As they tabled a bill to restrict the practice of tattooing in the territory, Senate Health Committee members Wednesday did a little needling of their own.
The bill's sponsor, Sen. Adelbert Bryan, said he wanted to limit to licensed physicians the right to apply body art. Sen. Anne Golden and other opponents of the measure said they would rather see doctors stick it to their patients in the ways they know best.
Tattooing and body piercing have in recent years become fads among young people — and a lucrative business for folks like Luc Zeitek, who attended the hearing accompanied by attorney Adriane Dudley.
Dr. Lucien Moolenaar, representing Health Commissioner Wilbur Callender, agreed with Bryan's concerns about the observance of sound health practices by tattoo artists. However, he expressed doubt that practice of the medical arts should include the graphic arts.
Bryan, pressing his point, said when a tattoo artist makes a mistake or the tattoo wearer gets bored, it's up to the doctors to clean up the mess. "If I had a girlfriend named Sally when I was in high school and I went to Mr. Zeitek, and now I'm married to Gerri, every day 'Sally' is appearing in her face. How I'm going to get off 'Sally' when I'm married to Gerri?" he said.
Golden, voicing her opposition to the bill, confessed a desire to have a tattoo of her own. Pledging to keep any such undertaking in the open, she told her colleagues, "I will put it in a place where everyone could see."
That, noted Sen. Lorraine Berry, is a position not shared by all tattoo and body piercing devotees.
"I would never put a tattoo on my body," she told her colleagues, "but I respect anybody's right to do it. I see a lot of people here piercing their nose, their ear, their lips, everything. . . Even in places we don't see, I hear that they pierce, they put earring and all sorts of things."
Offering her analysis of why this might be, she said, "I guess they're bored with life."
Although the tenor of testimony was often lighthearted in the Senate chamber, a St. Thomas skin specialist did offer some serious professional observations about tattooing in a radio report carried earlier in the day.
The two potential problems of tattooing are secondary infection and allergy to dye, Dr. Fletcher Robinson told Radio One. "In my experience, these things rarely happen," the dermatologist said. "I have had one patient who had a reaction to the red dye."
Robinson said the practice of tattooing should be regulated, so as to require training and good hygienic practices, including precautions against the transmission of the HIV/AIDS virus. But he said if the territory were to enact a ban on tattooing, it would be "the only jurisdiction in the United States" to do so.

As the territory's — and particularly St. Croix's — tourism industry plods painfully along, the impression is that every other Caribbean destination is booming.
While some are, some aren't. So that makes it especially important to rally around Tourism Commissioner-designate Michael Bornn's effort to drum up $20 million to market the territory.
We must create demand before those destinations that are doing well siphon off more of our potential visitors, and before those others that are not doing well regain their strength.
On Bermuda, hotel room capacity is at an all-time low. According to that island's hotel association, since 1983 at least 17 properties have closed their doors, reducing the number of available beds to 3,100 from around 4,600. With renovation of one of the island's resorts set for later this year, another 200 beds will be lost.
But don't feel sorry for Bermuda. It spends around $14 million a year in tourism advertising.
Closer to home, St. Lucia is in the same predicament as the Virgin Islands: Not enough is being spent on marketing. In June, the island saw a 20 percent decline in visitors from the dominant U.S. market.
St. Lucia's private and public sectors coughed up about $1.5 million to get American Airlines to provide daily direct service from Miami last year. The venture wasn't renewed, because hoteliers balked at the cost/benefit ratio.
Now a former director of St. Lucia's tourism office is saying that the problem lies in the marketing. He says the $4.8 million now allocated to the island's Tourist Board isn't enough. In fact, it's the same amount that was allocated 10 years ago when he was in charge!
On the flip side, Barbados is pouring money into its tourism product — and seeing a return. Last year the country began a $70 million upgrade of its airport. Just recently it announced the allocation of more than $3 million to rehabilitate its tourism infrastructure. That's on top of the $5.5 million it spends each year on advertising. . . in the United States alone.
What has Barbados gotten back in return for these investments? The island's Tourism Authority expects a 20 percent increase in American visitors this summer. And guess what? There's talk of spending more money on advertising.
Then there is the awakening giant — Cuba. Tourism, now one of the country's major sources of hard currency, is booming. The number of visitors this year is up 23 percent over a year earlier.
What is the Virgin Islands doing? Well, with work on the $16 million runway extension at the Henry E. Rohlsen Airport about to begin, we are making something of an investment in our tourism infrastructure. And, also on St. Croix, there is the imminent rebirth of the Divi resort and the opening of its new casino.
But much more is needed. Starting with Michael Bornn's $20 million for marketing it all.

As the territory's — and particularly St. Croix's — tourism industry plods painfully along, the impression is that every other Caribbean destination is booming.
While some are, some aren't. So that makes it especially important to rally around Tourism Commissioner-designate Michael Bornn's effort to drum up $20 million to market the territory.
We must create demand before those destinations that are doing well siphon off more of our potential visitors, and before those others that are not doing well regain their strength.
On Bermuda, hotel room capacity is at an all-time low. According to that island's hotel association, since 1983 at least 17 properties have closed their doors, reducing the number of available beds to 3,100 from around 4,600. With renovation of one of the island's resorts set for later this year, another 200 beds will be lost.
But don't feel sorry for Bermuda. It spends around $14 million a year in tourism advertising.
Closer to home, St. Lucia is in the same predicament as the Virgin Islands: Not enough is being spent on marketing. In June, the island saw a 20 percent decline in visitors from the dominant U.S. market.
St. Lucia's private and public sectors coughed up about $1.5 million to get American Airlines to provide daily direct service from Miami last year. The venture wasn't renewed, because hoteliers balked at the cost/benefit ratio.
Now a former director of St. Lucia's tourism office is saying that the problem lies in the marketing. He says the $4.8 million now allocated to the island's Tourist Board isn't enough. In fact, it's the same amount that was allocated 10 years ago when he was in charge!
On the flip side, Barbados is pouring money into its tourism product — and seeing a return. Last year the country began a $70 million upgrade of its airport. Just recently it announced the allocation of more than $3 million to rehabilitate its tourism infrastructure. That's on top of the $5.5 million it spends each year on advertising. . . in the United States alone.
What has Barbados received in return for these investments? The island's Tourism Authority expects a 20 percent increase in American visitors this summer. And guess what? There's talk of spending more money on advertising.
Then there is the awakening giant — Cuba. Tourism, now one of the country's major sources of hard currency, is booming. The number of visitors this year is up 23 percent over a year earlier.
What is the Virgin Islands doing? Well, with work on the $16 million runway extension at the Henry E. Rohlsen Airport about to begin, we are making something of an investment in our tourism infrastructure. And, also on St. Croix, there is the imminent rebirth of the Divi resort and the opening of its new casino.
But much more is needed – starting with Michael Bornn's $20 million for marketing it all.

In honor of Wilfred A. Barry, who died early Sunday morning, a scholarship fund is being established to assist local high school graduates seeking to pursue studies leading to careers in law enforcement.
Barry's family is requesting that in lieu of flowers, contributions be made to the Wilfred Barry Law Enforcement Scholarship Fund.
Barry, acting chief deputy of the U.S. Marshal Service in the Virgin Islands, was known for his work with young people to dissuade them from getting involved in lives of crime.
His widow, Charlotte Amalie High School principal Jeanette Smith Barry, said a special offering would be collected at the funeral services for Barry. Contributions also may be mailed to PO Box 512, St. Thomas VI 00804.
The funeral is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday at the Memorial Moravian Church.

Despite "non-stop meetings all week," Gov. Charles Turnbull and his top financial advisors are "running behind" in revising the executive branch budget for Fiscal Year 2000 and getting it to the Legislature in a timely manner, Government House spokesman James O'Bryan told The Source on Wednesday.
Simultaneously the governor and those same advisers are working out details for a proposed $100 million bond issue to bail the territory out temporarily while the administration begins to initiate a series of cost-cutting and revenue-enhancing measures.
The revised FY 2000 budget was to have been delivered Tuesday to the Legislature, allowing senators and post-audit officials a week to review it before twice-delayed hearings before the Finance Committee begin Aug. 24.
O'Bryan said the reason for the delay — and for the governor's postponement of a press conference from Wednesday to Friday — is that "he has been meeting with his financial team to go over some of the requirements they have had to fulfill since the trip last week."
O'Bryan did not elaborate on what the requirements were or who had imposed them.
The governor returned to the territory Sunday after having been away for all but one full day in the first half of August.
"Meetings were backed up since he had not been here for some time," O'Bryan said. "In order to crunch the numbers and get some policy direction, he's been doing non-stop meetings all week."
Finance Committee chair Lorraine Berry was told Tuesday that the revised executive branch budget will be delivered to the Legislature on Monday. O'Bryan said that is still the plan.
Turnbull was in New York City last week drumming up support for his proposed $100 million bond issue in meetings with officials of First Union Capital Markets, the territory's financial adviser. PaineWebber has been chosen as the lead underwriter for the proposed move to raise the money for a quick fiscal fix.
With him in New York were his fiscal policy adviser, Rudolph Krigger Sr.; Office of Management and Budget director Ira Mills; and Public Finance Authority director of finance and administration Amadeo Francis.
Turnbull met with President Clinton in St. Louis, Mo., the weekend before last while attending the National Conference of Governors and with federal officials in Washington, D.C., the previous week.

Education Commissioner Ruby Simmonds readily admits the territory's public schools will not all be ready to open their doors when classes begin next week. And, to no one's surprise, she says the root of the problem is money — or, rather, lack thereof.
Because of budget cutbacks, she said, the Education Department is unable to fill "a number of positions vacated by personnel who have resigned or retired." These are not teaching positions, she said, but custodians, librarians, food workers and clerical staff.
As a result, she said, the schools "are going to need volunteers to help in those areas."
As for the physical readiness of the school buildings and campuses, she said, "We have a long way to go to bring some of our plants into a condition of which we can all be proud." With regard to summer projects in particular, she added, "We do not have as much repair work completed as I would have liked," and some work is still under way.
Thus, returning students and staff will find that some schools still have electrical, roofing and bathroom fixture problems.
An obvious problem area not directly involving Education personnel is at the Joseph Sibilly School in Estate Elizabeth. There, Public Works Department personnel using numerous heavy equipment machines are in the midst of constructing a diversion of the road in front of the campus to take it farther away from the school grounds.
Citing "the charade commonly referred to as summer maintenance," Simmonds gave two reasons for the deficiencies:
First, the Education Department has "limited staff and no funding to carry out its mandate on a regular basis." And second, "extensive work cannot be done until the end of summer programs at many schools."
This, she added, "is nothing new."
Simmonds noted that she was a member of the "education cluster" on the Turnbull administration transition team at the end of last year. The cluster "identified major problems" in the areas of special education, funds for maintenance and repair personnel, a shortage of substitute teachers and schools' accreditation.
One bit of good news, she said, is that the department is "well on the way to rectifying the problems in the area of special education."
She called upon teachers — and their union — to work with the administration in seeking solutions to problems in the coming school year. There is, plain and simple, no way teachers are going to get their retroactive salaries any time soon, she said, because "the government is broke — b-r-o-k-e."
Glen Smith, American Federation of Teacher president for St. Thomas-St. John, said the union has little sympathy for the administration given that "the governor found moneys to give raises to his friends and jobs to close members of his family."
The leadership of the territory's two AFT chapters will meet Aug. 26 to discuss issues relating to the start of the new school year, Smith said, and there will be "an emergency general membership meeting" Aug. 28.

The Port Authority Governing Board approved a $2.50 cargo wharfage fee for ferry boats operating between St. Thomas and St. John and a berthing fee for all vessels docked overnight at public ports on Wednesday. It decided to hold off for six months on implementing a user fee of 25 cents per passenger for ferries traveling between the two islands.
The cargo wharfage fee, to be assessed to barge owners for transporting non-commercial vehicles in either direction between St. Thomas and St. John, is to take effect in 60 days.
So is the overnight docking fee of 15 cents per foot, which will be charged to all vessels except ferries and barges which use Port Authority dock facilities between 7 p.m. and 5 a.m. when not engaged in loading or unloading passengers or cargo.
The board decided not to apply the same fee to ferries and barges until the Planning and Natural Resources Department deals with the lack of mooring space in Cruz Bay. These vessels must tie up the Port Authority docks now because no moorings are available, a Port Authority press release noted. Planning and Natural Resources is responsible for issuing mooring permits.
With regard to the ferry passenger user fee, Port Authority executive director Gordon Finch said it would be "unfair for us to assess a fee at this point without allowing the ferry companies time" to seek approval of rate increases to compensate for the fee costs.
In order to increase fees, the companies must first obtain the approval of the Public Services Commission. Finch said the six month period would allow the PSC to review the rate structures.
Finch has noted previously that vessels operating between St. Thomas and St. Croix and between St. Thomas and the British Virgin Islands already pay user fees higher than those to be implemented for boats operating between St. Thomas and St. John.

The National Park Service on St. Croix is declaring war on alien rats.
Over the years, tree rats have made themselves at home on the Park Service’s Buck Island Reef National Monument, wreaking havoc on the island’s endangered and threatened flora and fauna. The invaders are not native to the Virgin Islands, said Zandy Hillis-Starr, a Park Service resource management specialist. In fact, she said, they were accidentally introduced to the West Indies.
Without any natural predators, the number of rats on the island has grown to the point that they can devastate both plant and animal populations, Hillis-Starr said.
"At Buck Island, rats have become not only a problem to our visitors in the picnic areas," she said, "but their foraging activities are impacting ground nesting shorebirds, sea turtle nests and hatchlings and many small trees and shrubs."
In 1995, park staff began trapping and baiting the invaders with some success in and around the island’s picnic areas.
But the rats occupy the whole island, and that means a major eradication program is needed. Getting rid of the rodents won’t be an easy task. Starting this month and for the next two years, park staff will join forces with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to trap and bait the rats all over the island.
"We will begin baiting the picnic areas, West Beach and Dietrich’s Point the last week of August," Hillis-Starr said. "Over the next several months we will extend our baiting program to the entire island. A team of wildlife biologist/pest control specialists will be monitoring the success of the baiting on a daily basis."
A major strategy in the rat war will be the "pack-it-in, pack-it-out" tactic. That means visitors must assist in the effort to rid the island of rats, by leaving no garbage behind when they leave.
"We are requesting that any food and resulting trash be taken back off the island," Hillis-Starr said.
Buck Island and its reef have been battered by hurricanes and its plants and shrubs have been parched by reduced rainfall, and these are events beyond the control of humans, Hillis-Starr said. In contrast, she said, the rat problem is one that can solved.
But it will take the help of the island’s visitors, who should avoid the rat trap and bait stations. Because the rats are not afraid of people, Hillis-Starr said, visitors should also avoid leaving food unattended on picnic tables and should not throw any food waste into the bush.
"We hope to reduce the immediate threat of rats in the picnic areas quickly," she said, "but ask visitors for patience in eliminating the problem. We have been advised that island-wide control is possible, but it will take years to accomplish."

With the peak of hurricane season still ahead, St. Croix is on the way to becoming a "disaster-resistant" community, thanks to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
In a memorandum of agreement signed Wednesday by FEMA and the V.I. Territorial Emergency Management Agency, St. Croix will receive $300,000 to begin disaster-resistance planning as part of Project Impact. The program on St. Croix involves more than 60 businesses, non-profit organizations and government agencies.
The aim of making communities disaster resistant is to change the way they deal with disasters by shifting the focus of emergency management from responding after the fact to taking action beforehand to reduce potential damage. The approach is often called mitigation.
"We have completed a number of mitigation projects on St. Croix since Hurricane Hugo," VITEMA state director Gene Walker said. "Joining the Project Impact family today will help further our efforts to protect the citizens of St. Croix…"
The $300,000 will go toward mitigation projects specifically for the island. They include:

• A structural assessment of one of St. Croix’s primary shelters to identify, retrofit and begin non-structural mitigation measures for hurricanes and earthquakes. Information gathered will be used to determine appropriate structures for use as multi-hazard disaster facilities.
  
• A mini-grant program to create incentives for local groups to identify risks and minimize possible damages from disasters. Partnerships will be formed between the private and public sectors to make the island more disaster resistant by using national and local resources to meet short- and long-term preparedness and response needs.
  
• Utilization of the Geographic Information System. A comprehensive series of maps with corresponding databases of St. Croix will be developed to document improvements and track the progress of mitigation activities on the island.
  
• Implementation of an island-wide educational campaign on the importance of natural hazard disaster mitigation and the significance of structural and non-structural measures. Three education projects will be developed, including a Family Disaster Resource Manual, an age-appropriate school-based curriculum and a Best Practices Mitigation Guidebook for builders.

"In the middle of hurricane season, St. Croix is continuing to reduce its disaster vulnerability with strong mitigation planning and implementation," FEMA Region 2 director Lynn Canton said. "I commend the residents of St. Croix for making the commitment to get the community and businesses working together to reduce the cost and consequences of disasters."

Delegate Donna Christian-Christensen will host a town meeting for St. Thomas residents in the Charlotte Amalie High School auditorium on Wednesday, Aug. 25m beginning at 6 p.m. She will present information on legislation pending in Congress that could impact on the Virgin Islands.