UVI’s Tropical Bucchanal for Carnival 2014

ST THOMAS – Beautiful costumes, great music, and exuberant personalities make St. Thomas’ Carnival one of the most successful events for the year.

One of the most anticipated times of year for many Virgin Islanders near and far is St. Thomas’ Carnival. The month of April begins carnival here in St. Thomas, and this year’s chosen theme is “The Biggest Fete Ever Seen, Carnival 2014.”

Bright colors, sequins, and feathers become ever so customary. Every year the university extends an invitation to students, alumni, faculty, staff and friends of the university to partake in its troupe.

For 2014, UVI’s SGA Carnival Committee decided to incorporate the troupes theme with that of the official St. Thomas Carnival Committee’s. UVI‘s SGA Carnival Committee interchanged the word bacchanal, with ‘bucchanal’ to portray the school’s mascot the buccaneer, “UVI’s Tropical Bucchanal for Carnival 2014.” According to the committee’s President Khalil Dias, they selected this theme to show Buccaneers engaging in fete throughout the carnival season. He also added that inspiration for the costumes came from a previous year’s idea, which included pirates, and this year they wanted to take it up a notch.

For this year’s costumes, the committee moved away from the standard school colors of the university, and chose to use bright vibrant colors typically seen throughout carnival. The committee decide upon three sections which includes: The Exotic Jungle (lime green and orange), The Island Paradise (turquoise and pink), and The Caribbean Buccaneers (gold and brown – male section).

Photo Courtesy of uvi.edu

UVI boasts as a supplier for having some of the most beautiful, yet cost efficient costumes. They even go the additional mile to offer student discount rates. This year’s section consists of

Costs for this year’s costumes are: UVI Female students/faculty/staff: $150, UVI Male students/faculty/staff: $125, Non-UVI participants: $175. For each afore mentioned cost, there is an additional application fee that must also be paid.

“We hope to see an exceptionally large crowd for this year’s parade” said Carnival Committee President Khalil Dias. He then added that he would love if this year’s number of participants exceeds that of last year.

For any questions or concerns regarding the UVI Carnival Troupe, Contact Mr. Leon Lafond at 340-693-1640 or Ms. Paulette Stevens at 340-693-1397.

 

Athletic Luncheon

On April 25, 2014, UVI’s Athletics Department hosted an annual Athletic Luncheon. Coaches, Athletes, and well wishers were all in attendance for Friday’s event. Students were honored for being student athletes, most improved athletes, and honor athletes to name a few. A few student athletes were recognized by their respective coaches, for being an all around exceptional person and was given a coaches award.

E.Board of SGA Sports Committee – St. Thomas presented Interim Athletic Director Curtis Gilpen with a gift of appreciation

Proud We Are

Students from both campuses celebrate UVI Pride Day

Sameca Hendrickson|

ST. THOMAS – On March 28,  both University of the Virgin Islands’ campuses flourished with students, faculty, staff and alumni sporting the university’s paraphernalia.

The festivity dubbed Pride Day was chosen to take place in March to signify the university’s Charter Day.

Implementing Pride Day, the university used the event to not only reflect on its impact on the territory, but also on alumni.

UVI community members were all encouraged to wear some form of the school’s  apparel to show school spirit. To gain more participants, both UVI Bookstores offered 20 percent off all UVI apparel  from March 26-28.

Additionally, the event trended on social media. Participants posted pictures or spoke of their most memorable UVI moments.

Using the hashtag UVI Pride Day, These photos were then uploaded to sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The Access and Enrollment Services staff,  alongside UVI President Dr. David Hall,  reached out to local high schools to celebrate Pride Day. Both the Charlotte Amalie High School and the Ivanna Eudora Kean High School took  their turns as each school’s marching band lead a small parade for the occasion.

Pride Day was an event the university’s community saw as an additional way to showcase love for the institution. It also served as a reminder as to why UVI was their final choice

Raised Lab Fee, Good or Bad?

With poor lab equipment, students question whether recent lab fee increase was best move.

SAMECA HENDRICKSON|

ST. THOMAS – On the University of the Virgin Islands St Thomas campus, students were left puzzled by the abrupt rise in their lab fee during the fall 2013 semester.

Students were sent an email in the middle of the fall 2013 semester indicating that they must pay the difference of $100  immediately, or their accounts would be subject to a hold.

However, many students did not know why there was an increase in lab fees or whether it would be beneficial to the quality of lab experiments.

Kyree Walters, an applied mathematics major expressed that the student body should have been given knowledge of the raise in fees. He continued by saying that he has seen no change in lab experiments or a change in equipment. He also added that most lab equipment is visibly aged, and depending on the lab being performed, the equipment may take a while until being fully functional.

Another student, Dondre Diaz, said there are a few new pieces of equipment added for upper level chemistry courses. He said that the 100 level chemistry courses,  have little to no equipment, or must forego that particular experiment all together.

On the first day of each lab class, students are reminded by the lab equipment manager that equipment can be very expensive.

The lab equipment manager said that one main reason for the raise in the lab fee was due to students tendencies to break glass cylinders and beakers, which can be expensive to replace.

He then added that students are also susceptible to misusing and mishandling equipment, which ultimately leads to the poor functioning of current equipment.

However, many students noted that although there are instances where equipment was up to par, but there was still a lack of  equipment for each individual student.