; and Kimberly Boulon, Cook-Rutnik, M. Lisa Etre, Deborah St. Clair and Aimee Trayser of St. John.
The retrospective works are four prints of famed Impressionist Camille Pissarro (1830-1903), who was born on St. Thomas; 11 paintings by Albert Daniel (1897-1982), a self-taught artist who dedicated his life to capturing the changing island scene; and five by Eric Winter, who also painted the changing island scene, from 1954, when he moved to St. Thomas straight out of college, until shortly before his death nearly two years ago.
VIA Colectiva is being sponsored by Banco Popular of the V.I., FirstBank, the V.I. Council on the Arts, the Tourism Department, United Airlines, CapeAir, Hovensa, MAPes MONDe, MSI, Mr. & Mrs. Ricardo Charaf, Mango Tango, The VI-PR Friendship Committee, the Planning and Natural Resources Department and Joanne Bozzuto. A full-color 32-page catalog commemorating the exhibition provides a history of Virgin Islands art and a look at cultural and artistic ties between the territory and Puerto Rico.
For those interested in making overnight visits to San Juan to view the exhibitions, Cook-Rutnik said, two hotels, El Convento and the Wyndham, are offering discounts to Virgin Islanders who identify themselves as attending VIA Colectiva at Museo de las Américas.
Publisher's note : Like the St. Thomas Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
The show, called VIA Colectiva, will open Tuesday evening as part of the Noche de las Galerías festivities and will hang through Jan. 12, 2003.
"Galleries Night" is a recurring event the first Tuesday evening of each month from September through May. It "attracts thousands of visitors to Old San Juan who come out to see the many new exhibitions opening on this special night, at the museum and the many galleries up and down the cobblestone streets of the old city," Cook-Rutnik said.
Tuesday, she noted, is election day in the Virgin Islands but not in Puerto Rico.
Hanging a show is always challenging, Cook-Rutnik says, but the Museo has its particular challenges for someone accustomed to the art venues of the Virgin Islands. "The galleries are huge, and it's awesome at first," she said.
"It is really thrilling, though, to see the work laid out so majestically," she said. "Nowhere in the V.I. do we have this kind of exhibition space. Each piece is given its proper due, with lots of breathing space."
Cook-Rutnik, whose solo show at the Museo three years ago became the impetus for bringing VIA Colectiva about, was joined by St. Thomas artists Edney Freeman and Mace McDowell in unpacking and hanging the show, a process that took three days of physically demanding work.
One of Freeman's reasons for going to San Juan last week was to install his three large abstract ceramic and wood "shields" that reference African totems. The longtime Charlotte Amalie High School art teacher "was an incredible help" on the V.I. end, as well, Cook-Rutnik said. "He got the crates made and took time and care to make sure that the work was properly wrapped and packed for shipping."
And McDowell "showed up Monday morning with her paintings and was a great help uncrating work and moving stuff around," Cook-Rutnik said. "There was so much big work — wooden crates more than 6 feet tall to open and move — but it worked out."
While the show consists mostly of paintings, the low-relief hung art includes Cook-Rutnik's assemblage "goddesses" as well as Freeman's shields. Among the two-dimensional works, one of the largest pieces is 6-by-5 feet, a painting by Maria Henle titled "Amazonas II." There also are large-scale architectural paintings by Jeri Hillis, early abstract works by Aquannette Chinnery and Roy Lawaetz's "Triangular Modular" paintings inspired by Taino zemi stones. (See "Old San Juan museum to show 20 V.I. artists' work".)
It helped that curator Marlene Hernandez "is very experienced and has a good eye and good ideas. She was a great help," Cook-Rutnik said. But the VIA show was just one of four installations in progress last week, so Hernandez, museum director Maria Angela Villela Lopez and their staff had their hands full, too. On Thursday, there will be a big 10-year anniversary celebration at the museum, concluding the observance of the quincentennial of the first voyage of Christopher Columbus.
Thousands of art appreciators come out for Noche de las Galerías, taking in the four opening receptions at the Museum of the Americas and others at many of the smaller galleries within strolling distance.
The VIA show will not be the only exposure the territory will get Tuesday evening and in the days to come. Donald Laurent Dahlke, a longtime St. Croix resident who still spends time in the islands painting each year, will be opening a solo show at one of the other Museo galleries.
That two of the four Museo shows are of Virgin Islands art "represents an incredible milestone in Virgin Islands art history," Cook-Rutnik says.
Cook-Rutnik's own solo exhibition three years ago, the first by a Virgin Islands artist in a major museum in Puerto Rico, took place in the same 4,000-square-foot gallery, Sala Tres (Salon No. 3), where the VIA show is installed now.
Tuesday's elections in the V.I. notwithstanding, most of the VIA artists are expected to be on hand for Noche de las Galerías. St. Croix artist Roy Lawaetz will be coming from the Dominican Republic, where he now lives.
The exhibiting contemporary artists are Chinnery, Denise Christopher-Smith, Susan Edwards, Freeman, Mitch Gibbs, McDowell and Erik Pedersen of St. Thomas; LaVaughn Belle, Danica David, Henle, Hillis, Gerville Larsen, Lawaetz, Marjorie Robbins and Catherine Roche of St. Croix; and Kimberly Boulon, Cook-Rutnik, M. Lisa Etre, Deborah St. Clair and Aimee Trayser of St. John.
The retrospective works are four prints of famed Impressionist Camille Pissarro (1830-1903), who was born on St. Thomas; 11 paintings by Albert Daniel (1897-1982), a self-taught artist who dedicated his life to capturing the changing island scene; and five by Eric Winter, who also painted the changing island scene, from 1954, when he moved to St. Thomas straight out of college, until shortly before his death nearly two years ago.
VIA Colectiva is being sponsored by Banco Popular of the V.I., FirstBank, the V.I. Council on the Arts, the Tourism Department, United Airlines, CapeAir, Hovensa, MAPes MONDe, MSI, Mr. & Mrs. Ricardo Charaf, Mango Tango, The VI-PR Friendship Committee, the Planning and Natural Resources Department and Joanne Bozzuto. A full-color 32-page catalog commemorating the exhibition provides a history of Virgin Islands art and a look at cultural and artistic ties between the territory and Puerto Rico.
For those interested in making overnight visits to San Juan to view the exhibitions, Cook-Rutnik said, two hotels, El Convento and the Wyndham, are offering discounts to Virgin Islanders who identify themselves as attending VIA Colectiva at Museo de las Américas.
Publisher's note : Like the St. Thomas Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
SAN JUAN SHOW: 'A MILESTONE IN V.I. ART HISTORY'
Nov. 3, 2002 – More than a dozen crates filled with Virgin Islands artwork were airlifted over to Puerto Rico a week ago in the company of St. John artist Janet Cook-Rutnik for hanging in the Museo de las Americas, the city-block size multi-gallery complex that is the heart of the art district in Old San Juan.
The show, called VIA Colectiva, will open Tuesday evening as part of the Noche de las Galerías festivities and will hang through Jan. 12, 2003.
"Galleries Night" is a recurring event the first Tuesday evening of each month from September through May. It "attracts thousands of visitors to Old San Juan who come out to see the many new exhibitions opening on this special night, at the museum and the many galleries up and down the cobblestone streets of the old city," Cook-Rutnik said.
Tuesday, she noted, is election day in the Virgin Islands but not in Puerto Rico.
Hanging a show is always challenging, Cook-Rutnik says, but the Museo has its particular challenges for someone accustomed to the art venues of the Virgin Islands. "The galleries are huge, and it's awesome at first," she said.
"It is really thrilling, though, to see the work laid out so majestically," she said. "Nowhere in the V.I. do we have this kind of exhibition space. Each piece is given its proper due, with lots of breathing space."
Cook-Rutnik, whose solo show at the Museo three years ago became the impetus for bringing VIA Colectiva about, was joined by St. Thomas artists Edney Freeman and Mace McDowell in unpacking and hanging the show, a process that took three days of physically demanding work.
One of Freeman's reasons for going to San Juan last week was to install his three large abstract ceramic and wood "shields" that reference African totems. The longtime Charlotte Amalie High School art teacher "was an incredible help" on the V.I. end, as well, Cook-Rutnik said. "He got the crates made and took time and care to make sure that the work was properly wrapped and packed for shipping."
And McDowell "showed up Monday morning with her paintings and was a great help uncrating work and moving stuff around," Cook-Rutnik said. "There was so much big work — wooden crates more than 6 feet tall to open and move — but it worked out."
While the show consists mostly of paintings, the low-relief hung art includes Cook-Rutnik's assemblage "goddesses" as well as Freeman's shields. Among the two-dimensional works, one of the largest pieces is 6-by-5 feet, a painting by Maria Henle titled "Amazonas II." There also are large-scale architectural paintings by Jeri Hillis, early abstract works by Aquannette Chinnery and Roy Lawaetz's "Triangular Modular" paintings inspired by Taino zemi stones. (See "Old San Juan museum to show 20 V.I. artists' work".)
It helped that curator Marlene Hernandez "is very experienced and has a good eye and good ideas. She was a great help," Cook-Rutnik said. But the VIA show was just one of four installations in progress last week, so Hernandez, museum director Maria Angela Villela Lopez and their staff had their hands full, too. On Thursday, there will be a big 10-year anniversary celebration at the museum, concluding the observance of the quincentennial of the first voyage of Christopher Columbus.
Thousands of art appreciators come out for Noche de las Galerías, taking in the four opening receptions at the Museum of the Americas and others at many of the smaller galleries within strolling distance.
The VIA show will not be the only exposure the territory will get Tuesday evening and in the days to come. Donald Laurent Dahlke, a longtime St. Croix resident who still spends time in the islands painting each year, will be opening a solo show at one of the other Museo galleries.
That two of the four Museo shows are of Virgin Islands art "represents an incredible milestone in Virgin Islands art history," Cook-Rutnik says.
Cook-Rutnik's own solo exhibition three years ago, the first by a Virgin Islands artist in a major museum in Puerto Rico, took place in the same 4,000-square-foot gallery, Sala Tres (Salon No. 3), where the VIA show is installed now.
Tuesday's elections in the V.I. notwithstanding, most of the VIA artists are expected to be on hand for Noche de las Galerías. St. Croix artist Roy Lawaetz will be coming from the Dominican Republic, where he now lives.
The exhibiting contemporary artists are Chinnery, Denise Christopher-Smith, Susan Edwards, Freeman, Mitch Gibbs, McDowell and Erik Pedersen of St. Thomas; LaVaughn Belle, Danica David, Henle, Hillis, Gerville Larsen, Lawaetz, Marjorie Robbins and Catherine Roche of St. Croix; and Kimberly Boulon, Cook-Rutnik, M. Lisa Etre, Deborah St. Clair and Aimee Trayser of St. John.
The retrospective works are four prints of famed Impressionist Camille Pissarro (1830-1903), who was born on St. Thomas; 11 paintings by Albert Daniel (1897-1982), a self-taught artist who dedicated his life to capturing the changing island scene; and five by Eric Winter, who also painted the changing island scene, from 1954, when he moved to St. Thomas straight out of college, until shortly before his death nearly two years ago.
VIA Colectiva is being sponsored by Banco Popular of the V.I., FirstBank, the V.I. Council on the Arts, the Tourism Department, United Airlines, CapeAir, Hovensa, MAPes MONDe, MSI, Mr. & Mrs. Ricardo Charaf, Mango Tango, The VI-PR Friendship Committee, the Planning and Natural Resources Department and Joanne Bozzuto. A full-color 32-page catalog commemorating the exhibition provides a history of Virgin Islands art and a look at cultural and artistic ties between the territory and Puerto Rico.
For those interested in making overnight visits to San Juan to view the exhibitions, Cook-Rutnik said, two hotels, El Convento and the Wyndham, are offering discounts to Virgin Islanders who identify themselves as attending VIA Colectiva at Museo de las Américas.
Publisher's note : Like the St. John Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
The show, called VIA Colectiva, will open Tuesday evening as part of the Noche de las Galerías festivities and will hang through Jan. 12, 2003.
"Galleries Night" is a recurring event the first Tuesday evening of each month from September through May. It "attracts thousands of visitors to Old San Juan who come out to see the many new exhibitions opening on this special night, at the museum and the many galleries up and down the cobblestone streets of the old city," Cook-Rutnik said.
Tuesday, she noted, is election day in the Virgin Islands but not in Puerto Rico.
Hanging a show is always challenging, Cook-Rutnik says, but the Museo has its particular challenges for someone accustomed to the art venues of the Virgin Islands. "The galleries are huge, and it's awesome at first," she said.
"It is really thrilling, though, to see the work laid out so majestically," she said. "Nowhere in the V.I. do we have this kind of exhibition space. Each piece is given its proper due, with lots of breathing space."
Cook-Rutnik, whose solo show at the Museo three years ago became the impetus for bringing VIA Colectiva about, was joined by St. Thomas artists Edney Freeman and Mace McDowell in unpacking and hanging the show, a process that took three days of physically demanding work.
One of Freeman's reasons for going to San Juan last week was to install his three large abstract ceramic and wood "shields" that reference African totems. The longtime Charlotte Amalie High School art teacher "was an incredible help" on the V.I. end, as well, Cook-Rutnik said. "He got the crates made and took time and care to make sure that the work was properly wrapped and packed for shipping."
And McDowell "showed up Monday morning with her paintings and was a great help uncrating work and moving stuff around," Cook-Rutnik said. "There was so much big work — wooden crates more than 6 feet tall to open and move — but it worked out."
While the show consists mostly of paintings, the low-relief hung art includes Cook-Rutnik's assemblage "goddesses" as well as Freeman's shields. Among the two-dimensional works, one of the largest pieces is 6-by-5 feet, a painting by Maria Henle titled "Amazonas II." There also are large-scale architectural paintings by Jeri Hillis, early abstract works by Aquannette Chinnery and Roy Lawaetz's "Triangular Modular" paintings inspired by Taino zemi stones. (See "Old San Juan museum to show 20 V.I. artists' work".)
It helped that curator Marlene Hernandez "is very experienced and has a good eye and good ideas. She was a great help," Cook-Rutnik said. But the VIA show was just one of four installations in progress last week, so Hernandez, museum director Maria Angela Villela Lopez and their staff had their hands full, too. On Thursday, there will be a big 10-year anniversary celebration at the museum, concluding the observance of the quincentennial of the first voyage of Christopher Columbus.
Thousands of art appreciators come out for Noche de las Galerías, taking in the four opening receptions at the Museum of the Americas and others at many of the smaller galleries within strolling distance.
The VIA show will not be the only exposure the territory will get Tuesday evening and in the days to come. Donald Laurent Dahlke, a longtime St. Croix resident who still spends time in the islands painting each year, will be opening a solo show at one of the other Museo galleries.
That two of the four Museo shows are of Virgin Islands art "represents an incredible milestone in Virgin Islands art history," Cook-Rutnik says.
Cook-Rutnik's own solo exhibition three years ago, the first by a Virgin Islands artist in a major museum in Puerto Rico, took place in the same 4,000-square-foot gallery, Sala Tres (Salon No. 3), where the VIA show is installed now.
Tuesday's elections in the V.I. notwithstanding, most of the VIA artists are expected to be on hand for Noche de las Galerías. St. Croix artist Roy Lawaetz will be coming from the Dominican Republic, where he now lives.
The exhibiting contemporary artists are Chinnery, Denise Christopher-Smith, Susan Edwards, Freeman, Mitch Gibbs, McDowell and Erik Pedersen of St. Thomas; LaVaughn Belle, Danica David, Henle, Hillis, Gerville Larsen, Lawaetz, Marjorie Robbins and Catherine Roche of St. Croix; and Kimberly Boulon, Cook-Rutnik, M. Lisa Etre, Deborah St. Clair and Aimee Trayser of St. John.
The retrospective works are four prints of famed Impressionist Camille Pissarro (1830-1903), who was born on St. Thomas; 11 paintings by Albert Daniel (1897-1982), a self-taught artist who dedicated his life to capturing the changing island scene; and five by Eric Winter, who also painted the changing island scene, from 1954, when he moved to St. Thomas straight out of college, until shortly before his death nearly two years ago.
VIA Colectiva is being sponsored by Banco Popular of the V.I., FirstBank, the V.I. Council on the Arts, the Tourism Department, United Airlines, CapeAir, Hovensa, MAPes MONDe, MSI, Mr. & Mrs. Ricardo Charaf, Mango Tango, The VI-PR Friendship Committee, the Planning and Natural Resources Department and Joanne Bozzuto. A full-color 32-page catalog commemorating the exhibition provides a history of Virgin Islands art and a look at cultural and artistic ties between the territory and Puerto Rico.
For those interested in making overnight visits to San Juan to view the exhibitions, Cook-Rutnik said, two hotels, El Convento and the Wyndham, are offering discounts to Virgin Islanders who identify themselves as attending VIA Colectiva at Museo de las Américas.
Publisher's note : Like the St. John Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
SAN JUAN SHOW: 'A MILESTONE IN V.I. ART HISTORY'
Nov. 3, 2002 – More than a dozen crates filled with Virgin Islands artwork were airlifted over to Puerto Rico a week ago in the company of St. John artist Janet Cook-Rutnik for hanging in the Museo de las Americas, the city-block size multi-gallery complex that is the heart of the art district in Old San Juan.
The show, called VIA Colectiva, will open Tuesday evening as part of the Noche de las Galerías festivities and will hang through Jan. 12, 2003.
"Galleries Night" is a recurring event the first Tuesday evening of each month from September through May. It "attracts thousands of visitors to Old San Juan who come out to see the many new exhibitions opening on this special night, at the museum and the many galleries up and down the cobblestone streets of the old city," Cook-Rutnik said.
Tuesday, she noted, is election day in the Virgin Islands but not in Puerto Rico.
Hanging a show is always challenging, Cook-Rutnik says, but the Museo has its particular challenges for someone accustomed to the art venues of the Virgin Islands. "The galleries are huge, and it's awesome at first," she said.
"It is really thrilling, though, to see the work laid out so majestically," she said. "Nowhere in the V.I. do we have this kind of exhibition space. Each piece is given its proper due, with lots of breathing space."
Cook-Rutnik, whose solo show at the Museo three years ago became the impetus for bringing VIA Colectiva about, was joined by St. Thomas artists Edney Freeman and Mace McDowell in unpacking and hanging the show, a process that took three days of physically demanding work.
One of Freeman's reasons for going to San Juan last week was to install his three large abstract ceramic and wood "shields" that reference African totems. The longtime Charlotte Amalie High School art teacher "was an incredible help" on the V.I. end, as well, Cook-Rutnik said. "He got the crates made and took time and care to make sure that the work was properly wrapped and packed for shipping."
And McDowell "showed up Monday morning with her paintings and was a great help uncrating work and moving stuff around," Cook-Rutnik said. "There was so much big work — wooden crates more than 6 feet tall to open and move — but it worked out."
While the show consists mostly of paintings, the low-relief hung art includes Cook-Rutnik's assemblage "goddesses" as well as Freeman's shields. Among the two-dimensional works, one of the largest pieces is 6-by-5 feet, a painting by Maria Henle titled "Amazonas II." There also are large-scale architectural paintings by Jeri Hillis, early abstract works by Aquannette Chinnery and Roy Lawaetz's "Triangular Modular" paintings inspired by Taino zemi stones. (See "Old San Juan museum to show 20 V.I. artists' work".)
It helped that curator Marlene Hernandez "is very experienced and has a good eye and good ideas. She was a great help," Cook-Rutnik said. But the VIA show was just one of four installations in progress last week, so Hernandez, museum director Maria Angela Villela Lopez and their staff had their hands full, too. On Thursday, there will be a big 10-year anniversary celebration at the museum, concluding the observance of the quincentennial of the first voyage of Christopher Columbus.
Thousands of art appreciators come out for Noche de las Galerías, taking in the four opening receptions at the Museum of the Americas and others at many of the smaller galleries within strolling distance.
The VIA show will not be the only exposure the territory will get Tuesday evening and in the days to come. Donald Laurent Dahlke, a longtime St. Croix resident who still spends time in the islands painting each year, will be opening a solo show at one of the other Museo galleries.
That two of the four Museo shows are of Virgin Islands art "represents an incredible milestone in Virgin Islands art history," Cook-Rutnik says.
Cook-Rutnik's own solo exhibition three years ago, the first by a Virgin Islands artist in a major museum in Puerto Rico, took place in the same 4,000-square-foot gallery, Sala Tres (Salon No. 3), where the VIA show is installed now.
Tuesday's elections in the V.I. notwithstanding, most of the VIA artists are expected to be on hand for Noche de las Galerías. St. Croix artist Roy Lawaetz will be coming from the Dominican Republic, where he now lives.
The exhibiting contemporary artists are Chinnery, Denise Christopher-Smith, Susan Edwards, Freeman, Mitch Gibbs, McDowell and Erik Pedersen of St. Thomas; LaVaughn Belle, Danica David, Henle, Hillis, Gerville Larsen, Lawaetz, Marjorie Robbins and Catherine Roche of St. Croix; and Kimberly Boulon, Cook-Rutnik, M. Lisa Etre, Deborah St. Clair and Aimee Trayser of St. John.
The retrospective works are four prints of famed Impressionist Camille Pissarro (1830-1903), who was born on St. Thomas; 11 paintings by Albert Daniel (1897-1982), a self-taught artist who dedicated his life to capturing the changing island scene; and five by Eric Winter, who also painted the changing island scene, from 1954, when he moved to St. Thomas straight out of college, until shortly before his death nearly two years ago.
VIA Colectiva is being sponsored by Banco Popular of the V.I., FirstBank, the V.I. Council on the Arts, the Tourism Department, United Airlines, CapeAir, Hovensa, MAPes MONDe, MSI, Mr. & Mrs. Ricardo Charaf, Mango Tango, The VI-PR Friendship Committee, the Planning and Natural Resources Department and Joanne Bozzuto. A full-color 32-page catalog commemorating the exhibition provides a history of Virgin Islands art and a look at cultural and artistic ties between the territory and Puerto Rico.
For those interested in making overnight visits to San Juan to view the exhibitions, Cook-Rutnik said, two hotels, El Convento and the Wyndham, are offering discounts to Virgin Islanders who identify themselves as attending VIA Colectiva at Museo de las Américas.
Publisher's note : Like the St. Croix Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
The show, called VIA Colectiva, will open Tuesday evening as part of the Noche de las Galerías festivities and will hang through Jan. 12, 2003.
"Galleries Night" is a recurring event the first Tuesday evening of each month from September through May. It "attracts thousands of visitors to Old San Juan who come out to see the many new exhibitions opening on this special night, at the museum and the many galleries up and down the cobblestone streets of the old city," Cook-Rutnik said.
Tuesday, she noted, is election day in the Virgin Islands but not in Puerto Rico.
Hanging a show is always challenging, Cook-Rutnik says, but the Museo has its particular challenges for someone accustomed to the art venues of the Virgin Islands. "The galleries are huge, and it's awesome at first," she said.
"It is really thrilling, though, to see the work laid out so majestically," she said. "Nowhere in the V.I. do we have this kind of exhibition space. Each piece is given its proper due, with lots of breathing space."
Cook-Rutnik, whose solo show at the Museo three years ago became the impetus for bringing VIA Colectiva about, was joined by St. Thomas artists Edney Freeman and Mace McDowell in unpacking and hanging the show, a process that took three days of physically demanding work.
One of Freeman's reasons for going to San Juan last week was to install his three large abstract ceramic and wood "shields" that reference African totems. The longtime Charlotte Amalie High School art teacher "was an incredible help" on the V.I. end, as well, Cook-Rutnik said. "He got the crates made and took time and care to make sure that the work was properly wrapped and packed for shipping."
And McDowell "showed up Monday morning with her paintings and was a great help uncrating work and moving stuff around," Cook-Rutnik said. "There was so much big work — wooden crates more than 6 feet tall to open and move — but it worked out."
While the show consists mostly of paintings, the low-relief hung art includes Cook-Rutnik's assemblage "goddesses" as well as Freeman's shields. Among the two-dimensional works, one of the largest pieces is 6-by-5 feet, a painting by Maria Henle titled "Amazonas II." There also are large-scale architectural paintings by Jeri Hillis, early abstract works by Aquannette Chinnery and Roy Lawaetz's "Triangular Modular" paintings inspired by Taino zemi stones. (See "Old San Juan museum to show 20 V.I. artists' work".)
It helped that curator Marlene Hernandez "is very experienced and has a good eye and good ideas. She was a great help," Cook-Rutnik said. But the VIA show was just one of four installations in progress last week, so Hernandez, museum director Maria Angela Villela Lopez and their staff had their hands full, too. On Thursday, there will be a big 10-year anniversary celebration at the museum, concluding the observance of the quincentennial of the first voyage of Christopher Columbus.
Thousands of art appreciators come out for Noche de las Galerías, taking in the four opening receptions at the Museum of the Americas and others at many of the smaller galleries within strolling distance.
The VIA show will not be the only exposure the territory will get Tuesday evening and in the days to come. Donald Laurent Dahlke, a longtime St. Croix resident who still spends time in the islands painting each year, will be opening a solo show at one of the other Museo galleries.
That two of the four Museo shows are of Virgin Islands art "represents an incredible milestone in Virgin Islands art history," Cook-Rutnik says.
Cook-Rutnik's own solo exhibition three years ago, the first by a Virgin Islands artist in a major museum in Puerto Rico, took place in the same 4,000-square-foot gallery, Sala Tres (Salon No. 3), where the VIA show is installed now.
Tuesday's elections in the V.I. notwithstanding, most of the VIA artists are expected to be on hand for Noche de las Galerías. St. Croix artist Roy Lawaetz will be coming from the Dominican Republic, where he now lives.
The exhibiting contemporary artists are Chinnery, Denise Christopher-Smith, Susan Edwards, Freeman, Mitch Gibbs, McDowell and Erik Pedersen of St. Thomas; LaVaughn Belle, Danica David, Henle, Hillis, Gerville Larsen, Lawaetz, Marjorie Robbins and Catherine Roche of St. Croix; and Kimberly Boulon, Cook-Rutnik, M. Lisa Etre, Deborah St. Clair and Aimee Trayser of St. John.
The retrospective works are four prints of famed Impressionist Camille Pissarro (1830-1903), who was born on St. Thomas; 11 paintings by Albert Daniel (1897-1982), a self-taught artist who dedicated his life to capturing the changing island scene; and five by Eric Winter, who also painted the changing island scene, from 1954, when he moved to St. Thomas straight out of college, until shortly before his death nearly two years ago.
VIA Colectiva is being sponsored by Banco Popular of the V.I., FirstBank, the V.I. Council on the Arts, the Tourism Department, United Airlines, CapeAir, Hovensa, MAPes MONDe, MSI, Mr. & Mrs. Ricardo Charaf, Mango Tango, The VI-PR Friendship Committee, the Planning and Natural Resources Department and Joanne Bozzuto. A full-color 32-page catalog commemorating the exhibition provides a history of Virgin Islands art and a look at cultural and artistic ties between the territory and Puerto Rico.
For those interested in making overnight visits to San Juan to view the exhibitions, Cook-Rutnik said, two hotels, El Convento and the Wyndham, are offering discounts to Virgin Islanders who identify themselves as attending VIA Colectiva at Museo de las Américas.
Publisher's note : Like the St. Croix Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
INFANT FORMULA PRODUCTS BEING RECALLED
Nov. 3, 2002 – Baby formula products that are being voluntarily recalled by the manufacturer have been found on the shelves of local Kmart stores, where they are sold under the America's Store brand label Little Ones.
The products were recalled because bacteria were found in batches produced between July and September of this year. They include two types of powdered infant formula, soy and milk based.
The Food and Drug Administration announced on Friday that Wyeth Nutrition was recalling more than a million cans of the powdered infant formula because of a bacterium found in samples. The products manufactured by Wyeth are sold under various store brands including Baby Basics, CVS, Home Best, Healthy Baby, Kozy Kids, Hill Country Fare, HEB, Little Ones, Parent's Choice, Safeway Select and Walgreen's.
One St. Thomas consumer reported having purchased two cans of the soy formula — "large cans with 06 28 05 printed on the base" — at Kmart.
The recalled cans have expiration dates ranging from July 28, 2005, through Sept. 28, 2005, stamped on the bottom. They can also be identified by a six-digit character embossed on the bottom of the cans. The first four characters fall in three alpha-numeric ranges, the FDA's Web site states: K12N through K19N, L07N through L30N, and N03N through N25N.
The detected bacterium, Enterobacter sakazakii, is "a foodborne pathogen that can in rare cases cause sepsis (bacteria in the blood), meningitis (inflammation of the lining of the brain), or necrotizing enterocolitis (severe intestinal infection) in newborn infants, particularly premature infants or other infants with weakened immune systems," according to the Web site. However, as of Nov.1, "No illnesses have been reported to date in connection with this contamination," the Web site states.
About 1.5 million cans of the formula were distributed nationwide in retail stores, the FDA said.
Kmart's Tutu Park Mall store manager, Jim Sauser, reached Sunday night at his home, said he was not aware of the recall and could not say if the formula products had been pulled from the shelves. "As of when I left work Friday," he said, "I had not received any e-mail" from the company's corporate headquarters about the recall. He said he would "follow up first thing Monday."
Efforts to reach Andrew Rutnik, commissioner of Licensing and Consumer Affairs, on Sunday night were unsuccessful.
Publisher's note : Like the St. Croix Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
The products were recalled because bacteria were found in batches produced between July and September of this year. They include two types of powdered infant formula, soy and milk based.
The Food and Drug Administration announced on Friday that Wyeth Nutrition was recalling more than a million cans of the powdered infant formula because of a bacterium found in samples. The products manufactured by Wyeth are sold under various store brands including Baby Basics, CVS, Home Best, Healthy Baby, Kozy Kids, Hill Country Fare, HEB, Little Ones, Parent's Choice, Safeway Select and Walgreen's.
One St. Thomas consumer reported having purchased two cans of the soy formula — "large cans with 06 28 05 printed on the base" — at Kmart.
The recalled cans have expiration dates ranging from July 28, 2005, through Sept. 28, 2005, stamped on the bottom. They can also be identified by a six-digit character embossed on the bottom of the cans. The first four characters fall in three alpha-numeric ranges, the FDA's Web site states: K12N through K19N, L07N through L30N, and N03N through N25N.
The detected bacterium, Enterobacter sakazakii, is "a foodborne pathogen that can in rare cases cause sepsis (bacteria in the blood), meningitis (inflammation of the lining of the brain), or necrotizing enterocolitis (severe intestinal infection) in newborn infants, particularly premature infants or other infants with weakened immune systems," according to the Web site. However, as of Nov.1, "No illnesses have been reported to date in connection with this contamination," the Web site states.
About 1.5 million cans of the formula were distributed nationwide in retail stores, the FDA said.
Kmart's Tutu Park Mall store manager, Jim Sauser, reached Sunday night at his home, said he was not aware of the recall and could not say if the formula products had been pulled from the shelves. "As of when I left work Friday," he said, "I had not received any e-mail" from the company's corporate headquarters about the recall. He said he would "follow up first thing Monday."
Efforts to reach Andrew Rutnik, commissioner of Licensing and Consumer Affairs, on Sunday night were unsuccessful.
Publisher's note : Like the St. Croix Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
VIRGIN PETROLEUM FINED FOR STORAGE VIOLATIONS
Nov. 3, 2002 – The owner of several St. Croix gas stations has been socked with more than $82,000 in fines by the federal Environmental Protection Agency for allegedly violating regulations on underground tanks used for storing gasoline.
Virgin Petroleum Inc., six affiliated companies and owner Yusef Jaber were ordered by the EPA to comply with regulations that require owners and operators of underground storage tanks to:
– Have systems that detect leaks.
– Close tanks properly when they are not in use.
– Respond to EPA's requests for information.
– Have sufficient insurance to provide for cleanup in the event of a leak.
"EPA enforces these underground storage tank regulations to protect the health of the residents of St. Croix and the integrity of the island's sensitive ecosystems." the agency's regional administrator, Jane M. Kenny, said. "When underground storage tanks leak oil or gasoline, they can contaminate drinking water supplies and seriously degrade the environment."
Virgin Petroleum and Jaber must pay the penalty and comply fully with the regulations or request a hearing to dispute the EPA findings and requirements. The facilities where the violations are alleged to have occurred are operated by Virgin Petroleum under seven corporate names: Virgin Petroleum and VP-Princess, VP-Diamond, VP-Two Brothers, VP-Peter's Rest, VP-Boetzberg, and VP-Glynn.
The capacity of underground storage tanks ranges from a few hundred gallons to 50,000 or more. The tanks are used to store gasoline, diesel fuel, heating oil, other fuels, waste oil and hazardous substances at gas stations, marinas, government facilities and large industrial sites, according to the EPA.
Leaks from tanks often contaminate the soil and ground water around them and the water in wells within the area of contamination. Leaks also can cause harmful gasoline vapors to settle into underground areas of homes. Petroleum releases can contaminate water, making it unsafe or unpleasant to drink; result in fire and explosion hazards; and produce short- and long-term health problems.
Underground storage tanks have long been the nation's No. 1 source of ground water contamination, with more than 30,000 leaks and spills from tanks reported annually. EPA and state regulations were put in place to prevent the release of petroleum from the tanks and to ensure an immediate response to any leak that does occur.
Information about the Environmental Protection Agency's underground storage tank program can be found at its Office of Underground Storage Tanks Web site.
Publisher's note : Like the St. Croix Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
Virgin Petroleum Inc., six affiliated companies and owner Yusef Jaber were ordered by the EPA to comply with regulations that require owners and operators of underground storage tanks to:
– Have systems that detect leaks.
– Close tanks properly when they are not in use.
– Respond to EPA's requests for information.
– Have sufficient insurance to provide for cleanup in the event of a leak.
"EPA enforces these underground storage tank regulations to protect the health of the residents of St. Croix and the integrity of the island's sensitive ecosystems." the agency's regional administrator, Jane M. Kenny, said. "When underground storage tanks leak oil or gasoline, they can contaminate drinking water supplies and seriously degrade the environment."
Virgin Petroleum and Jaber must pay the penalty and comply fully with the regulations or request a hearing to dispute the EPA findings and requirements. The facilities where the violations are alleged to have occurred are operated by Virgin Petroleum under seven corporate names: Virgin Petroleum and VP-Princess, VP-Diamond, VP-Two Brothers, VP-Peter's Rest, VP-Boetzberg, and VP-Glynn.
The capacity of underground storage tanks ranges from a few hundred gallons to 50,000 or more. The tanks are used to store gasoline, diesel fuel, heating oil, other fuels, waste oil and hazardous substances at gas stations, marinas, government facilities and large industrial sites, according to the EPA.
Leaks from tanks often contaminate the soil and ground water around them and the water in wells within the area of contamination. Leaks also can cause harmful gasoline vapors to settle into underground areas of homes. Petroleum releases can contaminate water, making it unsafe or unpleasant to drink; result in fire and explosion hazards; and produce short- and long-term health problems.
Underground storage tanks have long been the nation's No. 1 source of ground water contamination, with more than 30,000 leaks and spills from tanks reported annually. EPA and state regulations were put in place to prevent the release of petroleum from the tanks and to ensure an immediate response to any leak that does occur.
Information about the Environmental Protection Agency's underground storage tank program can be found at its Office of Underground Storage Tanks Web site.
Publisher's note : Like the St. Croix Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
TWO IF'S THAT COULD MEAN HOUSE POWER FOR THE V.I.
Analysis
Nov. 3, 2002 – It all depends on the Democratic turnout in Iowa, or maybe in Maryland or New Hampshire, but if the Democrats gain control of the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday, and if Delegate Donna M. Christensen is re-elected, the Virgin Islands will be in a much stronger position than it is now in Congress.
There are two reasons for this:
– Christensen is a Democrat.
– If she is re-elected, she will be one of the more senior Democratic members of the House, and on Capitol Hill, with seniority comes power, particularly in the committee structure.
It is within the committees that most of the real work of Congress takes place. Christensen, seeking her fourth two-year term, is the ranking Democrat on the Parks and Public Lands Subcommittee of the House Natural Resources Committee. As such, she would in all likelihood become the subcommittee chair should the Democrats capture the House and should she be retained in office.
Why is this important to the territory? As members of Congress without a vote, she and the other delegates are powerless on the House floor. They can speak, and perhaps persuade others of their positions, but there can be none of the alliance-building and horse-trading that go on day after day among the voting members of any legislative body.
But as a subcommittee chair, Christensen would wield substantial power. She would not only have a vote in committee, as she does now, but she would decide when the subcommittee meets and who testifies before it, and she would play a major role in deciding which bills are killed in committee and which move on for further consideration. She also would hire the staff for the subcommittee.
No national park can be expanded or contracted without the approval of Congress, and the road to such approval begins — and can end — with the Parks and Public Lands Subcommittee. Voting members of the House would seek Christensen's help in getting their parks or public land bills through the subcommittee, putting her in a position of strength to talk to them about issues of significance to the Virgin Islands.
But none of this will happen unless half a dozen seats in the House move from the Republican to the Democratic column, and the Bush administration is trying mightily to make sure that doesn't occur. And while Christensen is considered the front runner in the V.I. delegate race, there is no such thing as a sure thing until the votes are counted.
Christensen could benefit in another way if the Democrats wrest the majority away from the Republicans. Earlier this year she publicly supported California's Rep. Nancy Pelosi in her hard-fought battle to become the House Minority Whip — and was rewarded with a position within the Whip's organization. If the Democrats take the House, Pelosi would move up to Majority Leader, while the current party leader, Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri, would become Speaker. Pelosi would be a valuable friend in a Democratic House.
Christensen would be neither the first insular delegate nor the first Virgin Islander to chair a subcommittee, but she would be breaking ground in other ways.
Delegate Ron de Lugo for years chaired the Insular and International Affairs Subcommittee (no longer in existence) of the House Interior Committee (now renamed the Natural Resources Committee), as Antonio B. Won Pat of Guam had done in the early 1980s.
Fofo Sunia of American Samoa is the only island delegate to have chaired a non-island subcommittee. His dealt with federal buildings — but he headed it for only a few months before being forced out of office by a political scandal. Now, his successor, Eni Faleomaveaga, if re-elected, would, like Christensen, stand to become chair of a Natural Resources subcommittee.
Publisher's note : Like the St. Croix Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
Nov. 3, 2002 – It all depends on the Democratic turnout in Iowa, or maybe in Maryland or New Hampshire, but if the Democrats gain control of the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday, and if Delegate Donna M. Christensen is re-elected, the Virgin Islands will be in a much stronger position than it is now in Congress.
There are two reasons for this:
– Christensen is a Democrat.
– If she is re-elected, she will be one of the more senior Democratic members of the House, and on Capitol Hill, with seniority comes power, particularly in the committee structure.
It is within the committees that most of the real work of Congress takes place. Christensen, seeking her fourth two-year term, is the ranking Democrat on the Parks and Public Lands Subcommittee of the House Natural Resources Committee. As such, she would in all likelihood become the subcommittee chair should the Democrats capture the House and should she be retained in office.
Why is this important to the territory? As members of Congress without a vote, she and the other delegates are powerless on the House floor. They can speak, and perhaps persuade others of their positions, but there can be none of the alliance-building and horse-trading that go on day after day among the voting members of any legislative body.
But as a subcommittee chair, Christensen would wield substantial power. She would not only have a vote in committee, as she does now, but she would decide when the subcommittee meets and who testifies before it, and she would play a major role in deciding which bills are killed in committee and which move on for further consideration. She also would hire the staff for the subcommittee.
No national park can be expanded or contracted without the approval of Congress, and the road to such approval begins — and can end — with the Parks and Public Lands Subcommittee. Voting members of the House would seek Christensen's help in getting their parks or public land bills through the subcommittee, putting her in a position of strength to talk to them about issues of significance to the Virgin Islands.
But none of this will happen unless half a dozen seats in the House move from the Republican to the Democratic column, and the Bush administration is trying mightily to make sure that doesn't occur. And while Christensen is considered the front runner in the V.I. delegate race, there is no such thing as a sure thing until the votes are counted.
Christensen could benefit in another way if the Democrats wrest the majority away from the Republicans. Earlier this year she publicly supported California's Rep. Nancy Pelosi in her hard-fought battle to become the House Minority Whip — and was rewarded with a position within the Whip's organization. If the Democrats take the House, Pelosi would move up to Majority Leader, while the current party leader, Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri, would become Speaker. Pelosi would be a valuable friend in a Democratic House.
Christensen would be neither the first insular delegate nor the first Virgin Islander to chair a subcommittee, but she would be breaking ground in other ways.
Delegate Ron de Lugo for years chaired the Insular and International Affairs Subcommittee (no longer in existence) of the House Interior Committee (now renamed the Natural Resources Committee), as Antonio B. Won Pat of Guam had done in the early 1980s.
Fofo Sunia of American Samoa is the only island delegate to have chaired a non-island subcommittee. His dealt with federal buildings — but he headed it for only a few months before being forced out of office by a political scandal. Now, his successor, Eni Faleomaveaga, if re-elected, would, like Christensen, stand to become chair of a Natural Resources subcommittee.
Publisher's note : Like the St. Croix Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
HANSEN LASHES OUT OVER DEGREES OF DIFFERENCE
Nov. 2, 2002 – Gubernatorial candidate Alicia "Chucky" Hansen placed a scathing full-page advertisement in Saturday's issue of The Avis in response to an article published by The Virgin Islands Daily News two days earlier that reported apparent misrepresentations by the St. Croix senator regarding her educational credentials.
In an interview, the Daily News said, Hansen told a reporter that she received her bachelor's and master's degrees from "Regis University," which is a Jesuit school in Denver, Colorado.
Officials of the school, however, told the newspaper they have no record of Hansen ever having been enrolled there, and that they checked records going back more than 25 years.
When questioned further, Hansen, who has served in the Legislature since 1987, would not specify to the Daily News whether her degrees are from Saint Regis University — an Internet site that sells diplomas.
According to the Saint Regis Web site, a "student" can purchase associate, bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees for prices ranging from $500 to $1,200 without ever having to complete classwork. "No courses or residency required," the Web site's homepage says. "Earn a valid degree based on your present knowledge."
The school, which according to the Web site is headquartered in Dominica, claims to assess an applicant's present knowledge and compare it with that obtained in traditional college curriculums. And, the site says, degrees can be earned and sent via Express Mail in as little as one day.
Qualifying "experimental learning methods" listed on the site include career or work experience, childcare, overcoming divorce or devastating situations, homemaking, hobbies and travel.
Saint Regis University, according to its Web site, is accredited by the Education Ministry of the Republic of Liberia and is not associated with Regis University or any other higher education institution with the same or a similar name.
Hansen called the Daily News article "low-root" and attacked its owner, Jeffrey Prosser, as "trying to do to me what they did to Sen. [Adlah] Donastorg." She was referring to a recently reported investigation that Innovative Telephone, also owned by Prosser, made into Donastorg's personal life.
"Significantly to accomplish their foul deed, they contacted a Regis University from which I obtained no degree and they would consequently obtain a negative answer to fit their dastardly objective," Hansen said in the Avis ad. Had Daily News reporters called Saint Regis, she said, they would have found that "my credentials were sound."
In fact, the Thursday article said the newspaper did attempt to contact Saint Regis by calling its Washington, D.C., telephone number, but there was no answer.
But Hansen maintained in her ad that the Daily News did not reach Saint Regis "because it did not fit into their agenda." She called the article "slanderous" and "most likely a precursor for the editorializing to follow in the same Prosser newspaper just before election day."
Saturday's issue of The Avis also carried a front-page article about the senator and her so-called degrees.
On July 26, 1999, The Source published an article outlining the formal education of each senator in the 23rd Legislature. For that article — despite numerous requests from the newspaper over several weeks — Hansen was the only senator who did not provide the educational history requested of all 15. According to the article, "Education of legislators varies", Hansen "attended the Inter-American University in Puerto Rico and the University of the Virgin Islands, but further details were not offered."
The biography of the seven-term St. Croix senator that appears on the official Legislature Web site states that she graduated from Jose C. Barbosa High School in Puerto Rico and attended Inter-American University, then "went on to attend the Virgin Islands Police Academy, as well as the University of the Virgin Islands, through arrangement with the Territorial Court of the Virgin Islands. She received training in criminal law and paralegal studies."
In September, after filing to run for governor with the Joint Boards of Elections, Hansen told a Source reporter that if she were to lose the race, her plans for the future included attending law school.
A degree document reproduced in Hansen's ad in The Avis states that Saint Regis University awarded her a master's degree in public administration on June 5, 2001. She reportedly was awarded a bachelor's degree in political science on the same day.
However, Hansen's degrees, if authentic, may not be for long, as a Saint Regis waiver on its Web site states that documents issued by the school "may not be published in any form whatsoever" and may not be used "to insult or defraud any government."
"'The Corporation' [Saint Regis] reserves the right to terminate any services, nullify or void any documents provided to you or transactions with you at any time or for any reason, with or without notice," the site advisory says.
The waiver language also states that residents of Dominica and of the British Virgin Islands are not eligible to obtain degrees from Saint Regis; no explanation is given as to why. While the Web site is unclear as to whether Saint Regis actually offers courses, Hansen said in her ad that the Daily News article could deter others from seeking higher education through distance learning.
"Perhaps the most loathsome thing in an otherwise loathsome article is that it may stymie the push, both here and on the mainland, for those who for some reason cannot sit in a classroom or attend a university to obtain a higher degree by use of the Internet . . .," Hansen said.
She charged that it was by design that Thursday's "foul, misleading and loathsome" article appeared in the Daily News the same day that polls — she didn't state which polls or provide any details — showed her and her running mate, Eddie Donoghue, leading the eight-way gubernatorial race.
Publisher's note : Like the St. Croix Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
In an interview, the Daily News said, Hansen told a reporter that she received her bachelor's and master's degrees from "Regis University," which is a Jesuit school in Denver, Colorado.
Officials of the school, however, told the newspaper they have no record of Hansen ever having been enrolled there, and that they checked records going back more than 25 years.
When questioned further, Hansen, who has served in the Legislature since 1987, would not specify to the Daily News whether her degrees are from Saint Regis University — an Internet site that sells diplomas.
According to the Saint Regis Web site, a "student" can purchase associate, bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees for prices ranging from $500 to $1,200 without ever having to complete classwork. "No courses or residency required," the Web site's homepage says. "Earn a valid degree based on your present knowledge."
The school, which according to the Web site is headquartered in Dominica, claims to assess an applicant's present knowledge and compare it with that obtained in traditional college curriculums. And, the site says, degrees can be earned and sent via Express Mail in as little as one day.
Qualifying "experimental learning methods" listed on the site include career or work experience, childcare, overcoming divorce or devastating situations, homemaking, hobbies and travel.
Saint Regis University, according to its Web site, is accredited by the Education Ministry of the Republic of Liberia and is not associated with Regis University or any other higher education institution with the same or a similar name.
Hansen called the Daily News article "low-root" and attacked its owner, Jeffrey Prosser, as "trying to do to me what they did to Sen. [Adlah] Donastorg." She was referring to a recently reported investigation that Innovative Telephone, also owned by Prosser, made into Donastorg's personal life.
"Significantly to accomplish their foul deed, they contacted a Regis University from which I obtained no degree and they would consequently obtain a negative answer to fit their dastardly objective," Hansen said in the Avis ad. Had Daily News reporters called Saint Regis, she said, they would have found that "my credentials were sound."
In fact, the Thursday article said the newspaper did attempt to contact Saint Regis by calling its Washington, D.C., telephone number, but there was no answer.
But Hansen maintained in her ad that the Daily News did not reach Saint Regis "because it did not fit into their agenda." She called the article "slanderous" and "most likely a precursor for the editorializing to follow in the same Prosser newspaper just before election day."
Saturday's issue of The Avis also carried a front-page article about the senator and her so-called degrees.
On July 26, 1999, The Source published an article outlining the formal education of each senator in the 23rd Legislature. For that article — despite numerous requests from the newspaper over several weeks — Hansen was the only senator who did not provide the educational history requested of all 15. According to the article, "Education of legislators varies", Hansen "attended the Inter-American University in Puerto Rico and the University of the Virgin Islands, but further details were not offered."
The biography of the seven-term St. Croix senator that appears on the official Legislature Web site states that she graduated from Jose C. Barbosa High School in Puerto Rico and attended Inter-American University, then "went on to attend the Virgin Islands Police Academy, as well as the University of the Virgin Islands, through arrangement with the Territorial Court of the Virgin Islands. She received training in criminal law and paralegal studies."
In September, after filing to run for governor with the Joint Boards of Elections, Hansen told a Source reporter that if she were to lose the race, her plans for the future included attending law school.
A degree document reproduced in Hansen's ad in The Avis states that Saint Regis University awarded her a master's degree in public administration on June 5, 2001. She reportedly was awarded a bachelor's degree in political science on the same day.
However, Hansen's degrees, if authentic, may not be for long, as a Saint Regis waiver on its Web site states that documents issued by the school "may not be published in any form whatsoever" and may not be used "to insult or defraud any government."
"'The Corporation' [Saint Regis] reserves the right to terminate any services, nullify or void any documents provided to you or transactions with you at any time or for any reason, with or without notice," the site advisory says.
The waiver language also states that residents of Dominica and of the British Virgin Islands are not eligible to obtain degrees from Saint Regis; no explanation is given as to why. While the Web site is unclear as to whether Saint Regis actually offers courses, Hansen said in her ad that the Daily News article could deter others from seeking higher education through distance learning.
"Perhaps the most loathsome thing in an otherwise loathsome article is that it may stymie the push, both here and on the mainland, for those who for some reason cannot sit in a classroom or attend a university to obtain a higher degree by use of the Internet . . .," Hansen said.
She charged that it was by design that Thursday's "foul, misleading and loathsome" article appeared in the Daily News the same day that polls — she didn't state which polls or provide any details — showed her and her running mate, Eddie Donoghue, leading the eight-way gubernatorial race.
Publisher's note : Like the St. Croix Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
INFANT FORMULA PRODUCTS BEING RECALLED
Nov. 3, 2002 – Baby formula products that are being voluntarily recalled by the manufacturer have been found on the shelves of local Kmart stores, where they are sold under the America's Store brand label Little Ones.
The products were recalled because bacteria were found in batches produced between July and September of this year. They include two types of powdered infant formula, soy and milk based.
The Food and Drug Administration announced on Friday that Wyeth Nutrition was recalling more than a million cans of the powdered infant formula because of a bacterium found in samples. The products manufactured by Wyeth are sold under various store brands including Baby Basics, CVS, Home Best, Healthy Baby, Kozy Kids, Hill Country Fare, HEB, Little Ones, Parent's Choice, Safeway Select and Walgreen's.
One St. Thomas consumer reported having purchased two cans of the soy formula — "large cans with 06 28 05 printed on the base" — at Kmart.
The recalled cans have expiration dates ranging from July 28, 2005, through Sept. 28, 2005, stamped on the bottom. They can also be identified by a six-digit character embossed on the bottom of the cans. The first four characters fall in three alpha-numeric ranges, the FDA's Web site states: K12N through K19N, L07N through L30N, and N03N through N25N.
The detected bacterium, Enterobacter sakazakii, is "a foodborne pathogen that can in rare cases cause sepsis (bacteria in the blood), meningitis (inflammation of the lining of the brain), or necrotizing enterocolitis (severe intestinal infection) in newborn infants, particularly premature infants or other infants with weakened immune systems," according to the Web site. However, as of Nov.1, "No illnesses have been reported to date in connection with this contamination," the Web site states.
About 1.5 million cans of the formula were distributed nationwide in retail stores, the FDA said.
Kmart's Tutu Park Mall store manager, Jim Sauser, reached Sunday night at his home, said he was not aware of the recall and could not say if the formula products had been pulled from the shelves. "As of when I left work Friday," he said, "I had not received any e-mail" from the company's corporate headquarters about the recall. He said he would "follow up first thing Monday."
Efforts to reach Andrew Rutnik, commissioner of Licensing and Consumer Affairs, on Sunday night were unsuccessful.
Publisher's note : Like the St. John Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
The products were recalled because bacteria were found in batches produced between July and September of this year. They include two types of powdered infant formula, soy and milk based.
The Food and Drug Administration announced on Friday that Wyeth Nutrition was recalling more than a million cans of the powdered infant formula because of a bacterium found in samples. The products manufactured by Wyeth are sold under various store brands including Baby Basics, CVS, Home Best, Healthy Baby, Kozy Kids, Hill Country Fare, HEB, Little Ones, Parent's Choice, Safeway Select and Walgreen's.
One St. Thomas consumer reported having purchased two cans of the soy formula — "large cans with 06 28 05 printed on the base" — at Kmart.
The recalled cans have expiration dates ranging from July 28, 2005, through Sept. 28, 2005, stamped on the bottom. They can also be identified by a six-digit character embossed on the bottom of the cans. The first four characters fall in three alpha-numeric ranges, the FDA's Web site states: K12N through K19N, L07N through L30N, and N03N through N25N.
The detected bacterium, Enterobacter sakazakii, is "a foodborne pathogen that can in rare cases cause sepsis (bacteria in the blood), meningitis (inflammation of the lining of the brain), or necrotizing enterocolitis (severe intestinal infection) in newborn infants, particularly premature infants or other infants with weakened immune systems," according to the Web site. However, as of Nov.1, "No illnesses have been reported to date in connection with this contamination," the Web site states.
About 1.5 million cans of the formula were distributed nationwide in retail stores, the FDA said.
Kmart's Tutu Park Mall store manager, Jim Sauser, reached Sunday night at his home, said he was not aware of the recall and could not say if the formula products had been pulled from the shelves. "As of when I left work Friday," he said, "I had not received any e-mail" from the company's corporate headquarters about the recall. He said he would "follow up first thing Monday."
Efforts to reach Andrew Rutnik, commissioner of Licensing and Consumer Affairs, on Sunday night were unsuccessful.
Publisher's note : Like the St. John Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
TWO IF'S THAT COULD MEAN HOUSE POWER FOR THE V.I.
Analysis
Nov. 3, 2002 – It all depends on the Democratic turnout in Iowa, or maybe in Maryland or New Hampshire, but if the Democrats gain control of the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday, and if Delegate Donna M. Christensen is re-elected, the Virgin Islands will be in a much stronger position than it is now in Congress.
There are two reasons for this:
– Christensen is a Democrat.
– If she is re-elected, she will be one of the more senior Democratic members of the House, and on Capitol Hill, with seniority comes power, particularly in the committee structure.
It is within the committees that most of the real work of Congress takes place. Christensen, seeking her fourth two-year term, is the ranking Democrat on the Parks and Public Lands Subcommittee of the House Natural Resources Committee. As such, she would in all likelihood become the subcommittee chair should the Democrats capture the House and should she be retained in office.
Why is this important to the territory? As members of Congress without a vote, she and the other delegates are powerless on the House floor. They can speak, and perhaps persuade others of their positions, but there can be none of the alliance-building and horse-trading that go on day after day among the voting members of any legislative body.
But as a subcommittee chair, Christensen would wield substantial power. She would not only have a vote in committee, as she does now, but she would decide when the subcommittee meets and who testifies before it, and she would play a major role in deciding which bills are killed in committee and which move on for further consideration. She also would hire the staff for the subcommittee.
No national park can be expanded or contracted without the approval of Congress, and the road to such approval begins — and can end — with the Parks and Public Lands Subcommittee. Voting members of the House would seek Christensen's help in getting their parks or public land bills through the subcommittee, putting her in a position of strength to talk to them about issues of significance to the Virgin Islands.
But none of this will happen unless half a dozen seats in the House move from the Republican to the Democratic column, and the Bush administration is trying mightily to make sure that doesn't occur. And while Christensen is considered the front runner in the V.I. delegate race, there is no such thing as a sure thing until the votes are counted.
Christensen could benefit in another way if the Democrats wrest the majority away from the Republicans. Earlier this year she publicly supported California's Rep. Nancy Pelosi in her hard-fought battle to become the House Minority Whip — and was rewarded with a position within the Whip's organization. If the Democrats take the House, Pelosi would move up to Majority Leader, while the current party leader, Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri, would become Speaker. Pelosi would be a valuable friend in a Democratic House.
Christensen would be neither the first insular delegate nor the first Virgin Islander to chair a subcommittee, but she would be breaking ground in other ways.
Delegate Ron de Lugo for years chaired the Insular and International Affairs Subcommittee (no longer in existence) of the House Interior Committee (now renamed the Natural Resources Committee), as Antonio B. Won Pat of Guam had done in the early 1980s.
Fofo Sunia of American Samoa is the only island delegate to have chaired a non-island subcommittee. His dealt with federal buildings — but he headed it for only a few months before being forced out of office by a political scandal. Now, his successor, Eni Faleomaveaga, if re-elected, would, like Christensen, stand to become chair of a Natural Resources subcommittee.
Publisher's note : Like the St. John Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
Nov. 3, 2002 – It all depends on the Democratic turnout in Iowa, or maybe in Maryland or New Hampshire, but if the Democrats gain control of the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday, and if Delegate Donna M. Christensen is re-elected, the Virgin Islands will be in a much stronger position than it is now in Congress.
There are two reasons for this:
– Christensen is a Democrat.
– If she is re-elected, she will be one of the more senior Democratic members of the House, and on Capitol Hill, with seniority comes power, particularly in the committee structure.
It is within the committees that most of the real work of Congress takes place. Christensen, seeking her fourth two-year term, is the ranking Democrat on the Parks and Public Lands Subcommittee of the House Natural Resources Committee. As such, she would in all likelihood become the subcommittee chair should the Democrats capture the House and should she be retained in office.
Why is this important to the territory? As members of Congress without a vote, she and the other delegates are powerless on the House floor. They can speak, and perhaps persuade others of their positions, but there can be none of the alliance-building and horse-trading that go on day after day among the voting members of any legislative body.
But as a subcommittee chair, Christensen would wield substantial power. She would not only have a vote in committee, as she does now, but she would decide when the subcommittee meets and who testifies before it, and she would play a major role in deciding which bills are killed in committee and which move on for further consideration. She also would hire the staff for the subcommittee.
No national park can be expanded or contracted without the approval of Congress, and the road to such approval begins — and can end — with the Parks and Public Lands Subcommittee. Voting members of the House would seek Christensen's help in getting their parks or public land bills through the subcommittee, putting her in a position of strength to talk to them about issues of significance to the Virgin Islands.
But none of this will happen unless half a dozen seats in the House move from the Republican to the Democratic column, and the Bush administration is trying mightily to make sure that doesn't occur. And while Christensen is considered the front runner in the V.I. delegate race, there is no such thing as a sure thing until the votes are counted.
Christensen could benefit in another way if the Democrats wrest the majority away from the Republicans. Earlier this year she publicly supported California's Rep. Nancy Pelosi in her hard-fought battle to become the House Minority Whip — and was rewarded with a position within the Whip's organization. If the Democrats take the House, Pelosi would move up to Majority Leader, while the current party leader, Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri, would become Speaker. Pelosi would be a valuable friend in a Democratic House.
Christensen would be neither the first insular delegate nor the first Virgin Islander to chair a subcommittee, but she would be breaking ground in other ways.
Delegate Ron de Lugo for years chaired the Insular and International Affairs Subcommittee (no longer in existence) of the House Interior Committee (now renamed the Natural Resources Committee), as Antonio B. Won Pat of Guam had done in the early 1980s.
Fofo Sunia of American Samoa is the only island delegate to have chaired a non-island subcommittee. His dealt with federal buildings — but he headed it for only a few months before being forced out of office by a political scandal. Now, his successor, Eni Faleomaveaga, if re-elected, would, like Christensen, stand to become chair of a Natural Resources subcommittee.
Publisher's note : Like the St. John Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
