SECONDHAND SMOKE IS A SERIOUS HEALTH HAZZARD

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I am dismayed over the plight of non-smokers in the Virgin Islands and the dangers of the secondhand tobacco smoke to which we are exposed. I assumed that there was no law restricting smoking in the V.I. because there is an apparent disregard for the health of non-smokers. But I was referred to Title 23, Sections 892 through 895 of the V.I. Code outlining the rights of non-smokers in the workplace and restaurants.
So as we debated what should have happened to money earned from the death and illness of people who have smoked cigarettes, we have a law from 1985, with 1994 amendments, in the 'fire prevention section' of the V.I. Code that most people probably don’t know about and clearly isn’t enforced.
I certainly didn’t know that if non-smokers outnumber smokers in the workplace and there’s no other suitable compromise that the non-smokers determine whether smoking is allowed. I didn’t know that there are statutory enforcement issues for offenses to no smoking regulations in government and private office workplaces, did you? [there are other provisions and caveats; read the law.]
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has labeled "tobacco smoke as a serious environmental hazard." It identifies that "the health effects from second hand smoke are: eye, nose, and throat irritation; headaches, lung cancer; and [that] it may contribute to heart disease." For children, there is the "increased risk of lower respiratory tract infections, such as bronchitis and pneumonia and ear infections; build-up of fluid in the middle ear; increased severity and frequency of asthma episodes and decreased lung function."
On a recent local radio talk show, a health care advocate noted that the incidence of asthma appears to be higher in the V.I. than elsewhere. It would be interesting to research what the exposure levels of second hand smoke are to asthmatics in the territory.
Another EPA document lists the factors that 'trigger' asthma attacks stating that, "secondhand smoke may trigger asthma episodes and make asthma symptoms more severe in children who already have asthma. Moreover, secondhand smoke is a risk factor for new cases of asthma in children who have not previously exhibited asthma symptoms."
One section of our code states that "restaurants which have a customer seating capacity of less than twenty (20) persons " need not have a non-smoking section. It seems to me that a restaurant that small is exactly the kind of place that should be designated totally non-smoking. In a place that small, the imaginary line where my non-smoking section ends and your smoking section begins is really imaginary when I’ m sucking in your smoke. The 1985 law states that 30 percent of a restaurant should be non-smoking AND the 1994 amendment states that 70 percent should be non-smoking. Can you think of a few establishments that may not know that?
Those of us who do not smoke, but are involuntarily inhaling the smoke of others, must speak up. We should let establishments know 1) the law and 2) that they’ve lost our patronage if they choose to ignore it. It is important that we applaud and support eating establishments, like Craig & Sally’s, that voluntarily say 'no smoking here.' That’s a responsible company, concerned about its patrons and employees.I respect everyone’s right to suck in cigarette fumes and endanger their lives. We live in a world that allows slow, methodic suicide. But I draw the line when their rights also mean they’re harming me. I implore our senators to re-visit this law, consider the updated information available on second hand smoke and act accordingly. The enforcement agencies will hopefully address this issue as well.
So don’t feel like you’re being pushy, selfish or inconsiderate the next time you say to someone yes, the smoke is bothering me." The truth is that it’s harming you physically. Tell the smoker in your life that the EPA has determined that 'secondhand smoke' contains more than 4,000 substances, including over 40 that are linked to cancer [and that] many of the compounds in tobacco smoke are released at higher rates in side stream smoke than in mainstream smoke." Think about it – they are often sucking it in through a 'filter,' we’re getting that side stream smoke direct, concentrated and unfiltered.
Smoking is a life style and a death style that shouldn’t be imposed on those of us who don’t smoke. But, does it really take a law for establishments to do what’s healthy for their patrons? Our choices in the Virgin Islands are limited when it comes to the number of places one can dine out. I don’t often go to restaurants that allow smoking. I know other people who have done this as well.
By the way, Chapter 894 of the code lists the duties of the police to enforce the law and Section 895 lists penalties that the Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs can invoke. What are the chances people will just do the right thing and say "no smoking."
Editor's note: Davida Siwisa, who writes here as a private citizen, is a non-smoker who resides in St. Thomas, V.I.

BAN ON SCUBA TO TAKE CONCH WORRIES FISHERMEN

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St. Croix fishermen are banding together to fight a proposal by the Caribbean Fishery Management Council to ban the use of scuba gear to collect conch in federal waters, a move that would essentially put a halt to 90 percent of the conch harvesting in the sea surrounding the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
While most provisions of the council’s proposed fishery management plan for queen conch mirror those already in place in the territory, the new provision against using scuba equipment isn’t sitting well with the approximately 250 registered commercial fishermen on St. Croix, according to Eddie Schuster, president of the St. Croix Commercial Fishermen’s Association.
Schuster is trying to rally fishermen to make their presence felt at a council public hearing on the queen conch management plan at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Caravelle Hotel. He and other St. Croix fishermen say the proposals, especially the scuba prohibition, place yet another burden on small, family-run operations.
"What you’re saying is you don’t want these guys who support restaurants, hotels and tourists with fish . . . to make a living," he said.

BIG BROTHER GOES FISHING
The Caribbean Fishery Management Council is one of eight regional bodies established by federal law to develop management plans for fisheries within the U.S. "exclusive economic zone." In the Virgin Islands, the EEZ extends three miles to 200 miles from the shores of the islands. The area from shore to the three-mile limit belongs to the territory.
According to Miguel Rollon, executive director of the Puerto Rico-based management council, statistics show that "the queen conch fishery is going in a downward trend" in federal waters. Hence the management plan proposals.
In the mid-1990s, the Planning and Natural Resources Department put in place regulations aimed at halting a downward slide in conch harvesting in territorial waters. The regulations include:
– a minimum size limit of 9 inches, or 3/8 of an inch shell lip thickness.
– a requirement that conch be brought to shore in the shell and a prohibition against selling undersized conch.
– a bag limit of 150 queen conch a day for licensed commercial fishermen and three a day for recreational fishers, not to exceed 12 per boat.
– a closed season between July 1 and Sept. 30.
But even though most of the federal proposals are the same as the territory's, Robert McAuliffe, president of the Fishermen’s United Service Cooperative of St. Croix, predicted a large turnout of fisherman at Thursday’s hearing. He said that by and large, fisherman support the territorial laws regarding conch, but those don’t contain a scuba gear ban.
Because most of the remaining conch beds are in relatively deep -– up to 70 feet -– federal water outside the three-mile limit, scuba is the only way to harvest. Outlawing scuba would mean no conch, McAuliffe said, or possibly force local fisherman to poach.
"Scuba is probably the primary piece of equipment fishermen use here," he said. "About 75 percent use it in one form or another."
Banning scuba would be "just another headache for us," McAuliffe said.
It would be difficult to enforce, he noted, as "they would have to actually catch the guy in the water with scuba gear on." He added, "We don’t have adequate enforcement yet, but they have all these regulations they’re throwing at us. The basic problem is the government doesn’t listen to the industry -– the fishermen."
IT'S IN THE NUMBERS
As far as federal and local fishery officials are concerned, the need for stricter regulations is basic: Over-fish a species, and nobody will make a living, period. In Florida, Cuba and Bermuda, conch fisheries have virtually collapsed because of over-harvesting, according to the queen conch management plan.
Another threat is posed by on-shore pollution to seagrass beds needed by juvenile conch for feeding and protection.
"If the adult population is over-fished and juvenile habitat is threatened, a long-term sustainable queen conch fishery is not possible," the management plan states.
In the territory, the queen conch fishery has been in decline for more than a decade, according to the plan. On St. Croix, conch harvests in 1991-92 were down more than 50 percent from a decade earlier.
Over-fishing in the St. Thomas-St. John district led to a five-year ban on taking conch. While that ended in 1992, the fishery never made a comeback, because "more restrictive measures were not implemented, and the resource was depleted within a short period of time," the plan says.
Even with the subsequent territorial laws regulating conch, Barbara Kojis, director of DPNR’s Division of Fish and Wildlife, said, some fishermen just don’t follow the rules. One local law that also is proposed by the Management Council calls for fishermen to bring conch to shore before they cut out the meat.
Kojis said that a recent survey on St. Croix discovered that many of the shells found in piles near boat ramps were below the 9-inch minimum size.
"We found a substantial number that were undersized, like 65 percent," she said. "The rules regarding conch size are to ensure reproduction. If juveniles are collected, they won’t reproduce.
"The regulations that are in place right now don’t look like they are being followed."
Still, totally closing the conch fishery hasn’t been proposed, because of the economic impact such a move would have on commercial fishermen and their families.
IT’S A LIVING
Along with his father, brother and cousins, a St. Croix fisherman named "Nicky" is on the water from 6 a.m. to noon — sometimes six days a week, depending on the weather -– fishing for conch and other sources of seafood.
Many times they have to travel 14 miles to find their catch. If it’s conch, they must lug a boatload of heavy shells back to the island, a dangerous undertaking for a small boat in rough seas. The Management Council’s proposed regulations are "too restrictive," Nicky said. "And one right after another. It’s getting out of hand."
It’s that attitude that worries Oliver Hanley, a businessman who repairs outboard engines and sells tackle. If the fishermen are driven out of business, Hanley noted, he will be, too. On top of it all is the fact that the sea is the only life many fishermen know. Hanley said there are middle-aged men on St. Croix who have been on the water since their teens.
"Most of my customers are fishermen. If they get hurt I feel it," Hanley said. "To be a fisherman, to be doing this as your livelihood, calling it quits isn’t that easy."
That’s why Schuster and McAuliffe are working to organize the island’s fishermen. Schuster said the Fisherman’s Association wants to see the Management Council institute a better education program aimed at fishermen. The association will also submit suggestions — such as a central drop-off point at sea for conch shells so boats don’t have to make a dangerous trip back to shore heavily laden.
"It’s not that nobody wants to work with Fish and Wildlife and the Council," he said. "But due to the fact that we fish from small vessels, it would be wise for them to designate an area. Then see if we abide by it before coming down and giving such harsh rules."
Meanwhile, Schuster’s goal is to unite the fishermen in the association while McAuliffe attempts to do the same with the cooperative.
"We’re trying to get to be a large enough force that they have to listen to us," McAuliffe said.
Click here to view the Caribbean Fishery Management Council web site.

VOLUME 14 OF THE CARIBBEAN WRITER PUBLISHED

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Sporting a full-color cover for the first time, the latest volume of The Caribbean Writer, an annual literary anthology published by the University of the Virgin Islands, is now in bookstores throughout the region. The playful Caribbean mermaid that adorns the cover is by Jean Booty, a Christiansted artist.
Inside, the volume celebrates two special birthdays: Derek Walcott, the Nobel Prize-winning poet and playwright from St. Lucia, and Kamau Brathwaite, another award-winning poet from Barbados, who both turned 70 earlier this year. In observance of that, poets from all over the region have written poems and tributes to these two literary figures. Interviews with both men are also included, as is an excerpt of Brathwaite's historic speech at The Caribbean Writer's 10th Anniversary Literature Conference held on St. Croix in October 1996.
Volume 14 contains three personal essays, including one that tells of life in Frederiksted, St. Croix in the 1950s and another one that deals with the reality of incest.
A one-act play entitled "War" by St. Lucian playwright Cecil A. "Blazer" Williams is also included. This play will be produced at the Reichhold Center for the Arts on St. Thomas next year during its Reichhold Caribbean Repertory Theatre summer festival.
Fiction authors included are Marvin E. Williams of St. Croix, St. Thomas resident Davida R. Siwisa, and Justin Haynes of Trinidad and Tobago, among others. Poets include Opal Palmer Adisa, Kwame Dawes, Lelawattee Manoo-Rahming, Virgil Suarez, Cecil Gray, Howard A. Fergus, Fred D. Aguiar, and Patricia Gill.
The Caribbean Writer is currently available for sale at The Bookie, Kallaloo, Arabella's, Memories of St. Croix, the Whim Museum and The Divi Carina Bay Gift Shop on St. Croix; Tropical Memories and Dockside Bookshop on St. Thomas; Heritage Books and Arts on Tortola; as well as in both UVI bookstores. Copies can also be ordered directly from The Caribbean Writer's office by calling 692-4152 or emailing qmars@uvi.edu.

UVI AWARDED $95K FOR NURSING STUDENTS

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The University of the Virgin Islands has been awarded $95,226 in financial assistance from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Bureau of Health Professions to benefit the University's nursing programs.
UVI will receive $70,226 to be dispersed as grants and an additional $25,000 in loan funding, to provide financial assistance for the educational expenses of nursing students enrolled at UVI for the 2000-2001 award year.
According to Mavis M. Gilchrist, UVI's director of enrollment management and financial aid, the grants will be awarded according to need to UVI nursing students who meet certain criteria.
The nursing loan program will offer loans of up to $2,500 to UVI students who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in nursing. The grant program will provide assistance for students enrolled in associate's and bachelor's degree programs in nursing at UVI. Gilchrist estimated that as many as 90 nursing students could benefit from the financial aid package.

UVI ANONYMOUSLY RECEIVES $4000

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An anonymous donor has given $4000 to the University of the Virgin Islands to be used as grants for computer science majors.
The grants are awarded to computer science majors with the highest grade point average from each class. Freshmen computer science majors on St. Croix, Yusef Francis and Kevin Dupigny, will both receive grants of $500. St. Croix Sophmore Viabhav Agarwal and senior Calvin Harrigan and St. Thomas Junior Dalma D.Simon, will all receive grants of $1000.

LICENSING SETS MORATORIUM ON VENDORS

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The Licensing and Consumer Affairs Department imposed a moratorium Wednesday on new mobile vendor licenses for St. Thomas and St. John.
In a press release, LCA Commissioner Andrew Rutnik cited lack of space as the reason for the moratorium, which is to take effect immediately in the district.
Rutnick held town meetings on all three major islands earlier this year to discuss problems encountered by vendors, regulatory agencies and the community.
The moratorium, which will last for an undetermined time, will not affect St. Croix.
For more information, contact the LCA Licensing Division at 774-3130.

VOLUME 14 OF THE CARIBBEAN WRITER PUBLISHED

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Sporting a full-color cover for the first time, the latest volume of The Caribbean Writer, an annual literary anthology published by the University of the Virgin Islands, is now in bookstores throughout the region. The playful Caribbean mermaid that adorns the cover is by Jean Booty, a Christiansted artist.
Inside, the volume celebrates two special birthdays: Derek Walcott, the Nobel Prize-winning poet and playwright from St. Lucia, and Kamau Brathwaite, another award-winning poet from Barbados, who both turned 70 earlier this year. In observance of that, poets from all over the region have written poems and tributes to these two literary figures. Interviews with both men are also included, as is an excerpt of Brathwaite's historic speech at The Caribbean Writer's 10th Anniversary Literature Conference held on St. Croix in October 1996.
Volume 14 contains three personal essays, including one that tells of life in Frederiksted, St. Croix in the 1950s and another one that deals with the reality of incest.
A one-act play entitled "War" by St. Lucian playwright Cecil A. "Blazer" Williams is also included. This play will be produced at the Reichhold Center for the Arts on St. Thomas next year during its Reichhold Caribbean Repertory Theatre summer festival.
Fiction authors included are Marvin E. Williams of St. Croix, St. Thomas resident Davida R. Siwisa, and Justin Haynes of Trinidad and Tobago, among others. Poets include Opal Palmer Adisa, Kwame Dawes, Lelawattee Manoo-Rahming, Virgil Suarez, Cecil Gray, Howard A. Fergus, Fred D. Aguiar, and Patricia Gill.
The Caribbean Writer is currently available for sale at The Bookie, Kallaloo, Arabella's, Memories of St. Croix, the Whim Museum and The Divi Carina Bay Gift Shop on St. Croix; Tropical Memories and Dockside Bookshop on St. Thomas; Heritage Books and Arts on Tortola; as well as in both UVI bookstores. Copies can also be ordered directly from The Caribbean Writer's office by calling 692-4152 or emailing qmars@uvi.edu.

UVI AWARDED 95K FOR NURSING STUDENTS

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The University of the Virgin Islands has been awarded $95,226 in financial assistance from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Bureau of Health Professions to benefit the University's nursing programs.
UVI will receive $70,226 to be dispersed as grants and an additional $25,000 in loan funding, to provide financial assistance for the educational expenses of nursing students enrolled at UVI for the 2000-2001 award year.
According to Mavis M. Gilchrist, UVI's director of enrollment management and financial aid, the grants will be awarded according to need to UVI nursing students who meet certain criteria.
The nursing loan program will offer loans of up to $2,500 to UVI students who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in nursing. The grant program will provide assistance for students enrolled in associate's and bachelor's degree programs in nursing at UVI. Gilchrist estimated that as many as 90 nursing students could benefit from the financial aid package.

UVI ANONYMOUSLY RECEIVES $4000

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An anonymous donor has given $4000 to the University of the Virgin Islands to be used as grants for computer science majors.
The grants are awarded to computer science majors with the highest grade point average from each class. Freshmen computer science majors on St. Croix, Yusef Francis and Kevin Dupigny, will both receive grants of $500. St. Croix Sophmore Viabhav Agarwal and senior Calvin Harrigan and St. Thomas Junior Dalma D.Simon, will all receive grants of $1000.

VITRAN AUDIT SHOWS LACK OF CASH SAFEGUARDS

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The V.I. Inspector General has released his final audit on collection activities of the Vitran system on St. Croix, and the findings do not paint a good picture. The audit, requested by Finance Commissioner Bernice Turnbull, was to determine whether appropriate controls existed to safeguard funds collected, and whether collectors complied with established rules and regulations. The audit covered fiscal year 1999, during which revenues collected on St. Croix totaled almost $282,000.
In a letter to the governor dated July 13, V.I Inspector General Steven Van Beverhoudt wrote that his review determined that Vitran fare box collection practices on St. Croix did not comply with established procedures. Funds were retained from the fare box collections to purchase supplies and parts and were not deposited into the General Fund or reported to the Finance Department, he said.
In the separate service for the handicapped, fares collected from passengers were not always deposited intact and promptly, the audit found. The review also uncovered that controls over the cash boxes and the keys for the counting room and vault did not offer security for the funds collected. It also found that the fare box data system report, which is compared to the actual money counted, could not be used to determine whether funds collected were accounted for.
The inspector general recommended that the Public Works Department, which oversees Vitran, discontinue the practice of retaining fare box money and that it have the Finance Department establish an imprest fund of about $15,000 for Vitran use in purchasing emergency supplies and parts. This fund should be operated in accordance with established petty cash rules and regulations, the report said.
Van Beverhoudt also suggested the government procure and install secure cash boxes in the mini-buses to prevent the theft of collection. He also recommended that a security process be establish to safeguard counting room keys.
At an exit conference held with Public Works officials, they agreed with the recommendations. However, the department did not respond formally to the audit, despite two extensions being given for officials to do so.