fear to tread by attempting to get some unanimity from taxi drivers on the idea of a central dispatch service.

It makes no sense for taxi drivers to be driving around the Island without radios, or sitting outside the hotels and the Airport waiting for business when other people are waiting hours for a taxi.

All that could be solved if it is made a condition for holders of taxi vehicle licences to be required to have a radio so they could be dispatched to where the business is.

The system proposed by Dr. Brown, where drivers would have a global positioning system in their cars, also makes sense because it would enable the dispatcher to send the closest driver to the customer.

That should result in the driver getting more business and the customer getting better and more efficient service.

The primary concern among the drivers seems to be the expense of installing the radio and GPS in their vehicles. That cost will be up to $2,000; but if a taxi owner was able to get two additional $10 fares per day, the system would be paid off in less than four months.

There have also been some concerns about the Bermuda Industrial Union running the system and it has never made much sense for a union to be speaking for the taxi owners and drivers, who are essentially small businessmen.

Nonetheless, it is unlikely that anyone will ever get the industry to speak with one voice, perhaps because it is made up of so many individuals. It is understandable that Dr. Brown would fall back on the organisation which said it was prepared to do something rather than keep talking about it.

No-one is forcing the drivers to take part in the scheme. But it deserves to be given a chance. If it fails, then so be it. But if it succeeds everyone benefits, and who can argue with that? INSPIRING MESSAGE EDT Inspiring message Dr. Larita Alford's inspiring life story -- she was held back a year in primary school and virtually written off until two teachers encouraged her to learn and become a success -- should be taken to heart by every Bermudian.

Dr. Alford, who will become the new president of the Bermuda College in the next few months, may be just what the doctor ordered for all the underachievers who may have been short changed by the education system.

Her story begs the question of how many people of Dr. Alford's age may be out of the community believing they were failures because they were not "rescued''.

But it should also inspire students who have been told they are failures to try again, especially if teachers heed her message that "my challenge to us today is that we, as teachers, will hear the unheard voices in the lives of our students, helping them to reach their potential and to be productive members of our society''.

That is an important notion that all should take to heart.