July 2015


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The Editor’s Notebook – The heat continues

Before becoming known as ‘the summer’ it was called the ‘August vacation’ - this time of year was relished by every person attending any type of school – and not so much by all others like parents, grandparents or other care-givers, as ‘summer school’ and vacation camps were not as plentiful as they are now. Regardless, of its label, the time between the end of one school year and the beginning of another was special.

The aura of the ‘August vacation’ largely persists at the university level as faculty and students all look forward to the June-August long break as a time to refresh and regroup, pursue alternative interests and work or pick up projects that could not have been facilitated during the semesters that seemed to have whizzed by. The generally slower pace in those months are a thing of the past though. With growing frequency and even after ‘summer’ school ends, The UWI campus in particular, has remained a bevy of activity that simply rolls into the new academic year in September.

June has already delivered on keeping that said frenetic pace going and July promises more of the same – so if you are no longer moved by having that time to lounge, but rather, exciting and engaging events are needed to keep your vacation months lively, a guide to the happenings on The UWI St Augustine campus should be your companion. Incidentally, this guide to upcoming events is provided on the back page of this publication, but here is a round of what happened in June and a look at some of the other attractive events that are to come in July.

Starting today and lasting for a week (so there will be numerous opportunities) is the 2015 International Breadfruit Conference, and one of the many interesting events taking place within this event is the first ever breadfruit exhibition and festival on 10 July. Every kind of use for the breadfruit the human imagination can design will be displayed, in addition to new versions of uses like cooking it and lesser explored ones like breadfruit ice cream. Serah Acham provides the full run-down on the uses and potentialities of this wonderfully versatile and indigenously plentiful fruit on page 8.

A round-up of the open day takes the centre spread of the paper this month as secondary school students and anyone thinking of higher education got the chance to ask questions and get access to assistance for filing their entrance applications. This initiative was complemented by the Campus Principal hosting secondary school principals that week – some highlights of that event are on page 7. Other campus happenings from June are featured in the second part of the paper as well as a couple of interesting interviews with people who visited Campus to share their work and perspectives or enlightened audiences – Judge Helen Whitener, Author Karen Lord, Mixed Methods research proponent Anthony Onwuegbuzie – just to list a few.

Between all that has just past in June and all there is to come in July, we at UWI Today wish not only to showcase the hive of exciting and engaging activities that make The UWI St Augustine campus the place to be even in the long vacation period, but to point to and invite you, to come out and connect with our campus, benefit from participating in these events.

Hope we see you soon. Rebecca.