Campus Mart Relocates

At 9:00 Monday morning, students at UWI will arrive to find Campus Mart in its new location at the base of the Clico Building. On Saturday evening, as music blared from the field, Rodney Drakes, the own

er of the Campus Mart, along with several assistants, made the quiet transition from the 33’ by 15’ building behind Frank Worrell Hall that housed the old Campus Mart to its more spacious and airy location.

Drakes took some time out from stocking the shelves of the new location to tell us about the move. When Drake was asked why he changed venue, he told us that the move is as a result of campus development. The new venue is markedly larger and brighter. A bag bay at the front of the store was definitely a testament to the larger entry way it now boasts. Drake said that the addition would make it easier for patrons to come in and shop without having to carry their bags around. The cameras are already operational, and he made it clear that the added convenience was not because he was worried about theft. We asked if there will be any other notable changes, such as an end to the dilemma of deciding whether to wait in line to pay for an item from the deli or get to class on time. Drake said, “To some extent; it will have two cashiers and one additional person in the deli.” He also told us to expect more from the deli,

as it will now offer freshly brewed coffee, while an onsite

bakery will provide hot out of the oven muffins. For lunch time, burgers will be added to the menu, which already consists of hotdogs, pizza and patties. Drake added that pastries will remain on the menu.

As for the grocery section, Drake told us that, “we’re gonna try to look at products for the store, more variety for greater options and to make sure service level is of a high standard.” We also asked him if he will consider hiring students. His response was that, “that is always an option; as long as the hours are right….that should not be a problem.”

Left: The previous location of Campus Mart

And now that Campus Mart, under the new tagline, “The Mart that Cares”, is closer to the action of the campus, we wondered aloud if the hours of operation would increase. We were assured that the hours would remain the same unless there is a swell in traffic. Freshly baked goods, more choices, and faster check out experience? Hmmm, we will see what happens.

Campus Mart is opened Monday -Friday 9am – 10pm and Saturday 9am – 8pm

- Ivy Pitts

Editor

The Cave

Biggest U.W.I Carnival? Consider it Done!

(above)the crowd was massive!

(Pics top to bottom)1.Rick went down!

2.Where did Skinny go?

3.Skinny on stage just before he goes off...head bad!

4.Iwer on stage with bottle WATER in hand...what de people want?

(left to right) Iwer, Maddzart& Skinny.
Yep! believe it or not Carnival 2K11 is over, finish, now a part of history,but our memories will live on for a life time.

Carnival 2011 climaxed with a massive after-party held in the S.C.R car park on Cave Hill campus.Kudos to N.A.C.C R. Ziggy Marshall because all reports indicate it was the biggest crowd ever to be contained within the S.C.R car park, venue of choice for the carnival after-party for the last couple of years.Conservative estimates indicate that a crowd within the vicinity of 10,000 was in attendance and this does not include the hundreds more who were refused entry at the gate as the venue had reached full capacity. So what was the big attraction?Well another opportunity to party would have been enough for the close to 2000 revellers who jumped from Spring Garden up the hill earlier in the day some of whom had splashed themselves in mud and paint in the wee hours of the morning for jouvert. The attraction or rather thee attractions were SVG's Maddzart and Skinny Faboulous, T&T's Iwer George and Bim's own "Hypa Dawg" Lil Rick.After the crowd had steadily grown from around 10 enjoying the grooves of the DJ's who kept things flowing, they were at fever pitch when Maddzart hit the stage around 1.00 p.m.Proclaiming The "King say!" He quickly informed the audience that it was the king's fete and once not tired yet jump up in the king road! Some members may have misinterpreted this adding a suffix to his proclamation. After that high energy performance DJ's once again returned to keep the power levels up for the arrival of Skinny Faboulous about an hour later.Skinny, never one to be shy decked in red from head to toe, reminded patrons why his "head bad" as he descended the stage into the crowd on two occasions.Instructing fans to move out de way as he made his way back to the stage.Thoroughly enjoying his performance the crowd was fully "charged up" and ready for the call when soca veteran Iwer George took the stage instructing; "U.W.I people I say come to meh"To the excitement of his fans, Iwer retold the story which has been going around this season of Why he's going to "stop sing soca and go and live in Grenada"before again asking All yuh! All Yuh....come to meh" Iwer who spent this most time onstage went into his extensive arsenal of soca hits firing off tunes like "Do de Iwer" before cooling the fans off with an interactive rendention of "De people want water."Iwer tested the soca knowledge of those at the fete going back into the 90's and 80's even borrowing from Gabby and Ras Iley.The large crowd remained after Iwer left he stage in anticipation of the Hypa Dawg. Joined on stage by two "new motion" dancers and Stabby, Rick's latest performance of his mega hit "Guh down" will not soon be forgotten. Rick and Stabby who have some history of performance together innovated a new move which included the new motion dancers,need I say more...After the fete GuildChill caught up with the guest artistes to find out what they had to share about their carnival experience.Maddzart who was enjoying his first appearnce on campus says it was a "wonderful vibe" and instructed "If you call us tomorrow , call LIAT to extend flight." Maddzart may very well be the new SVG soca monarch the next time he visits campus if all goes according to plan. In reference to the upcoming Vincy Mas soca monarch contest he said,"We aint going fuh crown,but if we get it, we gine tek it!"On the same subject Skinny the reigning SVG Soca King over a glass of Mount Gay had this to say;"Iv'e won three times,predictably 4 times.This year Skinny is about the Cave man experience; wild, primitive, no sense!tell them call me stupid this year!"Skinny who can't get enough of Cave Hill has lost track of the times has been,and as immigration does according to him feels like a citizen of Barbados.Of his carnival experience Skinny says "I turn socialites into partylites, at 3.02 in the morning my job is to charge them like a generator!"Iwer on his third visit to campus in recent memory is impressed most by the knowledge of the crowd"they knew every song,including the old ones."He also noticed the large Grenadian flags perhaps signalling him to follow the idea of his latest hit "Come to meh."He said the response to the song on campus has been excellent.George also said the tune is big on every Caribbean island and it has even taken off in Manhattan where he recently visited."Everyone is loving it!" The veteran soca artiste with decades in the business this advice to offer to Barbadian music industry; "Stay focused! The whole world must know to come to Barbados for Crop Over and that is the responsiblity of the artistes to walk from stage to stage and state to state."We finally caught up with Rick who was the last to leave the stage after giving the fans a taste of the old Lil' Rick chanting vintage tunes like ABC and others.Asked about his performance with Stabby, Rick said the two had worked together in the past and that a Crop Over collaboration was possible.When asked if invited to Cave Hill to clear up some of the misinterpretations of Lil' Rick and to share some of his wisdom on the industry,Rick says "a discussion or forum" (in a similar vein to Vybz Kartel's lecture on Mona campus a short while ago)"would be nice!"Like U.W.I Carnival 2012 we look forward to that!