Student Body Petition?

One member of the student body has proudly stepped forward and could be seen today urging other students to sign his petition, begging them to join with him in his demand that a report be given to the students by the student council, no later than Black Friday next month.

He stressed that though they have been in 'office' since February, nothing has been done and all the promises that were made has gone down the drain. Stiring words and heartfelt dissapointment in the student council, were all apart of the solemn speech he made as he encouraged students to sign the petition.

Unfortunately, the lone petitioner could not seem to stir a overwhelming response from the student body. Did you sign?

~ Man About College

Tag In the Road

We all know that waiting for a van to go home can be a drag sometimes, and also a very long wait, especially since a certain construction company decided to do more destruction than construction on the windward highway. And fine, its also because only about two or three of the many Calliaqua vans are actually considered acceptable to be seen in. But you know what im talking about. Well a group of college students were in this situation and as boredom tends to lead to, a spotaneous and crazy idea was born. Tag or rather Ketchings, right there in the road.

Soon enthusiam and determination builded and bags were piled up at the side of the road. Even some who solemnly declared that they would not participate in such a game, could frantically be seen dodging the person who was 'it'. In desperation to avoid being caught by 'it' some actually stumbled or fell which of course was accompanied by uncontrollable laughter. There were some disapproving stares, but who knows if they were secretly wishing they could loosen up too, and join in the fun. The game ended when a van finally arrived. Man About College is wondering when more extracuricular activities, would actually be available, through the college, after all, nowadays most universities look for more well-rounded students.

N.B June 9th goin be a holiday fo true?

~ Man About College

Never Play Music Again

A few school days ago, Man About College was notified about the case of a young man being wrongfully accused. Apparently, this was that certain member of authority's; let's call the individual "B", way of dealing with the problem of too much noise in a certain area.

Bright and early in the school morning, the lower six students were as usual assembled in their area of "idle talk". And even begin to think about going to the library until nine o'clock (such an excellent opening hour especially considering first period starts at 8:30) sometime even later; we all know how 'generous' Vincentian time can be.

Loud music was playing, also the norm now as us young people are living in an age where information, including music can fit in your pocket or on your phone, a stark contrast to the "phone booths" that you got a workout carrying around, and that only our parents could afford. B decided to pick this morning to have a sudden outburst of rebellion against the tech-aided noise and angrily demanded the reverent crowd of students.

Who was playing that music?

A scene reminiscent of Father Bear asking who ate his porridge, only with a little less despair and a little more Shrek. The accused said truthfully. I'm not sure, some one over on that side. Fath...., "B" went inside, without a word. Not long after, the young man who had spoken up with honest was ordered to get inside the office. After vain attempts to justify that he was not playing the music, B, seeing no need to be politely to "lowly students", ejected the boy from the office, like an old fashioned CD-ROM drive refusing to read a DVD.

The boy later lamented that this would be a mark on his transcript, prosecuted for speaking up and telling the truth. Man About College is skeptical about whether this was an effective way to deal with the music issue in the school, especially since the real perpetrator walked away unscathed

by the way have you been reading College Rocks Fashion?

~ Man About College

FIGHT!

If you thought that the absence of the upper six would have meant the absence of the girl-girl fighting at the college, you were mistaken. Today at about minutes to three, two girls were seen throwing their feet at one another, flailing arms, and taking off and landing like planes in our too-small E.T Joshua Airport.

One can use one's imagination, whether it is active or not, and just guess what the girls were feuding over. . .The Jet-Li style kicks, pulling of artificial extensions and Italian style pizza- or rather girl-tossing, went generally unnoticed by the people in the vicinity at first. Who can blame them though as the battle, at first glance might have looked like a female rugaball match, with the traditional tackles, yanking and aggression, with a little extra spice. However, the battle arena only existed for five minutes... and soon went back to being the waste of space field it is today.

A large crowd only arrived on scene after the word spread that a fight took place, hoping to catch remnants of the girls' animosity or to discuss with friends on the spot, (because its so much juicer when you talk about the crime at the scene of the crime,) what took place, and even students in the CAPE Maths Examination that was going on at the time, suddenly needed to go to the bathroom. What ah situation!

~ Man About College

* a special thanks to my lawyer

editor's note: go to www.svgbrainstorminc.tk for a related photo opinion!!

Rules, rules, rules.

Though it got off to a late start, The Debating Society eventually drew a small crowd and a heated debate. The topic? Eating Pork... right or wrong? Anyone who knows or is a Seventh Day Adventist would tell you that eating pork is definitely wrong and breaks God's rules. Most other religions would see nothing wrong with it. What do you think? Was this rule amended in the New Testament or not? The society was scheduled to hold their meeting in M2 at 12:15 am, but started late and went well into the first period after lunch as the students were eager to prove their point. You know Vincentians; we always right. Mr. Ballantyne who is the new teach on the block is the one "in charge" and the one to encourage the students to argue on some thought provoking and controversial topics.

Man About College was reliably informed that a student made a rude gesture towards the security guard. The security guard, offended by this harsh gesture rushed to report the matter to members of the administration. The student seemed to have been frustrated with the security guard as she made futile attempts to implement some of the pointless rules of the college. On the topic of rules of the college, did you know that there are some rules that we do not know of? Ignorance is bliss but Man About College just hopes that if a student breaks one of these "unwritten rules" the student would not be prosecuted. Sure they gave us some rules in the cheaply tacked together booklet, but Man About College often uncovers new rules that we as student were apparently supposed to know. The Rule System = Rules --> Communication of
Rules --> Execution of Rules All most work together or it doesn't function. Too bad this information is in the wrong hands.

~ Man About College

The Procrastination Virus

We all love to procrastinate. Spending inordinate amounts of time doing something pointless and avoiding homework and assignments like the plague, is part of the average college student's daily life. From Halo tournaments to hours trying to do The Impossible Quiz we specialize in leaving things for last moment then hurriedly doing them, wishing we had more time.

This afternoon a number of students spent hours trying to get to the end of The Impossible Quiz. This pointless yet addicting quiz/game brought some quizzical stares but soon drew in a number of people determined that they could overcome the nonsensical quiz. Working together and answering the questions, 92 is the highest level achieved so far. This mini-tournament gave way however to a larger Halo-Tournament and soon males of lower and upper six were hollering at the screen and one another as if their life depended on it. If only we could some how harness this energy and determination and use it to answer that four mark question or to figure out the last bit of answers in that multiple choice. Procrastination can be the most stress relieving thing but yet often brings nothing but stress in the end. Many, if not most, college students can attest to starting or completing a project the night before it's due, even though one had one or even two weeks to do it.

As you may have heard. We do not have to re-sit the Communication Studies Paper. Those who were holding their breath can safely exhale. Only de Trinis have to pay for the consequences of the corruption, since CXC claims the authorities have given them "certain assurances". Hopefully these certain assurances include that down to a convent student in Trinidad was caught trying to sell the paper. Also, right here in St.Vincent a 14-year old girl tried to commit suicide apparently, by jumping off First Caribbean Bank near to Heritage Square. She was stopped and rushed to the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital

What you may not have heard though, is that there is talk about YET ANOTHER shooting incidence in the Sharpes area. Why black people love kill one another so?

~Man About College

CAPE Cancelled

There has been news circulating that CAPE examinations were cancelled today by the CXC Registrar.CXC also revealed that a new timetable would now have to be issued as soon as possible. There is some confusion however, over whether if this decision will affect only Trinidad, or the whole Caribbean. We will just have to wait and see.

A reliable source in Trinidad has revealed to Man About College that a meeting will be held tomorrrow among the CAPE representatives and Ministry of Education there. All scheduled CAPE exams there have definitely been cancelled in Trinidad until further notice.

It is strange however that the leak is only in Trinidad, as a cross-section of the situation reveals that the breach in security must be taking place in Barbados. So do we here in St.Vincent really have to resit that Comm-Studies Paper? Man About College will be very distressed that all the sweat and hard work has gone down the drain, and new inspiration would have to be dug up to resit this paper. But still satisfied that CXC will not just let this one slide, and allow the cheaters to continue. The Council has a laid down a rule that the students caught cheating would be banned from all examinations for five years. Ouch. So basically they're stuck being Sanitation Workers (no offense to you aspiring Sanitation Workers) for five years. Police are also involved in the investigations.

Caribbean Pride is on the line here. How does it look to the outside world if we can't even run and control our own exam board? Hopefully this dies down. and fast.

~ Man About College

More Leaks

Man About College was disappointed to hear that three more CAPE Exam Papers have been leaked. Physics, Chemistry and Biology to be sat next week are available online for about the same price the communication studies paper which was leaked last Wednesday.

People should think about their actions. Whoever is selling these papers is most likely an employee at the examination council, or a teacher, as the copies being sold via the internet are actually the final drafts of the examination. The final drafts are circulated for teachers to go through and make sure that everything is ready. This can affect not only students, but the entire region. If this continues to happen then the integrity of CXC could be challenged. International Academic Institutions may begin to have second thoughts about the integrity of the board. CXC needs to do something and quick. There must be some way to deal with the problem.

CXC still haven't decided however what they are going to do about the leaked Comm-Studies Paper, and if they have, they haven't told the public. Man About College would be very distressed however if the examinations begin to lose value. We should be becoming independent and developing as a region, showing the world that good can come out of the region. It would be a shame if we have to go back to Cambridge entirely.

But lets not jump ahead too far. Hopefully CXC has the situation under control, and they have indicated that a backup paper is always done in case of anything. This alternative paper would most likely be used instead.

Many are of the opinion that this is not the first time papers have been leaked. But rather the first time it is publicized. What do you think?

~ Man About College

Comm-Studies Paper Leaked

Communication Studies students across the region and here at the college, may have breathed a sigh of relief prematurely. There have been reports out of Trinidad that the 2008 CAPE Communication Studies paper, sat yesterday May 8th, was leaked the day before the exam and was being sold for $5000.

CXC is implying that it must have been an inside job, since they are stressing that the original green papers, which were printed in Barbados, were heavilly guarded and and that they have security seals so they cannot be opened without anyone knowing... blahde blahde blah, basically trying to throw the blame off of them and in the direction of a disloyal and dishonest staff member. The papers sold had the identical information printed on white computer paper and stapled together at the left corner. Suggesting that the paper was photocopied or reproduced digitallly and arranged by hand by an individual.

Okay enough with the facts. What Man About College is really concerned about is; do we really have to go through the whole gruelling process again? Will the entire region have to resit? 2 and a half hours of sleep, search for inspiration out the classroom window and finger cramping essays is no fun. But then, a chance(!) to do better is an interesting propect. Another possibility is that, as in the case of the leak of O'Level Maths and English A papers of 2005 in Guyana, CXC will send a resit paper to only the country in which the paper was leaked. However, Man About College is considering the possibility of the revised paper being easier than the original and putting us all at a disadvantage. It is hard to decide which option is better. Those who wished hard for a do-over is probably kicking themselves right now, now that it is fast becoming a possibilty. Be Careful What You Wish For

Now before you roll you eyes in disgust and bawl out "Only in de Caribbean eh!", Even the A-Level boards of examiners in England have faced this problem before. In 2001 the A-Level Pure Mathematics paper was leaked. There are alot of people in the world who would go to these lengths to make money. It is inevitable.

Do you want to resit the paper?

~Man About College

The End Of Comm-Studies and other Improvements

Today was the final day of the communcation studies exam and the end of communication studies classes. Comm-studies is now one less subject to worry about until the results are out. Most students said that the paper on a whole was one of the easiest. It was (very) slightly disappointing (even though we hate to admit it) that it was such a breeze however after 'practicing' on many gruelling past papers where we barely scraped a pass and two terms of hard work (for some!) and stress.
It feels good, however to have some extra periods to "hurry down" home-work, cram for an ex or enjoy an extended lunch hour. Its a bit of a nuisance however to have bought three books using your $500, use them for two terms and now have nothing to do with them. For those who dont have relatives to give the books to or those who don't find the books and interesting and could harldy keep from reading them, wouldn't it be nice to have a system where we can give the books to someone/the school for a reasonable cash return? The person or the school could it turn loan/sell the books to those who will be doing communication studies next year, or in the years to come. If someone does decide to start this, you already have a customer.

If you went in that library anytime this term, you might have noticed the air seemed fresher the rooms seemed brighter and studying in that library was a little more comfortable. This is probably because a very intelligent member or members of the library administration seems to have cross-examined the problems they were having with the students in the library and seemed to have determined that the "security guards" were the root of the problem. It could also be that rent-a-cop's lease expired or that he was tortured so much by insolent plastic chair movers and huge earings that he ran screaming from that library. He and cockroach were replaced by two amiable female workers, though cockroach is sometimes seen lurking around. Whatever the reason for this change, Man About College is impressed and is nominating the library for the category of Most Improved Area of Term Three.

The school bathrooms seems to have also improved. Though they are still unsanitary, there is now a 25% chance that you would find toilet paper rather than the previous 1% chance.

[N.B Man About College found this old blog: http://vincysdp.blogspot.com/. You might find it interesting.College Rocks Fashion will be resurfacing soon! on http://www.svgbrainstorminc.tk/]

~ Man About College

NO!!

Man About College was shocked today, when a story was related regarding a student who was barked at unnecessarily.

The innocent and unsuspecting student approached the class only because they had an important message for another student who was in the unfortunate situation of being this class after instruction hours. The student, being properly schooled and trained, was as mannerly as possible about interrupting the class. The student knocked on the door and politely proceeded with an “excuse me please miss” in a quiet and calm voice. She was taken aback when the response was NO. The student blinked and opened her mouth in shock, unaccustomed to being so rudely and sharply addressed, except when she had done something wrong. In response there was a louder no as the class joined in chorus with this response, indicating that they were familiar with the response, and Man About College is almost certain that it wasn’t because the teacher had brought a misbehaving dog to class. The student simply closed the door and left, unable to be insolent in response to this NO as it is not in her programming.

Man About College is asking, was this really necessary? What had the student done to deserve such a response? Is it racism? Is it that the teacher has a paradigm that all students “solemnly swear to be up to no good?” (A negative paradigm of a person, is often incentive to the person to be fulfilled). Because of the teacher’s unexplained behavior, speculation can go on without end. Are students really expected to develop respect for others if this is what is being displayed by elders? How can a student know what he/she has done wrong if there is no reason given for chastising? Suppose the student had an important message from a higher authority? Suppose the school was burning down? Would this have been the response if a member of authority had asked for an excuse? NO?

Whether it be racism or an aversion to good manners, Man About College is left to wonder.

-Man About College

What Would You Have Done?

In Case You Didnt Notice

Now that the upper six are, "gone" (even though hardly anything has changed thanks to the wise decision to only allow them into class if in uniform) What is happening to all the clubs? Wher is the heritage club, performing arts club, etc do we have to wait until the new school year for things to start rolling again. And more importantly... where is the Student Council?

A certain collegue who had an extra bit of "belly fat", seems to have lost the considerable load fairly quickly.(Now there's no one to stare at or the stir up some controversy) Man About College is wondering where did it go? Hopefully it was lost naturally...and the child is in the hands of someone loving. Anyway props to the 'overweight' for proudly displaying it and continuing in her studies and smiling and enjoying herself like nothing happened. Man About College is not too dissapointed though, surely after this good term and a half of peaceful ownership of the school and all of the socially out-of-bonds hang out spots, the new lower six will give us plenty to laugh about. (or at)



- Man About College