function states_options(sel_value) {
// purpose: creates a set of option tags to populate the states dropdown box
	var arValues 	= new Array("-","AL","AK","AZ","AR","CA","CO","CT","DC","DE","FL","GA","HI","ID","IL","IN","IA","KS","KY","LA","ME","MD","MA","MI","MN","MS","MO","MT","NE","NV","NH","NJ","NM","NY","NC","ND","OH","OK","OR","PA","RI","SC","SD","TN","TX","UT","VT","VA","WA","WV","WI","WY");
	var arNames 	= new Array("Select State","Alabama","Alaska","Arizona","Arkansas","California","Colorado","Connecticut","District of Columbia","Delaware","Florida","Georgia","Hawaii","Idaho","Illinois","Indiana","Iowa","Kansas","Kentucky","Louisiana","Maine","Maryland","Massachusetts","Michigan","Minnesota","Mississippi","Missouri","Montana","Nebraska","Nevada","New Hampshire","New Jersey","New Mexico","New York","North Carolina","North Dakota","Ohio","Oklahoma","Oregon","Pennsylvania","Rhode Island","South Carolina","South Dakota","Tennessee","Texas","Utah","Vermont","Virginia","Washington","West Virginia","Wisconsin","Wyoming");
	var strStart 	= '\n<option value="';
	var strOptions	= "";
	if(sel_value==null) sel_value = "-";
	for(var i=0; i<arValues.length; i++){
		strOptions += strStart+arValues[i]+'"';
		if(sel_value.toUpperCase()==arValues[i]) {
			strOptions += ' selected="selected"'
		}
		strOptions += '>'+arNames[i]+'</option>';
	}
	return strOptions;
}