NEWSLETTER DATE: SEMESTER 1 ACADEMIC YEAR 2014/5
VOLUME NO. 3
Lead STORIES: Tag Drive 2014… Students Protest at UTech
Students could be seen from as early as several minutes before 8:00 am clad in their full black as a symbol of The activities included: solidarity in sending the message that our voices need an equal Church Service – Sunday, Nov. 9 audience in the grand scheme of things. Though the numbers started Launch & Press Conference – Monday, Nov. 10 off a bit shaky, as the time moved closer and closer to the 10:00 am Bake Sale – Tuesday, Nov. 11 cut off point, the crowd grew larger, the chants louder and the Tag Fashion – Wednesday, Nov. 12 placards more vibrant. Jerk Sale – Thursday, Nov. 13 To all who were passing by it was evident that something big was happening on the compound. Passers-by stopped to enquire about the Corporate Drive – Friday, Nov. 14 nature of the protest with a few motorists honking their horns in Rural Drive – Saturday, Nov. 15 support. There were a few passersby, both motorists and pedestrians alike, who regarded the proceedings with an air of disdain, but that did not deter the protesters as they continued their cries for a 50/50 approach by the University, that they should meet us half way. In the words of Students’ Union President, Delta Wright, the protest was a success as the University’s Acting President, Ambassador the Hon. Burchell Whiteman had made contact with her, requesting an audience later that day to discuss the issues highlighted during the protest. With that, the protest concluded as scheduled at 10:00 am, with t\students eagerly awaiting the University’s response. (.S. Francis)
Message from the VP Public Relations
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My fellow students, it is indeed a pleasure to address you once more as your VP Public Relations for this academic year. It is the mandate of my office to bring information to the fore hence the publication of this newsletter. Also, through our various social media platforms we communicate vital information necessary for the all round development of all students. As we progress throught this our second semester, it is important that we keep ourselves in the know. When walking on campus, be aware of the various notices in order to ensure that important information does not pass you by. Follow us on social media and download our app from google play, this is where you will get our most recent updates. I encourage you, be this best you can be every day and continue to excel in your area of study. Never accept failure or defeat, stay focused, determined and optimistic. These are a few charateristics that will allow you to have a successful tenure here at the University of Technology, Jamaica.
Have a great semester!
Tag Drive is a special initiative of the UTech Students’ Union. Introduced in 1950 as “Cast Your Bread upon the Water Initiative” a week of fundraising activities is planned, executed and funds presented to a charitable organization with special needs. In previous years, proceeds have gone to notable organizations, most recent being; Jamaica Association for Mental Retardation, The Juvenile Correctional Services and Mc. Leod Basic School. Tag Drive 2014 was held from November 9-15 and funds collected in this drive will benefit the Kidney Support Foundation, Jamaica Society for The Blind, and three carefully selected needy students. Target areas for the Papine Campus were: Half Way Tree New Kingston Spanish Town Liguanea Cross Roads
Target areas for the Western Campus were: Montego Bay Lucea Falmouth
VOLUME NO. 3
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TAG DRIVE 2014— WEEK OF EVENTS
Church Service The service was held at the Mona Baptist Church. Present from the university were members of the Students’ Union Council and the Community Service Committee. A greeting was extended from the Community Service Director, Jevon Reid and a special prayer done for the week of activities. Press Conference The launch was held in the School of Engineering Conference Room. Notable participants include; Director of Community Service at UTech, Mr. Seymour Riley and representatives from the various beneficiary groups. Present from the media fraternity were: Jamaica Information Service, Jamaica Observer, Loop Jamaica, I Watch Campus and UTech Media students. Tag Fashion was a gr eat exper ience for patr ons who came out and participated in the activities. The real treat about this year’s show was the inclusion of a local business enterprise, TrueShade Cosmetics, by UTech lecture Ms. Dianne Plummer who took responsibility for makeup. Jewelry and accessories were provided by Vintage Chic Jerk Sale This event was hosted at the front of the UTech Barn office where students turned out in their numbers to purchase scrumptious meals and refreshments. Corporate & Rural Drive On this day classes were suspended for half of the day and volunteers turned out despite afternoon showers and took their zeal for volunteerism to the streets and solicited the support of corporate Jamaica.
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The Inter-faculty Sports competition held under the directive of the Sports Director for the Students’ Union Council
Match Updates Netball - It was deja vu again as FOSS defeated SOBA in the finals and FELS placed third after defeating SHTM
Volleyball - SOBE defended their title by overcoming SCIT in the finals
Football - FOSS were double Champions on the day as their female team emerged victorious via a penalty-shootout after a hard fought battle with SOBA. The male team wrapped up business in regulation time against SCIT to acquire the title for the first time in their history. Okeamo White was voted the finals MVP for the females. Omar Teape received the award for the males. Roxanne Hayles from the SOBA team walked away with Golden Boot prize at the end of the competition. Chavaughn Montgomery from SOBA claimed the men's equivalent.. K. Morah
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INTER-FACULTY QUIZ
Inter– Faculty Quiz Competition , that is held under the directive of the Editor-in-Chief of the Students’ Union. The competit.ion started on November 3, 2015 and ended on November 27, 2015. the competition started with appoximately ten (10) teams and ended with one VICTOR.. FOSS NATION.(Faculty of Science and Sports).
The Quiz Competition is mainly about testing students knowledge on various area of knowledge including: Local and International Current Affairs, Local and Current General Knowledge, Sports, Mathematcs, etc. 1st place: Faculty of Science and Sports 2nd place: School of Engineering 3rd place:School of Computing and Information Technology.
THE Clubs and Societies event, which was held under the Directive of the Director of Elections and the 1st VP Academic Affairs/Clubs and Societies. Aims to showcase and promote the clubs and societies within the University. Their main focus was driven by a need to reach out to the wider school community in order to gain new members. There is currently a initiative on the way championed by the VP Public Relations to have a profile of each club/society hosted on the union’s website.
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UTech - A Growing Power in Global British Parliamentary Debating Malaysia World Universities Debating Championship (WUDC) 2014-15
The World Universities Debating Championship (WUDC), held from December 27, 2014, to January 4, 2015 at sthe University of Technology, Mara, Malaysia, saw UTech retaining regional dominance in British Parliamentary debating. At the competition's end, the UTech A team, comprising Lamar Webb from the Faculty of Science and Sport and Newton Harris from the Faculty of Law, ended on 15 points—just two points short of the 17 required to make 'the break' to the knockout rounds, where 48 teams compete to the final debate. The UTech B team, comprising Chad Zamore from the Faculty of Science and Sport and Omrie Samuels from the College of Health Sciences, ended on 12 points. On both team points and speaker points, UTech finished ahead of the University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona, the UWI Western Jamaica Campus, the Universidad Central de Venezuela and every other participating team from the Latin America and Caribbean Region The UTech teams came head to head with debaters from every region of the world. They debated against teams from Australia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, the United States, Pakistan, Mexico and China. They showed their intellectual wit and persuasive brilliance as they presented compelling arguments for or against motions such as "This house believes that developing countries should adopt economic policies that heavily disincentivise urbanization", "This House believes that the United States and the European Union should seek to promote peace by heavily subsidising Israeli businesses who invest in the Palestinian territories" and "This House believes the international community should cut off internet access in Syria." It was the power of persuasion that gained the UTech debaters victories over teams from universities such as the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Lupane State University of Zimbabwe and the debating power house of Canada, McGill University, among others.
The teams were accompanied by University Registrar, Dr. Elaine Wallace, who adjudicated in several rounds of the competition, and Dr. Rohan Lewis, Dean of the Faculty of Education and Liberal Studies and coadvisor to the UTech Debating and Public Speaking Society (UDPSS). Dr. Wallace noted that the WUDC provided “a wonderful international platform on which to showcase the intellectual acumen of our students.” She expressed delight at the creditable performance of the teams in what is one of the most important global events for university students. For his part, Dr. Lewis praised the teams for the tremendous improvement made over previous WUDCs. Just under 400 teams from universities from more than 90 countries participated in the annual competition, which was won this year by the University of Sydney A team. They debated the motion “This House believes that humanitarian organisations should, and should be allowed to, give funding, resources or services to illegal armed groups when this is made a condition for access to vulnerable civilians” against Oxford University A, (second place), BPP University A (third place), and Harvard University A (fourth place) in the Grand Finals. Germaine Barrett, a six times international debater for the University, served as Coach of the UTech teams.
"A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus." ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
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Edited by: Adriana Robinson and Kinson Case
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