Overall traffic on Steamship Authority ferries is either flat or down slightly for the year, but in fact peak-season summer traffic on ferries to the Vineyard - both passenger and automobile traffic - has been healthy.

Also, the patchwork of parking lots in Falmouth and Bourne that are used to service boat line ferries to the Vineyard were never completely filled this summer, raising some question about the recent statements by the boat line general manager about the need to shift passenger traffic to New Bedford.

Just when the stress of the summer season starts to ease up for most Islanders, it's a whole different story for teachers and children in the school system.

The 129-foot Freedom topsail schooner Amistad was the celebrated
guest of the Vineyard community this weekend, and will be back for
another visit. Capt. William (Bill) Pinkney said on Sunday the community
welcome received by the ship and her crew went beyond everyone's
expectations. As a result, they hope to return.

"The response here was just exceptional," the captain
said.

Oak Bluffs police say former Tisbury selectman A. Kirk Briggs was driving drunk just before midnight Tuesday when his 1989 Chevy pickup truck hit a 25-year-old woman from Estonia who was walking her bicycle along New York avenue just west of Our Market.

Call It Evolve

Rosabeth Kanter Weaves Big Ideas Into a New Book

By JULIA WELLS

The book lecture was about to begin, and suddenly Rosabeth Moss
Kanter, celebrated author and star of the event, spotted a friend in the
front row. Against a backdrop of the grand Stanley Murphy murals in the
Katharine Cornell Theatre, hugs were exchanged, lipstick smudged.
"I had a big idea the other day - a very big idea -
I'll tell you about it," Ms. Kanter said.

It was a classic Rosabeth moment.

Television police dramas depict officers arriving at the scene of the rape - often a dark public park - where they meet a shaken young woman who describes with perfect accuracy the bearded man who raped her. After searching the park, the officers find the rapist, arrest him and the woman presses charges without hesitation.

Hollywood's depiction of the typical sexual assault and the survivor's response strays far from reality. Women often hesitate before contacting the police, and the attackers often get away.

Labor Day Holiday Marks Turn In the Rhythms of Vineyard Life

By MANDY LOCKE

There's something different in the Vineyard air these days.

The goldenrods stand sturdy along the side of the road. Cars now
manage to work their way along Upper Main street faster than
pedestrians. Morning delivers an autumn chill before it builds to
afternoon heat. Red and white "help wanted" signs hang
pleadingly on store windows. Children's dreams of days on the
beach fade to thoughts of the first day of school.

Boat Line Forum Pushes Plan to Boost Passenger Traffic with Fast
Ferries

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

A plan to pump up passenger traffic to the Vineyard and pay millions
of dollars to develop the port of New Bedford in the years ahead was
pitched to the people of the Island this week as a way to increase
operating revenues for the public boat line, reduce car traffic in the
port towns of Falmouth and Hyannis and open up more space on ferries for
Island residents.

In a deal sealed in June, Oak Bluffs selectmen handed their police chief, Joseph C. Carter, a one-time check for $67,882 in overtime pay, almost equal to his current annual salary of $70,000.

"Teenagers," said Dr. Robert Millman, a professor of public health and psychiatry at Cornell University, "have a basic and profound fear of the future. They don't know if they'll make it. The message is you make it if you're tough enough; otherwise, you fail."