use of the US Bases had to be cancelled this week after only one student showed up.

Base planners from EDAW of London, Bermuda's Barker & Linberg, and Government's Planning Department were forced to pack up the maps, photographs, and other visual aids they had erected in the college's main lecture theatre.

College president Dr. George Cook, admitting he was a little embarrassed by the lack of attendance at the 1 p.m. meeting, said he and the Base planners would try to schedule another session. Instead of asking students to attend in their spare time, the next session would be part of an already-scheduled student seminar.

The US Naval Annex in Southampton and the former Canadian Forces Station at Daniel's Head have already closed. The US Naval Air Station at St. David's is set to close on September 1.

EDAW, assisted by Barker & Linberg, is working on a plan for how the Base lands should be used. The team has held public meetings and met with individuals and groups and is expected to present a report to Government's Base utilisation committee around Easter.

Dr. Cook said the college students would have ideas about how the Base lands should be used, but at 17 and 18 years old many were not thinking about the future enough to show up in their spare time.

Students show little interest The young man who did turn up, a 20-year-old arts and sciences student who did not wish to be identified, said some students were in classes at 1 p.m.

But he said the Bases had taken a back seat to the Independence issue among college students, now that the House of Assembly had voted in favour of holding a referendum on the issue this summer.

Most college students would be old enough to vote in the referendum, and "the decision is in our hands'', he said.

On the Bases, the student said he had "no specific ideas'', but the thought of a theme park where young people could "blow off steam'' appealed to him.

"Whatever they decide to do with it, I would hope it will be pollution-free and enhancing the environment of Bermuda,'' he said.

Management and Technology Minister the Hon. Grant Gibbons said because development of the Base lands would be "a long-term process'' that could take 40 years, "we thought it would be useful to get input from those who have the most to gain''.

Issues ranged from jobs to what the students would like to see Bermuda look like, he said.

Dr. Gibbons said the planning team would approach the students again in a "more focussed'' manner. "Maybe there wasn't enough of a sense of how it affects them directly.'' Dr. Cook said he would invite the Base planning team to seek input from a sophomore seminar class where students from several different disciplines discussed law and a wide range of issues, like abortion.