Featured Photo: Albert A. Sheen Campus Psychology Club
UVI Psychology Club members placing litter into a trash bag.
ST. CROIX – In partnership with Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup and other organizations around the globe, the University of the Virgin Islands Psychology Club held its first BeachCleanup for the semester. Officers, students and community volunteers gathered at Rainbow Beach, St. Croix on Saturday September 17th, 2016 to remove trash from waterways and to identify the sources of debris. In a collective effort to take action to ensure trash never reaches our beaches.
All photos are courtesy of Leanne E. Morancie, UVI Psychology Club Public Relations Officer.
Club members discussing their plan for the cleanup.
Officers In Featured Photo:
Advisor: Dr. Aletha Baumann
Public Relations Officer: Leanne E. Morancie
Treasurer: Jama Raimer
Events Coordinator: Jailine Manon
For more information or to join the Psychology Club, please email Leanne E. Morancie at lmorancie10@gmail.com.
Featured Image: Dr. Tim Faley and Team McKrigger after they were presented with the “Best Hack” $500 check and a certificate for 40 hours of free mentoring from NEARiX.
The Hackathon 2016 T-shirt design.
Alicia Taylor |
ST. CROIX – Imagine getting paid to bring your crazy ideas to life. The UVI Hackathon allowed students to do just that.
The 2nd annual Hackathon to be held on St. Croix took place September 9th and 10th in the Albert A. Sheen Campus Library. Thanks to NEARiX LLC, UVI’s Research and Technology Park (RTP) and Virgin Islands Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (VI-EPSCoR), UVI Innovation Design and Entrepreneurship Association (UVIDEA), students competed for $700 in cash prizes and a $100 UVI bookstore certificate.
In a 24-hour span, students broke into teams to develop an app that reflected the year’s theme of health and wellness. UVI Distinguished Professor and Special Assistant to the President, Tim Faley, instructed students to create an app that they would personally use.
The students took that advice and ran with it. They saw a problem and came up with a solution to solve it in the form of an application for cell phones.
However, of the four teams competing, there could only be one grand prize winner.
Feature Photo Caption: Ryan Shaw ready to take on the new academic year and next, the world. (Photo taken on St. Thomas courtesy of Adeola Adelekan, Orientation Leader)
By Alicia Taylor and Nathalie Trow-McDonald
Albert A. Sheen- St. Croix campus new student orientation island tour, August 20, at Point Udall. (Courtesy of Catey Mendoza, a National Student Exchange student from Alaska)
Albert A. Sheen – St. Croix Campus Orientation: Perspectives of An Exchange Student
Attending UVI is the beginning of our flight towards success. With the help of the orientation staff and student leaders, we were introduced to the flight attendants and captains that will assist in our navigation throughout the journey we call college.
Throughout our flight journey at UVI, we were instructed on safety precautions and instruments we can utilize to assist us. We were educated about campus security, dating and violence, sexual assault and physical and mental health concerns. Through counseling and health services, RAVE and a variety of other departments on campus, students can be reassured that the flight they are traveling on is a safe one.
The theme for orientation on the Albert A. Sheen campus on St. Croix was “Navigating Your Path to Academic Success,” hence all the flight metaphors.
Being a National Student Exchange (NSE) student, the Virgin Islands was an unknown territory waiting to be revealed to me. Attending orientation allowed me the opportunity to experience the university and the culture of St. Croix first hand.
The orientation staff and faculty made it their priority to make sure each student either learned or was reminded of the heritage of St. Croix and the Virgin Islands. Meals were prepared with a variety of foods local to the Caribbean, including the introduction of two local food trucks for students to try at lunch.
The St. Croix campus offered orientation students to take part in a movie night at the Caribbean Cinema, an island tour, bowling at Ten Pins and snorkeling lessons.
Of all the organized activities and events, the New Student Convocation and Buccaneer Welcome Reception was my favorite. Specifically, President Hall’s address to the students.
“He was engaging, relatable and genuinely cared about each of us individually,” said Cassie (Cassandra) Glodowski, a NSE student from Wisconsin. “He didn’t just see us as a statistic, but rather as a student of UVI.”
After walking the stage and being bestowed the medal, I felt like an official member of the Buccaneer community. UVI is proud of each and every student, whether they are here for a semester or five years. The bond created here is unbreakable and each individual of this community will assist in navigating you towards the path of academic success.
Featured Photo: Designated Parking Map of the St. Thomas Campus. (Courtesy of the University of the Virgin Islands)
Alayna Belshe |
ST. THOMAS – This is my third fall semester at UVI and every year I learn a little more about how to get things done at our university. This year, I mastered getting a parking pass and completing the vehicle registration process.
If you are new to campus or if you have been lucky enough to get a new vehicle over the summer, you need to register your vehicle online through your BanWeb account before you visit the security office.
To complete the online registration you need:
Your driver’s license
Your license plate number
Your car’s make
Your car’s color
Your car’s year
Accessing BanWeb is as simple as logging into your MyCampus page on the UVI website and selecting the BanWeb link on the left.
Screenshot of the BanWeb Home Page after Logging into MyCampus (August 2016)
After filling out the vehicle registration form found on BanWeb, proceed to the campus security office. The entrance to the office is right next to the Banco Popular ATM on the St. Thomas campus and near the First Bank ATM by the Evans Center on the Albert A. Sheen- St. Croix campus.
You will need to bring your driver’s license, registration and your student ID. (If you still don’t have your UVI Student ID, a piece of paper with your name and ID number will be accepted).
The campus security office is open 24 hours a day, so there is no excuse for not getting this done.
The best part of this whole process is that the permit is free. (Provided that you do not lose said permit, otherwise be prepared to fork over $25.00 to the security office.)
As of Wednesday morning all members of the UVI community received an email detailing the parking policy and the process of registering your vehicle including maps of appropriate parking for each campus.
Good luck to all of us finding our preferred parking spaces!
Designated Parking Map of the Albert A. Sheen Campus on St. Croix. (Courtesy of the University of the Virgin Islands)
Participants taped their mouths as a way to exhibit the effects of anti – LGBTQ acts.
Olinger Augustin |
ST. CROIX – Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning organization ONELOVE, held their second annual Day of Silence, hosting a silent march on the Albert A. Sheen campus.
On Thursday, April 14, students, staff, faculty and community members joined together to take a vow of silence to address the issue of anti-LGBTQ and bullying acts. Participants illustrated silence by taping their mouths to showcase the effect of bullying and harassment on those perceived to be LGBTQ.
ONELOVE member, Michael Rosario, had a comment on the event. “What we wanted to do with this march is to show that we weren’t going to be silent anymore. This is the third or fourth event we’ve done on campus, and we just want the UVI community to know that there is an LGBTQ organization that is willing to represent and have a voice for anyone who needs our help.” Continue reading UVI CELEBRATES DAY OF SILENCE→
Volunteers repaint the kiosk information center as part of Pride Week activities.
Olinger Augustin |
ST. CROIX – Students, faculty, and staff met on Monday, March 28 to provide a day of service on the Albert A. Sheen campus by sprucing up the kiosk information center.
As part of the university’s annual Pride Week, the UVI community gathered to provide community service on the campus itself.
Student Activities’ Hedda Finch-Simpson noted, “Often times we tend to go off campus to provide community service, but this time we decided to bring it to the actual campus to get students excited about school pride.” Continue reading UVI PRIDE DAY OF SERVICE→
ST. THOMAS — University of the Virgin Islands’ students will soon have easy access to campus facilities such as the library and fitness center on the weekends.
ST. CROIX — Even though I knew it was coming, I wasn’t prepared for how it would feel.
I cried every day during the final semester of my undergraduate year. Between current expectations and the nearing future I realized that I wasn’t ready to graduate.
I wasn’t the only one.
Senior year is romanticized. Seniors are expected to have their lives planned out. This was what they have been preparing for the moment they left high school and entered institutions of higher learning.
These students are expected to be bold and brave, bearing smiles and excitement for the coming of May when it will all be over. Few realize that, while exciting, senior year is overwhelmingly stressful. After several years, their lives are summed up in a month.
May doesn’t mean the same thing anymore for graduating seniors. It is a month of changes.
Dr. Aletha Baumann, associate professor of psychology at the University of the Virgin Islands, recounted a situation where a student broke down in front of her.
via Life After Empty Nest
“She wasn’t sad about going off on her own or finding a job,” Baumann said. “She cried because she just didn’t want to leave UVI. This was her home.”
Graduation is a big transition that often causes students to feel depressed or anxious.
Will they find a secure job right out of college?
What do they do with their degree?
Will they find a job within that degree?
After finding a job they must now budget, decide living arrangements, make new friends and say goodbye to old ones. It is a period of leaving the familiar and meeting the unfamiliar.
In a 2014 article by US Health News, Vicki Hays, director of Counseling and Psychological Services at the University of Michigan, said graduation depression is more common than many think.
“I think it’s much harder actually leaving college than it is coming to college,” she said. “Leaving is something completely new. For most people, they have not been without the structure of organized education ever in their lives.”
For some students, the problem wasn’t leaving college. The problem was the process in order to leave there.
Lorie Jeffers graduated from the University of the Virgin Islands with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology last May. According to her, there were personal points of depression for herself and her fellow classmates.
“I know there was not one person in my class who did not express their frustration with their final semester in one way or another,” Jeffers said. “I remember tears from some, hopelessness from others.”
Jeffers also said that the stress levels among herself and her peers were unstable.
“In between our moments of despair and depression were lots of moments of triumphs and victories. However sometimes it felt like for every victory there was a setback,” she said.
A 2001 article in The Guardian stated that while one in four students suffer depression during their university years, there aren’t any official statistics for the post-graduation nor pre-graduation period.
In the article, Mike Burton, of the Sussex University Counseling service, said that this group “slips through the system.” These students become indivisible from any other adult going through transitions and even counselors are unaware of the problem.
Patricia Towal, director of counseling and career services at the University of the Virgin Islands, said that while students do come in for counseling, she wished there were more.
“A lot of students don’t understand what counseling can really do for them,” Towal said. ” I wish more students would seek out what they already paid for and it’s one of the few times you’ll get free counseling in your life.”
Baumann also agreed that students in their final semester need that extra counseling to cope with their difficulties.
“This is the time people should be talking to counselors about life especially if you’ve never been stressed like this before,” Baumann said.
Many students, however, admit that they do not seek counseling in their final year and that is mostly because they handle the feelings of stress and anxiety on their own.
Deidre Dubois, senior psychology major at the university, said that rather than see a counselor, she took a day off.
“I was feeling very overwhelmed,” Dubois said. ” I did not go to class and I did not attend my internship for a week either. I was told to relax before I broke down.”
Dubois also said that between school, her daughter, and other personal struggles, she felt like jumping off of a cliff.
Another psychology senior, Shanah Bannis, also didn’t see a counselor to handle her stress.
“I just got over it. I’m not at the point where I have breakdowns anymore,” Bannis said. “I used to freak out over not failing and I just went numb to it.”
However, despite the call for counseling, Aletha Baumann felt that many of the students were not at clinical levels of depression and anxiety, which is why there are very few studies on the topic.
According to Baumann, many students often use the word “depressed” as a way to express unfamiliar stress and sadness.
“The senior year of any program is really intense. You’ve got your internship, practicum, senior project, and all other classes you didn’t want to take,” Baumann said. ” Those extreme pressures can cause you to feel depressed, not clinically depressed, just very sad and overwhelmed.”
Towal agreed that many of the students appeared to show signs of stress rather than clinical depression or anxiety.
“For most graduates they don’t get that closure because even though their educational world has closed their professional world is beginning,” Towal said.”It’s actually ‘eustress,’ which is good stress, like starting a new job, or moving to a new place. It’s stressful because it’s new and there are a lot of decisions to make.”
“I think it’s that not knowing, that ‘what’s the best choice for me?’, ‘how can I optimize my money, time and effort to get the best degree I can?’ that causes stress because it’s open ended,” Towal said. “It is overwhelming because you have to live by your decision and the consequences.”
Where do you go from here? Via Sexisoprano
However, while the students at the University of the Virgin Islands are overwhelmed, Baumann believes that they are the type of students that overcome easily.
“Students, particularly here, are very resilient,” Baumann said. “So, even when they say ‘This is it I’m not doing it,’ oftentimes what they need is just reassurance that they are on the right track and they can do it.”
With the help of great advisers and peers, the struggles of coursework and the nearing future become minuscule troubles.
If it weren’t for the constant reassurance and kind words from my professors I might have given into the pressures of my senior semester and crumbled.
Thanks to them I, and many of my peers, will not only be graduating in May, we will be evolving and becoming ready for the world after graduation.
Published in the Virgin Islands Daily News on Wednesday, April 29, 2015
ST. CROIX — It’s 4 o’clock on a Monday afternoon as Sarah Jagrup heads to her first class of the new semester. A brief glance at her schedule indicates she has Caribbean Literature in room 401 from 4-5:15 p.m. She is unaware that the class is a video conference course or that the professor is on St. Thomas as she enters the theater in the Evans Center Building.
She walks in to find the room in complete darkness and completely empty. Sarah double-checks the room and time on her schedule. Reassured, she turns on the lights and makes her way to the center of the room as she waits for her classmates and her professor to arrive.
Ten minutes pass and nothing happens. She is still alone in the largest classroom on campus. Sarah decides to investigate why no one is there and finds out that the class is video conference, so she heads to the library to get help from the IT department.
After a thorough investigation to determine which classroom the class is being held on in St. Thomas, the helpful IT technician connects Sarah with her class on St. Thomas.
When the connection goes through, she finds they have been conducting class without her for the last 30 minutes. She is the only student registered for the course on St. Croix while there are about 17 or 18 students on St. Thomas. A single person missing is easily overlooked.
Touchscreen display which controls video conference equipment.
Sarah goes through this tedious process of trying to connect with her professor and classmates on St. Thomas every Monday and Wednesday afternoon. She makes it a habit to contact IT before making her way to her class since she anticipates an endless list of issues with the equipment. She is at a total loss on how to operate the video conference equipment herself until six weeks into the semester, when an IT technician decides to show her how to operate the technology.
As an education major, Sarah has to have a certain amount of patience, but she confesses that after several days of dealing with lags, glitches, missing out on class time, and being overlooked, her patience was at an all-time low.
“It was horrible and disappointing to me. I was lost and really fed up with the course,” Sarah said. “I could not wait for it to be over.”
“I felt like the ugly duckling, and I was at a total disadvantage,” Sarah said. “It should not be that bad, but it is. The people on the other side just don’t understand our frustration.”
After such a horrible experience, Sarah developed an aversion to video conference classes, but she would soon realize that video conference and online classes are impossible to avoid at the University of the Virgin Islands, and in any case, it is a totally different experience when the professor is on St. Croix and the St. Croix students have the advantage.
Out of the roughly 330 classes currently being taught at UVI’s St. Croix campus – some of them repeated courses being taught by several professors or in different sections – 70 of them are video conference courses and 33 of them are online. Most of these courses are upper level courses and the professors are located on the St. Thomas campus. This means that about 31 percent of all classes being taught on the St. Croix campus are asynchronous upper level courses in which the student either never sees the professor or in which the professor is merely one of several faces on a screen.
Online and video conference courses do have their advantages because they allow students to have access to more classes and more professors than one campus provides. Online courses in particular can also be more convenient for commuter and non-traditional students who have busy lives and have a harder time making it to classes on a regular basis.
Despite the advantages, students and even some professors seem to prefer regular classes to online or video conference classes.
Dr. David Gould, an English professor, prefers teaching in the classroom to teaching online because in online classes there is “not enough face to face communication and online classes encourage plagiarism.”
The login page for the site used to connect to classes online. (Photo credit – Arige Shrouf)
“I prefer regular classes in a single classroom in which I can interact with the professor and my classmates more effectively,” Corwin Commabatch, a junior majoring in business administration said. “But online classes represent a challenge that can be useful for when we graduate and we are on our own.”
According to Commabatch, online classes force students to be more responsible, to “learn to adjust and be professional” and they are more convenient because they allow him to work at his own pace.
Dr. Valerie Combie, a Master Professor of English, certified to teach online classes said, “I always prefer regular classes. I like the interaction and I can assist students more when they are present in real life.”
“In video conference classes, it is harder to engage with the students,” Dr. Gould said.
With about 88 percent of junior and senior level English courses, 85 percent of upper level communications courses, 58 percent of criminal justice courses, 50 percent of accounting courses and 35 percent of upper level psychology courses – just to name a few – currently being taught online or via video conference, UVI professors and students are no strangers to the varied class formats and most have their preferences.
Zohn Fleming, a sophomore speech communication and theater major said, “I like the video conference classes better because I get to hear a lot of different opinions from students on both or all three campuses. I wish more of my classes were video conference, but I don’t like online classes because I just keep forgetting to do the work.”
With asynchronous classes, it sometimes seems to be a case of “out of sight, out of mind.”
“The video conference class got to the point where I just did what I had to do and nothing more. I would sit in class and be on my phone or iPad the whole time because no one cared,” Sarah Jagrup said. “My interest was not there at all because there was a total disconnect and I was left out. I wished I had more access to my professor.”
“I can’t engage in an online class when the professor is on St. Thomas, but now that I am a senior, I just don’t care anymore,” Sarah said.
“I don’t think it’s fair for students on the remote campus,” Dr. Combie said.
Sophia Horsford, a junior majoring in criminal justice said, “the professors in St. Thomas are hard to get in contact with and if more of our classes were regular classes with just St. Croix, we would have no technical difficulties.”
I would prefer if more of my classes were regular/traditional classes because in class it’s more personal,” Olinger Augustin, a sophomore majoring in communications said. “You don’t have to yell over to the camera and you are more likely to be remembered.”
Shanah Bannis, a senior psychology major said, “I prefer regular classes for the interaction and online classes for the convenience, but in video conference courses is it not easy to engage both sides.”
Despite the challenges of asynchronous courses, they play a crucial role in our campus and, when the technology works and the students are kept engaged, these courses can be effective and provide the campus with a useful resource to connect with not only St. Thomas but St. John as well. Without video conference and online courses, there would be over 100 fewer classes at UVI and taking the necessary classes would be an even greater challenge for students trying to graduate in a timely manner.
Video conference classroom in the St. John Academic Center, allowing students to connect with the two main UVI campuses. (photo credit: uvi.edu)
“I actually like VC classes,” Dr. Gillian Royes, a communications professor said. “It can be fun with small classes where the students on both campuses get to discuss issues together.”
“Providing video-conferencing and on-line courses provides a service to those who may not otherwise have the opportunity to matriculate,” Nancy W. Morgan, a professor of education, said. “With a motivated student, is not ‘something’ better than ‘nothing’?”
For students like Sarah Jagrup who have had horrible experiences with online or video conference classes, that motivation is hard to come by or maintain.
“At the end of the day,” Sarah said, “you just have to suck it up and get used to it because more and more of your classes are going to be online or video conference.”
By Shani Isaac | ST.CROIX–A medical textbook lays wide open as the harsh light of the laptop beams out onto a intensely studying student’s face. Facts and data must be recognized, for in this young woman’s desired line of work, a simple mistake could mean death for her patient.
This is an average scene for a student, in this case, Shanice Rawlins, a sophomore here at UVI studying to be a nurse . Her future, or at least, her future for gaining a start here in the Virgin Islands is uncertain due to the troubles afflicting the sole hospital on the island, the Juan F. Luis Hospital. Due to certain decisions and inadequate response to situations at the local hospital, there is disappointment and uncertainty regarding its future. This aspiring nurse is among the uncertain faction.
“I am actually more concerned about being accredited so that when we go to get a job on the mainland, they don’t say, “Oh, the hospital you were at wasn’t certified.” says Rawlins, a look of anxiety on her visage. While it is also an option to go elsewhere to get experience, some students may not be in a financial situation to go abroad, or even to the mainland, to gain valuable internships or experience. The decertification of Juan F. Luis Hospital, due to questionable care and incorrect observation of procedures may negatively impact this select group of students, as many institutions in the United States look far more favorably on receiving nurses from certified hospitals, rather than the alternative.
Students, and not just the nursing students, at UVI are concerned about both the professional and medical aspects of the fall-out from JFL. “Health wise, there is a right way of doing things and the wrong way of doing things. People at JFL tend to take the short way out. Their technology is not that advanced. For example, stateside hospitals are equipped with scanners, and our hospital is not.”, says Rawlins, who has shadowed at JFL in the past. This is a claim supported by some of the stories coming in from previous reports of incidents that have sickened and even resulted in the death of several people. Then there was a case of the mismanaged handling of the corpse of a 22-week year old baby. One of the highlighted cases of questionable management is the hiring of a doctor allegedly responsible for the death of two patients, whose license was suspended at the time of her hiring, according to the St. Croix Avis.
There is a general sense of fear among the populace, particularly for elder relatives of the UVI students who rely on Medicare in order to get the medical treatment that they need. Now that Medicare has given JFL an extension, those people are worrying, not just for themselves, but for their families and communities. More and more people are going to the states for medical treatment. “The atmosphere is friendly,” says Rawlins , “but the bills are ridiculous.” With many Crucian families suffering from the high electric bill and a general raised cost of living, being hit with a medical crisis cannot be anything short of harsh for them.
“They had enough time to do it, they had enough time to fix the issues.” Rawlins says, “Rather than purchasing unnecessary crap The fact that so many years passed between the initial investigation and the subsequent decertification is shocking to many. “Yes, you have to make the place look nice, but still, you have to worry about the procedures and how to take care of the patient.
She finishes out, a stern, almost angered look on her face, “The purpose of the hospital is to care about the patient. We shouldn’t really be worrying about ourselves but of the patient and how we take care of them.” Although Rawlins is fond of her home island and the program she participates it, it would appear that for now, her future lays elsewhere.
ST.CROIX– The residents of St. Croix came out in droves to support Sen. Alicia “Chucky” Hansen’s campaign party kickoff on Saturday, Oct. 4 at the Canegata Ballpark despite the senator’s recent tax evasion conviction and controversial rape comment.
After facing setbacks, the Sports Committee postpones the Spring Olympics
AUGUSTUS LAURENCIN JR.|
ST. CROIX – University of the Virgin Islands’ Student Activities Supervisor Hedda Finch-Simpson recently announced that this year’s Spring Olympics was pushed back to April 25.
Though the annual event was previously scheduled for March 21, the St.Croix Sports Committee had multiple issues that caused the event to be postponed.
“The main reason for the event being pushed back is due to a conflict in other university activities on both St.Croix and St.Thomas,” Finch-Simpson said. Continue reading Spring Olympics Canceled→
Four of five Miss University of the Virgin Islands’ contestants travel to St. Croix for Queen’s Retreat and Agricultural Food Fair
FELICIA EMMANUEL|
ST. CROIX – Donning white hats and sundresses, Miss University of the Virgin Islands contestants visited the opening ceremony Saturday, February 15th for this year’s Agricultural and Food Fair.
ST. THOMAS- After only one year of existence, the student-run college radio station,WUVI AM 1090, announces upcoming additions.
A new studio will be created on the Albert A. Sheen campus on St. Croix, where technology will allow both the St. Croix and St. Thomas studios to communicate with each other and also to the transmitter.
This addition allows students to create and produce radio shows and go live on the air from St. Croix.
The first steps of the process are already in progress due to allocating and purchasing carpets to soundproof the prospective studio’s walls.
“We already host a number of shows out of St. Croix, using a cobbled together telephone system,” Dr. Alexander Randall, faculty advisor and professor of digital media communications at the University of the Virgin Islands said.
“Dr. Chenzira Davis-Kahina produces a show out of St. Croix that’s coming through telephone lines. With the new studio we’ll be able to do a really professional version of that.”
The prospective St. Croix studio is located in the former Research and Technology (RT) rooms of an on-campus dormitory.
The new studio will be funded by a five-year federal title III grant provided by the Department of Education.
The money afforded by the grant is to develop new curriculum. The grant also covers transmitter fees, and rent for the antenna along with other equipment.
“But along the way we said in order to make new classes in the field of broadcasting we needed a radio station to teach about broadcasting,” Dr. Randall said.
The prerequisite courses for student involvement on WUVI are Broadcast I and II. These courses prepare students for managerial positions and live show broadcasts.
Students are made familiar of studio equipment and software such as consoles, telephone’s couplers, microphones, the MARTI system, streaming devices, Adobe Audition and DRS 2006.
Members of WUVI. From left to right: Michael McFarland, Najuma Dunn, Renee Williams, Marisha Jno-Lewis, Dr. Alexander Randall, Nicole Moore, Elesha Hazel, April Rose Fale-Knight, Heru Shango and Mike Pride. Photo by: Elisa Thomas
“There’s no such thing as student involvement. It’s not just partial participation; they are running the radio station. If you take away the student aspect the station will fall apart,” Studio Manager, April Rose Fale-Knight said.
The 12 hour daily programing features student & faculty created shows such as U.V.I Insider, Democracy Now, Music and Culture Experience, U.V.I CES, H.B.C.U Connect, Caribbean Beats, College Voices Unzipped, WINGS Women’s Issue, Jazz Stories, Avenues of Healing, VICCC and Conscious Vibe.
WUVI AM 1090 also carries a syndicated version of the Tom Joyner Morning Show (TJMS).
WUVI is the only station in the Virgin Islands to carry the Tom Joyner Morning Show which provides national news and includes segments of local news by U.V.I students.
At intervals in the Tom Joyner Morning Show, local, co-culture, UVI and regional news are aired by Marisha Jno-Lewis, Manefa O’Connor, and Shawn Seabrooks.
Marisha Jno-Lewis, news director of WUVI uses the DRS 2006 software to air her show at WUVI AM 1090. Photo by Elisa Thomas
“I was so nervous and scared to take on such a big responsibility,”Marisha Jno-Lewis, news director of WUVI said.
Jno-Lewis delivers the local, Co-Culture and U.V.I news within the 9 o’clock hour. “It involves me waking up at 5am to get the Daily News subscription to write the latest news,” Jno-Lewis said. “Because the news is incorporated in the Tom Joyner Morning Show, I have a time limit of five to six minutes roughly.”
The station provides radio content of news, varieties of music, drama, politics, spoken word and educational programing. The WUVI signal reaches as far as Dominica in the south and to Puerto Rico in the east.
“We do a good job of reaching the masses, giving informed updates of news, music and what’s happening at U.V.I,” Seabrookes, host of U.V.I Insider and the regional news segment said.
The existing station is located on the third floor of Penha House on the St. Thomas campus and airs each day from 6 a.m to 6 p.m. Students are able to develop their own content and gain hands-on experience in the radio and production field.
U.V.I students are receiving a great opportunity. “If you look around in the community there’s no other radio station that is being run by students or young people,” Fale-Knight said.
Albert A. Sheen- St. Croix campus new student orientation island tour, August 20, at Point Udall. (Courtesy of Catey Mendoza, a National Student Exchange student from Alaska)
UVI VOICE 