dateline: UVI The monthly newsletter of The University of the Virgin Islands January 21, 2005, vol xi, number 1 Events Calendar Feb. 5 “Strings” at Reichhold STT Inspired by civil rights leaders of the 1960s like the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Stokely Carmichael, Dr. Dennis Rahiim Watson decided that he, too, had the power to motivate people to do the right thing. Today he spends his life doing just that – speaking to thousands of college students. Dr. Watson was a guest speaker at the final Spring 2005 stu- dent orientation activity on the St. Croix campus. His presentation was titled “100 Challenges Facing Students of Color in the 21st Cen- tury.” Dr. Watson, who had to over- come his childhood stuttering to become a motivational speaker, had his share of problems, including being kicked out of high school 37 times. He went on to graduate from the Harlem Preparatory School and Fordham, Pace and New York Uni- versities. The lack of self-discipline and self control is a major chal- lenge of this generation, Dr. Watson said. Young people need affection from their parents so that they do not seek attention in destructive ways, he said, before calling a young man from Hug Your Sons, Speaker Says to Fathers the audience and hugging him. Watson said that fathers need to hug their sons. Dr. Watson’s message tran- scends all age groups. While grow- ing up, he said, his generation had nothing and everything, and this generation has everything and noth- ing. Watson explained that while the young people of his generation had little material items, they treasured everything, unlike the present gen- eration which has everything, but takes it for granted. “We’ve got to change the way we think and be- come a generation that respects one another,” he told the students, administrators and community members gathered for his lec- ture. He urged students to read, saying that knowledge deter- mines the degree of success a person will attain. Watson lives in New York and travels the nation conduct- ing lectures and workshops. He previously lectured at UVI in 1998. The lecture was sponsored by the Office of the Associ- ate Chancellor, the Student Activities Office and the Small Business Development Center. Motivational speaker Dr. Dennis Rahiim Watson, right, demonstrates how fathers should interact with thier sons by huging Carl A. Christopher, a St. Criox campus student. B.E.S.T, shown at left, a male trio from UVI, performs at the Miss UVI competition held in November 2004. The group will perform in the Caribbean Shining Star Competition sched- uled for June at the Reichhold Center for the Arts. Caribbean Shining Star kicks-off this month with an “All Star Weekend,” at various venues, that includes a concert featuring Grammy-award- winning performer Alicia Keys. B.E.S.T. is made up of Matthew Walcott, Lincoln Ward and Brandon Varlack. For more information call 777-5804 or visit www.caribbeanshiningstar.com Male Trio from UVI to Perform in Regional Contest dateline:UVI 2 John Brewer’s Bay St. Thomas, VI 00802 GET CONNECTED TO UVI news, activities and accomplishments at . . . www.uvi.edu GET CONNECTED TO UVI news, activities and accomplishments at . . . www.uvi.edu Your opinion is valuable to us at the Uni- versity of the Virgin Islands Public Re- lations Office. We would like your opin- ion about our monthly newsletter Date- line: UVI. Please take a moment to fill out the survey below. 1) How would you classify yourself as a reader of Dateline: UVI? ____I read all articles ____I only read a few of the articles in each issue ____I read some articles in ev- ery other issue ____I never read Dateline 2) Rate your overall impression of our publication. ____Excellent ____Good ____Fair ____Poor 3) Overall, how interesting have you found Dateline: UVI in the past year? ____Very interesting ____Interesting ____Somewhat interesting ____Not interesting at all 4) Rate Dateline: UVI on each of the following traits. Overall layout of publication ____Excellent ____Good ____Fair ____Poor Writing ____Excellent ____Good ____Fair ____Poor Photography ____Excellent ____Good ____Fair ____Poor Story Selection ____Excellent ____Good ____Fair ____Poor 5) How useful has Dateline: UVI been in helping you keep up with UVI news, events and happenings? ____Very useful ____Somewhat useful ____Not very useful ____Not useful at all 6) Would you prefer to receive Date- line: UVI ____Via e-mail ____Via postal mail 7) Please tell us a little about yourself. Are you? ____Male ____Female What is your relationship with UVI? ____Staff ____Faculty ____Student ____Alumni ____Retiree ____Donor ____Friend ____Other Are you between the ages of: ____18-24 ____25-34 ____35-44 ____45-59 ____60 or older 8) Please give us any specific sugges- tions you may have about how we can improve Dateline: UVI. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________ _____________________________ Kindly fax your response to (340) 693- 1055. If you are reading Dateline UVI on-line, please print, fill out the survey and fax it to (340) 693-1055. Surveys may also be mailed to: UVI Public Re- lations Office, # 2 John Brewer’s Bay, St. Thomas, V.I. 00802-9990 or dropped off at the UVI Public Rela- tions Office at the UVI St. Thomas campus, room 301 of the Classroom Administration Building. You may call with additional comments at (340) 693- 1056. Thanks! Tell Us What You Think, Dateline First-ever Survey