Email us at: [email protected]April 2012 Page 1 T HE UNIVERSITY of the West Indies Guild Elections have come and gone and once again only a small percentage of the student population bothered to participate in the democratic process. Each year the Guild elections have been marred by low voter turnout with only a minority opting to exercise their franchise. This minority decides who will ultimately represent the entire population as the active voice of the students. The low voter turnout in last month's elections is an indicator that apathy for politics among the student population is on the increase. Politics on campus has always attracted a small percentage of voters so despite many feeling that the election day turnout was hampered by financial holds on student's records, this was not the case. The notion that only 17 percent of the student population could participate in the electoral process is as it is; just a notion. “That is not true, persons have totally misinterpreted that percentage” said Nyoka ONLY 2000 VOTED Shereita Grizzle Campus Buzz Reporter UWI Students have not been excersing their franchise in the Institution’s Guild Elections Google Images Continues on Page 3 Inside Page 12 Page 8 Page 22 Page 15
UWI Students have not been excersing their franchise in the Institution’s
Guild Elections
Google Images
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InsidePage 12Page 8 Page 22Page 15
CONTENT EDITOR:Kryss-Ann Richards
LAYOUT EDITOR:Tessa Thomas
ASSISTANT LAYOUTEDITOR:
Shereita Grizzle
WRITERS:Sonya Lemord
Kryss-Ann Richards
Shereita Grizzle
Tessa Thomas
Shawnae Burrell
Tashna-Toya Edwards
Shakera Sharpe
CAMPUS BUZZPage 2 April 2012
Students participating in
various extracurricular
activities on campus
Blake, Treasurer of the Guild of
students. “Every year approximately
20 percent of the entire student body
turns up to vote and since elections
were being held on a Friday when
many students do not have classes, we
estimated that 17 percent would turn
up” she explained. She lamented that
there were 15,000 students enrolled in
the institution and of that figure, 9000
were on the 2012 voter's list, that is 60
percent of the total population., the
other 40 percent were not given the
chance to vote because of
moneys owed to the institution.
However, of the 9000 students
eligible to vote only 2000
students showed up to cast their
ballots. “Can you imagine, there
were 9000 persons on the voter's
list and only 2000 thought it
important to vote, that is
approximately 22.2 percent of
the students on the voter's list”
she said. Voter turnout was even
lower among the Post-graduate
student body. "We have 3000
Post-graduate students, of that
number 2800 are financially
cleared and only 20 students voted,
that must mean something" Blake
said.
In last year's Guild elections less
than 3000 students voted out of a
populace of approximately 16,000
and in the 2010/2011 academic year
while in the year 2009/2010 only
2200 students participated in the
Guild Elections.
Blake said that the low voter turnout
was not the fault of the persons
seeking office but a fault of the
student population. “When persons
are seeking office they go out and try
to get persons involved as much as
possible but we have realized that the
students do not think it is important to
vote and we can not understand it”
she said, “I can not fathom why
students wouldn't want to vote for the
persons who will bring issues that
they face to the fore and speak on
their behalf”.
Politics in Jamaica on a whole has
been on a downward spiral in recent
years. Statistics for last month's Local
Government elections show that the
voter turn out was the lowest in the
history of Jamaican politics with only
35 percent of the island's electorate
participating in the polls. Low voter
turnout has been a steady trend in the
UWI Guild elections, many persons
who could vote did not vote because
they simply didn't care about what
many described as a 'petty' election.
Renee McLeod a 2nd year Nursing
student said although she had
financial clearance, she did not vote.
“I didn't vote in the Guild elections
because I just can't bother voting for
someone I wont see again for the next
year or so”.
Many students felt the same and
concurred that Politics on a whole is
not for the people but for the benefit
of the Politicians themselves. Kevon
Jackson a 2nd year student in the
Faculty of Pure and applied Sciences
said he didn't vote in the Guild
elections because he simply didn't
care for politics. “Mi nuh business
wid Politricks yah man cuz mi nuh
kno dem people yah till a election
time, mi an one a da yute dem inna di
same class an im neva seh a
word to mi yet till im a look mi
vote” he said.
Blake however, dismissed the
student's claims stating that if
students had shown more
interest in what the Guild does
they would have been more
aware of what is going on and
would not speak so uniformed.
“The information is readily
available and easily accessible,
the Guild is totally transparent,
everything is there at the
student's disposal they just need
to know the importance of the
Guild” she said, noting that whatever
the students feel is important is where
they put their interest. Antoinette
Campbell 3rd year Medical student
who could have voted but refrained
from doing so said she has had bad
experiences in past Guild Elections. “I
voted in first and second year but the
performance after the elections were
poor and at the end of the year a lot of
promises made in manifestos were
unfulfilled,” she said.
Troy Caine, political historian
generalized Blake's claims in the
ONLY 2000 VOTED!Cont’d from P1
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CAMPUS BUZZ April 2012 Page 3
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GUILD BUS SERVICEPROGRESSIVE
CAMPUS BUZZ
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THATCHER ASPHALL
Campus Buzz Reporter
ALTHOUGH THEUniversity of the WestIndies Guild of Students
revealed that its Bus System is indebt, Vice President of Propertiesand Special Initiatives, DanielWilson, says the bus system is stillefficient.
At the Town Hall Meeting held bythe Principal and the UWI Guild onThursday, March 22, 2012, the Guildtold the students that their bus systemis in debt.
The UWI Guild’s Bus Systemprovides transportation for students toand from campus with a subsidyprovided by campus administration.The transportation routes include
Spanish Town, Duhaney Park,Harbour View and Portmore(specifically Greater Portmore,Monza, 20 Route and Gregory Park).All routes are assigned one bus,except Spanish Town and DuhaneyPark which have two buses each. Allbuses operate during the school weekmaking one morning trip from theseroutes to UWI between 5:50 a.m. –6:30 a.m. and three evening trips fromUWI at 4:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m., and 9:30p.m.
This service was implemented atUWI almost 20 years ago, with theaim of providing a reliable, safe andaffordable mode of transport forstudents. The system is not a profit-making venture for the Guild, but is aservice offered to ensure that studentshave access to cost efficienttransportation.
Despite the Guild’s efforts, thesystem is in debt due to the fact thatthey charge students below the cost ofproviding the transportation. Theguild therefore provides a 32%subsidy as students on the SpanishTown route for example, only pay$110, which would costapproximately $160 on publictransportation.
Efforts to get detailed informationabout the service were unsuccessful.
Mr. Wilson would not providedetails of the account, revenue earnedor payments made in the operation ofthe service, as this information he saidwas classified.
MAKING DOAlthough losing money, the Guild
has been doing what is feasible toprovide quality service for studentsand has made significant
Students boarding the Spanish Town route bus at 4:30 p.m.PHOTOgRAPHER: THATCHER ASPHALL
Cont’d from P4improvements in comparison to itsoperation last year.
Third year student, Nishka Henry,said the Guild Bus System is doingmuch better with an improvement onthe usual tardiness of the bus drivers.
“The time we would normally waitfor the buses to arrive really cut inhalf because the Spanish Town buswould always be like 30 minutes late,but this year they are usually on time”she said.
Another student, Shane Wright saidshe is quite appreciative of the effortsby the Guild to provide a servicewhich is much cheaper than publictransportation.
“I live in Duhaney Park and if I takepublic transportation to school itwould cost me $160, but when I takethe Guild bus it only cost me $100, soI’m really grateful for that” saidWright.
The system is much more efficientand effective as well this year, withfewer complaints from the students,explained Wilson, who is the Guildrepresentative for the bus service.
Since this academic year, the busservice has implemented andrestructured of some of its keyfeatures.
He outlined a few changes that theGuild Bus Service has made under hisleadership, including the opening ofthe Bus Bay bathroom for the firsttime in a number of years; the busarea (located at the outside parking lotof the Mona Visitor’s Lodge) has beenpaved; a code of conduct is posted atthe Bus Bay and the creation of a bushotline – which is provided forstudents, the drivers and bus monitorsin the event of an emergency.
MORE TO BE DONE
According to 2010-11 statisticsfrom the UWI Office of Planning andInstitutional Research, 85% ofstudents at Mona Campus arecommuters. Most of whom take fulladvantage of this service offered bythe Guild. However, the large numberof students taking the buses in theevenings has caused chaotic scenes atthe Bus Bay.
Students can be seen running tomeet the buses upon entry to secure “abig seat” and without forming anyline they push to get into the buses.Some students have complained thatthese scenes of disorganization areinappropriate for students at thetertiary level.
“We have never left anybody sothere is no need to push and theyknow this. It is just a part of theirmentality that they must push for aparticular seat”, Wilson said.
He is however optimistic that theBus Service for the upcomingacademic year should be much moreefficient as he has already maderecommendations to the new VicePresident of Properties and SpecialInitiatives, Terron Dewar, for furtherimprovement.
One suggestion made is to deploysecurity personnel at the Bus Baywith the hope that the presence of anauthority figure might quell any sceneof disorderly conduct.
Another suggestion is to revise thecontracts given to the bus companyand stipulate harsher penalties forthose drivers who arrive late.
This amendment he believes wouldindeed encourage drivers to be morepunctual and certainly alleviateproblems of disorder and somecomplaints from students.
Students wait at the Bus Bay for their buses to arrive.PHOTO: THATCHER ASPHALL
CAMPUS BUZZ
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Page 6 April 2012
ONE HUNDRED DAYS AND...
DECEMBER 29, 2011 was
the day the Jamaican
people voted to have the
People's National Party (PNP)
return to power after just four
years under the leadership of the
Jamaica Labour Party (JLP).
Portia Simpson-Miller was given
her own mandate by Jamaicans to
whom she made numerous
promises during the election
campaigns. Saturday April 15
marked 100 days since the
Simpson-Miller led government
took over the role in the 'driver's
seat' but what has the
Government done over these 100
days is the question many are
asking especially since 'Queen
Simpson-Miller' made promises
she said would take only fourteen
days to come to fulfillment.
In the lead up to the General
Election, Prime Minister hopeful
Portia Simpson-Miller and her party
presented its manifesto to the people
of Jamaica. Embedded in the
manifesto was talk of reviewing the
buggery laws, removing GCT on
electricity, getting the Jamaica
Emergency Employment
Programme (JEEP) up and running
and cheif among them; re-
negotiating a deal with the
International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Thus far the government has only
managed to implement one of those
four promises It is the view of the
BUZZ that the Government has not
lived up to expectations.
The JEEP sputtered unto the
streets of Jamaica just days before
the country was slated to head back
to the polls for the Local
Government elections and has
provided some 1200 jobs across
some four constituencies
islandwide. Lucile Brodber, the
project manager for the JEEP, said
that 612 jobs have been created in
the agricultural sector and 580 being
implemented through the National
Works Agency (NWA).The BUZZ
team is of the view that the JEEP is
nothing new, it is just a refurbished,
re-modelled version of Michael
Manley's 1970's Crash Programme
and recommend that the government
'park the JEEP' until it is fully
prepared to 'roam the streets of
Jamaica'.
The PNP claims to have inherited
the country in a serious finacial
crisis with even the Prime Minister
declaring the country needs a
'bailout like Greece'. Maybe the
Prime Minister is not fully aware of
the country's economic state because
despite the financial constraints and
difficulties, Jamaica is not in as
desperate a position as Greece.
Jamaica's only major financial
difficulty lies with the IMF and
whether Jamaica will get another
agreement with the funding agency.
Simpson-Miller picked the best
person in her cabinet to give the
Finace portfolio to even though
Phillips has limited experience
managing the Ministry to which he
was appointed. The team thinks
that the three supplementary
budgets already tabled in the first
one hundred days and the setback in
tabling the budget for the new fiscal
year are indicators that Dr. Phillips
might not have the expertise needed
to manage the country's finances at
this crucial time and the appointed
economic council doesn't speak
much to the PM's confidence in Dr.
Phillips.
The PNP says its committed to
removing the General Consumption
Tax (GCT) from electricity bills and
although one hundred days have
passed,the team feels it is still early
days yet and the people of Jamaica
are waiting patiently to see if the
Government will fall short on this
promise. Recommendations are that
the government seek to diversify
Jamaica's energy supply and set up
alternative energy supplies so that
Jamaica can have additional options.
With this year marking Jamaica's
fiftieth anniversary of Independence,
new intiatives and fresh ideas will
spark much needed change in the
country. The PNP government and
Portia Simpson Miller are the
persons Jamaicans have trusted to
bring about this change despite the
fact that the party still has many of
the old faces managing top
portfolios. One hundred days is not
enough to fairly access any
Government's performance
therefore more time needs to be
given to the Government before a
passing grade or a failure is given.
Sensitive issues such as reviewing
the buggery laws and coming to a
'workable' decision will need more
time than a mere 100 days.
editorial
CAMPUS BUZZ April 2012 Page 7
T H E P E O P L E H AV E S P O K E N !
CAMPUS BUZZ
Feature
Page 8 April 2012
Tessa ThomasCampus Buzz Reporter
JAMAICANS STILL wan split
personality when dem a talk
bout English and Creole. There
has been numerous debates about
what the Jamaican Language Unit
terms as 'full bilingualism' among
primary school students and while
most admit that there is a problem in
primary school education,
many do not believe that
the Jamaican Language
should be taught as a
language in schools.
After speaking tolinguists, teachers, parentsand numerous universitystudents however, you canget the sense that this is thebreakthrough necessary toachieve educational reform inthe primary schooleducational system.
“The problem is that alot of people have thismisconception that Creole andEnglish are the same thing, one beingthe bastard from the other. Creole,although it has a lot of English forms...does not necessarily have the samemeaning that English has for themtoday,” said Andre' Sherriah, linguistand a Technical Assistant at theJamaican Language Unit.
The pilot of the BilingualEducation Project (BEP) was launchedin 2004 under the Jamaican LanguageUnit. Its objectives is said to be tofoster and promote full bilingualism forprimary school students, particularlygrades one to four in Jamaican Creoleand Standard Jamaican English. Thiscame after academic reports done in2000 showed over half of the studentsleaving pre-primary level did notachieve their requisite skills. This was
also reflected at the primary school levelas 58% of Grade Four cohort for thesame year were categorized as either “atrisk” or “questionable” based on theGrade Four Literacy Test.
Although the BEP has beendiscontinued due to lack of funding,Professor Carolyn Cooper has beenadvocating, through her weekly articlespublished in a local newspaper as well
as via her blog 'Jamaica WomanTongue,' for the implementation ofbilingual education in primary schools.Her writings have been heavilycriticized in the media by members ofthe public as well as some in academia.
“Teachin' we pickney dem patwana solve di problem,” says father of twoAinsley Dixon. However JacklynDouglas, former primary school teacherof over twenty years said “when they[students] go back [to their] home, theygo back to the creole, which creates aproblem,” as she explained howsocialization and Jamaican culturemakes teaching in Standard Englishdifficult. “Right now, in the curriculum,we use the creole as a foundation toconnect with Standard English,” sheconcluded.”
“ The BEP can work, it is nodifferent from if you speak Spanish orFrench and you learn a secondlanguage, its a foundation and we needour first language to instruct us onEnglish, or French. The attitude of ourpractitioners, our government and otherauthorities need to change to acceptthat,” says Gavin Walters, aPsychologist at the Jamaica Language
Unit. Tashieka Burris, alecturer and former EnglishLanguage high school teachersays “the Jamaican Creole isthe language that moststudents are comfortablewith and I am not saying thatStandard English should bedone away with but ifstudents are exposed to bothlanguages as separate, theywould be able to differentiatebetween the two and use bothlanguages effectively.”
Some parents have alsoexpressed support of the BEP.“They would need to have a
good grasp of Standard English, but thiscan be done through the BEP,” saidDwight Wilson, the father of a childwho is currently in primary school.Security guard, and mother of twoSharon Hardy said “they talk patoisright now so if they have it as a separatelanguage it would help them especiallyin understanding the context.”
“Jamaican's first language ofacquisition is Jamaican Creole. Whenyou integrate it into schooling, studentswould have a better understanding ofJamaican Creole separate and apartfrom Jamaican Standard English,” saidCheyenne Jackson, second year EnglishLanguage major at the University of theWest Indies (UWI) Mona.
Members of the OUILT Performing Arts Company in a recent production PHOTO CONTRIBUTED
cultural exPreSSioNS
CAMPUS BUZZ April 2012 Page 11
Sean Bennett in a scene from the OUILT Performing Arts Company’s recent production. PHOTO CONTRIBUTED
f Artists
CAMPUS BUZZ
Feature
Page 12 April 2012
Sonya Lemord
Campus Buzz Reporter
While we often think of a quilt as different fabricsintircately stiched together for providing comfort for itsowner, the group Ouilt Perfoming Arts Company is acombination of personalities, art forms and situationsculminating to form one unit of intense artisticexpression.
“It’s an avenue for young singers, dancers, writers,producers and choreographers to come, work together inone space and mature as individuals,” says founder ofthe group Rayon McClean.
Beginning as a seven member clique in the PhillipSherlock Centre of Performing Arts at the University ofthe West Indies (UWI), Mona over a year ago, this groupof artists has expanded into the fifty membermasterminds behind the piece '73…?'- a devised theatrepiece about the Tivoli incursion of May 2010 in which73 citizens were killed. The group began under thestewardship of Rayon McClean but founding member
Odain Murray, informed Campus Buzz that the processto create their presentation is not an autocracy, butincludes the unique expression of group membersconcerning the given topic.
The group draws inspiration from their surroundingsand creates devised pieces which consist of different artforms to convey a message to its audience. Being adevised piece suggests that the production is not scriptedbut is created as members come together and expressthemselves concerning a given topic. In a productionpulled together in a week and a half, according tofounding member Odain Murray, Quilt dominated lastyear’s Tallawah drama festival with’73…?', a messagestrongly documenting the of sense of loss that followedthe May 2012 incursion into Tivoli Gardens. Accordingto McClean, there is a figurative death in personsaffected psychologically, economically and physicallyby the sequence of events in Tivoli Gardens. The fusionof poetry music and drama sought to present such andthe group won the coveted awards of Best Production,Director and an award for Stage Craft.
Members of the QUILT Performing Arts Comany
Courtesy photograph
A Quilt o
Feature
CAMPUS BUZZ April 2012 Page 13
“What we do as agroup is we usetheatre to transformwhoever weencounter with. Wealso use it as a meansof transforming themembers. So onceyou’re a part of it, itis almost therapy foryou.”
The group ishowever not mutually exclusive to the UWI as membershail from the University of Technology, the Edna ManleyCollege corporate area high schools, as well as paststudents of UWI.
Founding member in the group, Odaine Murraydescribed Quilt in five words: family, talent, edgy,understanding and wonderful.
The objective of being transformative seems to be
met in Murray’s eyes as he gave tales of working withfresh talent who have never done big performances, suchas the ones this group of multi-layered talents havegrown accustomed. He adds that he too has to learn andgrow as a member of the group.
This is presumably good news for the new batch ofeight ‘Quiltans’ recruited in January of this year.
Quilt again emerged to set its name in the history ofgreat works out of the Philip Sherlock Centre ofPerforming Arts in February with their season ‘Soundsof the Tree’ on topical point of black history.
Crystal Blake, a second year student who frequentsthe Philip Sherlock Centre spoke of seeing the grouptogether, though she never saw them practise for anevent. She, however had this to say about the group “theyseem really close and always helping out each other andhanging together. You can see where the chemistry theyhave on stage starts.
Quilt dominated lastyear’s Tallawah dramafestival with’73…?', amessage strongly docu-menting the of sense ofloss that followed the
May 2012 incursion intoTivoli Gardens.
f Artists
FORWARD PLANNING
CAMPUS BUZZ
Feature
Page 14 April 2012
Tashna-Toya Edwards
Campus Buzz Reporter
THE ACADEMIC year2011-2012 has seen a highnumber of university
students being unable to fully fundtheir tertiary education. This hasresulted in universities such as theUniversity of the West Indies,Mona taking stringent action, suchas barring students from accessingvital academic material and sittingtheir exams until their fees havebeen paid for. Concerns have beenraised therefore regarding thelevel of planning taken by studentsprior to attending the university,to ensure proper funding of theiruniversity education.
Jermaine Ricketts, a first yearstudent in the Faculty of Humanitiesand Education, explained that whilehe was not blocked from accessingthe university’s facilities, he alongwith his parents did not engage inany planning, when it was decidedthat he’d attend UWI. ‘I just knewthat I’d apply for a loan from SLB,and the rest would figure out itself asI went along.’ However, similar
sentiments were expressed by otherstudents within the faculty who havebeen unable to resolve the paymentof their fees. Tanisha Ingram, a finalyear student, revealed that she alsorelied on things resolving themselvesas time passed. However, havingowed the university over 200,000 infees, because of her inability toacquire the funds, Tanisha stands therisk of not being able to sit her finalexaminations and thus attaining herdegree.
Dr. Camille Bell-Hutchinson,Campus Registrar revealed that thestringent measures employed by theUniversity were firmly defended asthere are nearly three thousandstudents having outstanding balanceswith the institution, out of a totalpopulation fifteen thousand students(15,000).
The university says attempts havebeen made since August toencourage students to pay theuniversity or implement somepayment plan to settle their arrears.Despite this however, students havestill not taken up on the opportunitiesoffered.
Demar Fraser, a first year studentin the Faculty of Social Sciences said
that he was curently benftting froma loan from the Students LoanBurea, whch fully covers the cost ofhis tution. He is however, indebtedto the university for the cost ofacomodation, on one of theUniversity's Halls of residence. Hefurther stated that he applied to theGuild of Students financialprgramme-Needy Students Fund, togain further assistance in coveringhis financial costs.
It has become even more evident atthis point, the value of properplanning for tertiry education.Individuals contemplating thepursuit of higer education shouldcleary research all the costs to beincurred, seek proper financialadvcie from related experts, engagein savings plans, zone in on yourtalent and to try to see what you cando to earn money. The importantthing for all present and potentialuniversity students to remember is,university education is an investmentwhich requires planning and that aad hoc approach simply won't work.
Student courtesy officer manning the gate.PHOTOgRAPHER: Tashna-Toya Edwards
BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY:MONEY FOR EDUCATION
Kryss-Ann Richards
Campus Buzz Reporter
MALCOLM X said:
“Education is the
passport to the future,
for tomorrow belongs to who
prepare for it”.
Getting an education remains a
fundamental cultural practice for
individuals 17 and older.
Twenty-year-old Petika Lovelace
(name changed) aspires to make big
strides in life. However, her climb to
success has been hard-pressed
because she seldom has money to
for bus fare and lunch. This has also
caused her to miss a few classes. To
remedy this, she tried out a sales job
with an on-campus company.
“The company promised a
handsome per cent on commission-
based pay that, I thought, with hard
work, could earn me something to
stand the cost for school,” she said.
After two months of earning
nothing, she turned to selling
sweets.
“This has not proved to be such a
profitable venture but it works,” she
said.
Another student, Mark Postit also
has financial problems.
He says “more time mi affi 'ol'
dung (eat) a patty n jus guh di wata
coola n full up mi belly”. This he
says, he does several times for the
day.
In a quickly developing society
where the social hierarchy
resembles the triangular class
distribution in colonial times, more
and more less-fortunate young
people see it fit to obtain an
education as an escape from this
class relegation.
Amidst financial struggles that
bottle-neck their progress to
achieving an education some
students continue defying the odds.
Twenty-year-old Deena Louise
(name changed) of Portmore is such
a person.
A first-year student of the
University of the West Indies
(UWI), Mona, Deena is majoring in
the area of public sector
management, a sub-field of
government studies.
She explains that she has a passion
for working in government,
borrowed from her parents'
experience as government workers
for eight years.
She sat out a year after completing
her sixth form years to work and
gained an employ at Jamaica
Collections and Recovery Services
for almost a year, working as a bad
dept collection specialist. Here she
made $40,000 a month plus
commission.
This commission earned her up to
$58,000 a month and was enough to
make her decide to leave her job to
study at UWI.
But she now questions her
decision.
She said, “Mi 'ave two oda
siblings 'n' it haad fi mi parents dem
gi dem 'n' me lunch money.” She explained that she gets $500 a
day to come to school from herparents, the same as her 19-year-oldbrother and 16-year-old sister. Shehowever, sometimes, receives alittle more than they do because ofthe distance she has to travel tocome to school.
Continues on Page 16
Feature
CAMPUS BUZZ April 2012 Page 15
Money! The precious commodity many students wish they had a lot of.gOOgLE IMAgES
A student ponders what to buy to eat with his last $100 bill.PHOTOgRAPHER: Kryss-Ann Richards
UNIVERSITY STUDENTS
A t T h e B u s P a r kTiffany Henry
Campus Buzz Reporter
AS THE bus turns into thebus park in Half Way Treeto transport students to the
University of the West Indies(UWI) and University ofTechnology (UTECH) there is afrenzied movement among thestudents. The students push oneach other, kick and elbow all inan attempt to get inside the bus.
“Dem act like hog, dem all actlike dem wah bruk dung di busdoor,” stated Ms. Brown, a studentwho use to take the bus in Half WayTree.
The drivers of these busesconstantly make fools out of thesestudents by driving around in circlesand have the students run behind likea tail on a monkey. One driver of theHalf Way Tree shuttle that transportsthese university students said that:
“It jus funny to see thestudents run behind the bus in themorning, it's not that we taking themfor fools, we jus having a little fun.”
It would come as no surpriseto see the students' behaviour in themornings between 8 and 10. Asecond year Pure and Appliedstudent at UWI, Opia Dockery,describes the whole experience:
“The students wait at theentrance until they see a bus coming.As they spot a bus, they rush insidethe park and wait for the bus to makeits entrance, after which the studentsbombard the bus entrance pushing,kicking and fighting, anything to bethe last man standing.”
The student also stated thatthis is just another day at the park for
the bus drivers as they get pleasurein the animal-like behaviour of thestudents and to make it moreenticing they prolong the barbaricbehavour by driving in circles andhave the students run behind.
The bus system which takesthe students from Half Way Tree tothe universities caters mostly to theUTECH students, the services areextended to UWI students bydefault. There are not enough busesto transport the students at any onetime, therefore the students are foundin a position where they have tocompete for space in the buses.
Second year student of theCaribbean Institute of Media andCommunication Sonya Lemord saidthat it is a 'first come first serve'mentality that the students have. Shealso reiterated that there are not
enough buses to accommodate thenumber of students at the park;therefore as the buses arrive everystudent wants to be the first on boardin order to not have to wait onanother to arrive. She reasoned thatthis is one of the fundamentalreasons that the students behave likehooligans.
The driver of the shuttleshared that it is because the buses arenot allowed to come on UWI'scampus why there are not enough forall students. Because the buses areprivately owned and there is nopartnership with UWI, it is againstcampus security to allow the buseson campus. He said that UTECH ismore accommodating to the busesand so they mostly cater to them.
Students rushing for the Spanish Town bus on a Tuesday night.
Photo by Thatcher Asphall
FIGHT!Feature
CAMPUS BUZZ April 2012 Page 17
CAMPUS BUZZ
liFeStyle
Page 18 April 2012
Shakera Sharpe
Campus Buzz Reporter
WITH THE final pieces of coursework tohand in and end of semester examslooming,many students feel stressed at this
time of the year.Secretary at The University Counselling Service
(UCS), Sharon Edwards affirmed that it is at this time ofyear that most students seek counselling services. “It isusually during this time that the stress level will increaseamong the students, right now we are booked up tillMay.” She said.
Students say that an essential coping mechanismin this stressful season is finding someone to talk to.“When I am feeling stressed, I always find someonepositive to talk to” said Antoinette Walker. Walker whois a student from the Faculty of Social Sciences says “itis important to talk to positive people because some willonly make you more depressed.”
Michelle Braham who is a Peer Support Providerencourages students who are feeling stressed with aparticular course to find someone who has done it beforeand who had done well. “Do not be afraid to ask for help,if you do not feel comfortable with your tutor or lecturer,talk to a fellow classmate or someone who has done thecourse before.”
Francene Henry, who is a first year nursing studentliving on campus says after having a good cry, she alwaysfinds a friend to talk to. “I cry sometimes till my headhurt but it always makes me feel better.” She continued“then I find someone to talk to, sometimes I call mymom.”
Other students say physical activity is an effectivestress reducer for them.According to Lanice Hall, finalyear Psychology major, “keeping active is how I releasestress, I always find something fun to do like playingfootball.”
“Normally when I am stressed, I do not stay in myroom” said Antonique Gooden who is an Accountingstudent in her second year. “I would change myenvironment and take a walk around the campus.”
Kerry- Coye Virtue, who is a Humanities student,says dancing is how she releases stress. “I usually just
turn up the music and dance.” She went on to say, “I alsodo craftwork, when I make stuff with my hands I feelbetter.”
Sometimes all it takes to release stress is taking abreak. Daniela Lindsay, Pharmacology student in hersecond year says “sometimes just watch a movie or listensome music.”
Sasha Hamilton, first year CARIMAC studentsays “when the pressure gets to me I watch movies, orlisten to some music.” She advises however that “not allmusic is good to listen to when you are stressed; some ofthem are very depressing.”
In addition, to effectively cope with stress,adequate rest is essential. “I sleep when I am stressed,then when I wake up I feel better and I just move on” saidShawna Foreman, from the Medical Science Faculty.
There are also those students who say that the onlything that they can help them cope with stress at this timeis their faith in God. “The only thing that really helps medeal with the pressure is praying to God,” shares DanielSkeel who is in the Faculty of Law. “Only Heunderstands and praying to Him really keeps megrounded in sanity.
