Links to the fall semester class schedules, as well as associated Information Sheets, are available from the BUCSS and Registrar’s sections of the UVI Web site – www.uvi.edu – and from these direct links: BUCSS | Registrar.

Acclaimed Author Ernest J. Gaines to Speak at UVI Via Videoconference on March 24 On Wednesday, March 24, acclaimed African-American author Ernest J. Gaines will engage in a conversation via videoconference with members of the public on the St. Thomas and St. Croix campuses of the University of the Virgin Islands. Gaines, the author of “A Lesson Before Dying,” which is the territory’s 2010 Big Read selection, will read portions of his work aloud, and will engage in a live question and answer session.

Gaines will speak from the Pointe Coupee Parish Library in New Roads, Louisiana at 6 p.m. The session will be carried live to the Administration and Conference Center on the St. Thomas campus and to Evans Center Room 401 on the St. Croix campus. A news release is available on the UVI home page – www.uvi.edu.

Natural Resources Management Seminar Slated March 24 on St. Thomas A seminar on natural resources will be held as part of UVI’s Charter Month activities at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, March 24. The featured speaker will be Dr. Francis Nwosu, a Fullbright Fellow from the Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Geography at the University of South Florida. The presentation is part of a series sponsored by VI-EPSCoR (the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research) and UVI’s College of Science and Mathematics and the Center for Marine and Environmental Studies. The seminar will be offered in the first floor conference room of the Administration and Conference on the St. Thomas campus with a videoconference link to Evans Center Room 401 on the St. Croix campus. For more information, contact Dr. Angela Dikou at 693-1284.

CES to Hold Clothing Construction Class on St. Thomas Beginning March 25 The University of the Virgin Islands Cooperative Extension Service, Family & Consumer Sciences Program, St. Thomas campus is offering a six-week Clothing Construction Class starting March 25. The free course will run from 1:30 p.m. until 3:30 p.m. on Thursdays. The class will be held on the second floor of the Security Building on the St. Thomas campus. Participants will need to bring scissors, thread and sewing pins to the first class.

For more information and to register, contact Dr. Caryl Johnson at 693-1082 or Orpha Penn at 693-1080.

Inter-Campus Student Debate to Focus on Caribbean Society on March 25 An Inter Campus Debate, sponsored by UVI’s St. Croix and St. Thomas Student Activities Offices, is scheduled for 12:30 to 2 p.m. on Thursday, March 25, on St. Thomas. The debate will pit three students from the St. Croix campus against three from the St. Thomas campus. Their debate subject is “Be it resolved that the Educating and Empowering of the Caribbean Male is the Solution for the Deteriorating Caribbean Society.” St. Thomas students will deliver the proposition and St. Croix students will take the opposition. St. Croix participants Kenya Emanuel, Kirk Grant and Diane Acosta will travel to St. Thomas to take on Campbell Douglas, Vandel Percival and Charlesworth McCarty. The debate will take place in UVI’s Administration and Conference Center (note this is a room change from Chase Auditorium) with a videoconference link to Evans Center Room 807 (note: this is a room change from Room 401).

The debate is free and open to the UVI community. Refreshments will be provided. For more information, contact Hedda Finch-Simpson on St. Croix at 692-4228 and the Student Activities Office on St. Thomas at 693-1111.

Kindergarten Transition Conference for Parents Set May 25 on St. Croix A transition conference for parents on St. Croix who are preparing children for kindergarten will be offered from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Thursday, March 25, in the Great Hall of the North West Wing on UVI’s St. Croix campus. The conference is designed to help children in school and in life. Topics will include community resources, special education, academics, parent involvement, social, emotional and physical health, and early literacy skill. For more information, Head Start parents should call Nedarrey Knight at 773-1972 extension 236. Private day parents should call Antoinette Boissiere at the Department of Human Services’ Office of Child Care at 773-2323.

The conference is sponsored by the Inter Island Parent Coalition for Change Inc., the Virgin Islands University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities and the Department of Human Services Head Start Program.

Annual Queen Mary Walk/Run Set March 26; Will Raise Funds for Haiti Relief The 9th Annual Queen Mary Highway 5K Walk/Run, a UVI Charter Month activity, will kickoff at 6 a.m. on Friday, March 26. Participants will walk or run from Sunshine Mall in Frederiksted to UVI’s St. Croix campus. $2 of every entry fee – $10 for UVI Students and children and $15 for adults – will go to the UVI Campus’ Haiti relief efforts. Transportation from the campus to the start area at Kmart will be provided at 5 a.m. Members of the general public as well as the UVI Community are invited to participate. Those who don’t wish to run or walk can support the event with the purchase of a Walk/Run T-shirt. The cost is $20 and shirts are available at the office of the Campus Executive Administrator (Evans Center Room 802A).

The Walk/Run is organized by the St. Croix Campus Executive Administrator’s Office and the Virgin Islands Pace Runners. Sponsors are Chef’s Catering, Kmart, Cost-U-Less, Coca Cola and Plaza Extra. To register for the event, or for more information, call 692-4236.

UVI Spring Research Symposium Planned March 27 on St. Croix UVI’s Spring Research Symposium – which gives UVI students the opportunity to showcase their research to the St. Croix community – is scheduled for 1-3 p.m. on Saturday, March 27, at the Cafetorium on the St. Croix campus. More details will be release as they are finalized. For more information, contact Amanda Wright of UVI’s Emerging Caribbean Scientists Programs at 693-1397.

Extravaganza to Celebrate the Cultures of St. Croix on March 28 A Charter Month Cultural Extravaganza – featuring a celebration of all the cultures that make up present day St. Croix – kicks off at 4 p.m. at the Cafetorium on UVI’s St. Croix campus on Sunday, March 28. More than 20 cultural activities and presentations are planned, beginning with the blowing of the conch shell by Junie “Bomba” Allick, Jr. and a grand entrance quadrille featuring members of the UVI faculty and staff. Organizers promise a colorful cavalcade of music, dance, poetry, story-telling and more. The day will include presentations by UVI students of Spanish, historical narrations, an original jazz fusion piece in honor of UVI President Dr. David Hall, African dance, belly dancers, flamenco dancers, the Bomba Dancers and Drummers, and the St. Croix Heritage Dancers.

For more information, contact Dr. Shirley Highfield at 692-4109.

New UVI Student Organization to Increase Interest in the Sciences A new student organization at the University of the Virgin Islands hopes to attract students to study the sciences, specifically engineering. UVI recently reinstated its membership in the National Society for Black Engineers (NSBE) under the leadership of new faculty member Dr. Wayne Archibald. The mission of the national organization is “to increase the number of culturally responsible Black engineers who excel academically, succeed professionally and positively impact the community.” NSBE has more than 30,000 members and is one of the largest student-managed organizations in the country. At UVI, the fledgling group, formed in January, has 22 members. It is based on St. Thomas but has members on both campuses.

A news release is available on the UVI home page – www.uvi.edu.

Caribbean Atlantic and Homeland Security Conference Issues Call for Papers The University of the Virgin Islands has issued a first call for papers for the 1st International Caribbean Atlantic and Homeland Security Conference. The conference is scheduled for Oct. 13-15. Representatives of Virgin Islands government agencies, military, law enforcement and first responder groups are encouraged to make presentations.

The conference is requesting technical papers and poster presentations addressing the areas of combating terrorism, contraband smuggling and immigration control. Submissions should focus on novel technologies capable of near-term production and deployment, and applied research and strategies that address difficult problems for law enforcement, first responders and transportation security.

Areas of Interest include border and maritime security, critical infrastructure protection (physical/cyber), transportation security, surveillance and screening technologies, improvised explosive device (IED) detection and defeat, weapons of mass destruction (WMD) detection (chemical/biological/nuclear), disaster response, post-incident mitigation and threat/risk assessment.

Submit 500-word abstracts of papers or presentations by March 31, in Word or PDF format, to Conference Chair Dr. Edward Tarver, via e-mail to: [email protected].