An anonymous donor has given $4000 to the University of the Virgin Islands to be used as grants for computer science majors.
The grants are awarded to computer science majors with the highest grade point average from each class. Freshmen computer science majors on St. Croix, Yusef Francis and Kevin Dupigny, will both receive grants of $500. St. Croix Sophmore Viabhav Agarwal and senior Calvin Harrigan and St. Thomas Junior Dalma D.Simon, will all receive grants of $1000.
UVI ANONYMOUSLY RECEIVES $4000
LICENSING SETS MORATORIUM ON VENDORS
The Licensing and Consumer Affairs Department imposed a moratorium Wednesday on new mobile vendor licenses for St. Thomas and St. John.
In a press release, LCA Commissioner Andrew Rutnik cited lack of space as the reason for the moratorium, which is to take effect immediately in the district.
Rutnick held town meetings on all three major islands earlier this year to discuss problems encountered by vendors, regulatory agencies and the community.
The moratorium, which will last for an undetermined time, will not affect St. Croix.
For more information, contact the LCA Licensing Division at 774-3130.
VOLUME 14 OF THE CARIBBEAN WRITER PUBLISHED
Sporting a full-color cover for the first time, the latest volume of The Caribbean Writer, an annual literary anthology published by the University of the Virgin Islands, is now in bookstores throughout the region. The playful Caribbean mermaid that adorns the cover is by Jean Booty, a Christiansted artist.
Inside, the volume celebrates two special birthdays: Derek Walcott, the Nobel Prize-winning poet and playwright from St. Lucia, and Kamau Brathwaite, another award-winning poet from Barbados, who both turned 70 earlier this year. In observance of that, poets from all over the region have written poems and tributes to these two literary figures. Interviews with both men are also included, as is an excerpt of Brathwaite's historic speech at The Caribbean Writer's 10th Anniversary Literature Conference held on St. Croix in October 1996.
Volume 14 contains three personal essays, including one that tells of life in Frederiksted, St. Croix in the 1950s and another one that deals with the reality of incest.
A one-act play entitled "War" by St. Lucian playwright Cecil A. "Blazer" Williams is also included. This play will be produced at the Reichhold Center for the Arts on St. Thomas next year during its Reichhold Caribbean Repertory Theatre summer festival.
Fiction authors included are Marvin E. Williams of St. Croix, St. Thomas resident Davida R. Siwisa, and Justin Haynes of Trinidad and Tobago, among others. Poets include Opal Palmer Adisa, Kwame Dawes, Lelawattee Manoo-Rahming, Virgil Suarez, Cecil Gray, Howard A. Fergus, Fred D. Aguiar, and Patricia Gill.
The Caribbean Writer is currently available for sale at The Bookie, Kallaloo, Arabella's, Memories of St. Croix, the Whim Museum and The Divi Carina Bay Gift Shop on St. Croix; Tropical Memories and Dockside Bookshop on St. Thomas; Heritage Books and Arts on Tortola; as well as in both UVI bookstores. Copies can also be ordered directly from The Caribbean Writer's office by calling 692-4152 or emailing qmars@uvi.edu.
UVI AWARDED 95K FOR NURSING STUDENTS
The University of the Virgin Islands has been awarded $95,226 in financial assistance from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Bureau of Health Professions to benefit the University's nursing programs.
UVI will receive $70,226 to be dispersed as grants and an additional $25,000 in loan funding, to provide financial assistance for the educational expenses of nursing students enrolled at UVI for the 2000-2001 award year.
According to Mavis M. Gilchrist, UVI's director of enrollment management and financial aid, the grants will be awarded according to need to UVI nursing students who meet certain criteria.
The nursing loan program will offer loans of up to $2,500 to UVI students who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in nursing. The grant program will provide assistance for students enrolled in associate's and bachelor's degree programs in nursing at UVI. Gilchrist estimated that as many as 90 nursing students could benefit from the financial aid package.
UVI ANONYMOUSLY RECEIVES $4000
An anonymous donor has given $4000 to the University of the Virgin Islands to be used as grants for computer science majors.
The grants are awarded to computer science majors with the highest grade point average from each class. Freshmen computer science majors on St. Croix, Yusef Francis and Kevin Dupigny, will both receive grants of $500. St. Croix Sophmore Viabhav Agarwal and senior Calvin Harrigan and St. Thomas Junior Dalma D.Simon, will all receive grants of $1000.
VITRAN AUDIT SHOWS LACK OF CASH SAFEGUARDS
The V.I. Inspector General has released his final audit on collection activities of the Vitran system on St. Croix, and the findings do not paint a good picture. The audit, requested by Finance Commissioner Bernice Turnbull, was to determine whether appropriate controls existed to safeguard funds collected, and whether collectors complied with established rules and regulations. The audit covered fiscal year 1999, during which revenues collected on St. Croix totaled almost $282,000.
In a letter to the governor dated July 13, V.I Inspector General Steven Van Beverhoudt wrote that his review determined that Vitran fare box collection practices on St. Croix did not comply with established procedures. Funds were retained from the fare box collections to purchase supplies and parts and were not deposited into the General Fund or reported to the Finance Department, he said.
In the separate service for the handicapped, fares collected from passengers were not always deposited intact and promptly, the audit found. The review also uncovered that controls over the cash boxes and the keys for the counting room and vault did not offer security for the funds collected. It also found that the fare box data system report, which is compared to the actual money counted, could not be used to determine whether funds collected were accounted for.
The inspector general recommended that the Public Works Department, which oversees Vitran, discontinue the practice of retaining fare box money and that it have the Finance Department establish an imprest fund of about $15,000 for Vitran use in purchasing emergency supplies and parts. This fund should be operated in accordance with established petty cash rules and regulations, the report said.
Van Beverhoudt also suggested the government procure and install secure cash boxes in the mini-buses to prevent the theft of collection. He also recommended that a security process be establish to safeguard counting room keys.
At an exit conference held with Public Works officials, they agreed with the recommendations. However, the department did not respond formally to the audit, despite two extensions being given for officials to do so.
VOLUME 14 OF THE CARIBBEAN WRITER PUBLISHED
Sporting a full-color cover for the first time, the latest volume of The Caribbean Writer, an annual literary anthology published by the University of the Virgin Islands, is now in bookstores throughout the region. The playful Caribbean mermaid that adorns the cover is by Jean Booty, a Christiansted artist.
Inside, the volume celebrates two special birthdays: Derek Walcott, the Nobel Prize-winning poet and playwright from St. Lucia, and Kamau Brathwaite, another award-winning poet from Barbados, who both turned 70 earlier this year. In observance of that, poets from all over the region have written poems and tributes to these two literary figures. Interviews with both men are also included, as is an excerpt of Brathwaite's historic speech at The Caribbean Writer's 10th Anniversary Literature Conference held on St. Croix in October 1996.
Volume 14 contains three personal essays, including one that tells of life in Frederiksted, St. Croix in the 1950s and another one that deals with the reality of incest.
A one-act play entitled "War" by St. Lucian playwright Cecil A. "Blazer" Williams is also included. This play will be produced at the Reichhold Center for the Arts on St. Thomas next year during its Reichhold Caribbean Repertory Theatre summer festival.
Fiction authors included are Marvin E. Williams of St. Croix, St. Thomas resident Davida R. Siwisa, and Justin Haynes of Trinidad and Tobago, among others. Poets include Opal Palmer Adisa, Kwame Dawes, Lelawattee Manoo-Rahming, Virgil Suarez, Cecil Gray, Howard A. Fergus, Fred D. Aguiar, and Patricia Gill.
The Caribbean Writer is currently available for sale at The Bookie, Kallaloo, Arabella's, Memories of St. Croix, the Whim Museum and The Divi Carina Bay Gift Shop on St. Croix; Tropical Memories and Dockside Bookshop on St. Thomas; Heritage Books and Arts on Tortola; as well as in both UVI bookstores. Copies can also be ordered directly from The Caribbean Writer's office by calling 692-4152 or emailing qmars@uvi.edu.
UVI AWARDED $95K FOR NURSING STUDENTS
The University of the Virgin Islands has been awarded $95,226 in financial assistance from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Bureau of Health Professions to benefit the University's nursing programs.
UVI will receive $70,226 to be dispersed as grants and an additional $25,000 in loan funding, to provide financial assistance for the educational expenses of nursing students enrolled at UVI for the 2000-2001 award year.
According to Mavis M. Gilchrist, UVI's director of enrollment management and financial aid, the grants will be awarded according to need to UVI nursing students who meet certain criteria.
The nursing loan program will offer loans of up to $2,500 to UVI students who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in nursing. The grant program will provide assistance for students enrolled in associate's and bachelor's degree programs in nursing at UVI. Gilchrist estimated that as many as 90 nursing students could benefit from the financial aid package.
TOWN MEETING TO FOCUS ON HEALTH CARE
The entire St. John community is invited to attend a town meeting on health-care issues that is being hosted by the Myrah Keating Smith Health Clinic in the cafeteria at the Julius E. Sprauve School. The results of last year's community survey on health services is among the topics to be discussed.
UVI ANONYMOUSLY RECEIVES $4000
An anonymous donor has given $4000 to the University of the Virgin Islands to be used as grants for computer science majors.
The grants are awarded to computer science majors with the highest grade point average from each class.
Freshmen computer science majors on St. Croix, Yusef Francis and Kevin Dupigny, will both receive grants of $500. St. Croix Sophmore Viabhav Agarwal and senior Calvin Harrigan and St. Thomas Junior Dalma D.Simon, will all receive grants of $1000.
