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This month marks the one-year anniversary of the culmination of the campaigns leading up to the 2008 U.S. Presidential election. Five CARIMAC lecturers weigh in on these campaigns. For many, the campaigns leading up to the 2008 U.S. presidential election were the most spectacular and the most discussed. In your view, what can Caribbean journalists or communicators learn from the coverage of these campaigns? Prof. Aggrey Brown, adjunct lecturer and former CARIMAC director: Treat with the facts; not hype or sentiment. Recall that the media had Hilary Clinton walking away with the Democratic nomination even before the contest started and were too busy to notice Obama's innovative use of new media in his campaign. Janneth Mornan-Green, adjunct lecturer and public relations practitioner: One lesson for journalists is that they should be more fearless in covering a story. They should also be more thorough, looking at subjects from various angles. As for other communicators (PR people...

PUBLISHED NOV 11, 2009 Hospitality Jamaica Kirk Hamilton, a young architect, has vision to bring the concept of sustained tourism development to Jamaica. He says that the ?green design route? could be the stepping stone to revolutionizing the island?s resort development and tourism industry. Hamilton believes that Jamaica could become the catalyst of 'Green' tourism in the Caribbean; the diversity of the land is incomparable and has a lot of potential for sustainable development. "The island should look beyond the 'Yeh Mon' image that has been created," Hamilton said. "We can market our tourism products effectively; all we need to do is to set standards that are beyond the normal." He believes that visitors to Jamaica do not get a sense of how the country truly is and are isolated in their 'conditioned' world. "I want the visitor who comes to Jamaica to truly soak in all the elements of this beautiful island, beyond the sun and the sea, ...

published: Monday | September 15, 2008 Two years after coming to Jamaica from India, Ajitesh Sharma, is settled in his adopted country. "Right, my yute?" - photo by Amitabh Sharma Little Ajitesh was five years old as we prepared to board the early morning British Airways flight to London on the way to Kingston, Jamaica. It was July 2006. We did not know anything about the land, only that it was a place where great cricketers are born (coming from a cricket-crazed nation, India, Courtney Walsh and Sabina Park were Jamaica). A void Leaving the motherland created mixed feelings, especially the void caused by loved ones left behind. Ajitesh was the first grandchild in the family, and had been constantly surrounded by either of the grandparents. It was a big blow in his life, suddenly finding himself with no companion to pamper him and listen to his endless gibberish. Losing friends was another issue; for months he would remember hi...

Published: Friday | December 26, 2008 "As far back as I can remember there had been no better time than Christmas," says Asha Mohansingh, who has been immersed in the season's festivities since her childhood. "We go to our grandparents in Clarendon on Christmas Day, where the usual festivities abound," says Mohansingh. Hints of Indianness Christmas, which follows Diwali (the Hindu Festival of Lights), has become an integral part of Indian culture in Jamaica. The season, though, has the flavour that their forefathers brought from India. "There are hints of Indian-ness in the festivities," Mohansingh says. "The most visible aspect of Indian-ness is in the cuisine; my grandmother would lay an elaborate fare," she says. The spread includes different kinds of rotis, curry goat, curry chicken and sweets. "There would also be the chicken roast and baked chicken to add the Jamaican touch," Mohansingh says. Beyond r...

published: Sunday | August 3, 2008 Think of the entertainment industry and the picture of psychedelic lights, glittering stage performances and pumped up adrenaline flashes across. Many are lured by this very glitz and glamour and often perceive this industry is nothing but a cake walk that anyone to everyone can sashay on. But what meets the eye is just the tip of the wide gamut that this industry offers. "There is a popular perception to single out music sector in entertainment, which is not the case," said Kam-Au Amen, lecturer, Reggae Studies Unit, Institute of Caribbean Studies, University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona. On a crest The entertainment industry is riding on a high; specially as world economies are looking beyond shores for cutting edge in the entertainment and related services. According to a recent study by Prof Vanus James of Mona School of Business, the copyright sector, which covers the entertainment ind...

published: Sunday | April 6, 2008 Mary Jane enjoying a sip of Dragon Stout; for this 107- year-old, beer and rum give the spirit a lift. - Photo by Amitabh Sharma "I love men!" rattled Mary Jane. "Men are nice." She remembers picking a fight at her school gate and riding a donkey to church. She is no teeny-bopper; she turned 107 in January. "I was born in 1901 in St Elizabeth," she says. Mary Jane is a resident of the Golden Age Home in Kingston. "She has been with us for the last 10 years," says Morlene Moncrieffe-Grant, supervisor of Cluster F, where Mary Jane stays. Mary Jane lost her eyesight some years back. She is very agile and carries on a great conversation - after a couple of sips of beer. She gulps down liquid with the utmost ease. "I love spirits; it makes me calm," she tells The Sunday Gleaner . "Ginger beer is baby drink," Mary Jane proclaims. ...

Published: Monday | May 11, 2009 "Any man can be a father, but it takes a special person to be a dad", goes an adage; a poignant reminder that merely fathering a child does not make one a father in the real sense. It is about shouldering responsibilities and caring and nurturing the child, an area where many men are falling short. Kinsley Kelly grew up in a fatherless home and always yearned to call someone Dad. "I used to see my friends, they were so happy," he recalls, "I realised, they had a thing called father." When he was 14, he sat down and made a choice. "I noticed that men in my family were just babyfathers ... they were good uncles but lousy fathers, only one uncle got married, his children came out to be better. "That day I made a decision to change," Kelly, a certified cabinetmaker turned evangelist, said. Kelly, now 38, is married, and has a six-year old daughter. He is proud that he has been able...

Published: Monday | May 4, 2009 Jerome Fleming with his seven-month-old daughter, Tianna, at the Mothers of Incarcerated Sons centre. - Photo by Amitabh Sharma Pauline Donald's conviction that she can make a difference has sparked a fiery resolve to empower Jamaican youths to abandon crime and learn viable job skills. "We are fighting a spiritual war for the betterment of the young generation," declared Donald, as she glanced at the sparse surroundings of the resource centre that she has set up at Jones Avenue, Spanish Town. Donald's eyes narrate a story of hope and perseverance to give a meaningful life to youths. That cause inspired her to set up Mothers of Incarcerated Sons, a support group for mothers in her community. Donald, a 55-year-old mother of five, recalled that there were a string of unfortunate circumstances in her community that jolted her. "One of my cousins was shot and killed right in front of my house," she ...

Published: Thursday | March 5, 2009 Frandido Fairweather and Jody-Ann Leavy, students of the Salvation Army School for the Blind, type notes on Braille machines in the school library. - Photo by Amitabh Sharma Diana Ferguson slips a school handout beneath a computer screen and flicks a button. The text appears on the screen, magnified to enable her to read her notes. For Ferguson, who is partly blind, this machine is her lifeline for reading. A student of the Salvation Army School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (SASB) in St Andrew, she would have, until two months ago, to rely on the sole machine in the school. "We had just one magnifier for the 130 students here," said Iyeke Erharuyi, principal of SASB. It was an act of God, Erharuyi said, that Rupert Simms, a Jamaican-born United States-based businessman, offered assistance. "Last year, Rupert Simms visited the school. When we were taking him around the school premises, he saw t...